User Reviews

The 1950s was an incredible time for television. Many of the best actors, directors and writers had moved from the big screen to TV and shows like "Playhouse 90" and "Screen Directors Playhouse" assembled some amazing talent. Here, Ida Lupino directs Teresa Wright, Peter Lorre and William Talman in a drama about some crooks who have chosen Wright's isolated hotel in which to hide out from the law. Wright plays a deaf woman who is terrified of these men and it is very reminiscent of many other films--including a few in which Miss Lupino appeared (such as "Deep Valley", "On Dangerous Ground" and "Beware My Lovely"). It also is a bit like the later film "Wait Until Dark" (with Audrey Hepburn)--though in this case the terrified woman is blind, not deaf.

It was nice to see Wright once again, as she retired from films when she was still relatively young. This is one of her last appearances before completely retiring. In the film, she plays a woman who later became deaf--she was not born that way nor did she use sign language to communicate. The only problem with this was that she seemed to have too easy a time reading lips--in real life it's not THAT accurate a way to understand what people are saying. My daughter is deaf and know that there is this myth about perfect understanding by deaf people reading lips. This really is only possible if the person is hard of hearing--when they can hear enough to allow them to be that accurate.

As for Talman, he is a name you won't recognize but a face you will instantly recognize if you are a fan of film noir or 1950s cop shows (like "Dragnet"). He's got a truly unattractive face for films but this was a plus for the genre. On top of that, he was a fine actor.

Finally, there's Peter Lorre who is just wonderful as a cold and despicable killer. He is completely indifferent to having just killed someone--giving it less thought than you might about what shirt to wear. He was able to do quite a bit by doing very little--appearing effortless in his casual performance.

Unlike some films where baddies hide out with nice people and hold them hostage (such as in "Suddenly"), here Talman falls almost instantly in love with Wright. While this is a bit ridiculous since it happened so quickly, it is a twist on the familiar--and a lot like "Deep Valley". And because Lorre plays such a cold psycho, eventually it pits these two partners against each other, as Lorre decides that Wright is a liability that needs to be eliminated.

It's all well done and interesting, though I wish they'd consulted with some real deaf people to get the story correct. As not only don't deaf people have magical lip reading ability (also called 'speech reading') but a deaf person probably would have felt or even possibly heard the gun shots that went off hear her at the end of the episode. Still, it is well worth seeing and was, incidentally, co-written by Lupino.

The story is a familiar version of the star-crossed criminal (Talman) being reformed by a sweet-natured girl (Wright), who unfortunately is also deaf. It's not surprising that the story and direction are from the great Ida Lupino who specialized in such parts, High Sierra (1941), Deep Valley (1947), for example. Unlike Lupino, however, Wright is more sweet than soulful. Episode is also unusual for giving villainous Talman a rare sympathetic role, which he does well. Largely wasted, however, is the legendary Lorre, in what amounts to a secondary part. The one scene of the rotund Lorre slumped in a chair, wordlessly menacing Wright is a memorable one since he resembles nothing less than a sinister frog. On the whole, the story may be a familiar one, but is also very well done.

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.