Shack Out On 101

Shack Out on 101 (1955)

Runtime: 80 minutes

Directed by: Edward Dein

Starring: Terry Moore, Frank Lovejoy, Keenan Wynn, Lee Marvin, Whit Bissell

From: Allied Artists Pictures

After too long I finally saw another film noir. I explain below in the Letterboxd review why I picked this one to see.

Recently I realized I haven't watched a noir in too long a time so I figured I should go with this one, a movie I first heard about right here on Letterboxd, shortly before several people plugged it on the Rupert Pupkin Speaks website in the past few weeks. The plot sounded interesting to me and it was nice to see familiar names, from Terry Moore and Frank Lovejoy to Keenan Wynn and Lee Marvin. I never watched Seinfeld but all you fans of that will laugh when you hear that Uncle Leo is also part of the cast. When I saw that Marvin played a cook named SLOB, I knew I had to watch this. It's not hard to find but legally, Olive Films put it out on DVD and Blu, so you may want to throw a few shekels their way if you want to see this:

The plot: It's set in California at a greasy spoon diner off of U.S. Highway 101; it's not a popular joint, so you rarely see customers in there aside from the people who are integral to the plot. It's run by Wynn, who plays-shock of shocks-a person who more often than not is gruff and cantankerous. Marvin is Slob, the cook. There's a waitress known as Kotty (who is usually referred to as a "tomato"), and among the regulars you do see include Kotty's successful scientist boyfriend and there is also a war veteran who has what would be known not as PTSD. There are important secrets which are being stolen and that's as detailed as I'll get with the plot.

The movie is rather odd in ways I'll mostly not spoil. Yet I was quite entertained with it. Most of the movie takes place in the diner; to echo the comments of someone else here, it does come off as a stage play at times. Thankfully this pulpy tale is never dull and it's nicely acted by the cast, who spout out acres of great and hard-hitting dialogue. There are also some pretty rough moments for a 50's film.

To give but one example of the weirdness: there's a random scene where Wynn and Marvin are working out in the diner, as there are no customers around. Things come off as quite homoerotic as they compare their bodies to one another. Note that more than one even odder thing happens in this movie.

At least this movie does stand out due to being one of a kind and even 60 years later it is still a gas to watch.