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I first noticed Mr. Wilde in "Naked Prey" - although it's now a bit dated in some ways, much like that better known film, "Storm Fear" is a gripping tale when viewed with the appropriate 'Fifties mindset.

Cornel plays "Uncle Charlie", a ne'erdowell prodigal son returned to his brother's home while on the run from a capital crime with his gang of gruesomes. As its plot unfolds, we learn many disturbing lessons about Charlie and his brother and his brother's wife.

Akin to cinematographic pulp fiction, this is a memorable effort perhaps due to its depiction of universal, timeless human flaws. You'll love to hate Uncle Charlie, but I think you'll enjoy the rest of the cast even more.

A struggling writer and his family are visited at their remote mountain farm by his brother -- a wounded bank robber on the lam. Cornel Wilde directed eight films in his lifetime (seven of them, like this one, starring himself) and this was his first. And a superior first film it is, one I liked much more than NAKED PREY. Elevated far above the usual hostage drama by the strained familial relations and internal strife within each group. The interactions between the players are leaden with sorrow, failure and the ghosts of past regrets. Every character occupies a gray area, conflicted and/or damaged. Even the young boy plays a crucial role beyond being just an adorable moppet in jeopardy. The exception is the sidekick character who is pretty much your standard bad guy, but even he is given life with an engaging performance by Steven Hill. The whole cast is great: Lee Grant as the shabby dame, Jean Wallace as the wife with some secrets of her own, Dan Duryea again impressing me with a role outside his usual mold, Dennis Weaver as the hired hand, and of course Wilde. He makes an interesting choice to play the character with a slight stammer, hinting at the doubts that gnaw at him. The script is thoughtful and gripping, with a few great hard-boiled zingers for Grant and Hill. I also have to mention the music, yet another sublime score by Elmer Bernstein. This is an outstanding picture that takes unexpected turns and is heavy with melancholy and desperation. It needs a restoration and DVD release immediately.

Storm Fear is a contrast of brothers, both of whom have failed in life. Cornel Wilde plays the `bad' brother, fleeing from a bank robbery. Dan Duryea is the `good' brother who can't come to grips with his own artistic and personal failures. I do not like Cornel Wilde, yet I found he created a sympathetic, very human `good-for-nothing', a surprisingly less intelligent role for a lead actor to play. Duryea, on the other hand, is much less sympathetic, perhaps because he is reaching for stars that are obviously out of his grasp. Jean Wallace is quite good as Duryea's wife and Wilde's former lover. She effectively straddles the worlds of both men. Steven Hill portrays the unstable member of Wilde's gang, but he doesn't seem quite sure how far to take his character at times.

This should have been more claustrophobic with 6 people cooped up in a house in a snow storm, but the script handles this nicely. The film gives the appearance of being an inexpensive production; yet, it makes the most of what is there in set, actors, etc. Wilde does a credible job of directing. Elmer Bernstein's score is a plus. The ending, however, is totally unsatisfactory, obviously bowing to conventions of the mid 50s when uncompromising films were not the norm.

There may be a Christmas tree in the living room, but there is little festive flavour to this grim, gripping yarn, which combines crime drama with family misfortunes - regret, remorse and recrimination.

Dan Duryea is a writer who has much wrong with him. Hostile to the music on the radio (wait till you hit the '60's man!), whilst his ailing body and sporadic whines are the closest things to strong drink permitted in the isolated house he shares with dutiful wife, Jean Wallace and teenage son, David Stollery. It's difficult to warm to dismal Dan. There is a blanket of snow outside and he presides over a no less icy mood indoors. The arrival of his brother, Cornel Wilde, shot up and on the run following a robbery, with accomplices, bully boy Steven Hill, who resembles William Bendix after a six week course at Slimming World and his moll, blonde bombshell, Lee Grant, plunge the temperature even further.

A hostage in her own home, Wallace is charged with removing the bullet from Wilde's leg. A painstaking undertaking lightened by the backdrop of big band jazz. Wilde's relief at no longer having a bullet in quickly subsides with a news bulletin revealing that the cop shot during the robbery has since died.

With a visit from handyman Dennis Weaver falling into the "Phew that was a close one!" category and the law drawing ever nearer, Wilde presses his nephew into guiding them over the snow veiled mountain to the highway, whilst Wallace is...er..a bit tied up.

Soon Grant experiences a painful fall (told her not to wear those high heels!) and has a suspected broken ankle. Ah, the 1950's, the age of chivalry. After briefly discussing her sorry plight the two men decide....to leave her to the elements, flinging her a few dollars to become soggy in the snow for company. Cold comfort, literally, as she can't walk, there isn't a shop within miles and at this time Amazon was just a river.

On his directorial debut, working with a small, but eminently capable cast, Wilde hits a middle point where 'On Dangerous Ground' meets 'The Desperate Hours.' He conjures desolately noirish motifs from the unconventional settings, successfully pursuing themes of isolation, loneliness and desperation.

This is a strange Low-Budget, well Cast Thriller and is a first time Directorial effort from Cornel Wilde. It is the claustrophobic first half that works best as tensions mount and identities are revealed. As things open up later, in the snowy outdoors, it turns rather routine as its limitations are exposed.

There is an attempt at some unusual Family situations that adds some verisimilitude and in Film-Noir tradition all the Characters are flawed. If things were kept indoors the tension would be almost unbearable, but as it is, the last third seems more like typical Hollywood.

Although the Child is central to the Plot and is crucial to the Theme of things gone wrong and regretful behavior, it is ironically left to the Pre-Teen to carry the emotional baggage at the end and it doesn't quite come off as a satisfying closing to the Family Circle. Certainly worth a view because it is a bit different, but the final Act is just too pat and seems a lot less believable than what went before.