Deadly Duo (1962)
Deadly Duo (1962)
„Deadly Duo“ is a 1962 mystery film directed by Reginald Le Borg. The screenplay by Orville H. Hampton is based on a novel by Richard Jessup.
Playboy Robbie Spence is killed in a racing car crash, and Robbie’s nice wife, Sabena Spence is left with nothing due to her unseemly lifestyle. Sabena has an identical twin sister, Dara Flagg, and they are entertainers in a sister act. They’re so alike, yet unalike. One is very, very good, the other one is very, very bad.
Sabena’s mother-in-law, Leonora, the auto-racer’s mother, is a rich and powerful woman and does not approve of Sabina’s profession. Leonora wants to gain custody of her grandson from Sabena. So, wealthy Lenora hires struggling attorney Preston „Pres“Morgan to get Sabena to sign over her parental rights, so the man’s son can be raised by his grandmother. Sabena will then be left with a portion of the inheritance, with the boy receiving the rest. Pres was almost disbarred for his former partner’s fronting for the Mob.
Understandably, widowed Sabena refuses to part with her son for any money amount even when offered $500,000. This annoys her twin sister. Dara wants the $500,000. She also happens to be a conniving, unscrupulous egomaniac! So, Dara plots with her sinister husband Jay Flagg to get the money for themselves.
Meanwhile, attorney Morgan, in Acapulco to get Sabena to accept half a million dollars for the boy, is beginning to question the ethics of his mission.
Pretending to be Sabena, the vixenish Dara signs the necessary papers giving custody of the boy to his grandmother and then arranges for her sister to have an accident on a narrow cliff road.
A mechanic spots Flagg tampering with Sabena’s car, however, and alerts the police. Dara and Flagg are arrested. Leonora sees the error of her ways and invites Sabena and the child to live with her. Preston finds romance with Sabena and becomes a partner in a large law firm.
A 1962 American Black & White mystery film directed by Reginald Le Borg, produced by Robert E. Kent, written by Owen Harris, based on Richard Jessup’s novel „The Deadly Duo“, cinematography by Gordon Avil, starring Craig Hill, Marcia Henderson, Irene Tedrow, Robert Lowery, and Dayton Lummis. Final screen appearance of Marcia Henderson.
Robert E. Kent (1911-1984) was a writer of more than ninety B-Movies and producer of more than forty.
Reginald Le Borg (1902-1989) was an Austrian film director. He was born in Vienna, Austria with the surname Groebel and directed 68 films between 1936 and 1974. Le Borg made a series of low-budget horror films at Universal Studios in the 1940s. In 1944, he made his most expensive and also most successful film, „San Diego, I Love You“, featuring Buster Keaton in a supporting role.
Richard Jessup (1925-1982) was an American author and screenwriter. He also wrote under the name of Richard Telfair. His first published novel was „The Cunning and the Haunted“ published in 1954 based on his experiences in orphanages. In the same year, Jessup wrote a teleplay for Tom Corbett, „Space Cadet“. The novel was filmed as „The Young Don’t Cry“ in 1957 with Jessup writing the screenplay for the film with Sal Mineo as the lead. Jessup began writing Westerns in 1957 with „Cheyenne Saturday“ and finishing with „Chuka“ where he wrote the screenplay for the film of the same name for actor and producer Rod Taylor. Jessup wrote a series of three Westerns featuring Wyoming Jones under the name Richard Telfair. With his Western series ending, in the same year he wrote again as Telfair for a series of spy novels featuring Montgomery Nash. He used the name Telfair for an original novel based on the TV series „Danger Man“ (the half-hour precursor to „Secret Agent“, as it was known in the US) called „Target for Tonight“ in 1962.
Inspired by The Hustler, Jessup wrote a novel of poker playing called „The Cincinnati Kid“ that was filmed with Steve McQueen. In 1962, this novels was also filmed. In 1969, he wrote „Sailor“ based on his experiences as a merchant seaman. Otto Preminger bought the rights to his novel „Foxway“ for filming, but the movie was never made. His final work was „Threat“ published in 1981.
The crash scene near the beginning of the film is real-life footage of the 1955 Le Mans disaster, which took the life of driver Pierre Levegh and 83 spectators.
Production does a good job of inserting stock shots of Acapulco into studio scenery.
This effective crime drama was seen by a lot of people in the United Kingdom towards the end of 1962, as it was the supporting film for the general release of „Dr. No“ (1962).
By 1961, 60-minute Black & White B-movies were largely a relic of the past. But this little indie with B-movie vets is a smoothly done crime flick with an interesting plot, plausible performances, and smooth direction. The result is a oddly appealing time-waster. It is also fun to see how Robert Lowery, a long-time B-movie star in the 1940s, looked in the later stages of his career, with a mustache and older looks, he looks …
Cast:
- Craig Hill – Preston „Pres“ Morgan
- Marcia Henderson – Sabena Spence / Dara Flagg
- Robert Lowery – Jay Flagg
- Dayton Lummis – Thorne Fletcher
- Carlos Romero – Police Lt. Reyes
- Irene Tedrow – Lenora Spence
- David Renard – Manuel López
- Marco Lopez – Luis, the Bellhop
- Peter Oliphant – Billy Spence
- Manuel López – Policeman
„Deadly Duo“ ist ein Kriminalfilm aus dem Jahr 1962 unter der Regie von Reginald Le Borg. Das Drehbuch von Orville H. Hampton basiert auf einem Roman von Richard Jessup.
Der Playboy Robbie Spence kommt bei einem Autounfall ums Leben, und Robbies nette Frau Sabena Spence steht aufgrund ihres unanständigen Lebensstils vor dem Nichts. Sabena hat eine eineiige Zwillingsschwester, Dara Flagg, und sie sind Entertainerinnen in einer Schwesternnummer. Sie sind sich so ähnlich und doch so unähnlich. Die eine ist sehr, sehr gut, die andere ist sehr, sehr schlecht.
