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Wannabe gangster bigshot Dorella (Vic Tayback) thinks he has the perfect plan on how to rob a small town bank with a crew of only two, himself and Johnny Cabot (Johnny Cash), a small fry crook with a violent streak. The plan's very simple, Dorella himself is to waltz into the bank and ask for a health sum of money from the bank's vice president Wilson (Donald Woods), while Cabot is to enter Wilson's home, take his wife Nancy (Cay Forester) hostage, rough her up a bit, and promising to kill her if Dorella's demands aren't met. This way Dorella could even be sure that he'll be able to leave the bank with the money before Wilson would even dream of calling the police. It seems like a perfect plan as the Wilsons' perfect suburban facade tells Dorella Wilson must love his wife very much - only it's not so as Wilson plans to escape to Las Vegas with his lover Ellen (Pamela Mason) to leave suburban life for good. So he really muses about having his wife killed by Cabpt to get rid of her scot-free, and Dorella has to appeal to his conscience. And all the waiting around at the Wilsons' house makes Cabot more than a little frisky, to the point where he rapes Nancy. It's only eventually that the good comes through in Wilson and he gives in to Dorella's demands. But him handing out a large chunk of money of course doesn't go unnoticed by his boss at the bank (Leslie Kimmell) - so what Dorella considered a perfect plan is undone more and more by unaccounted for variables ...

By 1961, Johnny Cash was by no means the music legend we know him to be today, so bearing that in mind it's not that surprising to see him play a particularly unsavory villain in this low budget crime thriller - abd play him particularly well, too, even when he's performing a couple of his tunes at really unapropriate moments. The film as a whole is a pulpy affair that might be accused of rather simplistic writing. But that said, i't's well played by all involved, with special praise going to Cash of course, and his partner in most of his scenes, Cay Forester, who really bring the central drama of the film to life. The film's also well-paced enough to have one not too think too much about narrative inconsistencies at least when watching, and there's suspense in all the right places to make this ... well, maybe not a forgotten classic as such, but an underrated gem at the very least.

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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