Veteran character actor Lloyd Corrigan gives a wonderful performance as the widowed man whose gregarious game of golf is disturbed when he comes across a corpse and somehow is identified by the killer, leading his family to be harassed and be put in grave danger. The film starts off on a comic note with Corrigan and elder daughter Anita Louise puttering the afternoon away from the office and sharing some amusing father and daughter moments together. But once the gregarious Corrigan begins to overhear the unseen criminals threaten him, he begins to fear for his family's safety, and the tides turn for him, as well as the film's mood.
Corrigan was best known for his easy going manner, and even when it hid some nefarious business dealings of his own, whenever he appeared on screen, the audience was aware that it was going to get a few light hearted human moments with the veteran character actor. This was probably his only leading role, and he is the heart and soul of the film. Young Terry Moore plays the typical teenager, the younger daughter whose obsession with crime gets her nosy self too far in deep with the discovery of a dead body on the neighboring property, even thinking that her father may have been the killer. This leads her to an encounter with seemingly friendly neighbors (Wilton Graff and Doris Houck) that may end up with somebody joining the discovered dead body in the morgue!
You don't think for the first reel of this B film that you are entering the world of film noir, and once it switches gears, it is a roller coaster ride like no other. Corrigan has a great moment where his worry over the situation has him erupt in a sudden burst of temper, and he does it very realistically. Louise shows the strength of the typical maturing oldest daughter, and while Moore's character might be a bit of a pest, at least her intentions are in the right place, making her grow on you. Great black and white photography with some terrific shadowing (especially when Corrigan investigates the pipes where he lost his golf ball and found something much more revealing) help make this obscure crime drama a true sleeper, and one that will get you hooked from the very start!
Corrigan was best known for his easy going manner, and even when it hid some nefarious business dealings of his own, whenever he appeared on screen, the audience was aware that it was going to get a few light hearted human moments with the veteran character actor. This was probably his only leading role, and he is the heart and soul of the film. Young Terry Moore plays the typical teenager, the younger daughter whose obsession with crime gets her nosy self too far in deep with the discovery of a dead body on the neighboring property, even thinking that her father may have been the killer. This leads her to an encounter with seemingly friendly neighbors (Wilton Graff and Doris Houck) that may end up with somebody joining the discovered dead body in the morgue!
You don't think for the first reel of this B film that you are entering the world of film noir, and once it switches gears, it is a roller coaster ride like no other. Corrigan has a great moment where his worry over the situation has him erupt in a sudden burst of temper, and he does it very realistically. Louise shows the strength of the typical maturing oldest daughter, and while Moore's character might be a bit of a pest, at least her intentions are in the right place, making her grow on you. Great black and white photography with some terrific shadowing (especially when Corrigan investigates the pipes where he lost his golf ball and found something much more revealing) help make this obscure crime drama a true sleeper, and one that will get you hooked from the very start!