The Fat Man (film)
| The Fat Man | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | William Castle |
| Screenplay by | Harry Essex Leonard Lee |
| Story by | Leonard Lee |
| Produced by | Aubrey Schenck |
| Starring | J. Scott Smart |
| Cinematography | Irving Glassberg |
| Edited by | Edward Curtiss |
Production company | Universal Pictures |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 77 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Fat Man is a 1951 crime film noir directed by William Castle. It is based on a radio drama of the same name, with J. Scott Smart reprising his role as Runyan, a detective.
The cast includes Rock Hudson and Julie London. Originally released by Universal Pictures, the film is now in the public domain.
Plot
Portly hard-boiled private detective Runyan is hired by dental nurse Adams to investigate the unexplained murder of her boss. Suspicion falls on disappeared patient Clark, who had been helped by probable gangster Gordon. Runyan finds Boyd, Clark’s former lover and briefly his wife, who reveals that Clark had done time in jail. The police tell Runyan it was for robbery of half a million unrecovered dollars. In jail, Clark had a cellmate Deets, with whom he shared everything. On release, Deets had claimed Clark’s share of the loot from Gordon and had promised to eliminate Clark, whose corpse he left in a burnt-out truck. When he realised Clark had been having dental treatment, so his teeth could be identified, he killed first the unfortunate dentist and then the nurse as well. Runyan tracks him down and in a final shoot-out he meets his end.
Cast
- J. Scott Smart as Brad Runyan
- Julie London as Pat Boyd
- Rock Hudson as Roy Clark
- Clinton Sundberg as Bill Norton
- Jayne Meadows as Nurse Jane Adams
- John Russell as Gene Gordon
- Jerome Cowan as Det. Lt. Stark
- Emmett Kelly as Ed Deets
- Lucille Barkley as Lola Gordon
- Robert Osterloh as "Fletch" Fletcher
- Harry Lewis as Happy Stevens
- Teddy Hart as Shifty
See also
- Public domain film
- List of American films of 1951
- List of films in the public domain in the United States
Soundtrack
- "A Dream Ago" (Music by Milton Rosen, lyrics by Everett Carter)
External links
- The Fat Man at IMDb
- The Fat Man is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive
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