Back home

The Girl in Black Stockings

32 votes

Producing House

Residents at a posh Utah hotel become suspects when a girl is found murdered during a pool party. Local sheriff Jess Holmes takes charge of the investigation and must discover who among the terrified guests and staff -- including bodacious vixen Harriet Ames, the hotel's bitter, crippled proprietor, visiting lawyer David Hewson and his secretary, Beth -- is the culprit, even as murders continue to take place.

movie

Status: Released

Released Date: 1957-09-24

Runtime: 75 mins

Director: Howard W. Koch

Spoken language: English

Genres: Crime, Drama, Mystery

Original title: The Girl in Black Stockings

Production Companies: Bel-Air Productions

Production Countries: United States of America

Reviews

J

John Chard
Wanton Murder! The Girl in Black Stockings is directed by Howard W. Koch and written by Richard Landau and Peter Godfrey. It stars Lex Barker, Anne Bancroft, Mamie Van Doren, Ron Randell, John Dehner and Marie Windsor. Music is by Les Baxter and cinematography by William Margulies. When a party girl is found murdered at a Utah hotel, everyone is under suspicion. Miserable predatory creatures! One of the definitions of the low budget drive-in movie, The Girl in Black Stockings is an odd and fascinating picture. In core essence it's a standard murder mystery piece, a sort of minor Ten Little Indians only with kooky overtones. She'd get on that dance floor and fry eggs! The characterisations, performed by a wide scope cast list, are firmly in the realm of the off kilter or suspiciously suspect! While some of the scripted dialogue is priceless and pungent with noirish tones. Plus there is lots of smoking going on to emphasise the noirish fever. I'm gonna have to raise taxes to build a morgue! The acting is all over the place, mind, with Tarzan leading the way doing some smell the fart acting, while others are overwrought in delivery of script. Yet the up and down acting fits into the grand scheme of Utah weirdo style, further accentuated by the swirly Gothic musical score. Nutty and fruity, corny yet crisp, it's a fun experience. Plus there's Van Doren, who had to have had the widest mouth of all circa the 1950s. 7/10
2015-10-04

Recommendations

Our Eternal Summer
2.5

Our Eternal Summer

2022-04-27

To live and to love at the age of 18, immersing yourself in the carefree summer days and nights, lo

Saab Bahadar
4.3

Saab Bahadar

2017-05-26

A small town cop finds himself investigating the murder of a prominent citizen.

Reckless
3.1

Reckless

2013-11-11

An uncompromising and controversial short set in the Scandinavian suburbia on the hottest day of the

A Hard Day
3.5

A Hard Day

2014-05-29

After trying to cover up a car accident that left a man dead, a crooked homicide detective is stalke

Dancer in the Dark
3.9

Dancer in the Dark

2000-09-01

Selma, a Czech immigrant on the verge of blindness, struggles to make ends meet for herself and her

Eddington
3.2

Eddington

2025-07-16

In May of 2020, a standoff between a small-town sheriff and mayor sparks a powder keg as neighbor is

Judgment Night
1

Judgment Night

2019-06-13

Former sports announcer Ji-hee gets fired from the broadcasting station and starts her own YouTube c

Thousand Year Sleep
1.6

Thousand Year Sleep

2007-06-29

Samantha, Lydia, Isabella, and Lisa. These four young women are about to learn that humanity is just

The 39 Steps
3.7

The 39 Steps

1935-06-06

Richard Hanney has a rude awakening when a glamorous female spy falls into his bed - with a knife in

The Silence of the Lambs
4.2

The Silence of the Lambs

1991-02-14

Clarice Starling is a top student at the FBI's training academy. Jack Crawford wants Clarice to int

Fargo
3.9

Fargo

1996-03-08

Jerry, a small-town Minnesota car salesman is bursting at the seams with debt... but he's got a plan

Amadeus
4

Amadeus

1984-09-19

Disciplined Italian composer Antonio Salieri becomes consumed by jealousy and resentment towards the

Strange Days
3.5

Strange Days

1995-10-13

In the last days of 1999, ex-cop turned street hustler Lenny Nero receives a disc which contains the

Swimming Pool
3.2

Swimming Pool

2003-05-21

A British crime novelist travels to her publisher's upmarket summer house in Southern France to seek

Once Upon a Time in America
4.2

Once Upon a Time in America

1984-05-23

A former Prohibition-era Jewish gangster returns to the Lower East Side of Manhattan over thirty yea

True Romance
3.8

True Romance

1993-09-09

Clarence marries hooker Alabama, steals cocaine from her pimp, and tries to sell it in Hollywood, wh

Insomnia
3.5

Insomnia

2002-05-24

Two Los Angeles homicide detectives are dispatched to a northern town where the sun doesn't set to i

A Crime
2.8

A Crime

2006-09-11

Vincent's life is on hold until he finds his wife's killer. Alice, his neighbor, is convinced she ca

Mala Noche
3

Mala Noche

1987-06-19

Walt is a lonely convenience store clerk who has fallen in love with a Mexican migrant worker named

12 Angry Men
4.3

12 Angry Men

1957-04-10

The defense and the prosecution have rested and the jury is filing into the jury room to decide if a