MIKE'S MOVIE ROOM: KEY WITNESS (1960)

KEY WITNESS is an uneasy combination of competent thriller, Neo-Noir, social commentary and some unbelievably bad decisions regarding dialogue and musical score. The most important thing it has going for it is a good cast of actors, including a reuniting of Dennis Hopper and Corey Allen who worked together in REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE (1955). Interestingly, KEY WITNESS shares one of the plot points from REBEL, that of a group of hoodlums attempting to prevent someone from "squealing" to the police.

Jeffrey Hunter stars as Fred Morrow, a businessman and family man living in Los Angeles. When he stops at a cafe in East L.A. to use the telephone, he witnesses a gang murder. A young thug called William "Cowboy" Tompkins (Dennis Hopper) and his cohorts, Muggles (Joby Baker), Apple (Johnny Nash) and Magician (Corey Allen), surround another young guy, Emelio Sanchez (Eugene Iglesias), who was dancing with Cowboy's girlfriend, Ruby (Susan Harrison). Cowboy pulls out a switchblade and stabs Emelio, and the gang flees the scene. A crowd forms around the injured man, but Fred is the only one who steps forward to try to help him. Emelio names Cowboy as the one who stabbed him and then dies in Fred's arms. When police arrive, Fred is the only eyewitness among many who offers to help identify the killer. Ruby, who didn't flee with Cowboy and the gang, watches Fred giving his statement to the officer, who is on his regular beat and is known to the gang. When the gang learns that Emelio has died, they come up with a plan to assault the officer and steal his logbook to get Fred's name and address. They then proceed to confront Fred, his wife (Pat Morrow) and their two young children, attempting to intimidate Fred into retracting his statement about the murder.

What follows for the duration of this 82-minute film are the various encounters between the Morrow family and the gang of thugs until (spoiler alert) good wins over evil, justice is served and the appropriate personages have been locked up. The first encounter happens when the Morrows are leaving the grocery store, of all places. The gang follows them out of the parking lot, locks on to the car from the rear, and attempts to push the Morrows into oncoming traffic. When that fails, they harass the family's home, throwing rocks through the windows and slashing their car's tires. As the gang gets more and more unhinged, they attempt to kidnap the Morrow children and accost Mrs. Morrow inside the courthouse.

A gang in crisis: Johnny Nash, Corey Allen, Dennis Hopper, Joby Baker and Susan Harrison

The Morrow family is assisted in their plight by Detective Rafael Torno (Frank Silvera), who is assigned to the case, and his superior, Lieutenant Arthur Robbins (Bruce Gordon). Both policemen are grateful that Fred Morrow came forward as a witness when so many others didn't want to take the chance. Cowboy is finally brought into custody after an exciting car chase on a California freeway. For those who are into car chases, this one will not disappoint. After Torno runs Cowboy's car off the highway, the two men are seen running into traffic. A very well-filmed sequence.

There are so many good aspects to this film that it's easy to dismiss the fact that the concept is not all that original. A few other well-made films had already addressed the subject of young thugs committing home invasions or harassing good citizens who cooperate with police: THE NIGHT HOLDS TERROR ((1955), THE SHADOW ON THE WINDOW, which also featured Corey Allen, (1957) and JOY RIDE (1958). KEY WITNESS has the advantage of four intense young actors, Allen, Hunter, Nash and Hopper all bringing their unique personas to the project. The pleasure of watching these talented gentlemen makes up for the glaring embarrassment of Joby Baker. As gangman Muggles, Baker is called upon to overact almost to the point of parody as a possibly braindead hipster who communicates only through ridiculous beatnik-inspired poetry and jingles, accompanied by finger snapping and exaggerated gestures. It's difficult to know if the filmmakers intended Muggles to be dangerously unhinged and scary, but he comes off as simply irritating. Baker was quite active in television and films in the 1960s, usually playing likeable guys in lighthearted settings. If his performance here was intended to display serious acting range, it failed miserably.

