Out
In The Film Noir Night- American Pyscho #234- Dial 1119
See Thompson has a bee in his bonnet
about a local police psychologist who kept him out of prison and in the
institution on that previous spree. And one thing we know from a whole line of
such cinematic types is that once they get that one big idea in their heads nothing,
and I mean nothing, short of a fatal bullet is going to stop them. And that was
the case here in this almost claustrophobic little drama as it played out
mainly in a local barroom, the Oasis, where Thompson encamped, waiting on that
cop shrink. Of course he already had one death under his belt even before the
wait having killed the bus driver who brought him to fair Terminal City for his
gun in order to do his dirty work.
From The Pen Of Frank Jackman
Dial 1119, starring Marshall
Thompson, MGM, 1950
Yes, I know, know very well, that
1119 is not now the police emergency number and that 911 is the place to call
lately so this must be an old film but let’s not get sidetracked here because
whatever the number to call is another American psycho is on the loose and that
first number is going to come into play before the end of this one. Homicidal maniac Marshall Thompson is on the
loose again after having escaped from the institution for the criminally insane
that he was place in on his spree and the citizenry of Terminal City, a city that
already had witnessed Thompson’s maniacal work, are in eminent danger.
The bodies begin to really pile up from
there once the bartender who has the television on for the patrons noticed that
Thompson was the guy the cops were looking for on the bus drive r shooting. So
he shoots the bartender and that is where things get tense. The four patrons and
the assistant bartender in the place are transformed into hostages, as cannon
fodder really, in case Thompson needs them as cover for some escape. After he
sees Doc. Problem is Doc’s was not coming because the head of the police rescue
squad was unhappy about his role in Thompson’s previous spree. After a few more
shooting though, including that of Doc who busted his way into the bar on his
own hook, Thompson’s luck ran out, ran out fast, as he left the bar in a hail
of police gun-fire after one of the hostages got brave. And thus one more
American film psycho got what was coming to him. And we get a taut little
B-drama in glorious black and white and a decent performance from most of the cast
in this ensemble production, especially from the woe begotten hostages in the
bar.
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