Cry Vengeance (1954)

The Age of Commercialism

Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Simply Perfect

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

Mark Stevens is a bitter ex-cop, fresh out of San Quentin after doing a 3-year term on bogus corruption charges. Aside from being framed, he also lost his wife and kid in a car explosion meant for him. San Fransisco racketeer Douglas Kennedy was said to be responsible for everything and Stevens wants to get even. He turns to another local mobster, Lewis Martin and his right-hand Skip Homeier, for information but they feign ignorance. But Homeier's girl Joan Vohs, informs Stevens that Kennedy moved to Alaska, and Stevens makes his way up north. There Stevens meets bar owner Martha Hyer while trying to find Kennedy, who lives there under a new identity, raising his young daughter, together with his former criminal partner Mort Mills. But when Martin gets wind that Vohs spilled the beans to Stevens, he sends Homeier and Vohs up north as well, to take care of Stevens, Kennedy, and Vohs...I have a soft spot for Mark Stevens ('The Dark Corner'), and this movie, hist first directorial effort, only solidifies that spot even more. He's not a great actor by any means, but at least in his noirs I find him really entertaining to watch. This might even be his finest hour acting-wise that I've seen so far. Despite playing his character bitter to the core, some would even say over-the-top bitter, he does manage to give him some humanity, and there are some touching moments during his interactions with Kennedy's daughter Cheryl Callaway ('The Lineup'), who gives a great performance for a 7-year old girl. In fact, the cast is pretty good overall, with Vohs ('Vice Squad') also standing out as a streetwise girl with a heart of gold who always goes for the bad guy, Homeier ('Black Widow') in this case. Homeier gives his character a nice sadistic streak, while the gorgeous Hyer ('Down Three Dark Streets') plays the strong but empathetic businesswoman well (loved her hairdo here btw, it really made her stand out). But while they have decent chemistry, the romantic angle between Stevens and Hyer feels a bit forced, it happens way too fast.The plot takes more than a few cues from 1953's 'The Big Heat', but it doesn't feel like a carbon copy of that movie. It's not a classic, but Stevens proved himself a solid director. His next movie, 'Time Table', is also a solid noir (which I would love to see in a cleaned up version), and he would also direct, produce and star in the noir-ish TV series 'Big Town'. What sets 'Cry Vengeance' apart tho from other noirs is the location, a small town in Alaska. Despite a lot of interior shots, there is enough on-location/second unit shooting to give this movie its own feel. It's not an out- and-out noir tho, plot-wise it moves away from noir as the movie progresses, and visually DoP William Sickner ('Loophole') doesn't really bring out the shadows either. But I didn't mind really, I actually liked the story arc and the way Stevens slowly regained his humanity. Definitely a movie I will revisit at some point. 7+/10

Mark Stevens was a leading player in B movies, and was an excellent cop in THE STREET WITH NO NAME (1948, see my review) and private eye in THE DARK CORNER (1946, see my review), both excellent noirs. Here he got his first chance chance to direct himself. Although he does well enough as a director in other respects, because he could not see himself he probably did not realize that he looked too grim throughout most of the film, never changing his expression during the early portions. This may have made sense in theory, because he a wronged man seeking vengeance, and grief-stricken at the death of his wife and child. But one cannot have a single expression for nearly an hour like that without it becoming monotonous. Stevens furthermore according to the story had to have a severely scarred side of his face, which meant that he could show very little emotion on his face in any case. The film was largely shot at Ketchikan, Alaska. Alaska was not even a state at that time, but still a Territory. This was an extremely unusual place to set a film in the 1950s. The location footage, especially the aerial footage, is thus of considerable historical interest, not least to the people who live there today. Mark Stevens went on to direct himself again in TIME TABLE (1956) and directed three more feature films and 50 television drama episodes in the nine years between 1956 and 1965. He last appeared as an actor in 1987, and he died in 1994 at the age of 77. This film is not outstanding, but it is nevertheless a contribution to the noir genre.

What do you do when you get framed for bribery, your face is disfigured and your wife and child are killed? You seek revenge, even if it takes you to Ketchikan, Alaska. Mark Stevens (THE DARK CORNER, THE STREET WITH NO NAME) both stars and makes his directorial debut with a cheapie BIG HEAT knockoff, but it's a tasty little morsel. Stevens gives the best performance I've seen from him, cold and intense, and leads a mighty fine cast of B-roster supporting players. The characters are so engaging that the deaths are tangibly felt by the viewer. Pretty much everyone in this movie is fun to watch, especially Skip Homeier as the suave, menacing gangster and Joan Vohs as his conflicted moll. Even the little girl is good. The film has a terrific rough-and-tumble attitude, with biting dialogue, dark morality, smoky jazz in nightclubs and cheap dives, and lots of fist fights. There's some good exploration of ethical grey area. It could use a little more directorial finesse, but for a first effort it's not too bad and sports a couple of well-shot sequences. Maybe not one of the greats, but it packs a good noir punch.

Mark Stevens was never a big star. Most of his career he played in B-movies and did a bit of TV. So, in light of this, I was surprised that he not only starred in this film but directed it as well. Now having a cast full of mostly no-names might negatively impact most films, but with film noir, having these less familiar faces is great--as it adds to the realism.Stevens plays a guy who was a cop. He's spent the last three years in prison for a crime he didn't do. The mob not only set him up but killed his family and disfigured his face. So, it's not at all surprising that now that he's out of prison, he's ready to exact vengeance against the guy responsible. The problem, however, is that through much of the film you really aren't sure who the culprit is--though Stevens' character sure seems to know and he's out to kill Tino Morelli (Douglas Kennedy).The movie is a very good film about revenge gone amok. The characters turn out to be very complex and the villain worse than you'd expect to find--even in a B-film. Entertaining throughout and the only scene that I thought was poorly handled was the phone call to Stevens near the end--it just seemed contrived.If you do watch, pay attention to the performance and character played by Skip Homeier--he's very memorable!! Also, while not exactly the same film, this one is very reminiscent of Gregory Peck's "The Bravados"--another exceptional film about revenge. See this one as well!By the way, it's odd that this film was set mostly in Ketchikan, Alaska. Despite the city being inundated with cruise ships, it really doesn't look all that different today than it does in this movie. And, the fishing is quite good.