Roadhouse Girl (1953)

George Saunders is the middle-aged owner of a roadside garage and pub. Trouble is inevitable when his sexy young wife, Marilyn, gets involved with Tom, the new mechanic.

Director:

Wolf Rilla

Writer:

Wolf Rilla (screenplay)

Stars:

Maxwell Reed, Sandra Dorne, Leslie Dwyer

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Maxwell Reed	...	Tom Price
Sandra Dorne	...	Marilyn Saunders
Leslie Dwyer	...	George Saunders
Vida Hope	...	Rosie
Ferdy Mayne	...	Nicky Everton
Hugh Pryse	...	Coroner
Kenneth Connor	...	Customer in Roadhouse
Ben Williams	...	Jury Foreman
Gerald Rex	...	Minor Role
Hugh Munro	...	Minor Role

Storyline

George Saunders is the middle-aged owner of a roadside garage and pub. Trouble is inevitable when his sexy young wife, Marilyn, gets involved with Tom, the new mechanic.

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Plot Keywords:

young wife | mechanic | lesbian subtext | british noir | seduction | 

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Taglines:

Beautiful but Bad!

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

August 1955 (USA)

Also Known As:

Roadhouse Girl

Filming Locations:

Shepperton Station, Shepperton, Surrey, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Nettlefold Films

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Opening credits: The Characters and events depicted in this Film are Fictitious, and any similarity to actual persons living or dead or events is purely coincidental.

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Goofs

The petrol pumps seen in the opening scene when Tom Price arrives at George Saunders' garage are a much older design than the ones seen from Tom's window when he looks over the forecourt,

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Quotes

Marilyn Saunders: Have you ever thought about getting married?
Rosie: No thank you! Men!
Marilyn Saunders: Haven't you ever fancied anyone at all?
Marilyn Saunders: They're all the same. Keep on at you about going for a walk, and then, if you do, they get ideas.

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Connections

Featured in Truly, Madly, Cheaply!: British B Movies (2008)

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Soundtracks

Let's Forget
Sung by Ray Burns

User Reviews

The postman rings once!

Recently shown in all its sleazy glory on BBC 's British B season, this leans heavily on the Hollywood classic THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE - indeed Sandra Dore's character would aspire to the glamour of a Lana Turner. It follows the template of the hot sexy young wife using her hunky but dumb young stud to eliminate her inconvenient older husband but adds a few ingredients of its own. Marilyn tends be too whiny to be sympathetic and Maxwell Reed (a pin-up of his day) manages to convey the fall-guy mechanic's infatuation and confusion as his lover increasingly takes him for granted. The film throws in the added complication of the character of Rose who nurtures unrequited lesbian feelings for Marilyn but the actress's reading of her lines is monotonous and unfeeling - trying to be downtrodden, she merely comes across as vacuous and a bad actress. An unrecognisably young Ferdy Mayne crops up as a sleazy, flashy hustler who woos Marilyn with promises of the high life but skedaddles when she grows too serious. Best actor is Leslie Dwyer = Mr Partridge himself - as the cuckolded hubbie who comes to a predictable end. British B films ended to reflect the seedy down-at-heels side of England - mostly because they couldn't afford to gloss things up. In a way, they paved the way for the kitchen sink films of the late 5's- early 60's. However, they lacked actors who looked the part like Albert Finney and Tom Courtney. They had to settle for Maxwell Reed. Dwyer looks the part and inhabits his character more convincingly than the others.