Private Hell 36 refers to what Ida Lupino at age 36 was going thru because she looked like she was 46. Here she plays hotsy-totsy vaa-vaa-voom chanteuse opposite gum chewing police detective Steve Cochran, who was 37 at the time. Cochran's police partner is Howard Duff (Ida's real life hubby at the time). After a lot of time wasted getting to the real plot, Duff & Cochran stumble across a strongbox of $200k in hot $$$ from a NYC robbery-murder. Cochran stuffs his pocket with $80k, Duff is dumbfounded but soon it's too late and he is absorbed by his participation, so much so that he goes thru private hell for the rest of the flick because of the $$$ which Cochran has hidden in a small trailer he has rented in a trailer park. It's trailer #36. Duff's Private Hell. Trailer #36. Ge it? Little twists happen, Duff tells Cochran they must come clean, Cochran says sure nuff, they go to the trailer, Duff gets the dough, Cochran pulls his gun to blast Duff, but a voice calls out, shots are fired, people scatter, mild mayhem. Duff is wounded, Cochran's dead and the surprise ending is surprising. It's watchable, too much time at the race track and the villain has nice old Packaard which crashes down the usual ravine. I love old movies with car crashes cause they looked real back before every crash now looks like 100 megaton, 1,000 gallons of gas explosion and fireball visible from outer space. The film "Impact" has a nice old Packard too.
Review of Private Hell 36
