It wasn’t very often that Dan Duryea got the opportunity to play the good guy but when he did, he made the most of it. After appearing as an Air Force pilot in the very low budget SKY COMMANDO (1952) which was shot in only 8 days, Duryea went to London to appear in another low budget affair as another Air Force pilot. This time around the producers were England’s Hammer Films who, in a few short years, would become world famous for their Gothic horror movies. Unlike most Hollywood B movie producers, Hammer’s movies may have been shot on restrictive budgets but they were a solid product with top notch technicians who were skilled at getting the most out of the least and they had a wonderful stock company of supporting performers.
American producer Robert L. Lippert, who was one of the better B movie specialists, believed in making a movie as good as he possibly couLd using his limited financial resources. He signed a 4 year deal with Hammer to distribute their movies in America. He insisted that the lead be an American star either on their way up or vice versa but the rest of the cast were British. Hammer made 18 films between 1952 and 1956 with Duryea’s movie being #6. It was shot under the title 36 HOURS but it was released in the U.S. as TERROR STREET. Lippert frequently changed the titles for American audiences focusing more on an exploitation angle but TERROR STREET has absolutely nothing to do with the plot of Duryea’s movie.
He plays an American pilot who is secretly smuggled into London by Air Force personnel so that he can search for his estranged wife. He has 36 hours to find her before being declared AWOL. After discovering that she he has moved into another apartment, he encounters her but is then knocked out before he can talk to her. When he comes to, she is dead, shot with his gun, and he’s the prime suspect. We already know who killed her but Dan doesn’t and he intends to find out in the limited time he has. While trying to evade the police, he briefly hides out in the apartment of a social worker. She decides to help him in his quest and together they discover that his wife was involved with a diamond smuggling ring. This puts them both in considerable danger.
Duryea delivers a solid performance in his atypical role of a beleaguered husband trying to unravel what happened. However it’s the little known British cast supporting Duryea who really stand out. Elsy Albin as the wife, John Chandos as the smuggler and Kenneth Griffith as the nephew all give good performances but the heart and the soul of the picture belong to Ann Gudrun as Jenny Miller, the social worker who first aids Duryea and then falls in love with him. Unlike the American Film Noir, the British offerings could be categorized as “Film Blanc” as they aren’t nearly as dark visually and concentrate more on character and story. Also in the majority of the 18 films that Hammer made, they end on an upbeat note which, for me, is rather refreshing.
The Capsule Critic 