Man in the Vault
Tags: murder

Plot synopsis:
The criminal Willis Trent wants to rob the safety deposit box of a crooked Los Angeles businessman, Paul De Camp. He has lawyer Earl Farraday smooth-talk the guy's girlfriend, the two-timing Flo Randall, into revealing the bank box's number.
Now they need a locksmith. A henchman called Herbie is sent to find one. He settles on Tommy Dancer, who works in a bowling alley. Tommy is quickly smitten with Earl's girl Betty Turner but is a law-abiding citizen and rejects an offer of $5,000.
Tommy falls for Betty, taking her to the Hollywood Bowl and learning she comes from a wealthy family. Tommy's attentions to her get him a beating from Louie, another big thug. He is told Betty's face will be disfigured if he refuses to cooperate.
Breaking into the box is no problem, but Tommy thinks he's been double-crossed by Betty and decides to keep the $200,000. He stashes the cash in a locker at the bowling alley. Flo confesses her part in the scheme to De Camp, who goes after Tommy, even hurling bowling balls at him before the cops show up.
Tommy races to save Betty, realizing she's on the level. Trent ends up dead, and Tommy's future is a lock.

Review: I had an old fuzzy copy-of-a-copy-of-a-copy of a TV broadcast of this 1956 crime-noir B programmer, but now that there's a new letter-boxed DVD out, I threw the old tape away and can finally enjoy this film for what it is: a solid "b" crime film with good performances, good pacing, and great Los Angeles location photography.
The under-rated William Campbell plays an average guy working as a locksmith, who is approached by a gangster who wants to break into a safe deposit box.
Anita Ekberg is in a small role as the girlfriend of James Seay's character, the owner of the safe deposit box.
This plays a lot like an Allied Artists low-budget 50's crime film, and for me that is a high compliment.
A tough choice for nice-guy assistant locksmith Tommy Dancer: to continue plodding on with his $80/week, go-nowhere job, OR to give in to the demands of petty hood Willis Trent, and get paid $5,000 for using his skills to break into the safety-deposit box of top-dog criminal De Camp and steal $200,000.
This ethical conundrum becomes a no-brainer, however, when Trent turns the screws by kidnapping and threatening Tommy's newest girlfriend, Betty Turner.
McLaglen's "Man in the Vault," a compact little film noir from 1956 that, despite its "B movie" status--and despite the "Maltin Film Guide"'s assertion that it is "drab" and only deserving of one of its lowest ratings--still offers much.
Though surely made on the cheap, the film looks just fine, and features at least two highly suspenseful sequences: the heist that Tommy carries out inside a crowded bank, and a nighttime game of cat and mouse between Tommy and one of Trent's thugs inside a deserted bowling alley.
Plus, with a running time of only 73 minutes, the picture is lean and fast moving, with little in the way of flab (excepting, perhaps, that three-minute song "Let the Chips Fall Where They May," warbled by a chantootsie early on at Trent's house party).And then there is the film's single best element: a surprisingly excellent performance by William Campbell as Tommy Dancer, who does indeed get to "dance" all over L.A. while embroiled in this film's shenanigans.
Karen Sharpe (not to be confused with Karen Steele, as I did going in) is cute and appealing as Betty, Berry Kroeger is memorable as the smarmy Trent, and former heavyweight wrestler Mike Mazurki adds his always welcome, menacing presence.
Oh...how could I forget the main reason for my rental of this film in the first place: Anita Ekberg, Miss Sweden 1951, playing the part of De Camp's moll, Flo Brant?
Throw in some nice location photography of 1950s Los Angeles (including the Hollywood Bowl and Hollywood Blvd., replete with a Rexall Drugstore!), some well-done, naturalistic dialogue, efficient direction from McLaglen and a highly satisfactory denouement and you've got a little film that's a lot more than merely "drab"!.
Enjoyed this B Film from 1956 which involves a locksmith named Tommy Dancer, (William Campbell) who lives a very average life and one night in his favorite bowling alley a man named Willis Trent, (Berry Kroeger) makes his acquaintance.
Willis invites Tommy to a party he is having and a young gal named Betty Turner, (Karen Sharpe) catches Tommys eye and a romance starts to bloom.
The film gets interesting when Tommy decides to take a job making special keys which will provide him with five thousand dollars but things change and Tommy decides to take more of the cash than he expected to receive.
