The Walking Target

Ron Foster, Joan Evans, and Merry Anders star in "The Walking Target" a B film from 1960.

Foster is Nick Harbin who, after five years in prison for robbery, is released. However, the money was never recovered. Most people assume that Harbin knows where it is and will eventually go for it. The police plan on watching his every step.

To me this was a faux pas. This was an interstate crime of robbing payroll, meaning that the federal statute of limitations was five years. If they really wanted the money, they should have let him serve three or four years.

But I digress. Nick is extremely jumpy with his girlfriend Susan (Anders) and a friend of hers, a businessman. What he doesn't realize - but figures it out soon enough - is that Susan didn't bother waiting for him; she's in cahoots with her new beau to get the money.

During the robbery, a close friend of Nick's (Norm Alden) was killed running from the cops. Nick is determined to find his widow, Gail (Joan Evans) and give her half of the money. He locates her finally in her home town of Gold City, Arizona. He's followed.

Pretty decent crime drama.

Ron Foster is "Nick", fresh out of jail for robbery, and the loot has never been found. That's pretty much the opening line, said by the prison warden, as he releases Nick back to the world. and hot on his trail is Detective Brodney (Harp McGuire). and the mob. and the people he thinks are his friends. And Joan Evans is "Gail"... who may or may not be an innocent bystander. Evans gets top billing in the cast list, so she must be pretty important to the plot. Written by Stephen Kandel. He wrote almost exclusively for television, and this. and a couple films earlier in his career. Directed by Edward Cahn, for United Artists, towards the end of his career... only worked a couple more years after this. The "fist fights" are just terrible. so fake. The story itself is pretty good, the acting is pretty good. Picture and sound quality are great. entertaining enough.

Hard case Ron Foster serves his time. Five years ago,he and two accomplices stole $260,000; they died, he went to prison. They never found the money. Now he's getting out, and everyone wants to play him for the money: ex-girlfriend Merry Anders and her new guy, a 'businessman' who figures he won't have to pay taxes on it, Detective Harp McGuire, who wants to get the money and put Foster back in prison. All Foster wants is the money, and ex-girlfriend Joan Evans, who married his buddy who wound up dead in the robbery.

It's a good set-up, and the performances are good, if a trifle hackneyed; also I thought the character changes that make this a story and not just an anecdote pile up very quickly at the end. Perpetual B director Edward Cahn does his usual competent but uninspired job, and it moves at a pretty good pace.

"The Walking Target" is a cheaply made crime film starring a cast of mostly unknown actors of the day. Despite this, it turns out to be very watchable and good for what it is.

Nick (Ron Foster) has been in prison for sometime for his part in a robbery that netted nearly a quarter of a million dollars! What makes this REALLY interesting is that now that his sentence is up, he could always return and get the loot, as no one living knows where it is. However, on his trail throughout the film are cops as well as Nick's 'friends', who would just as soon kill him. Where does all this go? Watch the film..

The acting is good, the script is good. What isn't good are a couple fight scenes, where in both cases, the gang leader just stands there as his men tangle with Nick. And, when Nick beats them up, the boss just stands there! The same goes with Nick's lady friend late in the film....just standing there as Nick fights to the death....doing and saying nothing!! A very bad cliche but an otherwise well made film.

This one has most of the crime film cliches - good girl, bad girl, double crosses, cocky cop, illogical choices - but for all of its averageness, it is actually an entertaining film. Pretty good pacing and a quick watch, and some really odd, fun little moments. High art it isn't, but if you enjoy old crime movies with a bit of melodrama, it is worth your time. I enjoyed it.