MartinHafer
You can tell that "Double Deal" is a B-movie. At a little over one hour and a cast of mostly B-list actors, it's clearly meant as a second feature. However, it's a pretty good film regardless.When the story begins, Buzz Doyle (Richard Denning) arrives in town and soon ends up working for a guy who is trying to strike oil. But, oddly, the man's biggest rival is his very own sister and she seems willing to do just about anything to ensure that the well comes up dry. First, she tries to hire away Buzz and when he won't throw in his lot with her, she has him beaten. Is this the end of it? Nope...soon folks start dying.The film offers an excellent and unexpected twist ending. My only complaint is one of logistics...why would the killer bother to take Terry (Marie Windsor) to his place to kill her? Why not just kill her where he abducted her and be done with it? Oh, well...it ain't perfect...but it is still pretty good.By the way, if you don't recognize Denning, he played the Governor of Hawaii during the entire run of the original "Hawaii Five-O". He also starred as Lucille Ball's husband in the very successful radio show "My Favorite Husband"...the show that was later re-tooled into "I Love Lucy"...minus Denning, of course.
dougdoepke
The material here would have made a fine noir had it been made by a visual stylist; and coming from the Mecca of noir, RKO, I'm surprised at the straightforward filming. After all, many icons of noir are already present—the lonely bus, the seedy bar, the penniless male lead, and, of course, the queen of slutty vamps, Marie Windsor. Except here, she's playing a good girl, of all things, a role a thousand lesser actresses could have handled.Nonetheless, it's a good little potboiler that manages to avoid many clichés of its kind. Everybody's conniving to get hold of an oil well that has gusher potential, including good guy Denning. But I'm especially impressed by Fay Baker who makes a scary hard-nosed villainess, plotting as ruthlessly as the men. The cast itself is full of colorful characters, especially Taylor Holmes who can't pass up anything that's spelled a-l-c-o-h-o-l. The script also includes a good surprise ending I didn't see coming. All in all, the 70-minutes is better than most programmers of the time, even if the great Marie Windsor is wasted.
howdymax
This movie should have been titled "Triple Deal". It has a dozen plot twists, some very surprising sexual overtones, and a totally unexpected ending. This is the kind of perfect "B" that will never be made again. Richard Denning, Marie Windsor, Taylor Holmes, and James Griffith - all reliable "B" players we have learned to appreciate over the years. It is movies like this that make us mourn the studio system.
outofthepast
Marie Windsor and Richard Denning as "Buzz" pair up to bring in her oil well against the forces at be.Great quickie with actors who have all been in heavier fare.Cheesy dialogue,fist fights,gunplay,sexual tension and plot twists keep this trash-daddy moving at a clip pace in glorious black & white.At times the actors seemed amused as they delivered their lines.Dark and serious oil field trash film see Stark Fear with Beverly Garland.
AD