Jeffrey Hunter, Corey Allen and Dennis Hopper

Susan Harrison, introduced to the cinema in SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS (1957), also proves somewhat detrimental to the film. As Ruby, it is her supposed sexual allure which causes the murder of Emelio and makes her irresistible to Cowboy. Unfortunately, Harrison seems to have taken acting lessons from Joby Baker, as her character often speaks in the same kind of beatnik jargon. She is not an untalented actress, and she has some believable moments, but her performance is uneven. When it comes to these various gang members, one gets the impression that Baker and Harrison are acting in a different movie than Allen, Hopper and Nash, all of whom are assigned straightforward dialogue, delivered in a believable, straightforward manner. To be fair, the writers and the director had to have been responsible for these problems with the film, much more than the actors.

Young love: Susan Harrison and Dennis Hopper

Johnny Nash's character, Apple, is the only Black member of the gang, allowing racial prejudice to figure into the plot. Apple seems to be under the benevolence and protection of Cowboy, while the other three members regard him with either amused tolerance or, in the case of Magician, hostility. When Apple tries to convince Cowboy to stop harassing the Morrow family, Cowboy pushes him away. At the film's climax, Apple is confronted with the racist attitudes of both Fred and Cowboy, who, in a shocking moment, calls him the N-Word.

Johnny Nash and Dennis Hopper

Another glaring flaw in the film is the use of music. At the beginning of the film, as Fred is about to park his car to go into the cafe, he catches sight of hip-swinging Ruby crossing the street. The camera zooms in on Ruby, allowing the viewer to ogle at her seductive movements along with Fred. While this is going on, the soundtrack plays an innocuous, lighthearted instrumental tune that manages to remove any sense of drama or tension. The tune continues to play as Ruby begins dancing with the doomed Emelio, which leads quickly into the murder scene. The tune, composed by Charles Wolcott, is actually called Ruby Duby Du, and is used as a leitmotif later in the film when Ruby enters another scene. Along with the comical pseudo-beatnik jargon, this music creates a jarring break with the otherwise serious nature of the story. The rest of Wolcott's score is comprised of music much more appropriate for a thriller involving murder and revenge. Again, it's difficult to understand why the filmmakers would make such a choice. This song, by the way, became something of a radio hit. reaching #41 on the US Hot 100, even inspiring a few cover versions.

Stylish gang members, uneasy riders: Johnny Nash, Joby Baker, Dennis Hopper and Corey Allen.

Dennis Hopper and Susan Harrison on the set of KEY WITNESS.

I'm a huge fan of Dennis Hopper, and his appearance in KEY WITNESS is, for me, what makes this mixed bag of a movie worth seeing. After an auspicious beginning in films like REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE (1955) and GIANT (1956), Hopper fell from Hollywood's grace after a contentious relationship with director Henry Hathaway on the film FROM HELL TO TEXAS (1958). He found himself relegated to doing some excellent work in television and low budget movies, one of which, NIGHT TIDE (1961), is a cult classic. His film career finally got back on track in 1965 with the John Wayne western THE SONS OF KATIE ELDER. In KEY WITNESS, he and his fellow gang members are a little too well-dressed and clean-cut to be considered dangerous rebels. But we do get to see Hopper on a motorcycle, a preview of his iconic character in EASY RIDER at the end of the decade. Jeffrey Hunter had been working in films since 1950 and would make a memorable appearance as the Lord Jesus Christ in Nicholas Ray's KING OF KINGS in 1961. He would also achieve cult status by starring as Captain Pike in the original pilot for the Star Trek television series. Hunter would die tragically in 1969 at the age of 42 after an accident while making another film. The always intense Corey Allen would star in another interesting film in 1960 entitled PRIVATE PROPERTY. Later in the decade, he turned to directing, working mostly in television. Johnny Nash only acted in one other film, TAKE A GIANT STEP in 1959. He was a very successful singer and songwriter, remembered for his 1972 hit song I Can See Clearly Now. Director Phil Karlson was a prolific craftsman whose filmography includes 99 RIVER STREET (1953), THE PHENIX CITY STORY (1955), BEN (1972) and WALKING TALL (1973).