A crime drama with a touch of film noir, starring Gene Barry and Barbara Hale. He's Frank Duncan, an oil driller. She's Zoe, the girlfriend/'kept woman' of local hood Gordon Shay (Paul Richards). Seeing an opportunity to make a fortune by diverting a Texas oil field, Frank teams up with Gordon and another hood, Paul Atlas (Edward Arnold). Before they double-cross him, he turns the tables. Then mafia don Emile Constant (John Zaremba) sends a couple of goons after him.
Frank reads of the apparent suicide of a young girl, a dancer. At the morgue, he's asked to identify her. He arrives at his buddy Louie's (Frank Jenks') house. A fancy car car pulls up later; the strangers wants to talk about the dead girl. There's a not so subtle threat; does Frank know too much about it? Anyway Frank and Louie go to a club where Zoe's singing. After her performance, Frank goes backstage to chat with her. And then mess with her--he doesn't appreciate that she seems to care less what happened to her husband, Joe--dead from an oil rig accident that may have been planned--as the guy was Frank's friend. "Having a husband probably slowed you down some." He wants to talk to Paul, but gets Gordon.
So, Frank's finally gets to Atlas at the swell's mansion. On the agenda: financing for Frank's oil scheme. He presents a plan, "stolen oil, right from the oil field." Why wouldn't Atlas and Shay just bypass Frank? Good question. Anyway, Frank wants Louie to run the would-be company. After Frank leaves, the hoods come right out and say they'll indeed push the newbie out of the way when he's no longer useful. Next thing we know, Frank's making out with Madge at her restaurant; across town, he finds time to have the same fun with Zoe. Two-timer!
Unfortunately for Frank, Atlas and Shay burst in on them--Frank's decked. We travel to the Constant Trust Company. The mobster Constant is disappointed with Shay "I'm afraid the combine will have to look for a new man!" Duncan's deal, providentially, sounds like a bright spot. The mobster doesn't even want FranK. Meanwhile, Frank wants Zoe to decide "which team (his or Shay's) you're on." Out at the nitty-gritty level of the oil business, bribes are taken care of to divert the oil to the new company--nominally headed by Louie. Now the big wheel, Frank basically bait-snd-switches foreign buyers.
To get the oil to market, they need to hi-jack a load of pipe. The hoods stage an accident to lure the oil tanker drivers into an ambush. Against orders, the hoods kill one of the guys. The police figure that something big is brewing--"maybe there's something starting in the fields that we don't know about." Constant's upset about the murder; Frank even more so. Since Frank recorded the conversation in which he told Shay that he didn't want any gunplay, Shay's in the hot seat. Frank's in. It's obvious that Frank is pure ambition; he's just a hood now.
Zoe wants to see Frank. But she's blackmailing him--that's because another hood has a gun to her head. Frank hopes to scrounge up the dough from his safe. Walking into a trap, he hears "Zoe couldn't come, she's all tied up." He means literally. Here's the pitch: $25k or Zoe? Conveniently, there's a window open on this observation deck. Guess who falls out? Scratch one hood. Frank scoots back to Zoe's, but now Shay is there to ambush him. Getting the advantage, Paul has to be prevented him from killing him. Now Frank's telling Paul what to do.
One last independent company stands in the way of the big oil scam. Shay tosses hand grenades into the offending company's rigs; problem solved? No, because the cops catch up with Shay. Paul accuses Frank of double-crossing them. At this point, it seems they've all double-crossed each other. Paul wants to disappear, but the cops are after him too; he's shot in the street. Now, Constant, having overcome his aversion to violence, sicks Kato and Don (Paul Kellett and Charles H. Gray) on him.
Relaxing poolside, Zoe wants them to split "let's get out why we still have our necks." No dice, because, you see, Frank's a big man now. The killers arrive in town. Bursting into the office, Louie tries to fend them off. They smack Louie and leave. Well, so Zoe was right about going away. We knew that. Frank, now panicky, finds Madge, asking her to come with him. But first, she's to get some stuff from his place.
Madge shows up just as Zoe rifles through the corporate safe. Naturally, Zoe tells Madge she's not going anywhere with him. In fact, neither women is. Then Zoe gets kidnapped; she has to give up Frank's location, but they shoot her anyway. Madge calls the cops. They're looking for Frank too. He's waiting there all right. The hoods get there first--but Frank nails them both. Louie's job is to talk sense to Frank; he surrenders. Kind of an anticlimactic ending.
It's hard to get involved with these characters; both leads are just out for themselves, which makes their romance not quite believable. Madge and Louie are the only decent ones. Both are basically just side kicks; it might've been more interesting with Madge and Louie as the main characters. Ten years before this movie, a classic noir plot would show the ordinary guy (Louie) getting in over his head with the underworld, dragging down (before being redeemed by) the loyal, strong-willed girl (Madge). Here, it's the opposite; who cares about Frank and Zoe?
