Director Russell S. Doughten Jr. Was a Christian filmmaker who branched out into commercial features with the 1958 classic "The Blob," done in partnership with Jack H. Harris and Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr. (shooting on location in Valley Forge, PA), who then returned to his native Iowa to form his own company Heartland Productions, with "The Hostage" serving as its debut feature length title, filming primarily in Des Moines during a frosty October of 1965. Amazingly, his crew included cinematographer Ted V. Mikels ("The Astro-Zombies") and future "Star Wars" producer Gary Kurtz, already experienced in working with Jack Nicholson on "Ride in the Whirlwind" and "The Shooting," as well as on Roger Corman's "Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet," "Queen of Blood," and "Blood Bath." Author Henry Farrell, best remembered for "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?," brought his 1959 novel "The Hostage" to the director's attention, and even assigned script chores to his friend Robert Laning, the cast mostly television veterans with relatively few movie credits. The arresting opening finds Don O'Kelly as psychotic Bull Phillips beating a man to death out of sheer rage, to the abject horror of business partner Eddie (Harry Dean Stanton), who hasn't the strength to hold him back. Mere hours later, the duo are already on their next job as professional movers, parking in a residential area to load up the furniture for Steve Cleaves (Ron Hagerthy) and pretty wife Carol (Jenifer Lea), while a wandering derelict named Otis P. Lovelace (Carradine) sits across the street on a park bench. One person unhappy moving to a rural location is the couple's 6 year old son Davey (Danny Martins), spotted by busybody neighbor Miss Mabry (Ann Doran) making small talk with Lovelace before sneaking inside the moving van to explore, only to get locked in by the drivers with no way of escape. Before they reach their assigned destination, the pair stop off at the murder scene to collect the corpse in a large cabinet, attempting to bury it deep in the woods until they notice the pint sized eyewitness and immediately give chase. Davey finds temporary refuge at a turkey farm, whose occupants duly hand him over to his 'father,' a clever ploy by Bull to finally catch the kid, but it's not long before the lad's photo in the newspaper puts authorities on their trail. The story plays out in fairly predictable fashion, but the little known cast enjoy the chance to flesh out their characters in compact vignettes, in particular Nora Marlowe as the farmer's wife, still mourning the loss of her own child to the machinations of his mean spirited father. The final result was picked up for national distribution by Mark Tenser's Crown International Pictures, and later included in Gold Key's 1975 Scream Theater television package for a yet greater audience. Carradine had previously worked opposite Harry Dean Stanton in both "The Proud Rebel" and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," while the year before served as narrator of the short "Genesis," also photographed by Ted V. Mikels.
Review of The Hostage
