THE COME-ON

US, 1956, 83 minutes, Black-and-white.

Anne Baxter, Sterling Hayden, John Hoyt, Jesse White, Wally Cassell, Paul Picerni.

Directed by Russell Birdwell.

A femme fatale’s story, with a blonde Anne Baxter in the central role, reminding audiences of her Oscar-nominated performance as the insinuating actress in All About Eve.

This is a fairly routine story of seduction, invitation to murder, change of heart… The plot outline is substantial for this kind of film noir but the dialogue, the performances are not as strong and persuasive as they might be.

Anne Baxter emerges out of the water in a swimsuit, focusing audience attention, as well as that of a fishing captain played by Sterling Hayden. Instant rapport, suspicions, promises to meet again, her hurrying off, his discovering she has an alternate life…

In fact, she appears to be married to a sinister drunk, a very sinister John Hoyt, who is actually using her, has groomed her, to be seductive for wealthy men to fall in love and then be black males them. But, she does not receive the blackmail cash that she has been promised. And now, she is infatuated with the Captain.

He sells his boat, follows her, she urging him to kill her protector, her getting dynamite to the ship, but the captain not wanting to go through with the crime.

Within the 83 minutes, there are quite some complications, her admitting the truth, wanting to change her lifestyle, her wanting to get rid of her controller, the Captain selling his ship, following her, her trying to persuade him to kill the controller. Meanwhile, he knows what she is up to and has hired a private detective, Jesse White, who is not above the blackmail himself.

When the ship is blown up, not by the conspirators, we suspect that it might be a plot and the controller is still alive. He is, following the couple, intent on sabotaging the relationship, and a sequence of the final shootout on the boat, then, finally, on the beach where it all started.

Anne Baxter could be a strong screen presence but Sterling Hayden seems pretty stolid as a character and performance.