Keith Andes is a down-and-out architect and builder through no fault of his own. He's approached by Douglass Dumbrille and his sexy wife, Angela Lansbury, who offer to finance a new development. Andes would be the key man in the enterprise, so naturally they want to take out a "key man policy" on his life -- just in case.
Well, Andes may be tall, brawny, and suntanned but he's no stoop. He sees through the plan right away, just like Fred MacMurray in "Double Indemnity." Insure Andes for a cool half million and then knock him off. But Andes gets all glandular and gives in when he's seduced by Lansbury who, in this production at least, looks capable of seducing a guy.
There follow a series of ominous incidents and one ominous panorama. "Look, darling," chirps Lansbury from their mountain cabin, "you can see miles and miles from this invitingly open porch from which you might be shoved at any time." Andes plops down on the sofa and says, "I'm comfortable here." Then the plot gets kind of anfractuous. Lansbury's sprightly younger sister enters the picture and complicates things. Andes goes ape, believing that he's being followed up blind alleys and watched while in public. Revealing letters are crumpled up, retrieved, and re-retrieved. The police, as usual, are half sympathetic and half dismissive but in any case there's nothing they can do until after he's killed, then they'll try to catch the murderer.
As the not-too-bright hero, Andes looks glum. It's his default expression. That's okay except that he doesn't seem able to convincingly portray any other emotion. (He was good as the judge in "Helter Skelter.") Lansbury's performance is obvious, and so is her sister's, but at least Madge may be a bit zoftig but she has a massive bosom that seems to resent enclosure.
Nobody seems to have put much effort into the production, and Paul Guilfoyle, the director, who was a slime ball in "White Heat." He's from Jersey City. Keith Andes is from Ocean City, New Jersey. The Jersey coast has produced innumerable examples of highly talented actors: Richard Anderson, Jack Nicholson, Abbot & Costello, Danny DaVito, and Norman Mailer, who was the best of them all, as long as he had no lines.
I couldn't grasp the logic behind the climax. Maybe you can.
Well, Andes may be tall, brawny, and suntanned but he's no stoop. He sees through the plan right away, just like Fred MacMurray in "Double Indemnity." Insure Andes for a cool half million and then knock him off. But Andes gets all glandular and gives in when he's seduced by Lansbury who, in this production at least, looks capable of seducing a guy.
There follow a series of ominous incidents and one ominous panorama. "Look, darling," chirps Lansbury from their mountain cabin, "you can see miles and miles from this invitingly open porch from which you might be shoved at any time." Andes plops down on the sofa and says, "I'm comfortable here." Then the plot gets kind of anfractuous. Lansbury's sprightly younger sister enters the picture and complicates things. Andes goes ape, believing that he's being followed up blind alleys and watched while in public. Revealing letters are crumpled up, retrieved, and re-retrieved. The police, as usual, are half sympathetic and half dismissive but in any case there's nothing they can do until after he's killed, then they'll try to catch the murderer.
As the not-too-bright hero, Andes looks glum. It's his default expression. That's okay except that he doesn't seem able to convincingly portray any other emotion. (He was good as the judge in "Helter Skelter.") Lansbury's performance is obvious, and so is her sister's, but at least Madge may be a bit zoftig but she has a massive bosom that seems to resent enclosure.
Nobody seems to have put much effort into the production, and Paul Guilfoyle, the director, who was a slime ball in "White Heat." He's from Jersey City. Keith Andes is from Ocean City, New Jersey. The Jersey coast has produced innumerable examples of highly talented actors: Richard Anderson, Jack Nicholson, Abbot & Costello, Danny DaVito, and Norman Mailer, who was the best of them all, as long as he had no lines.
I couldn't grasp the logic behind the climax. Maybe you can.