''Hit and Run'' is a 1957 American

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

film noir Film noir (; ) is a style of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood Crime film, crime dramas that emphasizes cynicism (contemporary), cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of Ameri ...

directed by Hugo Haas starring Cleo Moore,

Hugo Haas Hugo Haas (19 February 1901 – 1 December 1968) was a Czech film actor, director and writer. He appeared in more than 60 films from 1926 to 1962 and directed 20 films from 1933 to 1962. Life and career Haas was born in Brno, Austria-Hung ...

, and

Vince Edwards Vince Edwards (born Vincent Edward Zoine; July 9, 1928 – March 11, 1996) was an American actor, director, and singer. He was best known for his TV role as Dr. Ben Casey and as Major Cliff Bricker in the 1968 war film '' The Devil's Brigade' ...

. The movie was Moore's final film appearance. She gained popularity earlier in the 1950s in

B-movie A B movie, or B film, is a type of cheap, low-budget commercial motion picture. Originally, during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood, this term specifically referred to films meant to be shown as the lesser-known second ...

film noirs released by

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...

, for which Moore was a contract player.

Plot

Gus Hilmer, a moneyed garage, property and junkyard owner, falls in love with and marries a showgirl named Julie who is many years younger than himself. This causes tension between Hilmer and Frankie, Gus's young auto mechanic employee whom he has befriended, and treats like a son. In due course, Frank and Julie develop an emotional attachment. Frank decides they must get rid of her husband. On a dark, remote road, Frankie runs down Gus with a car, killing him. He and Julie are free to be together and run the garage, although Julie is very disturbed by the murder, retreats from the relationship with Frank and begins drinking heavily. When Gus' twin brother turns up, things become even more complicated as the two begin to wonder if the wrong man was murdered.

Cast

* Cleo Moore as Julie Hilmer *

as Gus Hilmer/Twin Brother *

as Frank * Dolores Reed as Miranda * Mara Lea as Anita (Credited as Mari Lea) * Pat Goldin as Undertaker * John Zaremba as Doctor * Robert Cassidy as Sheriff * Carl Milletaire as Lawyer * Dick Paxton as Waiter * Julie Mitchum as Undertaker's Wife * Steve Mitchell as Bartender * Jan Englund as Clara * Ella Mae Morse as Singer

Production notes

John Zaremba, who played the doctor, would play hospital administrator Dr. Jensen on ''

Ben Casey ''Ben Casey'' is an American medical drama television series that aired on ABC from 1961 to 1966. The show was known for its opening titles, which consisted of a hand drawing the symbols "♂, ♀, ✳, †, ∞" on a chalkboard, as cast member ...

'' four years later, starring Vince Edwards. Dolores Reed was cast as Miranda while dating Hugo Haas.Clemens, Samuel. "Tall and Tawny", ''Classic Images''. September 2022 Shown on the

Turner Classic Movies Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie channel, movie-oriented pay television, pay-TV television network, network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcas ...

show Noir Alley with

Eddie Muller Eddie Muller (born October 15, 1958) is an American author and the founder and president of the Film Noir Foundation. He is known for his books about the ''film noir'' genre, and is the host of ''Noir Alley'' on Turner Classic Movies. He is also ...

on September 4, 2022.

References

External links

* * * 1957 films Columbia Pictures films Film noir Films directed by Hugo Haas American crime films 1957 crime films 1950s English-language films 1950s American films English-language crime films {{1950s-US-film-stub