The Notorious Mr. Monks (1958)

What a freaking movie. So many twists and turns. Absolutely intense from start to finish.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Blistering performances.

It was the end of an era for the Bette Davis of Republic Studios, that great thespian Vera Ralston, no longer Hruba, never billed with her married name or as Mrs. Herbert Yates. But for the former Czechosovakian skater who dominated Republic Studios for 17 years, this was the end.She plays the wife of the nasty title character (Paul Fix), a supposedly much younger woman, and anxious for even younger male companionship. Along comes drifter Don Kelly who stays on as a hired hand, and rumors begin to fly. Mr. Monks is a notorious drunk, a bad-tempered farmer who has lied for years about oil being under the ground. The obvious is inevitable, questions arise, and a "surprising" conclusion occurs. The only surprise is that Ralston and the other actors (which also includes Luana Anders as a teen-aged femme fatal and "Plan 9 From Outerspace" co-star Lyle Talbot) don't giggle while saying their lines. That in itself is worthy of an Oscar. Oscar Meyer that is.

A low budget B-picture worth a look for melodrama and noir fans, if nothing particularly sensational.Sort of a FARMHAND ALWAYS RINGS TWICE tale which never completely rises above its fairly predictable storyline, but the use of black and white Cinemascope, and its rapid pace and decent performances, make it noteworthy. Vera Ralston is quite good in particular, and a very unlikely "siren" for a role such as this.A strange energy definitely pervades throughout; there's touches of true sleaze, especially in the performance by Leo Gordon of the "other man", Chip Klamp (!).

Not completely successful, but OK noir melodrama. When drifter Don Kelly brings home drunk Paul Fix to his farm and gets him inside, he gets caught up with the old man's much younger wife, Vera Ralston. Sexual tensions ensue and it looks like it's going to be a low budget POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE, but then it veers off into semi-preposterous territory with the arrival of runaway nymphet Luana Anders. Still, all the actors work hard (though Ralston was never much of an actress) and veteran director Joe Kane moves it along fast and makes every scene seem assured and real. Worth seeing, even if it's no lost classic. Ralston retired from films soon after this one.