Shack Out on 101 *** (1955, Terry Moore, Frank Lovejoy, Lee Marvin, Keenan Wynn) – Classic Movie Review 12,094

Lee Marvin stars in the 1955 film noir Shack Out on 101 as Slob, a lecherous short-order cook. But, don’t worry, he is also a spy using his diner as a base to smuggle nuclear secrets out of America. 

Co-writer/ director Ed Dein’s 1955 black and white film noir crime thriller Shack Out on 101 stars Terry Moore, Frank Lovejoy, Lee Marvin, and Keenan Wynn.

Moore plays a small-town waitress who finds herself the object of the amorous attentions of the local lads, two of whom, Slob and Sam (Marvin and Lovejoy) she suspects of being Russian spies.

Shack Out on 101 is a seaside greasy-spoon diner-bound melodrama worthy of a place in the pantheons of Hollywood kitsch thanks to its hysterical anti-Communist sentiment. What once passed for realism now appears high camp in this drama combining the dangers of dishpan hands with fear of the Red peril.

All involved enter into the spirit of the venture with enthusiasm, especially Lee Marvin as ‘Slob’ the lecherous short-order cook and Lovejoy as the local scientist-professor.

Slob (Lee Marvin), the cook at the diner of sarcastic war veteran George (Keenan Wynn), lusts after sexy waitress Kotty (Terry Moore), also fancied by scientist Professor Sam Bastion (Lovejoy).

The scientist works down the highway at a top-secret military base and spends most of his spare time at the diner. Slob is a spy using the diner as a base to smuggle nuclear secrets out of America via one of the diner’s regulars.

Also in the cast are Whit Bissell, Jess Barker, Donald Murphy, Frank de Kova, Len Lesser, and Fred Gabourie.

Terry Moore (born Helen Luella Koford on 7 January 1929) was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Come Back, Little Sheba (1952).

Shack Out on 101 is directed by Ed Dein, runs 80 minutes, is made by William F Broidy Productions, is released by Allied Artists Pictures, is written by Ed Dein and Mildred Dein, is shot in black and white by Floyd Crosby, is produced by Mort Millman and William F Broidy (executive producer), and scored by Paul Dunlap.

It was released on 4 December 1955 in the US.

The cast are Terry Moore as Kotty, Frank Lovejoy as Professor Sam Bastion, Keenan Wynn as George, Lee Marvin as Slob / Mr Gregory, Whit Bissell as Eddie, Jess Barker as Artie, Donald Murphy as Pepe, Frank de Kova as Professor Claude Dillon, Len Lesser as Perch, Fred Gabourie as Lookout.

© Derek Winnert 2022 Classic Movie Review 12,094

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