Storm Fear (1955)

Storm Fear is a 1955 American film noir directed by Cornel Wilde, starring himself, Jean Wallace and Dan Duryea. It was Wilde’s feature directorial debut.

Director – Cornel Wilde

Writers – Horton Foote (screen play), Clinton Seeley (novel)

Cast –
Cornel Wilde as Charlie Blake
Jean Wallace as Elizabeth Blake
Dan Duryea as Fred Blake
Lee Grant as Edna Rogers
David Stollery as David Blake
Dennis Weaver as Hank
Steven Hill as Benjie

Watch “Storm Fear” (1955)

Plot

After being badly wounded during a heist, bank robber Charlie Blake (Wilde) takes refuge in a remote New England farm house owned by his older brother Fred (Duryea), who lives there with wife Elizabeth and young son David. A weak and unhappy man, Fred reluctantly harbors the fugitive and his gang members, the brutal Benjie and their moll Edna.

Time passes and Charlie’s men are anxious to move on, but he needs rest to recover. He is also still in love with Fred’s wife Elizabeth (Wallace), with whom he once had an affair. Elizabeth’s hired hand Hank is in love with her as well. Fred must endure both situations, plus the taunting and physical abuse of Benjie.

More trouble ensues when suspicions arise that Elizabeth’s son was fathered by Charlie, not her husband. A heavy snow and his bullet wound delay Charlie’s escape, but when Fred sneaks away to contact the police, David guides the gang members through the snowy terrain. Elizabeth is tied up and left behind.

Edna breaks a leg in a fall and Charlie cruelly abandons her in the wilderness. Hank comes across Fred’s frozen corpse. An argument breaks out between Charlie and Benjie along the way, resulting in David picking up a gun and killing Benjie with it. Charlie now has the robbery loot to himself, but Hank turns up and shoots him. Charlie dies without acknowledging for the boy whether he is his real father.