The True Story of Lynn Stuart (1958)

When the nephews of Phyllis Carter are killed in an automobile crash while under the influence of narcotics, she persuades Police Lieutenant Jim Hahan to use her as an undercover agent, ... See full summary »

Director:

Lewis Seiler

Writers:

John Kneubuhl (adaptation), Pat Michaels (newspaper articles)

Stars:

Betsy Palmer, Jack Lord, Barry Atwater

Cast

Cast overview:
Betsy Palmer	...	Phyllis Carter aka Lynn Stuart
Jack Lord	...	Willie Down
Barry Atwater	...	Police Lt. Jim Hagan

Storyline

When the nephews of Phyllis Carter are killed in an automobile crash while under the influence of narcotics, she persuades Police Lieutenant Jim Hahan to use her as an undercover agent, despite the fact she is married and has a young son. She is trained to impersonate 'Lynn Stuart," who did time for a bank hold-up, and is given a job at a drive-in restaurant where members of a narcotics-gang are know to frequent. She attracts the attention of Willie Down, a mid-level boss in the gang and begins getting information from him. Her husband, alarmed over the health of their son gets her to promise to quit. Willie takes her to Mexico, where he and a gang-henchman murder the driver and guard of a truck transporting dope and hijack the load. Phyllis/Lynn goes to the ladies-room of a service station where she scribble their destination on a mirror using lipstick.

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Plot Keywords:

restaurant | drive in restaurant | hijack | murder | mexico | 

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Taglines:

"I DON'T DARE SHOW MY FACE!" (original print ad - all caps)

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 March 1958 (USA)

Also Known As:

Agent i undre världen

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

78 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Final film of director Lewis Seiler.

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Goofs

The veteran cop refers to the well-known Orange County CA community as Garden Groves (plural), instead of its actual name of Garden Grove.

User Reviews

Ripped From the Headlines

Columbia goes to a series of newspaper articles about the drug traffic in this story about upper middle class housewife Betsey Palmer volunteering to go undercover for the narcotics squad. The sincerity of the story telling and, indeed, Miss Palmer's acting, manage to overcome a few holes in logic, like her ability to impersonate an ex-con after studying a list of junkie slang.

Basically the understated night-life photography of Burnett Guffey and a large cast of skilled if little-known screen actors of all ages -- including Snub Pollard and Eddie Le Veque as well as Jack Lord as the lead drug dealer -- manage to keep this interesting enough to overcome the problem. Plus Miss Palmer is gorgeous. It's a pity she didn't get a chance to be in more movies until a quarter century later, but she had plenty of work in TV.