Thursday, July 15, 2010

Movie review – “The Girl in Lover’s Lane” (1959) *

Roger Corman’s short lived distribution company, Filmgroup, was associated with some remarkable films, including Little Shop of Horrors, and the debut features of Francis Ford Coppola, Robert Towne, Peter Bogdanovich, Jack Nicholson and Curtis Harrington. This is one of the least distinguished.

It’s about two guys who meet riding a train together (one of them the son of a rich man) who wind up in a small town, where they romance some women and get in fights. Jack Elam turns up to rape and kill a girl – one of the guys is blamed. That’s the plot but it doesn’t start until the running time is almost over. Some of the local boys start smacking the guy around then Elam confesses incredibly unconvincingly.

This is a dull film – uninteresting characters, little action, slack handling. There’s a few camp moments, like the hot Mamie Van Doren-type blonde stepping out of the bath, and the hinted attraction between the two male leads – but not nearly enough. Brett Halsey and Elam are the only cast members you’re like to have heard of.

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