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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Goofs

Felton says he's still on eastern time, 3 hours ahead. Utah is in mountain time, just 2 hours behind eastern.

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Quotes

Edmund Parry: Leave it on, Holmes. Be brief and to the point.
Sheriff Jess Holmes: Folks around say I couldn't talk less without being dead.
Edmund Parry: Well that's a consummation devoutly to be wished. I'll vote for it at the next election.

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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

Interesting for the cast

"The Girl in the Black Stockings" is a B movie, and I don't give it the tremendous historical significance one of the other reviewers did. It's obviously made cheaply, and the story is awkward. Directed by Howard Koch, it has a surprising lack of pace. The stars are Lex Barker, Anne Bancroft, John Dehner, Ron Randell, Marie Windsor and Mamie Van Doren. The plot concerns murders at a resort - in fact, the film begins with the discovery of a dead body, and several more follow. Dehner plays the sheriff. The resort is owned by a man with hysterical paralysis (Randell) and his sister (Windsor), who takes care of him. There's a Barrymore-type actor preparing for a comeback with the help of a va-va-va-voom blonde (Van Doren), and several guests, including Barker and Bancroft, who apparently have some sort of history together.

The acting is okay with the exception of a very young Bancroft, who smartly underplays what could have been an extremely over the top character. Barker was very handsome and fit, but after reading that Lana Turner threw him out when she learned he was abusing her daughter Cheryl, it's hard to watch him. Most of the characters really aren't fleshed out enough to give the actors something to work with. Stuart Whitman has a small part, as does Dan Blocker, who plays a bartender.

Not great.