Man in the Vault (1956)

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  • MAN IN THE VAULT


    DIRECTED BY ANDEW MACLAGLEN
    PRODUCED BY ROBERT E. MORRISON/JOHN WAYNE
    BATJAC PRODUCTIONS/ RKO RADIO PICTURES


    Information from IMDb


    Plot Summary
    There's $200,000 in a Los Angeles safety-deposit box that mobster Willis Trent would like to have, so he gets two-timing, double-dealing Flo Randall to get the box number for him. He offers locksmith Tommy Dancer $5,000 to make the key but Tommy refuses. Trent threatens to harm Tommy's girl friend, Betty Turner, and Tommy gives in and goes to the bank. In a few nerve-racking minutes, Tommy makes the key and pockets the $200,000 for himself. Trent sends word that he has kidnapped Betty and the ransom is $200,000.
    Written by Les Adams


    Full Cast
    William Campbell ... Tommy Dancer
    Karen Sharpe ... Betty Turner
    Anita Ekberg ... Flo Randall
    Berry Kroeger ... Willis Trent (as Berry Kroger)
    Paul Fix ... Herbie
    James Seay ... Paul De Camp
    Mike Mazurki ... Louie
    Robert Keys ... Earl Farraday
    Nancy Duke ... Trent's Girl Friend
    Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez ... Pedro (as Gonzales Gonzales)
    Vivianne Lloyd ... Singer
    Fred Aldrich ... Bank Guard (uncredited)
    David Leonard ... Mr. Grover - the Locksmith (uncredited)
    John Mitchum ... Andy (uncredited)


    Writing Credits
    Burt Kennedy (screenplay)
    Frank Gruber (novel "The Lock and the Key")


    Original Music
    Henry Vars


    Cinematography
    William H. Clothier


    Second Unit Director/ Assistant Director
    Emmett Morrison .... assistant director


    Trivia
    There really was a Grover's Lock and Key on Santa Monica Blvd in Hollywood. Apparently, it was easier to use the existing storefront than create a phony one for the movie.


    This was one of the low budget non-John Wayne movies made by Wayne's company, Batjac Productions.


    At the end of his first scene with Tommy, Pedro mentions he will appear on the TV show "You Bet Your Life". Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez, who plays Pedro, actually appeared as a contestant on "You Bet Your Life" in 1953. This appearance led directly to his acting career as it caught the attention of John Wayne and his production company Batjac which signed him to a contract and also produced this movie.


    Goofs
    When Tommy comes out of the bank the second time and gets in his car, the sound of the engine starting and the transmission being shifted occur even though he has visibly not performed those actions yet.


    From one angle, a dead man in a car has his head tilted to his right. In another angle, the head is clearly tilted to the left.


    When Trent and Louie enter Tommy's apartment to offer him the deal, there is a newspaper under the stole that Betty left the night before. After they leave and Tommy retrieves the stole, the newspaper has mysteriously vanished.


    Crew or equipment visible
    At about 68 minutes, when Pedro opens a glass door to leave the bowling alley, the cameraman and a director are clearly reflected in the glass door.


    Veteran heavy Berry Kroeger had his name misspelled in the main credits as "Berry Kroger."


    Filming Location
    West Hollywood, California, USA


    Best Wishes
    Keith
    London- England

    Edited 2 times, last by ethanedwards ().

  • Man in the Vault is a competent 1956 B 1956 film noir about a locksmith,
    played by William Campbell,
    who is forced to help gangsters commit a robbery.
    It was based on the novel The Lock and the Key by Frank Gruber.
    Directed by the now promoted Andrew McLaglen
    Produced by Duke's brother Robert E. Morrison, for
    John Wayne's Batjac Productions.
    As could be expected 'Pals' of Duke in attendance,
    William H. Clothier on camera.also starring,
    Paul Fix, Mike Mazurki, Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez, John Mitchum .


    User Review-1



    User Review-2

    Quote

    Let's be kind and call it below par...
    8 July 2006 | by TrevorAclea (London, England)


    The Man in the Vault is William Campbell, a sort of D-movie hybrid of Cornel Wilde and a much-diluted Robert Mitchum with a quiff the size of a tidal wave. The closest it gets to big names are in the supporting cast, and even then we're only talking about bit parts from Paul Fix, Mike Mazurki, Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez ("Ay theenk") and Anita Ekberg. The behind the camera credits are slightly more impressive - a script by Burt Kennedy, direction by Andrew V. McLaglen and cinematography by William H. Clothier that shows that his mastery of colour was not always matched by the blandness of some of his black and white work.


    It's the kind of programmer that DVD boxed sets were made for, something you can't imagine any major studio releasing if they didn't have to pick it up as part of a package with The High and the Mighty and Hondo or anybody buying if it didn't come in a set with Track of the Cat. The Man Who Would Be Mitch is locksmith Tommy Dancer (they knew how to give characters names in those days), forced to break into a mobster's safety deposit box with the usual consequences. It passes the time inoffensively and efficiently enough, but it says something that the most memorable thing about it was the discovery that a restaurant on La Cienaga that I used to pass on my way to work every day used to be a bowling alley

    .

    Best Wishes
    Keith
    London- England

    Edited 4 times, last by ethanedwards ().