Bandoleiros de Houston

In The Houston Story Gene Barry plays an oil company executive who has come up with an interesting idea for robbing the oil fields of crude. But he needs operating money and a lot of it. His torch singer girl friend Barbara Hale puts him in touch with some local Houston wise guys and upon that our story begins.

Barry wants to slant or side drill some existing oil fields. You might remember in the Paul Newman film The Drowning Pool, oil millionaire Murray Hamilton makes some illusions to slant drilling. Basically it's drilling into an existing pool on an angle and pumping out hat you need.

The big surprise her is Barbara Hale best known as Della Street on the Perry Mason series. She's one sultry chanteuse and she's good. But they should gave dubbed her singing of Put The Blame On Mame as they did for Rita Hayworth. Hale just is not a good singer.

Edward Arnold is a mid level hood in the Houston organized crime scene and Paul Richards as usual does a fine job as a torpedo for hire.

As for Barry he does good for a while, but in the end he's batting way out of his league.

Gene Barry works in the Texas oil fields but he's got other plans... He's come up with a plan to steal oil from the fields and sell it on the grey market. To get the plan financed, he identifies a jane doe suicide as the former name of torch singer Barbara Hale, who knows the local underground. Not wanting trouble, she gives in, and Barry meets up with local boss Edward Arnold and his #1 man, Paul Richards. They agree to the plan, and soon Barry is rolling in money. But Barry wants to climb higher in the organisation, while Arnold and Richards want to get rid of him.

Lee J. Cobb was originally planned to play the lead role, but I really can't imagine him in this role. Barry ('Naked Alibi') does a great job and also has nice chemistry with Hale ('The Clay Pigeon'), who is an almost unrecognizable platinum blonde femme fatale here. The rest of the cast are good, but it's Barry and Hale who excel here. Hale even pulls off a convincing 'Put The Blame On Mame', altho she's no Rita Hayworth.

A bit of a derivative story (and title), but who cares when it's executed this well. This was director William Castle's last noir ('Johnny Stool Pigeon', 'New Orleans Uncensored') and he keeps things interesting, aided by some nice cinematography by Henry Freulich ('Chicago Syndicate', 'The Miami Story'). I was more than pleasantly surprised by this late noir. Recommended! 8/10

Oil slick Gene Barry (as Frank Duncan) endeavors to siphon millions of dollars in Texas crude, but needs financing from organized crime. After platinum blonde "Put the Blame on Mame" singer Barbara Hale (as Zoe Crane) leads Mr. Barry to powerful mob boss Edward Arnold (as Paul Atlas), success is assured. So, will these characters learn that crime does not pay? This predictable, production-line crime story has more spark than the story suggests. As ably directed by William Castle, Barry injects his characterization with all the life he can manage; watching his amoral "Frank Duncan" steadfastly steer his own descent into depravity is somewhat fun. With nice girl Jeanne Cooper (as Madge) and others in the mix, "The Houston Story" adds up.

***** The Houston Story (2/56) William Castle ~ Gene Barry, Barbara Hale, Edward Arnold

The Houston story stars Gene Barry in this 1956 film directed by William Castle.

Barry plays Frank Duncan, who works as an oil driller by day. By night he's working on a way to divert oil from various oil fields and sell it. If he can accomplish this, it will be worth millions. However, he needs financing.

It doesn't take him long to convince a local mobster Paul Atlas (Edward Arnold) to bankroll him. Atlas is part of a huge operation known as the Combine. Duncan's plans don't go smoothly.

This is a good B, and it has a blond Barbara Hale as a singer doing "Put the Blame on Mame." She plays the cheating wife of Duncan's former oil foreman, who faked her own death and now lives under another name. Imagine Della Street as a femme fatale! Jeanne Cooper of The Young and the Restless plays Duncan's girlfriend, who has no idea what he's about.

Formulaic, derivative, but okay.

Houston Story, The (1956)

*** (out of 4)

Gene Barry plays an ambitious oil worker who gets involved with a Mob boss (Edward Arnold) because he hopes to work his way up. Barry comes up with a way to steal about $5 million in oil each year but he soon learns there's always a way to get yourself knocked off. Here's another gem that rarely gets talk about and even though the thing starts to get dragged out towards the end, this is still highly entertaining. Castle is best known for his horror films but this is perhaps the best directed film I've seen from him. He does a great job with the visual style of the film and I'd also add that he handles all the action quite well. It certainly doesn't hurt that Barry turns in a remarkable performance. He is so incredibly good in the role and believable because you can't help but feel his desire to succeed in not only his body language but also his voice. You can even look into his eyes and see his passion for making money. Arnold is also very good in his supporting role of the Mob boss. Barbara Hale, Paul Richards and Jeanne Cooper are also good in their work. Apparently Lee J. Cobb started out in the lead role but suffered a heart attack so he can be seen in a few of the medium shots. Apparently Castle filled in for him during the long shots before Barry eventually took over the role. When people mention film noir this film often gets overlooked and while it's not a masterpiece of the genre it's still a very entertaining little gem that's worth checking out.