The Houston Story
The Houston Story is a 1956 American crime film noir directed by William Castle and starring Gene Barry, Barbara Hale and Edward Arnold. Plot. Frank Duncan (Barry), a shrewd oil driller from Galveston, Texas, conceives a plan to sneakily siphon millions of dollars' worth of oil from the oil fields and sell it as his own. He goes through nightclub singer Zoe Crane (Hale) to insinuate himself with a Houston mobster, Paul Atlas (Arnold) to get financing for his scheme. Atlas tells right-hand man Gordon Shay privately that he plans to double-cross Duncan as soon  as the money's in hand. Chris Barker, a gunman, robs Duncan and intends to murder him, but Duncan is able to push Barker off an oil rig to his death. Duncan tries to make a getaway with the help of true-blue girlfriend Madge, but the hard-hearted Zoe steals his money and lies to Madge that Duncan has betrayed her. A pair of Atlas's thugs snatch Zoe, take her money and toss her from a moving car. Shay is killed, but before Duncan can get away, the cops close in on him and he's forced to  surrender. Production. The film went through a major casting change while in production on location in Houston. Originally set for the lead role was acclaimed character actor Lee J. Cobb. But Cobb suffered a heart attack on May 8 after filming an exhausting fight sequence, in part due to the heat in Texas, where the scene was shot. Cobb was not able to work for the three more days of location scenes on the schedule. Director William Castle, who resembled Cobb, doubled for him in these scenes. Ten weeks later Cobb had recovered enough to return to work. However he  then suffered another heart attack and had to be replaced. Cobb's part had to be recast and according to Castle, producer Sam Katzman "insisted on a relatively new actor in pictures - Gene Barry, a fine actor, but as unlike Lee J. Cobb as anyone could be." Castle says footage of himself and Cobb remains in the final film. The film's sets were designed by the art director Paul Palmentola.