The Girl in Black Stockings (1957)

A party girl is murdered, and everyone at a Utah motel is a suspect.

Director:

Howard W. Koch

Writers:

Richard H. Landau (screenplay) (as Richard Landau), Peter Godfrey (story "Wanton Murder")

Stars:

Lex Barker, Anne Bancroft, Mamie Van Doren

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Lex Barker	...	David Hewson
Anne Bancroft	...	Beth Dixon
Mamie Van Doren	...	Harriet Ames
Ron Randell	...	Edmund Parry
Marie Windsor	...	Julia Parry
John Dehner	...	Sheriff Jess Holmes
John Holland	...	Norman Grant
Diana Van der Vlis	...	Louise Miles (as Diana Vandervlis)
Richard H. Cutting	...	Dr. John Aitkin (as Richard Cutting)
Larry Chance	...	Indian Joe
Gene O'Donnell	...	Joseph Felton
Gerald Frank	...	Frankie Pierce
Karl MacDonald	...	Deputy Fred
Norman Leavitt	...	Amos
Stuart Whitman	...	Prentiss

Storyline

Near a small Utah town, visiting lawyer David Hewson finds the slashed body of party girl Marcia Morgan, his fellow tenant at Parry Lodge. Sheriff Jess Holmes considers everyone at the motel a suspect, even owner Edmund Parry, a woman hater who is quadriplegic...or is he? While Holmes investigates and the suspects try to hide mutual fears, the killer strikes again...

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Plot Keywords:

serial murder | psychotronic film | blonde woman | woman wears fishnet stockings | motel | 

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Taglines:

One Will Die Tonight!

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir | Mystery

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 September 1957 (USA)

Also Known As:

Black Stockings

Filming Locations:

Kanab, Utah, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bel-Air Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

75 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.75 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Completed in 1956, but not released until September 1957.

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Quotes

Sheriff Jess Holmes: You're not unhappy about the dead girl?
Edmund Parry: [shows contempt] Unhappy? Romance on the Gold Standard. Common creature whose every word, every breath, every gesture, was the show of an empty, shallow promise. Miss Morgan was an example of completely justifiable homicide.
Sheriff Jess Holmes: Is that an opinion or a confession, Ed?
Edmund Parry: Confession? All these years, I would have given anything to use a knife to get back the youth of just one finger.

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Connections

Featured in Bikers, Blondes and Blood (1993)

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Soundtracks

Symphony No. 40 in G Minor, K. 550
(uncredited)
1st Movement (Molto Allegro)
Written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

User Reviews

Wanton Murder!

The Girl in Black Stockings is directed by Howard W. Koch and written by Richard Landau and Peter Godfrey. It stars Lex Barker, Anne Bancroft, Mamie Van Doren, Ron Randell, John Dehner and Marie Windsor. Music is by Les Baxter and cinematography by William Margulies.

When a party girl is found murdered at a Utah hotel, everyone is under suspicion.

Miserable predatory creatures!

One of the definitions of the low budget drive-in movie, The Girl in Black Stockings is an odd and fascinating picture. In core essence it's a standard murder mystery piece, a sort of minor Ten Little Indians only with kooky overtones.

She'd get on that dance floor and fry eggs!

The characterisations, performed by a wide scope cast list, are firmly in the realm of the off kilter or suspiciously suspect! While some of the scripted dialogue is priceless and pungent with noirish tones. Plus there is lots of smoking going on to emphasise the noirish fever.

I'm gonna have to raise taxes to build a morgue!

The acting is all over the place, mind, with Tarzan leading the way doing some smell the fart acting, while others are overwrought in delivery of script. Yet the up and down acting fits into the grand scheme of Utah weirdo style, further accentuated by the swirly Gothic musical score.

Nutty and fruity, corny yet crisp, it's a fun experience. Plus there's Van Doren, who had to have had the widest mouth of all circa the 1950s. 7/10