Berry Kroeger gave a great performance along with William Campbell and Karen Sharpe who made this film very entertaining..
It looks extremely cheap and tawdry, the acting belongs to the Ed Wood school of movie making( especially William Campbell who is absolutely frightful), there is no sense of humor or snappy dialog.
Tommy Dancer is a locksmith whose skills do not go unnoticed by mobster Willis Trent.
Trent wants Tommy to get into the safe deposit box of a rival mobster.
Tommy refuses, despite being offered $5000 and later being roughed up by one of Trents goons.
Tommy agrees when he his tipped off by one Trents men that the box contains $200,000 in cash.
Tommy decides to go along with the plan, and keep the 200 grand for himself and run off with Trents moll, whom he has fallen in love with.MAN IN THE VAULT is standard low budget crime thriller from the period made enjoyable by the presence of Berry Kroeger, Paul Fix and Mike Marsurki.
William Campbell gives a good performance as Tommy.
John Wayne's Batjac Productions produced this average and cheap potboiler noir and the cast and credits look like they could have come from a Wayne film.
behind the camera it sure looks like a Wayne western.But it's a modern noir film that Batjac has given us.
a good career, he sure never became box office.Campbell plays a locksmith who Berry Kroeger wants to employ to make a
The Dukes' production company Batjac did occasionally turn out films that didn't star the American icon, but they were typically low budget affairs.
William Campbell, an actor who bounced back and forth between A and B films throughout the 50s and 60s, stars as Tommy Dancer, an average guy earning meagre wages as a locksmith.
But a two-bit hoodlum named Willis Trent (Berry Kroeger) wants to hire Tommy for a job: make a set of keys for a safety deposit box that contains a substantial payday.
Tommy refuses at first - he's no angel, but he's a basically good man - but the bad guys will naturally figure out ways to manipulate him into doing the job.While Leonard Maltins' paperback review guide has always dismissed this one, in truth it's a fairly entertaining crime / noir programmer with some good acting.
Campbell is okay, but is outshone by top character actors like Kroeger, Mike Mazurki (cast to type as Trents' thug), Paul Fix, Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez, and James Seay.
It also features very nice eye candy in the form of the lovely Karen Sharpe, who plays Tommy's love interest, and delectable Anita Ekberg, the mistress of big time mob boss Seay.
A lady named Vivianne Lloyd gets fairly prominent billing, but her main purpose is to take a few minutes belting out the number "Let the Chips Fall Where They May"."Man in the Vault" is given competent guidance by director Andrew V.
A truly special film it's not, but it entertains reasonably for a trim 74 minutes, and features two standout suspense sequences: one, inside a bank vault, where Tommy doesn't stand much chance of not being witnessed, and two, inside a bowling alley where Tommy is pursued by an unseen assailant.Co-star Gonzalez had earlier appeared on TV's 'You Bet Your Life', which is where The Duke had first noticed him.
Adapted by Burt Kennedy from the Frank Gruber novel, The Lock and the Key, Man in the Vault is a minor 50s crime flick that has somehow been lumped into the film noir encyclopedias.
McLaglen directs and William Campbell, Karen Sharpe, Anita Ekberg and Berry Kroeger star.
Story has Campbell as a locksmith who gets coerced into a deposit box theft just as Sharpe turns his head romantically.Amazingly, nothing much happens, there's a lot of talking and pouting, Campbell's teddy-boy quiff always holds court, while Kroeger tries to eat all the indoor scenery.
The deposit box sequence has a modicum of suspense, the mystery element as Campbell tries to fathom out what's going on also works, but come the weak and cop-out finale you may well wish you had done the gardening instead.
Actors and actresses that had appeared in many of John Wayne's movies fleshed out the cast of "Man in the Vault," with contract labor serving behind the cameras.
Clothier had been on Wayne's payroll even before "Man in the Vault." Unfortunately, McLaglen, Kennedy, and Clothier cannot salvage this lackluster, low-stakes movie.
A sleazy, small-fry mobster Willis Trent (Berry Kroeger of "Seven Thieves")approaches locksmith Tommy Dancer (William Campbell of "The High and the Mighty") at a bowling alley one night with a job to open an old footlocker back at his house.
Tommy has no problem opening the footlocker, but he smells a rat when Trent invites him to have some liquor at the party he's hosting with several good looking dames.
