Screen Directors Playhouse: No. 5 Checked Out (1955)
*** (out of 4)
Fairly entertaining, if overly familiar, drama about a deaf woman (Teresa Wright) running her father's cabins in a remote part of the woods. A couple men (William Talman, Peter Lorre) show up to stay a few days and what she doesn't know is that they're wanted by the law for a robbery where Lorre killed a couple men. Over the next couple days Wright and Talman begin to get closer, which doesn't sit well with Lorre who thinks his partner is turning yellow and telling the girl too much. The catchy title is just one of the good things on display here, although I'm sure most people are going to be feeling some deja vu as the storyline certainly isn't anything original. Even though it's not original at least director Lupino keeps the film moving and there's no question that the performances are very good and the thing is well made. What I enjoyed most about the film is how they used the deafness to bring out the character played by Talman. There are several times where he wants to tell this girl that he's falling for how he really feels but can't do it to her face so instead he tells it to her knowing she can't hear. This makes for a couple effective scenes as does another sequence where the two are fishing and he explains to her why not being able to hear could be viewed as a good thing. Wright, who would soon retire from acting, turns in a very strong performance as she's certainly believable playing the deaf girl. As good as she is I don't think there's any doubt that the movie belongs to Talman who is downright terrific in his part. That softness he's able to bring the character makes it a very memorable one and I couldn't help but eat up every word he was saying. The actor was so convincing that I couldn't help be drawn more into the story. Lorre is what you'd expect from him as he delivers a nice performance and adds some hilarious scenes. He plays a real creep here and the film uses it for some great laughs including a couple scenes where Lorre "pretends" to be upset about some of the violence he's caused. The way Lorre delivers the lines is priceless. The ending somewhat comes out of no where but it's an effective one and a good way to close this rather interesting take on the noir genre.
*** (out of 4)
Fairly entertaining, if overly familiar, drama about a deaf woman (Teresa Wright) running her father's cabins in a remote part of the woods. A couple men (William Talman, Peter Lorre) show up to stay a few days and what she doesn't know is that they're wanted by the law for a robbery where Lorre killed a couple men. Over the next couple days Wright and Talman begin to get closer, which doesn't sit well with Lorre who thinks his partner is turning yellow and telling the girl too much. The catchy title is just one of the good things on display here, although I'm sure most people are going to be feeling some deja vu as the storyline certainly isn't anything original. Even though it's not original at least director Lupino keeps the film moving and there's no question that the performances are very good and the thing is well made. What I enjoyed most about the film is how they used the deafness to bring out the character played by Talman. There are several times where he wants to tell this girl that he's falling for how he really feels but can't do it to her face so instead he tells it to her knowing she can't hear. This makes for a couple effective scenes as does another sequence where the two are fishing and he explains to her why not being able to hear could be viewed as a good thing. Wright, who would soon retire from acting, turns in a very strong performance as she's certainly believable playing the deaf girl. As good as she is I don't think there's any doubt that the movie belongs to Talman who is downright terrific in his part. That softness he's able to bring the character makes it a very memorable one and I couldn't help but eat up every word he was saying. The actor was so convincing that I couldn't help be drawn more into the story. Lorre is what you'd expect from him as he delivers a nice performance and adds some hilarious scenes. He plays a real creep here and the film uses it for some great laughs including a couple scenes where Lorre "pretends" to be upset about some of the violence he's caused. The way Lorre delivers the lines is priceless. The ending somewhat comes out of no where but it's an effective one and a good way to close this rather interesting take on the noir genre.