User Reviews

Struggling writer Dan Duryea lives in a remote mountain house with wife Jean Wallace and son David Stollery. Then Duryea's brother and bank robber Cornel Wilde arrives with his accomplices Steven Hill and Lee Grant. Wilde's been shot in the leg during a robbery but after Wallace removes the bullet the robbers can't move on, because of a fierce snow storm. Stollery's never seen his uncle and is fascinated by Wilde, who's the complete opposite of the sickly and weak Duryea. But Wallace and Wilde used to be lovers, with their past becoming an additional source of friction and tension in the cramped house.

A claustrophobic home-invasion thriller meets love-triangle melodrama, actor/director/producer Cornel Wilde ('The Big Combo') does a good job of keeping this movie, which is rather talky, tense and gripping. And he also gets good performances from most of the actors, including himself. Especially Wilde's real life wife Wallace ('The Big Combo') gives a great performance, as a woman struggling with several dilemmas that come to a head when Wilde forces himself back into her life. I also really enjoyed Grant's ('Detective Story') performance, who was blacklisted at the time. She reminded me of the streetwise and tough but sympathetic gunmolls from the 30s gangster movies, particularly Gladys George in 'The Roaring Twenties'. I kinda wanted to see more of her part in this movie. And while kid actors are 9 out of 10 times either wooden or annoying, Stollery is pretty convincing and even subtle. He gave up acting however and became a successful car designer. Noir icon Duryea ('Scarlet Street') plays against type and he does well as always but he doesn't have a lot to do besides cough and moan, which is a shame. Hill (TV's 'Law & Order') is the only dissonant, he's uneven and seems unsure how to play his part.

Wilde keeps the movie focused and never lets the narrative wander off too far. Once the dramatic moments inside the house have been exhausted, he moves the story outdoors, with Stollery guiding Wilde and his crew across a mountain, pursued by Dennis Weaver (TV's 'McCloud'). Oddly enough tho, while Weaver has no problem following their tracks, he doesn't seem to notice one of crew members who's been left behind halfway with a broken ankle. What also helps is that DoP Joseph La Shelle ('Laura') does a great job with both the indoor and outdoor scenes, his lensing is both effective and nice to look at, but also not too prominent to take over the movie. Having said all that tho, I am not sure this movie has a lot of rewatch value. The story is not very surprising and moves to a predictable climax (altho the final moments are rather touching, thanks to some pretty good acting), and I feel that by focusing primarily on himself and Wallace's past, Wilde left out some opportunities to really crank up the heat. Still, I can recommend it.

