Elam On The Prowl

 

 (imdb)

THE GIRL IN LOVERS LANE-1960-Runaway rich kid Danny Winslow (Lowell Brown) meets railroad bum Bix Dugan (Brett Halsey from THE RETURN OF THE FLY (1959)) on a train car, after he's unsuccessfully mugged. They team up as drifters and land in the sleepy town of Sherman, where they have lunch at a diner run by Carrie (Joyce Meadows; THE BRAIN FROM PLANET AROUS (1957)) and her father (Emile Meyer). Bix and Carrie hit it off but Danny gets in trouble with local floozy Peggy (Selette Cole). Meanwhile, local weird guy Jessie (Jack Elam) leers at Carrie and gives her the creeps. Bix has to break his first date with Carrie however when he and Danny get into a fight with some local “toughs”. After their next date, Bix and Danny get jobs at the diner. When things get serious between Bix and Carrie, he wants to blow town. Unfortunately, Carrie runs into Jessie and he kills her. Bix is blamed and arrested. Carrie's drunken father and his crew get Bix and dad tries to beat him to death. Fortunately, Danny makes Jessie confess. 

Pretty depressing drama directed by Charles R. Rondeau (DEVIL'S PARTNER the same year) and written by Jo Helms who later wrote PLAY MISTY FOR ME (1971). Lead actress Joyce Meadows is still living at the time of this writing. So is Brett Halsey. Male co-star Lowell Brown, also in THE DAY MARS INVADED EARTH (1962), may also still be with us...

Thanks for dreading!

Friend of the Devil?

 

 (imdb)

THE DEVIL'S PARTNER-1960-An old man is killed when sacrificing a goat in a supernatural ritual. Then Nick Richards (Ed Nelson) comes to a small town looking for his uncle Pete. He's informed by the sheriff (Spencer Carlisle) that his uncle is dead and it could be murder. Local girl Nell (Jean Allison) befriends him. Her boyfriend David (Richard Crane) owns a gas station and her father (Edgar Buchanan) is the town doctor. Later Frank, another local drinks goat's milk and dies. Nick seems nice but he obviously has a sinister ulterior motive. At night Nick, using a pentagram his uncle made, makes David's dog turn on him. He survives by killing the dog and hires Nick to run the station while he recovers. Later Nick kills the plastic surgeon who's coming to check out David's scars by making his car crash. For some reason Nick pays the town drunk Papers (Byron Foulger) to help him in another ritual where Nick transforms into his uncle Pete! Papers runs away and is trampled by a mysterious black horse. Later Nick turns into a snake and tries to kill David but is shot. He turns into the black horse but is shot and killed by the Sheriff. The horse turns into Nick who turns into Uncle Pete. 

There seems to be a few holes in this story or the version I saw was edited. This is only one of two feature length films made by busy TV director Charles Rondeau and both in 1960 (the other was the dreary THE GIRL IN LOVER'S LANE). The screenplay was co-written by ex-Bowery Boys actor Stanley Clements.

Thanks for reading!