Ring of Fear (1954)

User Rating:

5.3/10   

Director:

James Edward Grant

Writers:

Paul Fix (original screenplay) and
Philip MacDonald (original screenplay) ...

Release Date:

24 July 1954 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Mystery

Tagline:

THE ONE AND ONLY MICKEY SPILLANE (original print ad - all caps)

Plot:

Three psychiatrists find that Dublin O'Malley has homicidal tendencies, an under-diagnosis at best. O'Malley kills a guard...

Plot Keywords:

Circus | Escape | Tiger | Accident | Performer

Cast

Clyde Beatty	...	Himself
Mickey Spillane	...	Himself
Pat O'Brien	...	Frank Wallace
Sean McClory	...	Dublin O'Malley
Marian Carr	...	Valerie St. Dennis
John Bromfield	...	Armand St. Dennis
Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez	...	Pedro Gonzales (as Gonzalez-Gonzales)
Emmett Lynn	...	Twitchy
Jack Stang	...	Himself
Kenneth Tobey	...	Shreveport
Kathy Cline	...	Suzette St. Dennis

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Warnercolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.55 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (RCA Sound System) (magnetic prints) | Mono (optical prints)

Certification:

Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #16800, General Audience) | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Deming, New Mexico, USA

Company:

Wayne-Fellows Productions

Trivia:

Average Shot Length = ~8 seconds. Median Shot Length = ~8.4 seconds.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the scene where Dublin coerces Twitchy into sabotaging Armand St. Dennis's trapeze, right before Dublin leaves Twitchy is holding in his hands the handkerchief that he's been using as he applies his makeup; in the next shot, as Dublin leaves, he's clutching the bottle of liquor that Dublin has plied him with; in the shot after that, he is once again holding the handkerchief.

Disappointing

Ring of Fear (1954)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Weird blend of action and horror as a maniac gets loose in Clyde Beatty's circus and soon bodies are starting to pile up so the manager (Pat O'Brien) calls in writer Mickey Spillane to solve the case. Both Beatty and Spillane play themselves and both give an equally bad performance, which I guess is to be expected. Spillane is really, really bad but at least he gave us some great stories in his real job. The film's only real highlights are the scenes with Beatty trying to tame a wild lion. These scenes here are pretty exciting but they work against the so called mystery that's suppose to be going on and at times it seems the mystery is completely forgotten about. O'Brien comes off pretty good but he's not given a lot to do. The 2.55:1 aspect ratio makes for some good circus scenes but for the most part this thing is dead on arrival.