A common sight in noir movies is seeing Dan Duryea being a creep, but surprisingly, this movie changes things and makes him almost the least threatening character. Storm Fear, true to its name, involves a large snowstorm which helps to create one of the most unique settings I've seen in a noir yet. The story begins in a farm house located in an isolated snowy area. A hired hand named Hank takes a kid named Davie (David Stollery) to the house after a day of fun in the snow. Also in the house are Davie's mother, Elizabeth (Jean Wallace) and father, Fred (Dan Duryea) who is sick. Soon, two guys and a woman show up to the house. One of them is Charlie (Cornel Wilde), brother of Fred and uncle to Davie. The other guy is Benjie (Steven Hill), a criminal who has a moll named Edna (Lee Grant). At first, Fred and the others aren't really sure why Charlie has come here, but when the latter reveals he's been shot in the leg, it becomes pretty obvious. Fred is adamant his brother get a doctor, but Charlie rips the phone off the wall and beats his brother. He is bullied both by Charlie and Benjie into giving in to their demands. Edna manages to pull the bullet out of Charlie's leg, and Davie tries to get to know his uncle a bit better. Despite hearing a radio broadcast about how one of the suspects fleeing a recent bank robbery has been shot in the leg, Fred is forced to keep these fugitives in his house for the time being. At one point, Hank comes back unexpectedly and Elizabeth must someone get him to go away, lest he discovers armed thugs are in the house. Benjie and Charlie are both ready to shoot him at a minute's notice, but thankfully they don't need to. After Hank leaves, Elizabeth talks to her son in private and says his uncle Charlie is no good, never has been, and that he needs to stay away from him. Davie promises he will. When Charlie learns the cops are scouting the area trying to locate him and his associates, he decides he needs to make his move now. Charlie wants Davie to show him, Benjie and Edna the path over a mountain which leads to a highway, the whole distance being around 15 miles. Without Davie, they won't find their way in the awful weather and drifts. Davie says no, citing the promise he made to his mother, but later relents. They try to leave without making any noise, but Elizabeth sees what's going on and tries to stop her son from departing. Charlie ties her to a chair. Fred tries to warn the cops about what's going on, but freezes to death. Meanwhile, Davie leads the trio of criminals through the mountains. Benjie gets into an argument with Edna which culminates in him pushing her off a ledge. While still alive, she breaks her ankle and Charlie decides to leave her there to die. Hank finds out Fred is dead, then checks on Elizabeth. After untying her, she says Davie and the others left about 3 hours ago and are going through the mountains. Hank sets off in pursuit. Benjie gets increasingly more agitated and wants to kill Charlie once he finds the highway, so Charlie does what he can to stall him. Davie attempts to mislead Benjie on the way to the highway so that Charlie can shoot him, but Benjie realizes it's a trick and fights Charlie. As they wrestle in the snow, Davie gets ahold of Benjie's handgun and shoots him. Charlie then puts his nephew in a nearby cabin, trusting he will be found soon by the police. As Charlie tries to gather the stolen bank money for himself, he is spotted by Hank and shot with a scoped rifle. At a hospital later, Charlie dies and Davie says he'll never forget him. Were it not for the unique setting, I probably wouldn't rate this movie so high. It never occurred to me when I was watching it that Davie was actually fathered by Charlie (as is heavily implied), but the latter's previous relationship with Davie's mother speaks volumes. Cornel Wilde (who also directed) did a good job portraying a criminal that you feel sorry for, as he says he has a gun, but never shot anybody. Charlie was never given a chance to get back on his feet, and as a result he needs to run from the police constantly. Steven Hill on the other hand portrays a character so obnoxious and despicable I think I'll be avoiding any films with him in them from this point on. Benjie is true scum, and has no problem whatsoever with hitting Charlie's sick brother, threatening to shoot a kid, and even pushing Elizabeth to the floor. Overall, I found Storm Fear to be a good enough movie because of its frigid setting and chemistry between Davie and Charlie, but the rest of it is quite uninspired.

Gangster Cornell Wilde and his small-minded sidekick Adam Schiff -- I mean Steven Hill -- show up unexpectedly with a bag of loot at the remote farm house of his big brother, the failed writer Dan Duryea, and his blond hausfrau Jean Wallace. Their child, David Stollery, is a witness to the conflicts, arguments, violence, deaths, and general mishigas that takes place during the visit. Dennis Weaver has a small part as the good neighbor.

The screenplay was by Horton Foote, the direction by Wilde, and the cast and crew professionally competent, with some exceptions. The result is almost a stage play in which fierce disagreements take place.

Wilde does adequately by the part of the tough guy who genuinely doesn't want to intrude but has no place else to go because the police are all over the place searching for him and his buddy. He adds an almost indiscernible stutter to his voice in moments of stress. Nothing is made of it. It's just a nice touch that makes him human. He has a couple of shirtless scenes during which his wounds are treated by Wallace and I hated him for that. How can he be so muscular and sound at the age of forty-three? The swine.

