Shack Out on 101 (1955)

Shack Up on 101

Cast:

Terry Moore is Kotty
Frank "I Was a Communist for the FBI ?"Lovejoy is Prof. Sam Bastion
Keenan "I'll pave over Medfield College..." Wynn is George
Lee "My Dirty Dozen I will lead against the evil..." Marvin is Slob / Mr. Gregory
Whit Bissell is Eddie
Jess Barker is Artie

What the IMDB says about the plot:

At an isolated, seaside greasy-spoon cafe live George, the sarcastic owner; Slob, the potentially violent cook; and Kotty, the sexy waitress all the men lust after. Plus an occasional customer, including "Professor Sam", Kotty's boyfriend from a nearby research facility. And something's going on under the potentially explosive surface emotions...nuclear secrets being smuggled out of the country.

Plot:

On the beach, Slob struggles with Kotty. She is able to drive him away. They go back to the diner where they work. George yells at Slob for bothering the waitress.

Sam, Kotty’s boyfriend, arrives and helps her study for civil service exam.

Slob passes some film rolls to a fisherman. Apparently, Slob is up to no good. Eddie, George’s friend, stops by the diner. Shouldn't the coffee have been made sometime in the last month?
Various customers hit on Kotty.

Later, George and Slob are exercising. You have to get to the into the Eye of the Tiger...

At the beach, Kotty and Sam are frolicking. She isn’t happy that Sam is being away from her so much. He studies sea shells that Slob collects for him.

Dylan, a drunk scientist, starts rambling to Sam about how they need to turn themselves in. He mentions that a professor committed suicide. Kotty overhears part of the conversation. Slob kills Dylan.

Morning, Kotty tells Sam about what she heard. Don't make me get Senator Joseph McCarthy on the speed-dial..
He tries to calm her down but threatens to kill her.

Kotty talks and befriends Slob who starts putting the movies on her. I don't believe you served in the Dirty Dozen during the war...
She shoots him down. George tries to console her, too.

Eddie brings in his diving gear.

Some guys are spying on the cafe to find some connection between Slob and Mr. Gregory. They search Slob’s room. Kotty sees them sneaking out of the room.

Customers mention that Dylan was killed. Kotty is acting nervous with them. George leaves. Kotty is left alone with Slob, whom she starts to suspect. He finds her at the payphone. She tells him about the customers breaking into his room and his meetings with Sam.

Elsewhere, Fish Guy spots Sam at a gas station with the customers. Slob calls Fish guy to take him to Mexican waters.

Slob breaks into Kotty’s room. He demands to know what she knows. Sam is banging on the door. Slob offers to let Sam meet Mr. Gregory. Suddenly, they’re fighting each other. Kotty realizes Sam was working undercover for the government.

Slob wings George when he walks in. Eddie sneaks in unaware by Slob. He grabs the harpoon, skulking about.

The customers have a shoot out at the fish guy at the beach outside. Eddie snipes Slob. George hangs out a cook and waitress wanted signs as Kotty and Sam reunite.

What I say:

The 1950s had McCarthyism and the threat of communism wielded even more than the notion of global thermonuclear war. Could b-movies not jump unto the threat of foreign espionage? Yes, the dangers of espionage against the country. Typically, the Red Scare movies are more focused on foreign spies for the "Other Power" as they try to infilitrate and steal military secrets rather than the hidden spy rings in the country. While Shack Out on 101 doesn't fall into the realm of nuclear missiles like This is Not a Test, it falls into another realm of paranoia. Who do you trust?

Lee Marvin. Can you get much gruffer than Liberty Valance from the Man Who Shot Liberty Valance? Lee Marvin is creepy in the Arch Hall Jr. way of Sadist. With as many good movies he was in, he did pop up in some things like Paint Your Wagon, the musical Western with him and Clint Eastwood sharing a wife (A movie that strange almost warps into the realm of science fiction for musical Western about shared wife..) or the Klansman.

Keenan Wynn is the gruff old guy used for character actors. And several b-movies like Parts: the Clonus Horror and PiranhaMost people may recognize him for popping up in several of Disney's Herbie and the Medfield movies: Alonzo Hawk.

A low budget movie like this typically won't have very many characters. When your movie at least has Lee Marvin and Keenan Wynn as recognizable, it is good to see some taleneted actors. It is surprising they were able to get around so much with just being in a diner and not seem confined by it.

Quotable Dialogue
"You got a good mind?"
"The Tomato's gotta name."
"Man, where did you get those crazy sportshoes?"
"Don't make anydeals with garbage pails."
Morals of the Story
Watchband soups are full of nutricious vitamins and minerals.
Civil Service Exams are romantic.
People love to eat at diners where the cooks are named "Slob."
Harpoons can easily catch stuffed fish.