Short Crime Drama

 

 (imdb)

SQUAD CAR-1960-Lt. Beck (Paul Bryar) investigates the murder of an airplane mechanic involved in a counterfeiting ring. A crop duster operator Jay Rinehart (Don Marlowe) is Beck's prime suspect. He's doing some smuggling for Mr. Stahl (Jack Harris) who makes threats against Jeannie (Lynn Moore), Rinehart's girlfriend. Also involved is Cameo Kincaide (Vici Raaf), a nightclub singer, who was dating the dead guy. A narrator (Art Gilmore) helps move the plot along. Even though Stahl tries to kill Cameo they wind up teaming together and sharing the phony loot but after Cameo shoots Jeannie, Rinehart helps Beck nail the guilty party.

This is like a pilot for a TV crime drama with a cliched script and the Beck character reminding me of Broderick Crawford's role in the TV series “Highway Patrol”. It's the only feature film credit for director Ed Leftwich. 

Star Marlowe managed Bela Lugosi for a short while (around the time of ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN). He claimed to have negotiated the role for the actor but details are sketchy. He often said (even in his autobiography) that he portrayed Porky in the “Our Gang” comedies but this has been proven false. Years after Lugosi's death he hawked some memorabilia related to Lugosi in various movie magazines.

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