Deadly Duo

Attorney Preston Morgan (Craig Hill) is hired by a very wealthy woman to travel to Acapulco to collect her grandson and bring him back to her. But when Morgan meets the boy's mother, Sabena (Marcia Henderson), he has a change of heart regarding his assignment. Complicating matters is Sabena's twin sister. She sees this as her opportunity to strike it rich - regardless of who gets hurt.

I completely understand that Deadly Duo is not what I'd generally call a good movie. In fact, it's got a load of problems, including: Craig Hill's acting, the Mexican accents, logic, the lack of real Mexican locations, and a look and feel of a 60s-era sitcom. But, there's just something about it that I found oddly appealing. First, there are a few plot twists that I enjoyed. This isn't Oscar caliber writing, but there are still some fine moments. Second, Marcia Henderson is very good in the roles of Sabena and her sister. She has a definite presence that works. And third, the scheming on the part of the twin and her husband. How on earth did they think they'd get away with it? Good stuff.

While Deadly Duo probably isn't everyone's cup of tea, I found it weirdly and surprisingly enjoyable. My rating may seem generous, but I rate primarily on entertainment value. And I was definitely entertained.

6/10.

Most of this movie takes place in Acapulco. It's not that we don't believe that ... Exactly ...

The sets look for all the world, though, like sets from TV series of the time. And wait! Not that Bette Davis and Olivia De Havilland hadn't done it already. But isn't the good twin/evil twin reminiscent of "I Dream Of Jeannie" and "Bewitched"? The sisters, both played by Marcia Henderson, really don't look alike. Yes, they are the same actress. But the evil sister wears a long platinum wig and presents herself so differently, no one would think them related. Unless, of course, there were constant dialogue commenting on their remarkable similarity of appearance.

Craig Hill plays a California lawyer down on his luck. He is hired to do something moderately dishonorable, down in Mexico. He's not bad. He looks good in a brief bathing suit and he's filmed hat way for quite a bit. He is often filmed (fully clothed) from the back, walking, though. This was unflattering to several major female stars in the 1940s. And it does him no favors.

This is not great film making. It's moderately entertaining. And the cars in it are fantastic! It's not one of those projects in which they all are from the same company. The then-Big Three are all represented; and we get to see some real beauties.

It's quite obvious that Deadly Dull is the proper title for this United Artists release, which IMDb informs us played on many a double bill from the same studio's hit in Britain, "Dr. No". That fact reminds me of how B-movies also served as so-called chasers - designed to help empty theatres (as patrons like me would sit through show after show) in the days when double features flourished. After watching the magnetic Sean Connery dominate the screen as Bond, it must have been hard to adjust to staring at the permanent nonentity Craig Hill walking through his role in such an uneventful co-feature.

Over 60 years later, it was distracting to watch the "actress playing twins" gimmick - looking for any mismatching in the shots processed to have lead Marcia Henderson on screen twice at once, or the obvious double seen from the back of the head in other easier to shoot and process shots. Two wigs to differentiate the sisters are glaringly fake.

The plodding story is relentlessly uninteresting, leading to a busier (but way too late) final reel of contrived and unconvincing plot twists leading to a fake wholesome happy ending.

Both Hill and Henderson represent poor casting -neither capable of arousing or sustaining an audience's interest for an entire movie. And even more obvious, the rented T-Bird Craig drives in the fake Acapulco setting constantly upstages our yawn of a hero, quickly becoming the actual star of the picture.

Strictly a low-budget programmer, DEADLY DUO is a deadly boring attempt as a detective story involving twin sisters--one good, one bad, naturally. It's full of expository dialog, especially the first half-hour which sets up the entire situation in exposition--then drifts off into the main story with no distinction whatsoever.

Performances are mostly sub-standard--especially MARCIA HENDERSON as the twin sisters (one blonde, one brunette), and especially ROBERT LOWERY, looking a far cry from the young actor whose career began in the 1940s with small roles in big films. CRAIG HILL, as the lawyer on a mission for a wealthy client, gives the only credible performance in the whole film.

The story moves along at a crawl, never establishing any crackling tension or sparkling dialog--and hampered by a poor child performance from PETER OLIPHANT.

Summing up: Dreary to sit through--no tension at all. CRAIG HILL never did go on to full-fledged stardom but fit the requirements for leading man roles.

From George Montgomery to Rock Hudson, actress Marcia Henderson usually played the good girl to a good man... and she's a good girl here too... widowed to a rich man without caring about anything but her son... and the titular DEADLY DUO twist is, she has an identical twin sister, also played by Henderson...

The first is brunette and sweet as pie, the other's bad and blonde and, married to a lowlife yet charming former nightclub owner, they're all being checked out by lawyer Craig Hill who, sent for the rich grandmother's custody of the son, is actually the lead character despite Marcia's double role...

Her best moment is playing the blonde sister acting like while disguised as the good sister, providing an evil glint within a docile grin, while Hill... not a great actor but passable here... doesn't catch on...

And why should he since Marcia Henderson is great in the double role, playing both sisters like completely separate humans... as is her job as a actress, ending a b-movie career with a literal double-whammy in a low-budget neo noir that, lacking action and full of dialogue, remains an intriguing, visual page-turner.