Shack Out on 101 (1955)

Don't Believe the Hype

Amateur movie with Big budget

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

SHACK OUT ON 101, Edward Dein's 1955 minimalist masterpiece of Cold War weirdness remains, over 50 years later, one of Hollywood's strangest concoctions.A dilapidated seaside beanery just north of San Diego is the setting for this outré noir tale about a group of disparate folks who become either directly or peripherally involved with Commie spies and stolen microfilm. The unforgettable cast includes Keenan Wynn as the diner's proprietor, a man obsessed with his "pecs" and always at odds with Lee Marvin as Slob, the animalistic short-order cook who's obsessed with va-va-voom Terry Moore who drives all the guys wild as the put-upon waitress who seems to only have eyes for Frank Lovejoy, "the professor" (of what we're not exactly sure) and Whit Bissell as the annoyingly chatty salesman who wanders in and out of the picture whenever a couple of uninterrupted minutes of bizarre banter is required. This is not a normal film in any true sense of the word. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense and, apart from aligning itself with the then current trend of pseudo patriotic, anti- communist espionage films, it isn't easy to guess what was really on the minds of those who produced this delirious little oddity. At times hilarious (possibly intentional, possibly not) and grimly somber, SHACK OUT ON 101 defies rational description and should most definitely be experienced at least once, or in the case with some of us, as often as humanly possible.

The movie is like some guy who rushes out of a bar after four stiff margaritas and has forgotten where he parked his car so he lurches all over the lot. It was written and directed by Edward Dein, so it's his fault.It's hard to believe this one-set movie was ever made. Half-way through, it turns from what I guess was supposed to be a comedy into an espionage thriller. Hard to believe -- really. I suspect that when Dein and his wife put it together they went through a few dozen old rejected screenplays and extracted episodes they thought might be playable by someone. It didn't matter whether the episodes fit together or not. There is one scene involving a weight-lifting competition between Keenan Wynne and Lee Marvin that rolls on for ten minutes and is not in the least amusing and is utterly pointless.Here's a sample of the dialog. See -- Terry Moore is studying for her civil service exam and her boyfriend, Frank Lovejoy, is holding her and administering a pop quiz. What are the three branches of the government? "Judicial." (He gives her a peck on the cheek.) "Legislative." (Peck.) "And executive." (Peck.) "Oh, I wish there were more branches of the government." (Clinch.) Lovejoy is "the professor" who works on secret technology and plays ball with Lee Marvin in order to get to the big guy at the top, in this case named "Mister Gregory." The professor doesn't really sound much like a professor. He uses "obsolete" not as an adjective but a transitive verb. For that matter, nobody sounds more than usually erudite. Keenan Wynne: "All men are created equal. If Lincoln knew Slob, he would never have said that." I now tip-toe gingerly around the plot details and move to the acting. Actually it's a pretty good cast with Lee Marvin at the top of his rangy form, but the director torpedoes any talent they might have put on display. Everyone shouts -- all the way through, regardless of context. When they want to show intense emotion -- surprise or anger -- what can they do? They can't very well shout. They've been shouting all along! So they must slam their fist on the counter or pound their heads.Terry Moore was so tiny, cute, and firmly packed in movies like "Mighty Joe Young" and "Beneath the Twelve Mile Reef." She could make any normal man feel like a pedophile. Here, though, she's hardly recognizable as the same person. She can't really act -- or isn't given a chance to. And her voice is lispy and hoarse as if she'd been smoking three packs of Gauloise every day for years. Thirty years after this release, she looked far better as a nude Playmate in Playboy Magazine.It's just awful. Marvin, a cook, has been constantly referring to Moore as "the tomato" and when she discovers he's an enemy agent, she TELLS HIM. Naturally he pursues her into her room with a carving knife and for a few minutes, while he slings her about the room, I bit my lip, fearing that he was going to slice and dice the tomato. Not to miss any cinematic cliché, Wynne enters the room to find Marvin holding the others at gunpoint. "What are you doing, Slob? Are you crazy? Give me that gun. Come on, let me have it." All the while Wynne is advancing on Marvin -- who finally lets him have it.Some people have found this funny. I have an appointment with my shrink next week and I would like any one of those people to accompany me and explain this to my psychiatrist in my presence. You tell him why you think this movie is funny.

What a crazy and terrible film this is! It's watchable because it's so random. When Lee Marvin's character's name is Slob, you know a film is worth watching. And when Slob just happens to be the biggest scientific threat to America EVER (this is one of the Cold-War fright films) masquerading as a greasy spoon cafe cook, you just can't stop watching the film! Best line-- "Go and clean that greasy griddle, Slob", said to Marvin, who looks like he's about to pour piping hot coffee on anyone's face in every scene. The film is impossible to follow, with customers at the grimy 101 shack striking up random conversations with each other about nothing in particular. Terry Moore is the waitress who every man in the film wants to jump. The film has an AWESOME opening scene with a scantily clad Moore lying on the beach, and Marvin in the background with his ear to a shell. And he tries to jump her there and then!! There's also some inane stuff about weight-lifting and trying on flippers next to the counter. Hard not to recommend, even if it is awful.

This is one not to take seriously. I saw it a few yeas ago, but when it first came out, I missed it because I thought it was some sort of sexploitation film.There is this greasy-spoon diner near a military facility, and those at the diner may or not be involved in either espionage or counterespionage. Just what's going on is a tad murky.I can't say the film is a "must see," but I feel enriched for having seen it.(Spoiler) Some of the dialogue is priceless. My favorite is when Slob is advised, "Get back to your greasy griddle, Slob." In context, that alone is worth viewing the film.