A pampered, single, 23-year-old doll in a mink stole, Betty Turner (Karen Sharpe of "The High and the Mighty"), arouses Tommy's curiosity as she stands alone in the middle of the party.
Betty gets into an argument with her attorney boyfriend Earl Farraday (Robert Keys of "The High and the Mighty") while Tommy stands between them.
Primarily, he wants the number and the location of a safety deposit box in Paul De Camp's name that contains $200-thousand in cash that Trent and he want to steal.Betty doesn't know about the conspiracy between Farraday and Trent.
Anyway, Tommy leaves Trent's party, finds boo-hooing Turner outside, and she lets him drive her over to his place.
Later, Tommy suspects that Trent is leading him on when he asks him to make two keys to open De Camp's safety deposit box.
At first, Tommy refuses to take the job despite the $5-thousand dollars tax-free that Trent is offering.
"You know, Mr. Trent, I've been half expecting this since the first time I met you at the bowling alley." He adds, "The footlocker was the clincher.
You didn't need a key to open it, it was already open." Finally, he points out, "You know I may do a lot of things that I shouldn't, but breaking into safety deposit boxes isn't one of them."Later, Tommy realizes that he is out of his class and income as a lowly locksmith around wealthy Betty, so the $5,000 gives him second thoughts.
Reluctantly, later, Tommy takes the job because Trent threatens to turn his gargantuan, club-fisted, ex-prizefighting bodyguard Louie, Mike Mazurki, loose on Betty.
Morrison, received credit as the producer for "Man in a Vault." Scenarist Burt Kennedy adapted novelist Frank Gruber's novel is oddly structured and occasionally weirdly convoluted, as if a scene or two of important exposition were cut (it crams a lot of story into its 73-minute running time), or maybe some footage was shuffled around.
Most of the film centers around Tommy Dancer, but the story opens with a long scene involving Trent that isn't really necessary.
Both Betty and Trent are connected to Tommy via their association with Farraday, and mistress Flo likewise ties Farraday to the safety deposit box, own by Flo's husband, the semi-reformed gangster Paul De Camp (James Seay of "The Buccaneer").
The best scenes are with Campbell when he is inside the vault, keeping his eye on the vault clerk outside while he jiggles the keys a safe deposit box.
Meanwhile, the cigar-chewing Kroeger emerges as an unsavory villain, and Mexican-American Pedro Gonzales-Gonzales makes the most of his comic relief bit part as Tommy's pal who clears the fallen ten-pins at the bowling alley.
Beautiful Anita Ekberg has little to do except display her feminine pulchritude."Man in the Vault" qualifies as a tolerable potboiler..
The mobster Willis Trent (Berry Kroger) is informed by one of his gangsters that the locksmith Tommy Dancer (William Campbell) is efficient and fast in his work.
Willis befriends Tommy in a bowling alley and invites him to open a trunk at his home.
Tommy accepts the job and then he is invited by Willis to stay in a party at his house, where he meets the wealthy Betty Turner (Karen Sharpe).
Then Willis offers five thousand dollars to Tommy to make the keys of the safe deposit box no.
Tommy turns down the offer, but Willis threatens to harm Betty's face to achieve his goal."Man in the Vault" is a good film-noir but unfortunately the moralist ending ruins the story.
**SPOILERS** Decent 1950's film noir crime drama despite the very contrived and, due to the restrictive Hayes Commission, unconvincing ending.In an attempt to screw his former partner in crime, the head of West Coast illegal gambling racket, Paul De Camp, James Seay, L.A racketeer Willis Trent, Barry Kroeger, needs someone to makes him a set of safe deposit keys in order to break into and loot De Camp's box of some $200,000.00 in ill gotten gains.The Trent mobs gets totally innocent locksmith Tony Dancer, William Campbell, to do it's dirty work for it.
Trent first has Tony's girlfriend Betty Turner (Karen Sharpe Kramer), whom he accentually met a cocktail party thrown by Trent,threatened to have her face worked over by his bodyguard the 6 foot five inch ex professional boxer Louie, Mike Mazurki.
Tony goes along with Trent's demands but just as he's about to get his hands, in the banks safe deposit vault, on De Camp's cash he has a sudden change of mind and takes off with the money himself leaving both De Camp and Trent empty-handed.With De Camp finding out that his cash was heisted right under his nose he realizes that his sexy and well endowed girlfriend Flo Randell, Anita Ekberg, had two-timed him and beats the truth out of her.
