Alan Ladd once made a radio show called Box 13 - this was an attempt to turn it into a series, with Ladd reprising his on air role as Dan Halliday. The gimmick of the show was Halliday would ask people to contact him with trouble to give him ideas for stories; this one results him winding up in a lunatic asylum with people calling him a different name. That's not a bad set up for a story, but the short running time ruins things - instead of dragging out the paranoia we are told whodunnit very soon and the suspense is gone. It doesn't help that Ladd/Halliday figures things out almost straight away. Then there is a chase sequence, with Ladd escaping from the asylum and going on the run - this could have worked for a film or an hour long episode.
Ladd is a bit pudgy in the face, but is well cast. The supporting actors fit in well. This was shot by Ladd's regular DOP (John Seitz) and director (Frank Tuttle) so has more polish than many TV dramas of this time.
No comments:
Post a Comment