Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

filippaberry84 I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Loui Blair It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

bsmith5552 Cornel Wilde produced, directed and starred, and wife Jean Wallace co-starred in this gripping hostage drama. This was I believe Wilde's first attempt at producing/directing.A wounded Charlie Blake (Wilde) and his cohorts Benjie, a psychopath (Steven Hill in his debut) and Edna Rogers (Lee Grant) Charlie's dumb blonde "travelling companion" are on the run and take refuge in Charlie's brother's isolated mountain side farm. The brother Fred (Dan Duryea) is a sickly unsuccessful writer, who lives with his wife Elizabeth (Wallace) and son David (David Stollery) on the farm. They also employ a hired hand, Hank (Dennis Weaver) who happens to be away when the group arrives.A snow storm ensues, isolating the gang for the time being. We learn that Charlie and Elizabeth have a past and although she believes him to be no good, still carries the torch for him. Benjie begins to bully Fred and the family until Charlie intervenes.When Fred sneaks away to find help, Charlie decides that the gang must flee as the storm subsides. He employs young David to lead them across a mountain pass to the highway to avoid the police in pursuit. Meanwhile Hank returns from town drunk and professes his love for Elizabeth and her son. He then sets off after Charlie and his gang.Several events befall the gang in their attempt to escape until Hank catches up and......................................................Cornel Wilde does a creditable job as the lead character showing compassion and toughness as appropriate. Jean Wallace, his "favorite" leading lady is surprisingly good as the beleaguered wife torn between the two brothers. Dan Duryea in an offbeat role, is excellent as the sickly Fred. However it is a very young Steven Hill who stands out as the slightly mad Benjie. Wilde's decision to cast Lee Grant was a gamble as she had been blacklisted by Hollywood as a result of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in the early fifties. She makes the best of her role as the flakey blonde. Young David Stollery plays the son caught between his parents and "Uncle" Charlie with conviction.The budget restraints are obvious but don't really detract from the film's effectiveness. Most of the story takes place in the small farm house with it's sparse furnishings and coal oil lamps which gives the film an interesting atmosphere. The trek through the snow at the film's climax brings out the conflicts within the group and heightens the hopelessness of their situation.Comparable to a point with "The Desperate Hours" with Bogart and March released around the same time.

Robert J. Maxwell Gangster Cornell Wilde and his small-minded sidekick Adam Schiff -- I mean Steven Hill -- show up unexpectedly with a bag of loot at the remote farm house of his big brother, the failed writer Dan Duryea, and his blond hausfrau Jean Wallace. Their child, David Stollery, is a witness to the conflicts, arguments, violence, deaths, and general mishigas that takes place during the visit. Dennis Weaver has a small part as the good neighbor.The screenplay was by Horton Foote, the direction by Wilde, and the cast and crew professionally competent, with some exceptions. The result is almost a stage play in which fierce disagreements take place.Wilde does adequately by the part of the tough guy who genuinely doesn't want to intrude but has no place else to go because the police are all over the place searching for him and his buddy. He adds an almost indiscernible stutter to his voice in moments of stress. Nothing is made of it. It's just a nice touch that makes him human. He has a couple of shirtless scenes during which his wounds are treated by Wallace and I hated him for that. How can he be so muscular and sound at the age of forty-three? The swine.Jean Wallace is not much of an actress but she looks as if she would be perfectly at home milking cows on a Polish włość. I hope you appreciate that Polish word. It means "small farm." Took me half an hour to find the proper alphabet. Dan Duryea -- well, we missed his slick-backed hair and straw boater and his whining voice and his slapping dames around. Here, he's a fagged out lunger wrapped up in sweaters and scarves and looking as if the North Korean Army had just marched over him. Steven Hill is unrecognizable except as the stereotype he is. And as for the kid, kids will be kids. Everybody loves them, except Hill.Overall it's pretty depressing. It's claustrophobic. It resembles a staged play in which the set dresser was drunk all the time. And the story, for all its shouting, is a little weak in humanity. (See "Hud" for a successful example of how to make a movie about a couple of people on a ranch.) Poor Dan Duryea freezes in the snow. It's not quite certain exactly where his body is found, through either careless direction or editing. But if I were despondent and depressed, a total failure -- and I AM -- I think I'd hang myself if I had to live in a seedy dump like that.

David Hoffman Storm Fear is a contrast of brothers, both of whom have failed in life. Cornel Wilde plays the `bad' brother, fleeing from a bank robbery. Dan Duryea is the `good' brother who can't come to grips with his own artistic and personal failures. I do not like Cornel Wilde, yet I found he created a sympathetic, very human `good-for-nothing', a surprisingly less intelligent role for a lead actor to play. Duryea, on the other hand, is much less sympathetic, perhaps because he is reaching for stars that are obviously out of his grasp. Jean Wallace is quite good as Duryea's wife and Wilde's former lover. She effectively straddles the worlds of both men. Steven Hill portrays the unstable member of Wilde's gang, but he doesn't seem quite sure how far to take his character at times.This should have been more claustrophobic with 6 people cooped up in a house in a snow storm, but the script handles this nicely. The film gives the appearance of being an inexpensive production; yet, it makes the most of what is there in set, actors, etc. Wilde does a credible job of directing. Elmer Bernstein's score is a plus. The ending, however, is totally unsatisfactory, obviously bowing to conventions of the mid 50s when uncompromising films were not the norm.

CRH Cornel Wilde is excellent in this dark drama about a group of hoods on the run who show up at the door of a remote home snow bound in winter. We learn more about the relationship between the leader of the hoods (Cornel Wilde) and the family he's holding captive as the move unfolds. Very tense, engrossing film that you won't want to take your eyes off.