Major Rogers has 36 hours to clear his name, find his wife’s killer, and track down her secret stash. Unfortunately, there is no Terror Street in this Mr. Roger’s neighborhood. Montgomery Tully’s direction and pacing is listless, allowing Dan Duryea to shout his dialogue and spend copious amounts of time looking through empty apartments, starring at dusty shelves, massaging fur coats, handling lost knickknacks, and disposing of lost shoes. How exciting.
Major Bill Rogers (Dan Duryea) is an American pilot stationed in England after WWII where he meets and marries his sweetheart Katie (Elsie Albiin). He is suddenly assigned back to the US to train newfangled jet pilots, but Katie is not allowed to come with him. When he goes AWOL and hitches a flight back to England after 12 months, he’s surprised she has started a new life elsewhere. He tracks her down and is suddenly involved in her murder. Interesting setup but the entire first act is him rummaging through her belongings and a tepid flashback, which establishes nothing but boredom for the audience. There is no onscreen chemistry between Duryea and Albiin and their marriage seems nothing more than narrative convenience. As he escapes the murder scene and attempts to discover her murderer, not only to clear himself but for vengeance, he’s involved in rather amateurish looking fisticuffs and a plot that doesn’t make much sense. From a Customs Agent to Katie’s young lover, and a Nun who commits fraud because she trusts our protagonist, and a safety deposit box holding some secret, we hope this all ends on Terror Street. But alas, there is no such street and little terror, just a gaggle on incompetent criminals who allow themselves to be disarmed at every opportunity. Hell, there isn’t even a street: all of the action takes place indoors!
TERROR STREET builds little suspense as Dan Duryea, usually rather solid in film noir, looking sluggish and bored. His performance is just good enough to hold momentary interest but evaporates like cotton candy. Like this film will a few moments after viewing.
Final Grade: (C-)
