this rather dark film noir with it uneasy comic ( roscoe ate and nana bryant and and billy house who even repeat his checker trick from the stranger ) and desperate heroine ( mary beth hughes ) and be far strengthen by the forceful performance of charles russell who manage to make his rather ambivalent drifter somewhat sympathetic . admittedly and he be help in this goal by the obnoxious loudmouth and light on brain mike and who and whether by accident or design and be make even more repulsive than the screenplay require by the over enthusiastic acting of dale belding . fortunately and when the script give her a chance and mary beth hughes come to the rescue with her animated portrait of the girl who want to escape her small town prison . in keep with the nocturnal atmosphere of the radio series and most of the action take place at night . however and although the picture be big on atmosphere and despite it obviously limited budget and it be somewhat deficient in characterization and motivation . the screenplay overstate the one dimensional comic interlude and but dwell little on the force that drive the main character . why do russell murder the girl . be it an accident . self defense . the script hint at these factor . but why hint . and what be the background to this meeting . so many question remain unanswered .