Frank is such a good criminal that he makes the other guys look like chumps. Even Constant is a boy scout by comparison. Others have noted that the initial scenes concerning the missing girl found dead are gratuitous. Aside from that, though, the plot works well, and the pacing keeps the action rolling. But that's it. No suspense, no feeling. The Houston Story is kindnd of entertaining, just not as good as it could be.
Frank reads of the apparent suicide of a young girl, a dancer. At the morgue, he's asked to identify her. He arrives at his buddy Louie's (Frank Jenks') house. A fancy car car pulls up later; the strangers wants to talk about the dead girl. There's a not so subtle threat; does Frank know too much about it? Anyway Frank and Louie go to a club where Zoe's singing. After her performance, Frank goes backstage to chat with her. And then mess with her--he doesn't appreciate that she seems to care less what happened to her husband, Joe--dead from an oil rig accident that may have been planned--as the guy was Frank's friend. "Having a husband probably slowed you down some." He wants to talk to Paul, but gets Gordon.
So, Frank's finally gets to Atlas at the swell's mansion. On the agenda: financing for Frank's oil scheme. He presents a plan, "stolen oil, right from the oil field." Why wouldn't Atlas and Shay just bypass Frank? Good question. Anyway, Frank wants Louie to run the would-be company. After Frank leaves, the hoods come right out and say they'll indeed push the newbie out of the way when he's no longer useful. Next thing we know, Frank's making out with Madge at her restaurant; across town, he finds time to have the same fun with Zoe. Two-timer!
Unfortunately for Frank, Atlas and Shay burst in on them--Frank's decked. We travel to the Constant Trust Company. The mobster Constant is disappointed with Shay "I'm afraid the combine will have to look for a new man!" Duncan's deal, providentially, sounds like a bright spot. The mobster doesn't even want FranK. Meanwhile, Frank wants Zoe to decide "which team (his or Shay's) you're on." Out at the nitty-gritty level of the oil business, bribes are taken care of to divert the oil to the new company--nominally headed by Louie. Now the big wheel, Frank basically bait-snd-switches foreign buyers.
To get the oil to market, they need to hi-jack a load of pipe. The hoods stage an accident to lure the oil tanker drivers into an ambush. Against orders, the hoods kill one of the guys. The police figure that something big is brewing--"maybe there's something starting in the fields that we don't know about." Constant's upset about the murder; Frank even more so. Since Frank recorded the conversation in which he told Shay that he didn't want any gunplay, Shay's in the hot seat. Frank's in. It's obvious that Frank is pure ambition; he's just a hood now.
Zoe wants to see Frank. But she's blackmailing him--that's because another hood has a gun to her head. Frank hopes to scrounge up the dough from his safe. Walking into a trap, he hears "Zoe couldn't come, she's all tied up." He means literally. Here's the pitch: $25k or Zoe? Conveniently, there's a window open on this observation deck. Guess who falls out? Scratch one hood. Frank scoots back to Zoe's, but now Shay is there to ambush him. Getting the advantage, Paul has to be prevented him from killing him. Now Frank's telling Paul what to do.
One last independent company stands in the way of the big oil scam. Shay tosses hand grenades into the offending company's rigs; problem solved? No, because the cops catch up with Shay. Paul accuses Frank of double-crossing them. At this point, it seems they've all double-crossed each other. Paul wants to disappear, but the cops are after him too; he's shot in the street. Now, Constant, having overcome his aversion to violence, sicks Kato and Don (Paul Kellett and Charles H. Gray) on him.
Relaxing poolside, Zoe wants them to split "let's get out why we still have our necks." No dice, because, you see, Frank's a big man now. The killers arrive in town. Bursting into the office, Louie tries to fend them off. They smack Louie and leave. Well, so Zoe was right about going away. We knew that. Frank, now panicky, finds Madge, asking her to come with him. But first, she's to get some stuff from his place.
Madge shows up just as Zoe rifles through the corporate safe. Naturally, Zoe tells Madge she's not going anywhere with him. In fact, neither women is. Then Zoe gets kidnapped; she has to give up Frank's location, but they shoot her anyway. Madge calls the cops. They're looking for Frank too. He's waiting there all right. The hoods get there first--but Frank nails them both. Louie's job is to talk sense to Frank; he surrenders. Kind of an anticlimactic ending.
It's hard to get involved with these characters; both leads are just out for themselves, which makes their romance not quite believable. Madge and Louie are the only decent ones. Both are basically just side kicks; it might've been more interesting with Madge and Louie as the main characters. Ten years before this movie, a classic noir plot would show the ordinary guy (Louie) getting in over his head with the underworld, dragging down (before being redeemed by) the loyal, strong-willed girl (Madge). Here, it's the opposite; who cares about Frank and Zoe?
Frank is such a good criminal that he makes the other guys look like chumps. Even Constant is a boy scout by comparison. Others have noted that the initial scenes concerning the missing girl found dead are gratuitous. Aside from that, though, the plot works well, and the pacing keeps the action rolling. But that's it. No suspense, no feeling. The Houston Story is kindnd of entertaining, just not as good as it could be.