I first discovered this film shortly after I became a Keenan Wynn fan; I had heard it was a bit of a strange customer. Indeed, 'Shack Out on 101 (1955)' is an eclectic little thing: part Communist spy drama, part romance, part screwball comedy. Lee Marvin sleazes around as a shady chef passing along government secrets to the Russians. Keenan Wynn slops across the diner floor in swimming flippers and snorkel. And you just know that harpoon gun is going to impale somebody by the end of the film! I was even proud to recognise a young Len Lesser (that is, Uncle Leo from "Seinfeld"), who even then boasted his trademark whiney voice.
George (Wynn) owns a diner by the beach, and is in love with pretty blonde Kotty (Terry Moore) – who inadvertently rejects him in the cruelest possible way, explaining "I love you like your mother does." Kotty is going steady with Sam (Frank Lovejoy), a scientist and seashell-collector who is collaborating with diner chef Slob (an extremely greasy Marvin) to pass on government secrets to the Russkies. Nothing in this film sits comfortably: the characters all hate each other, and spend a lot of time yelling about it, and the plot – like most films spy films of the era – is largely incomprehensible. But it has its charms, as curious as they may be.
George (Wynn) owns a diner by the beach, and is in love with pretty blonde Kotty (Terry Moore) – who inadvertently rejects him in the cruelest possible way, explaining "I love you like your mother does." Kotty is going steady with Sam (Frank Lovejoy), a scientist and seashell-collector who is collaborating with diner chef Slob (an extremely greasy Marvin) to pass on government secrets to the Russkies. Nothing in this film sits comfortably: the characters all hate each other, and spend a lot of time yelling about it, and the plot – like most films spy films of the era – is largely incomprehensible. But it has its charms, as curious as they may be.