Walk a Tightrope *** (1964, Dan Duryea, Patricia Owens, Terence Cooper, Neil McCallum, Richard Leech, Trevor Reid, A J Brown) – Classic Movie Review 8273

Legendary Hollywood bad guy Dan Duryea and Patricia Owens star in the tense and suspenseful 1964 crime mystery suspense thriller Walk a Tightrope.

Patricia Owens gives a powerful performance as Ellen Sheppard, happily married to Jason (Terence Cooper), but tormented by her past, in director Frank Nesbitt’s tense and suspenseful 1964 Anglo-American crime mystery suspense thriller Walk a Tightrope, sleekly shot in black and white by Basil Emmott.

Ellen is being followed and blackmailed by her former husband after their annulment did not go through, so she plots with an American hired gunman Carl Lutcher (legendary Hollywood bad guy Dan Duryea) living in Britain to kill her ex when he comes asking for more money. [Spoiler alert] But then the current husband arrives unexpectedly and Lutcher kills him, thinking he is the ex. Lutcher then claims he was hired by the woman to kill her husband.

Walk a Tightrope runs 75 minutes and is presented on the 2015 Network DVD in a new transfer from the original film elements in its as-exhibited theatrical aspect ratio.

Neil McCallum, who wrote the screenplay from a story by New York writer Mann Rubin, also plays the prosecuting counsel. Also in the cast are Richard Leech, Trevor Reid, A J Brown, Shirley Cameron, David Bauer and Jack Melford.

Walk a Tightrope is director Frank Nesbitt, runs 75 minutes, is made by Jack Parsons-Neil McCallum Productions and Associated Producers, is released by British Lion Film Corporation (1963) (UK) and Paramount Pictures (1964) (US) is written by Neil McCallum, from a story by New York writer Mann Rubin, is shot in black and white by Basil Emmott, is produced by Jack Parsons, and is scored by Buxton Orr.

The cast are Dan Duryea as Carl Lutcher, Patricia Owens as Ellen Sheppard, Terence Cooper as Jason Sheppard, Richard Leech as Doug Randle, Neil McCallum as Counsel, Trevor Reid as Inspector MacMitchell, A J Brown as Magistrate, David Bauer as Ed, Shirley Cameron as Maisie and Jack Melford.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8273

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com