Farraday secretly working for Trent had used the beautiful Flo to get the number of De Camp's safe deposit box, as well as the bank where it's at, with the promise that he'll split half the loot that's in it with her.The suspenseful ending in an empty and darkened L.A bowling alley was as good as anything you'd see in an Alfred Hitchcock thriller.
The man in the shadows is trying to knock Tony off with a combination of bowling balls and bullets as he tries to make his getaway together with, the then held hostage by Trent's henchman Louie, Betty Turner.
But up until then "Man in the Vault" was about as good a movie, or film noir, as I would have expected and for that reason alone well worth watching up until the last two minutes.P.S I just couldn't get over the strong resemblance of actor William Campbell to Tony Curtis.
"Man in the Vault" was produced by John Wayne's Batjac company and was directed by up and coming director Andrew V.
McLaglan.Small time crook Willis Trent (Barry Kroeger) has a plan.
With the help of his womanizing lawyer Earl Faraday (Robert Keys) and gofer Herbie (Paul Fix), Trent hopes to break into the safe deposit box of gangster Paul DeCamp (James Seay) and steal the $200,000 therein.
to accomplish this, he needs the service of a reliable locksmith.Herbie provides Trent with the name of Tommy Dancer (William Campbell) who had just done some work for him.
Young , rich and spoiled Betty Turner (Karen Sharpe) shows up looking for Faraday who is playing up to DeCamp's girlfriend Flo (Anita Ekberg.).
Later Trent offers Dancer $5,000 to make keys to break into DeCamp's safe deposit box.
Meanwhile as Dancer goes to retrieve the loot from his locker at the bowling alley, Herbie begins to stalk him.
Dancer escapes and Herbie is arrested by the police after Dancer set off the burglar alarm.Before Dancer can reach Trent with the money, DeCamp enters the picture and.....................................................................................Many familiar faces from the "John Wayne Stock Company" appear in this film.
Paul Fix, Mike Mazurki, Karen Sharpe and Pedro Gonzolez-Gonzolez who plays Pedro the bowling alley pin boy and James Mitchum brother of Robert were also under contract to Batjac.The bowling alley sequence where Campbell tries to elude Fix is very well done and creates an atmospheric sort of suspense.
The ending leaves a few unanswered questions such as what happens to Dancer, who actually did rob the bank and Betty Turner who is also taken away for questioning.Anita Ekberg whose star was rising at the time has little to do except look voluptuous and Karen Sharpe, long one of my favorites has an early leading role and looks just marvelous..
So catchy that we made up new lyrics to it that were about our school principle.He has several other distinctions, some as an actor, and he earned his place in the JFK saga by being married to one of JFK's girlfriends, Judith Campbell Exner.Campbell plays a locksmith, Tommy Dancer.
One night he meets a man, Willis Trent (Berry Kroeger) who invites him to a party.
After we hear the song "Let the Chips Fall Where They May" sung by Viviane Lloyd, Dancer meets Betty Turner (Karen Sharpe).
They begin dating.Tommy is offered a job for $5000 if he will rent a safe deposit box, and while in the vault, make impressions for two keys to box 315.
He doesn't know it at the time, but the box has $200,000 in it that Trent wants stolen.
He refuses to do it until Mike Mazurki beats him up and then Betty is threatened.
In a suspenseful scene, he makes impressions of the keys.Then he finds out about the money from a man named Herbie (Paul Fix) tips him off about the money and suggests that they split it.Familiar faces here, including Fix, Kroeger, Mazurki, and of course Campbell.
Karen Sharpe, who played Betty, married Stanley Kramer and became a producer as well as an actress.
Anita Ekberg, looking gorgeous, is on hand as Earl Farraday's (Robert Keys) girlfriend - it's Farraday who owns the safe deposit box.Despite the film being low budget, there are several interesting things about it.
He's called on by Trent to open a trunk, so he makes an impression of the lock; he makes keys for the safe deposit box, later he uses the keys to get into it - he is constantly using keys.
Finally you're noticing them every time he pulls one out.Lastly, parts of the film are very Hitchcockian - one is the ordinary man in extraordinary circumstances; the other is danger in landmarks or familiar places not known for danger, as Dancer first escapes being hit by a bowling ball and then attempts escape by traversing pin-setting machines.