Cage of Evil (1960)
Cage of Evil (1960)
„Cage of Evil“ is a 1960 crime film directed by Edward L. Cahn, based on a story by Orville H. Hampton and Alexander Richards.
Los Angeles police detective Scott Harper is a frustrated police detective who is unhappy with his lot, being constantly passed over for promotion. Harper and his partner, Murray Kearns, are assigned by Inspector Dan Melrose to investigate the robbery of uncut diamonds worth $250,000 from a wholesale jeweler. With the help of insurance investigator Tom Colton, Harper and Kearns establish a list of suspects and narrow it down to a gangster, Kurt Romack.
Romack’s girlfriend, Holly Taylor, is a hostess at a local nightclub, Harper poses as an out-of-town visitor and romances her. Holly tells Harper that she has discovered that her apartment is under police surveillance and asks to leave town with him. Harper then questions her about Romack, and she admits that he is a police officer using her to get information, but he has now fallen in love with her. Harper suggests that Holly can help him catch Romack, but she fears Romack and instead proposes that Harper could kill him „in the line of duty while resisting arrest.“
Holly tells Harper that she is to set up a meeting between Romack and Bender at a Los Angeles motel, where the diamonds will be exchanged for cash, and notes that the meeting would provide an opportunity for him to shoot Romack during an attempted arrest. When Harper says that he intends to return the diamonds to their owner, Holly convinces him that they should keep the stones.
Meanwhile, in San Francisco, Kearns and local officers have located Bender and are following him. In preparation for their meeting, Holly rents a motel room and mails a key to Bender. Later, as Romack enters the motel room, Harper kills him, then takes the pouch of diamonds from the body. Kearns, however, has intercepted the key intended for Bender and returned to Los Angeles. There, he overhears Harper and Holly discussing their future, enters and demands his partner’s surrender. After Kearns refuses Holly’s offer of half of the diamonds, she distracts him by throwing an ashtray at him, allowing Harper to shoot and kill him with Romack’s gun. Harper then hides the diamonds in the drain of the bathroom sink, after which Holly leaves. When Melrose arrives on the scene, Harper tells him that he shot Romack after the gangster killed Kearns.
Harper is then lauded as a hero for eliminating his partner’s killer and receives a medal and promotion to lieutenant. Harper convinces Melrose that he should continue seeing Holly as she may know the whereabouts of the diamonds. When Harper returns to the motel, he discovers that a plumber is about to disconnect the clogged drain, and after slugging him, retrieves the diamonds and then suffocates the manager when she enters unexpectedly.
Holly, unaware that she is being followed by other police officers, flies to San Francisco to set up a deal with Bender. When Harper arrives at Bender’s house with the diamonds, he in intercepted by officers on a stakeout who assume he is still on the case. Using one of the officer’s phones, Harper calls Bender and tells him about the police surveillance. When Holly leaves Bender’s house, Harper pretends to arrest her and persuades the other officers to let him take her back to Los Angeles. Once alone, Harper explains that he has bought tickets for a flight to Mexico City.
After Colton informs the police that the plumber has identified Harper from a newspaper photograph taken at the time of his promotion, officers trace Harper’s rental car to the airport and learn of his flight to Mexico. Harper and Holly are about to clear Mexican customs when the police receive a phone call to detain them. After a brief chase and exchange of gunshots, Harper is killed and Holly is arrested.
A 1960 American Black & White low-budget crime B-Movie directed by Edward L. Cahn, produced by Robert E. Kent, screenplay by Orville H. Hampton, story by Hampton and Alexander Richards, cinematography by Maury Gertsman, starring Ron Foster, Patricia Blair, Harp McGuire, John Maxwell, Preston Hanson, Doug Henderson, Hugh Sanders, Helen Kleeb, Robert Shayne, Owen Bush, and Ted Knight.
Ron Foster was known for „House of the Damned“ (1963), „The Money Pit“ (1986) and „Ma Barker’s Killer Brood“ (1960).
This programmer was the first of eight features for independent Zenith Pictures, the production company formed by producer Edward Small to make low-budget films for release through United Artists. They tried to boost the boxoffice by advertising this as „not suitable for children“. All of Zenith’s productions during the 1960s were directed by Cahn. This was one of Cahn’s many one-week wonders he directed during this period. Cahn cranked out over 125 features during his 30 years in the business.
„Performances are better than fair,“ and the film „is a shoot-it-out opus with little surprise“ – The New York Post „It’s not bad for grade-B crime drama“ – TV Guide
Cast:
- Ron Foster – Scott Harper
- Patricia Blair – Holly Taylor
- Harp McGuire – Murray Kearns
- John Maxwell – Don Melrose
- Preston Hanson – Tom Colton
- Douglas Henderson – Barney
- Hugh Sanders – Martin Bender
- Helen Kleeb – Mrs. Melton
- Robert Shayne – Victor Delmar
- Owen Bush – Sgt. Ray Dean
„Cage of Evil“ ist ein Kriminalfilm aus dem Jahr 1960 unter der Regie von Edward L. Cahn, basierend auf einer Geschichte von Orville H. Hampton und Alexander Richards.
Der Polizeidetektiv Scott Harper aus Los Angeles ist ein frustrierter Polizist, der mit seinem Schicksal unzufrieden ist, da er ständig bei Beförderungen übergangen wird. Harper und sein Partner Murray Kearns werden von Inspektor Dan Melrose beauftragt, den Raub von Rohdiamanten im Wert von 250.000 Dollar bei einem Juweliergroßhändler zu untersuchen. Mit Hilfe des Versicherungsdetektivs Tom Colton erstellen Harper und Kearns eine Liste von Verdächtigen, die sie auf einen Gangster, Kurt Romack, eingrenzen.