Shameless Self Expression

Ethan Wayne plays The Stranger, who gets on the wrong side of a local rancher (Ernest Borgnine) and wrongly accused of stealing his horses. Sent to a harsh prison run by Henry Silva, who tries to break the young man. Wayne is hell-bent on escaping and clearing his name (Does ‘The Stranger’ even count as a name though?). Bo Svenson plays a lawman, with Terry Lynch playing Borgnine’s daughter who sympathises with Wayne.   So far as the sons of John Wayne go, Patrick Wayne is probably the most recognisable having appeared alongside his dad in films like “The Searchers” before trying to branch out on his own in the likes of “The People That Time Forgot” and playing Pat Garrett in the first “Young Guns” movie. Then there’s Ethan Wayne, you might’ve seen him on TV’s “Pawn Stars” as an ‘expert’ on his dad’s memorabilia. Yeah OK, he also played Storm Logan on “The Bold and the Beautiful” , and an early role with his dad in the underrated “Big Jake” , but that “Pawn Stars” gig is o...

Childhood friends Stephen Murray, John Van Eyssen, and Barbara Payton are working on a scientific project – a duplication device. Murray has long harboured feelings for Payton, but the latter becomes engaged to Van Eyssen. What is a scientist with a duplication device and a love triangle to do? James Hayter plays the resident doctor in the small town the characters live in.   You won’t find too many films that director Terence Fisher ( “Stolen Face” , “The Curse of Frankenstein” , “Horror of Dracula” ) also worked on the screenplay for. In fact, there’s only two, the mediocre 1953 “Mantrap” and this 1953 sci-fi/drama, both for Hammer Studios. To be honest, it’s pretty clear that Fisher’s strengths aren’t in screenwriting, but this is by far the better of the two films. James Hayter and his narration are terrific, the film has a cosy, small village family movie vibe, at least at first. Imagine “The Fly” done by Frank Capra but set in England, and you’ll have some idea. There’s...