This easily forgotten RKO drama stars William Campbell as an expert but lowly locksmith by the name of Tommy Dancer. Would you trust a locksmith with that underworld name? One cannot judge a book by its cover, but in Campbell’s case, I make an exception. Actually, Campbell comes off well in this one with help from other experienced actors. Anita Ekberg not one of them. Adding authenticity is some location filming, like at Art Linkletter’s La Cienega Lanes bowling alley. Perhaps the only time it was featured in a movie.
Cute Karen Sharpe, with incredibly bouncy hair, is at the party because she gets want she wants in that crowd. I think that is her occupation. She is spurned by her on and off again boyfriend/lawyer, played by a Chuck Woolery impersonator. Pouting, she exits the party. Cocky Campbell has had enough of feeling out of place and also leaves, walking past Sharpe. She offers him a lift in her car but neither seems to have a destination. She asks him if he drives. I guess wondering if he might not have any experience with an automatic transmission or that big round ring on the left side of the dash.
Barry Kroeger, a smirking small-time hoodlum, gets his leg man, Paul Fix, to locate a good locksmith. Kroeger then pressures Campbell to break into a safe deposit box rented by a big-time mobster, James Seay, and make a duplicate key. But Fix double-crosses Kroeger and suggests Campbell take the 200k himself. Temptation is acted upon and Campbell stores the money at the bowling alley for a striking finale.
Campbell’s running is unintentionally comical near the end, arms swinging back and forth, left to right. I burst out laughing. Fix, after killing Kroeger with an Oldsmobile, goes after the money with Campbell only armed with a bowling pin. Funny? He throws it through a window and sets off the burglar alarm. Smart. Paul is in a fix by then and is quickly apprehended. Meanwhile, mob boss Seay is charged with murder and Campbell reunites with Sharpe, the dominant driver. Campbell will have some explaining to do at police headquarters.
Note: The excruciating song, “Let The Chips Fall Where They May” is sung by Vivianne Lloyd in her singing/acting debut and career closer. Kroeger throws a party at his home and requests she sings his favorite song. Lloyd makes her rounds in the small party room, slinking around chairs and a couch, giving a performance more fitting a nightclub with piano and strings. But there are no string players in the crowded room. Her bad lip-sync is not very romantic as she blasts Campbell’s eyebrows back from inches away, angling them even more. It is the most embarrassing and funny moment in the film. Why any song was planned for this film is a mystery...like Lloyd’s career. She actually does a halfway decent job vocally, but her awkward lip-sync and expressions made me sweat.
Cute Karen Sharpe, with incredibly bouncy hair, is at the party because she gets want she wants in that crowd. I think that is her occupation. She is spurned by her on and off again boyfriend/lawyer, played by a Chuck Woolery impersonator. Pouting, she exits the party. Cocky Campbell has had enough of feeling out of place and also leaves, walking past Sharpe. She offers him a lift in her car but neither seems to have a destination. She asks him if he drives. I guess wondering if he might not have any experience with an automatic transmission or that big round ring on the left side of the dash.
Barry Kroeger, a smirking small-time hoodlum, gets his leg man, Paul Fix, to locate a good locksmith. Kroeger then pressures Campbell to break into a safe deposit box rented by a big-time mobster, James Seay, and make a duplicate key. But Fix double-crosses Kroeger and suggests Campbell take the 200k himself. Temptation is acted upon and Campbell stores the money at the bowling alley for a striking finale.
Campbell’s running is unintentionally comical near the end, arms swinging back and forth, left to right. I burst out laughing. Fix, after killing Kroeger with an Oldsmobile, goes after the money with Campbell only armed with a bowling pin. Funny? He throws it through a window and sets off the burglar alarm. Smart. Paul is in a fix by then and is quickly apprehended. Meanwhile, mob boss Seay is charged with murder and Campbell reunites with Sharpe, the dominant driver. Campbell will have some explaining to do at police headquarters.
Note: The excruciating song, “Let The Chips Fall Where They May” is sung by Vivianne Lloyd in her singing/acting debut and career closer. Kroeger throws a party at his home and requests she sings his favorite song. Lloyd makes her rounds in the small party room, slinking around chairs and a couch, giving a performance more fitting a nightclub with piano and strings. But there are no string players in the crowded room. Her bad lip-sync is not very romantic as she blasts Campbell’s eyebrows back from inches away, angling them even more. It is the most embarrassing and funny moment in the film. Why any song was planned for this film is a mystery...like Lloyd’s career. She actually does a halfway decent job vocally, but her awkward lip-sync and expressions made me sweat.
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