Shack Out on 101

The goings on at an isolated, seaside diner, where the cook (Lee Marvin) and owner (Keenan Wynn) both eye the waitress (Terry Moore) who’s in love with a professor (Frank Lovejoy), but not everything is what it seems.

Shack Out on 101 better than it has any right to be, thanks largely to a great, scene-stealing performance from Lee Marvin, and a solid supporting turn from Keenan Wynn.

It’s a film that comes close to greatness, as the script by director Edward Dein starts off efficient and interesting, and Marvin and Wynn more than show why they would go on to bigger and better things while top billed Terry Moore and Frank Lovejoy would toil in relative obscurity.

Indeed, Moore’s a small part of what doesn’t work in the film, as she lacks the charisma necessary to carry the story, but the big problem is Dein’s decision to have the film devolve into a propaganda piece. Granted, it was made smack in the middle of the Red-scare 50’s, but it still feels like a cop-out that only serves to undermine Marvin’s character’s edge.

Thus, Shack Out on 101 is a near miss of a film that’s worth a look for fans of Lee Marvin, but others can probably skip it, as the promising beginning only leads to disappointment once the plot is revealed.