Step by Step (1946)

Okay RKO programmer. Though released in 1946, the premise involves Nazis trying to keep their goals alive. Actually, the script makes reference to historical Germany (Bismarck) as "enemies of civilization", no less. Anyhow, discharged marine Johnny (Tierney) gets accidentally mixed up with the Nazi remnants, and gets blamed for murders the die-hards actually committed. Good thing he's got help from comely blonde Evelyn (Jeffreys) and motel owner (Cleveland).The remainder involves a lot of sometimes aimless chasing around. For me, the highlights are the expertly photographed ocean views. To its credit, this programmer goes beyond the usual cramping studio sets.Looks like RKO was promoting Tierney as studio stud since he spends movie's first third shirtless, sporting manly pecs and flat belly. He does well enough in hero's role, but his real charisma showed through as emotionless villains, e.g. (Born to Kill, {1947}). To bad for his career he couldn't stay off the juice and barroom brawls. (Apparently, he scared the heck out of the amiable cast of Seinfeld, {1989-1998}, when he appeared in an episode.) Nonetheless he was a distinctive screen presence, though that presence doesn't really come through here. All in all, director Rosen keeps things moving, which helps divert attention from a convoluted narrative. But my guess is that the script was hastily reworked once the big war ended. Happily, RKO soon turned to noir.

This programmer is action packed with a story filled with intrigue and suspense. It was released during the transitional year 1946 when Hollywood was switching from the Nazi/Japanese menace to the Communist Cold War threat. Apparently, this entertaining little item was a hold over from the year before."Step by Step" deals with a Nazi spy ring in American attempting to stop vital intelligence information from reaching a US senator, involving murder and impersonation. Two innocents, Evelyn Smith (Anne Jeffreys) and Johnny Christopher (Lawrence Tierney)--if you can believe Tierney as an innocent--stumble into the espionage web as a result of a chance confrontation on the beach where Christopher is walking his dog, Bazooka, a friendly little mutt who's not bad as a Nazi hunter. Christopher becomes suspicious when the Nazi agents try to pass one of their own, Gretchen (Myrna Dell), off as Evelyn. Christopher comments to the effect that Gretchen has the body but not the face. "She looks like she just bit into a green persimmon," is one comment used in the film to describe Gretchen's puss. Christopher and Smith find an ally in motel keeper, Caleb Simpson (George Cleveland), a jolly old chap who provides a lot of fun in this otherwise rather dour tale of mistaken identity.One of the best program thrillers to come out of Hollywood at the time, the acting is first rate with Lawrence Tierney playing against type. He was the definitive big screen "Dillinger," released the year before, until Warren Oates came along nearly thirty years later to equal his performance. A programmer was approximately an hour-long B (budget) film released to play as a second feature to a major Hollywood release or as a double feature with another B movie. This is the way it worked in my home town: The major release would play as an "owl show," beginning at midnight on Saturday. It provided a good excuse for a teenager, called youngster back then, to keep his date out late without upsetting her parents too much. The major flick would continue to play on Sunday through Tuesday. Then for Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and the early evening show on Saturday, a double feature, sometimes a triple feature, would be shown which presented the programmers such as "Step by Step." Included in all this would be cartoons, selected short subjects, advertisements, previews (coming attractions), and newsreels. Saturday afternoons were set aside for the kids. Usually, B westerns, two or three, would be shown along with cartoons, shorts, advertising, previews, newsreels, plus the added attraction of a serial. This was a treat for the children. For only a nickle or later a dime, kids would be entertained all afternoon while their parents shopped or took care of other business. They might all stay around for the early evening shows. Only the teens and adults usually stayed for the owl show.

Maybe RKO got caught short by V-E and V-J day but decided to release this wartime propaganda programmer anyway. It's still a clumsy embarrassment all around. Just-demobbed leatherneck Lawrence Tierney spots a comely blonde (Anne Jeffreys) going in for a swim along the Pacific Coast Highway and decides to join her. She's just signed up a secretary to a senator on a hush-hush assignment but both she and her employer are kidnapped by Nazis and replaced by imposters (in her place is Myrna Dell, who looks like she just `bit into a green persimmon'). Tierney spends half the movie in bathing trunks trying to find her even though the police are now after them as a pair of killers. The whole thing looks dark and cheap; not even Jason Robards (Sr.) as an unctuous German helps out. Director Phil Rosen doesn't even attain the level of competence he did in his several Charlie Chan flicks. Step by Step's only virtue lies in eliciting giggles at the awkwardness of its script, its acting, its production values and even its ideology.

From what I've heard about Lawrence Tierney, he often played brutal tough guys, but here he played against type, as a clean cut Marine just home from WWII who meets a blonde on the beach (Anne Jeffreys). The blonde returns to her beach house, and when the Marine locks his keys in his car it's a great excuse to knock on her door for help . . . but the people in the house say they've never heard of her. Thus begins a merry little chase film. With a running time of just about an hour, you could do worse with your time!