Jean Wallace is not much of an actress but she looks as if she would be perfectly at home milking cows on a Polish włość. I hope you appreciate that Polish word. It means "small farm." Took me half an hour to find the proper alphabet. Dan Duryea -- well, we missed his slick-backed hair and straw boater and his whining voice and his slapping dames around. Here, he's a fagged out lunger wrapped up in sweaters and scarves and looking as if the North Korean Army had just marched over him. Steven Hill is unrecognizable except as the stereotype he is. And as for the kid, kids will be kids. Everybody loves them, except Hill.

Overall it's pretty depressing. It's claustrophobic. It resembles a staged play in which the set dresser was drunk all the time. And the story, for all its shouting, is a little weak in humanity. (See "Hud" for a successful example of how to make a movie about a couple of people on a ranch.) Poor Dan Duryea freezes in the snow. It's not quite certain exactly where his body is found, through either careless direction or editing. But if I were despondent and depressed, a total failure -- and I AM -- I think I'd hang myself if I had to live in a seedy dump like that.

(1955) Storm Fear THRILLER/ CRIME DRAMA

Adapted from the novel by Clinton Seeley produced, directed and starring Cornel Wilde. It opens with Hank (Dennis Weaver) bonding with 12 year old David (David Stollery) out on the snow field before they are heading back inside the lone cabin. By the time he heads back into the cabin, we're then introduced to David's mom, Elizabeth (Jean Wallace) and his dad who is depleting health and an aspired author, Fred (Dan Duryea). As he growls at David to turn the radio off we find out it was bought as a Christmas gift by the family friend, and hired help Hank. Before he leaves tells them he needs to buy the wheel for the tractor and a upcoming snowstorm is brewing. And just as David was milking the cows for some milk, he then hears a car coming by, and hurries back home to inform his mom about it. And barging into the cabin are three individuals of Charlie (Cornel Wilde), Benji (Steven Hill) and Edna (Lee Grant). We find out that Charlie happens to be Fred's younger brother, and that him and his two associates were escaping from a robbery. And it was at this point we know more about how much Charlie was involved into David's life as well as Charlie's history with his brother and Elizabeth. The first of five movies Cornel Wilde starred with Jean Wallace.

I was involved until the last 15 minutes or so when the four characters decide to leave and walk through the snow bank leaving me with more questions than answers such as did Edna live after Benji shoves her down breaking her ankle? What is the status of Edna? Did Charlie die at the end, after the nurse rolls down his bed? She did not even cover his face or anything. I mean, should I have to read other peoples opinions about how the movie ended.

This is classic film noir set in early 1950s New England featuring an escape story by a robber and two of his associates. It's based on a 1954 novel by Clinton Seeley.

Fred Blake (Dan Duryea), his wife, Elizabeth (Jean Wallace), and their 12-year-old son, David (David Stollery), live on a remote farm. They also have a hired man, Hank (Dennis Weaver). Fred is a failed writer and is chronically ill.

One night, Fred's younger brother, Charlie (Cornel Wilde), comes to their farm after a nearby bank robbery in which a policeman was killed, and a member of Charlie's gang was seriously wounded. With Charlie are a somewhat slow-witted sociopath, Benjie (Steven Hill) and a "gun moll" named Edna (Lee Grant). Charlie was wounded in the leg but hopes to leave the next day.

A snowstorm prevents a quick departure, and we see deteriorating relationships within the house. We also learn that Charlie and Elizabeth used to have a relationship. In fact, David might be Charlie's son. Hank is gone to town, but a brief return with mail alerts him to the presence of the gang. Fred sneaks out to leave help. Charlie persuades David to help them escape by a back route over the mountain before the snowplows get to their farm. The last third of the movie follows the flight and outcome of each of the characters.

As in much film noir, there are no winners and no heroes in this story. It's interesting to see early film dramatic roles for actors better known later for their TV work -- Dennis Weaver ("Gunsmoke" and "McCloud") and Steven Hill ("Mission Impossible" and "Law & Order")

"Storm Fear" was entertaining but by no means a classic. There were jumps in the storyline that were awkward, and some scenes were stilted.