Man on the Prowl

(1957) Man on the Prowl PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER

Co-produced, co-written and directed by Art Napoleon that has Doug Gerhardt (James Best) making attempts to make out with a young lady he has taken with on his convertible. And when she refuses his advances, he then beats her to death. When the victim had been discovered and described by authorities, they find out she was killed while she was on a red El Dorado convertible. Meanwhile, during this investigation was happening it also happens to be the time mechanic/ delivery Doug who works for a Cadillac repair auto business happen to be delivering a red Eldorado with a three wheel ATV dragged from behind back to it's original residence, and tries to pick up the owner of the convertible's girlfriend, Alma Doran (Peggy Maley) while she was sunbathing by the pool. He was doing that by grabbing an expensive cigarette holder from the glove box before pretending that he found it as he was coming up the steps, Alma of course remembered where he grabbed it from and belittled him for lying. And just when he was about to hit her with it, she was saved by her housekeeper and phone call. Doug driving on his ATV angry and perhaps speeding he nearly stuck a young mom of two, Marian Wood (Mala Powers) and her son, Jeff after crossing the road from grocery shopping. And after Doug was helping her pick up groceries from the street, he then sneaks Mariam's son's yo yo into his pocket, for the intention of using it as a ruse to get her to entrust him.

Although, the set up was engrossing, I found there is way too many conveniences for the killer himself. Viewers never see Doug ever go back to his auto body job after his first victim, he was never fired nor was he ever questioned by authorities even though they were going on the right path. The other thing that was baffling was how did Doug have access to Miriam's husband's garage unless he was either invited or have access to it whenever he wants. For the impression I had was that Miriam's husband, Woody (Jerry Paris) that it was his own private garage for all the cars he wants to repair and keep. And the way Miriam abandoned her own children just to see her husband at the hospital was quite unbelievable, who did not like leave them with the neighbor or grandparents to relatives is not a credible scenario.

I searched a long time for this underrated drama speaking of a young assassin, payed by James Best. A good character study for a movie that should have been best and more widely shown. It seems that is is available in DVD, but unfortunately in a poor 16mm copy. Anyway, even if the topic itself may be not so unforeseeable, it remains worth seeing, only for Jim Best, Mala Powers and Ted De Corsia too. It's actually not entirely a crime film, but rather a drama. Poor production design, as you can guess, but solid acting. No, I don't get it why it was not more shown on channels like TCM for instance. Or maybe it has been, I don't know.

During his long career, James Best mostly played likable characters...such as with his guest spots on "The Andy Griffith Show". The worst character I remember him playing is the deputy on "The Dukes of Hazard"....but he sure wasn't evil. Well, imagine my surprise when I saw this nice-guy actor playing a violent sex offender in "Man on the Prowl"!

When the story begins, Doug (Best) is on a date with a pretty young lady and they're in a car he has borrowed. He suddenly becomes very grabby with the lady and when she resists, he savagely beats her to death! Very soon after this, he begins making ovations at a young married lady (Mala Powers) and he definitely puts out creepy vibes...and she is afraid to resist his overtures too much. Obviously he's grooming her to his next victim and you wonder if the police will catch up to Doug before this wife and mother is yet another murder victim. However, he's so out of control that there are bound to be other victims as well....as well as the rest of her family if he gets the chance.

"Man on the Prowl" is a relatively low budget film that gets it right, so to speak. In other words, it captures how antisocial, evil and just plain creepy such individuals can be. I used to work with quite a few as a therapist (which, by the way, is pretty ineffective with such sociopaths)...and the writers and Best did a good job of capturing this sort of person. They certainly don't sugar coat him nor his actions! He is menacing....and vicious. Overall, an incredibly well done film and I greatly respect the fact that the film was made without fancy locations nor a huge budget.