Shack Out on 101 (1955)

★ 5.9 1h 20m IMDb

A greasy spoon diner provides a base for a spy smuggling nuclear secrets.

Shack Out on 101

Where to Watch

Netflix Netflix
Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video
Disney Plus Disney Plus
HBO Max HBO Max
Max Max
Hulu Hulu
Paramount Plus Paramount Plus
Apple TV Plus Apple TV Plus
Peacock Peacock
Showtime Showtime
Starz Starz
Paramount+ with Showtime Paramount+ with Showtime

Rent / Buy

Rent

Apple TV Apple TV
Google Play Movies Google Play Movies
Amazon Video Amazon Video
YouTube YouTube
Vudu Vudu
Fandango at Home Fandango at Home

Buy

Apple TV Apple TV
Google Play Movies Google Play Movies
Amazon Video Amazon Video
YouTube YouTube
Vudu Vudu
Fandango at Home Fandango at Home

Cast

Terry Moore
Terry Moore as Kotty Age 97 · Los Angeles, California, USA Born Helen Luella Koford on January 7, 1929, the Los Angeles, California native worked as a model before she made her film debut at age 11 in 20th Century Fox's Maryland (1940). Throughout the 1940s,...
Frank Lovejoy
Frank Lovejoy as Prof. Sam Bastion Died 1962 · Bronx, New York, USA Frank Andrew Lovejoy Jr. (March 28, 1912 – October 2, 1962) was an American actor in radio, film, and television. He is perhaps best remembered for appearing in the film noir The Hitch-Hiker and for s...
Keenan Wynn
Keenan Wynn as George Died 1986 · New York City, New York, USA Francis Xavier Aloysius James Jeremiah Keenan Wynn (July 27, 1916 – October 14, 1986) was an American character actor. His expressive face was his stock-in-trade; and though he rarely carried the lead...
Lee Marvin
Lee Marvin as Slob / Mr. Gregory Died 1987 · New York City, New York, USA Lee Marvin (February 19, 1924 – August 29, 1987) was an American actor. Known for his distinctive voice and premature white hair, Marvin initially appeared in supporting roles, mostly villains, soldie...
Whit Bissell
Whit Bissell as Eddie Died 1996 · New York City, New York, USA Whit Bissell (born Whitner Nutting Bissell) was an American character actor. His career in film and television spanned the years 1940 to 1984..
Jess Barker
Jess Barker as Artie Died 2000 · Greenville, South Carolina, USA Jess Barker (June 4, 1912 - August 8, 2000) was an American film actor of the 1930s and 1940s. He is probably most famous for being the first husband of actress Susan Hayward..

Audience Reviews

John Chard 9/10 Dec 15, 2019
Slob's got an eight cylinder body and a 2 cylinder mind.

Shack Out on 101 is directed by Edward Dein and Dein co-writes the screenplay with Mildred Dein. It stars Terry Moore, Frank Lovejoy, Lee Marvin, Keenan Wynn and Whit Bissell.Music is by Paul Dunlap and cinematography by Floyd Crosby.

An isolated diner on California's 101 highway provides the backdrop of for nuclear secrets, spies, federal agents and sexual boiling points.

What a wonderful hot-pot of the weird and wonderful world of the era's "red scare" momentum. Often inserted into film noir dictionaries or "commie" thriller paragraphs, the truth is, is that it's a film very much of a kinky oblique niece section of film making. This is the kind of picture that will either have you utterly giggling away with a knowing sense of enjoyment, or conversely have you annoyed and possibly thinking you should have spent your time some place else.

It's low budget stuff that's mostly confined to the diner of the title, but Dein brings a joyous combination of genuine menacing thrills and sequences that make you feel you have stepped into another movie (witness the whole snorkel wearing sequences). Moore is a sensuous treat as the waitress babe right in the middle of things who is making every male on the premises unscrew their brain and lob it into the dep fat fryer. There's a slight touch of misogyny in the air, but the female half of the Dein film making duo ensure it's actually kept in check.

Marvin steals the pic, where we get an early glimpse of what we would come to know as a dominant screen presence. Moore would speak very highly of Marvin, which obviously goes against the grain of the character he plays (Slob!), and Marvin and Wynn would form a friendship that lasted their lifetime. These are nice tid-bids form what is a love it or hate it film. So go on, watch it and see if you can pigeon hole it. I loved it. 9/10

Similar Movies