- Overview
A woman travels to Hawaii to find out if a man in prison there is actually her missing husband.
- Release Date
01 June 1954
- DirectingJohn H. Auer
- Budget
$0.00
- Revenue
$0.00
- Stars
Videos
User Reviews
See moreJohn Chard
16 May 2024
Case History of Chet Chester. Hell's Half Acre is directed by John H. Auer and written by Steve Fisher. It stars Wendell Corey, Evelyn Keyes, Elsa Lanchester, Marie Windsor, Nancy Gates and Leonard Strong. Music is by R. Dale Butts and cinematography by John L. Russell. Filmed and set in Hawaii, one could be forgiven for thinking this couldn't possibly work as a piece of film noir. In fact, the opening credit sequences lends one to think this could well be a frothy Elvis Presley type of movie - but it most assuredly isn't. Cash or Cave in? Story has Corey up to his neck in femme fatales, shifty criminal acquaintances and coppers. Which is not bad for a guy who was apparently killed during the attack on Pearl Harbor! The Hell's Half Acre of the tile is what is termed in the film as a shabby tenement district, this is the seedy underbelly of what we know as the paradise island. The location makes for some excellent atmospheric noir touches, with the production line abodes and the ream of wooden stairs and banisters making for a moody backdrop. At night the shadows come in to play, hanging nicely off of the alleyways and tawdry bars. Dirty Rat! Though a little too contrived for its own good, the many characterisations on show make the annoying itches easily scratched. From two-timing dames and thugs in need of anger management - to alcoholic slobs and batty taxi drivers, this has a roll call of colourful people drifting in and out of Hell's Half Acre. There's even some censor baiting going on, though the whiff of violent misogyny could have been less pungent. Some serious noir credentials are found with the makers, Auer (City That Never Sleeps), Fisher (I Wake Up Screaming), Corey (The Big Knife), Keyes (The Prowler), Windsor (The Narrow Margin), Gates (Suddenly), Lanchester (The Big Clock) and Russell (Moonrise), and that's only really scratching the surface. With its distinctive setting and well controlled unfurling of noir conventions, this is well worth a look by the noir faithful. 7/10
More Like This
White Heat
A psychopathic criminal with a mother complex makes a daring break from prison and then leads his old gang in a chemical plant payroll heist. After...
See more
May Morning
A dramatic and penetrating examination of the intellectual and moral standards existing at Oxford University, England, in the early 1970s.
See more
Secret Beyond the Door...
After a whirlwind romance in Mexico, a beautiful heiress marries a man she barely knows with hardly a second thought. She finds his New York home...
See more
Sunset Boulevard
A hack screenwriter writes a screenplay for a former silent film star who has faded into Hollywood obscurity.
See more
4 O'Clock
Special agent Mott McCampbell has a mission, escorting a Japanese dignitary from JFK airport to the United Nations. A gang of stewardesses has a...
See more
Federal Man-Hunt
By a daring ruse and inside help, Pete Rennick, a noted criminal behind bars on federal charges, escapes from the prison, and all of the...
See more
Punch-Drunk Love
A socially awkward and volatile small business owner meets the love of his life after being threatened by a gang of scammers.
See more
Alphaville
Lemmy Caution is on a mission to eliminate Professor Von Braun, the creator of a malevolent computer that rules the city of Alphaville. Befriended...
See more
Halloween Horror Tales
A movie featuring four stories. First is about a psychotic killer clown stalking a young woman. In the second a scream queen gets more than she...
See more
Subway in the Sky
Berlin provides the backdrop for this crime drama that centers on a military doctor falsely accused of dealing illegal drugs. Determined to prove...
See more
The Lady from Shanghai
A romantic drifter gets caught between a corrupt tycoon and his voluptuous wife.
See more
Gilda
A gambler discovers an old flame while in Argentina, but she's married to his new boss.
See more
Walk the Dark Street
Dan (Don Ross) returns to L.A. having fought in the Korean War. He meets with Frank (Chuck Connors) the brother of Tommy who was one of the men...
See more
The Dark Man
A killer called 'The Dark Man' commits double murder. This is witnessed by the young aspiring actress Molly Lester. The Dark Man tries everything...
See more
White Picket Fence
A long term couple sit down for a romantic meal, she is unaware it could be their very last.
See more
The Night of the Hunter
In Depression-era West Virginia, a serial-killing preacher hunts two young children who know the whereabouts of a stash of money.
See more
Aloha Summer
It's the 60s and a bunch of crazy teenagers meet in the beautiful island of Hawaii during their summer holidays. Although they come from different...
See more
Mildred Pierce
A hard-working mother inches towards disaster as she divorces her husband and starts a successful restaurant business to support her spoiled daughter.
See more
The Big Operator
A power-mad union boss resorts to murder to eliminate witnesses scheduled to testify against him. The eclectic cast includes Mickey Rooney, Mamie...
See more