Step Down to Terror

Having acted alongside Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor, James Dean, Dennis Hopper and Earl Holliman in 'Giant', the 28 year old Rod Taylor continued to get roles alongside high profile actors and actresses until his big break came in 1960 with 'The Time Machine'.

Charles Drake shouts at his landlady who has taken some of the cash he has lying about. She says the next time the policemen ask if he's in, she'll tell them. So Drake goes on the lam, back to his mother's home in California, where he makes nice to her, to Colleen Miller, widow of his brother, and her son, Ricky Kelman. As he courts Miss Miller -- as does plainclothesman Rod Taylor, something darker than expected begins to emerge.

It's a remake of Hitchcock's SHADOW OF A DOUBT, and on its own terms, it's okay, another Universal movie about the darkness that lies at the heart of sunny 1950s America. Of course, because it's a remake of what happens to be my favorite Hitchcock movie, it seems weak in comparison. Still, for an ordinary programmer, it's all right. With Jocelyn Brando and Ann Doran.

Wow, I'm the only 10 star review??? I don't know why B movies receive negative criticism. From a cinematic standpoint, some of them are more impressive than A-list movies. You can't underestimate a small budget and a lesser known cast of actors and actresses. I guess I feel that way because I've never been crazy about movies that are popular with the general public. I've watched movies, older and newer, that people rave about, and I didn't see what the big deal was. There's a lot of underrated gems that the majority of people don't even know about, and I'm so happy they're on YouTube.

The beginning of Step Down to Terror wasn't groundbreaking. It was quite simplistic, actually - a man running away from the cops, then some time later, standing on a front porch and hugging his mother - but it caught my attention. Johnny Williams (Charles Drake) is dodging the law, and decides to hide out in the home of his mother (Josephine Hutchinson), sister-in-law (Colleen Miller), and nephew (Ricky Kelman). Unbeknownst to them, he's a serial killer, and he only murders widows, and that happens to be his sister-in-law. His brother nearly died as a child in an accident involving a bicycle, which he blames himself for (I don't know if the writers meant to do this, but it was implied that he has PTSD. Chances are, I'm sure that was unintentional, because not much was known about the disorder back in the 50s. Looking at it through a modern day lens, not receiving treatment pushed him over the edge, leading him to become homicidal). I love watching the type of movies where the main character isn't who everybody thinks they are, and they have to go to great lengths to hide their true self. It was pretty sad at one point though, because Johnny's nephew was excited to have him around, seeing as how his father was deceased, but Johnny was so opposed to him having a bike, out of the fear that originated from his brother's accident, that he waited until no one was outside to run over it with his car, and when his nephew discovered it was destroyed, he acted like he had no idea what happened. He starts acting strange, to the point that his mother and sister-in-law notice. Well, more so his sister-in-law. She suspects that he's hiding something sinister. My only complaint, is the ending seemed rushed, a common thing with B movies. Nonetheless, I can easily watch this more than once. Also, I didn't find out this was a remake until after the fact. Honestly, I have no desire to watch the original. I enjoyed this so much that I'm not even curious.

By the way, Charles Drake was handsome. This movie was somewhat true to life. While all of them aren't murderers, handsome men are generally unbalanced. If you haven't already seen this, it's worth a look. Don't pay attention to the low reviews.

Avoid any comparison with Hitchcock's masterful "shadow of a doubt" ,its remake would suffer ; nobody here can match the Teresa Wright/Joseph Cotten pair ,and the director can't begin to touch the master's genius of suspense of psychological tension .Thornton Wilder and Alma Hitchcock had dramatically enriched the original story ,by creating lots of new characters ,all more colorful than the one before .

In the family where the uncle takes refuge, there are only three persons; the mother ,the widowed daughter-in-law and her son ; the detective (played by Rod Taylor ,later star of Hitchcock's "the birds") plays a more prominent part than in the 1952 version,and he quickly falls in love with Helen ,the niece (there's no love/hate relationship between her and her uncle ) ; the ring is a good trick , so is the crushed bike .The film is rather short (about 75 min) and sometimes the events are too hurried for comfort; the denouement is rather poor and implausible .

Charles Drake is handsome and quite convincing when he charms the old ladies .

Needless to say ,you will always be better off with the fifties version.

One of the reviews says, avoid comparison with Shadow of a Doubt.

Since it's the identical story with even some of the same dialogue, this is difficult.

Charles Drake stars as a serial widow killer, Johnny Walters. On the run, he returns to his family home, thinking he will be safe there. He is greeted by his mother (Josephine Hutchinson), his sister-in-law Helen (Colleen Miller), and her little son.

A few things happen that make Helen uncomfortable. She becomes suspicious when two "reporters" come to the house to interview a typical family. Johnny of course retires to his bedroom. Later, when he goes out, Helen sees one of the reporters photographing him. Rod Taylor plays the plain-clothes detective posing as a reporter who falls for Helen.

This movie would be okay if it weren't a remake of a much better film. Charles Drake is very handsome - reminded me a little of Joel McCrea - and this is really in the beginning of Rod Taylor's career. The acting is good.

A little trivia for Californians: Colleen Miller married Walter Ralphs. You have perhaps shopped at a grocery store that bears his name. Not bad!