It's A Jungle Out There

 

 (imdb)

FEMALE JUNGLE-1955-Police investigate the murder of a Hollywood actress Monica Madison (Jean Lewis aka Eve Brent). Meanwhile Al (Burt Kaiser) and Peggy (Patricia Crowley) are having marital problems. He's a bitter boozing caricaturist and she's an unhappy nightclub waitress. An alcoholic police Sgt. Jack Stevens (Lawrence Tierney) also investigates the killing as it seems he could be the murderer. 

Peggy gets involved with the mysterious Claude Almstead (John Carradine) who says he wants a caricature but has some other motive. Although Al is having an affair with the floozy Candy (Jayne Mansfield in her movie debut) he really gets concerned when he can't find Peggy and gives Candy the brush off. The real killer is revealed in the talky finale of this low budget sleazy crime drama directed by Bruno Ve Soto, who also has a small role. Connie Cezon from 3 Stooges shorts is also in it.

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Hugo Haas

ONE GIRL'S CONFESSION-1953-Mary Adams (Cleo Moore), curvy, platinum blonde waitress at a greasy spoon gets revenge on her boss (because he cheated her father) by stealing 25 thousand dollars from him. She confesses to the crime (but won't tell where she hid the money) and goes to jail. After she's paroled she gets a job working for cheerful gambling saloon owner Dragomie Damitrof (director Hugo Haas). She meets fisherman Johnny (pre-Amazing Colossal Man Glen Langan) and they fall in love. She debates using the the hidden money to help finance Johnny's fishing business (so they can live happily ever after). Although he's a lucky gambler somehow Damitrof loses his whole business in one night. Mary decides to help her boss by having him dig up the money and giving him 5 thou to save his hide. Unfortunately he doesn't find it. He throws her out. Later it turns out Damitrof still owns his saloon and has lots of cash. Hmmmm? Could this be a double cross? Did Damitrof actually find Mary's money and have the audacity to lie to her and keep it? With the door to his apartment left conveniently open Mary confronts her double crossing boss (in a drunken stupor) and winds up bopping him on the head and killing him! Bad move! Seems Damitrof wasn't using Mary's money. He got lucky in a card game and won everything back! She finds her money, gives it to an orphanage and turns herself in. The End....Well, not really. In the twist ending (like many Haas dramas), Damitrof didn't die, Mary gave her ill gained booty away but she probably lives happily ever after with Johnny.

Czech born actor/director Hugo Haas began his Hollywood acting career in the middle '40's and in 1951 directed his first of 20 B-movies. Many of them are moralistic melodramas sometimes using the premise of an older man (usually Haas) involved with a younger woman.

ONE GIRL'S CONFESSION's female lead Cleo Moore starred in seven Haas directed dramas. She was once groomed as Columbia Pictures' "new Marilyn Monroe" but despite her looks and decent acting skills her career never panned out and she retired in 1957, the same year co-star Glenn Langan would go down in B-movie history starring in Bert I. Gordon's THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN!

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Health Short

HER NAME WAS ELLIE, HIS NAME WAS LYLE-1967-Bruce (John Pleschette) is a NYC high school basketball player who believes he has syphilis. He's rude to his girlfriend, takes lots of showers and when his grouchy father tries to talk to him he clams up. He tries to steal some penicillin from a druggist and then goes to a clinic and gets examined by an African American doctor who tells Bruce he's got the clap. Bruce got it from a waitress named Ellie (Lynne Lipton) and he breaks the bad news to her. ("Of all the lousy luck"). She goes to the clinic for help and gets a lecture.  His well informed girlfriend gets very angry when he tells her the truth (apparently from their conversation they were having sex) then she goes to the clinic and gets checked out. The counselor at the health clinic searches for a guy named Lyle who gave the dose to Ellie. By the end of this 28 minute short Lyle is still out there and "remains dangerous to himself and the community".  This black and white Dept. of Health warning  is the only directorial effort by German born Lothar Wolff who according to some sources edited Fritz Lang's THE TESTAMENT OF DR. MABUSE and THE LAST WILL OF DR. MABUSE! Filmed in Manhattan.

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