BLACKOUT - Cleo Laine - "Murder By Proxy" (1954)

What can I say? It's a personal problem I have, I like movies with one word titles, and at least one thing is for sure, they're a Helluva lot easier to write about than something with a title like "Night Of The Day Of The Dawn Of The Son Of The Bride Of The Return Of The Revenge Of The Terror Of The Attack Of The Evil, Mutant, Alien, Flesh Eating, Hellbound Zombiefied Living Dead Part 2: In Shocking 2-D" made in 1991!

Any movie that starts off with a song like THIS is going to capture my attention each and every time! This is the amazing Jazz singer Cleo Laine, whose God given name was Clementina Dinah Campbell, how's that for a handle? In 1997 Cleo was named Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire by The Queen, for her services to music! Cleo was married to her bandleader, the late Sir John Dankworth!

Here's just a handful of titles that are only one word, some we haven't even got around to yet! Movies like: THINGS, SHANKS, CRAZE, SHOCK, PSYCHO, BEDLAM, CARNAGE, ZOTZ, CREEPERS, IMPULSE, HOMICIDAL, HAUNTS, SHATTER, TERROR, TRAUMA, AND SEIZURE!!

Dane Clark has the role of drunken loser lout Casey Morrow! Casey is in the business of drowning his sorrows! Dane had a very busy career, and was active up into his seventies! He was also in a number of movies and TV shows that had one word titles, stuff like MOONRISE, WHIPLASH, BACKFIRE, BARRICADE, JUSTICE, MASSACRE, CLIMAX, and PURSUIT!

Then, "like the hot kiss on the end of a wet fist," Belinda Lee as Phyllis Brunner struts into Casey's life! This was Belinda's third movie she made out of 33, before being killed in a car crash in between Los Angeles and Las Vegas in 1961! The blonde beauty was only 25 years old when she departed this sorry old world!

Phyllis has just made Casey an offer he can't refuse, she's going to pay him to marry her! I love the backdrop behind the band!!

Just to prove what an outstanding actor Dane Clark was, is it possible to look any more snockered than this? I seriously doubt it!!!

Well, how 'bout that? This evening seems to be turning out just fine!

Dude wakes up the next morning in the studio of some artiste, and a portrait of a woman who he's not sure he's married to, or is just a dream!!

Suddenly Casey Morrow is up to his ears in deep shit!! Not only is his new spouse missing, her Father has been murdered, and the description of the murderer fits Casey to a T!!

There's something about this still that just ain't right!

Seems like Casey isn't the only one who blacks out on occasion! The resident artiste is the fascinating Elanor (Petticoat Pirates) Summerfield!

My Goodness, would you look at the size of this gal's waist! WOW!!

Casey gets into all kinds of scuffles, has run ins with all kinds of unscrupulous characters, and even stops drinking for a bit before it's all over!

After sobering up, finding a hideout for himself and Phyllis, a long lost reunion with his Mother, and a slew of unsavory other characters and events, Casey finds himself in the unenviable position of receiving the "Huh, what, who are you, I'm engaged, and I don't hang around with third class citizens like yourself," look from Phyllis!

What The Fuck!!

"Blackout" is another outstanding 50's Hammer Terrence Fisher/MichaelCarreras Film Noir minor masterpiece, and is well worth 87 minutes of your time at any given moment! As a double feature with "Stolen Face," it's hard to beat, and can be found at places like Netflix!