Gene Barry & Barbara Hale in "The Houston Story" (1956)
386Frank Duncan (Gene Barry) is a shrewd, ambitious oil driller in Galveston, Texas. To finance his scheme to steal millions of dollars of crude oil, Duncan contacts Houston mob boss Paul "Paulie" Atlas (Edward Arnold) through Zoe Crane (Barbara Hale), the lounge singer girl friend of Atlas' second-in-command, Gordie Shay (Paul Richards). Zoe puts Duncan in contact with Atlas. Duncan outlines his plan to Atlas. He agrees to back Duncan.
Duncan proposes forming a dummy corporation as a front in case something goes wrong and suggests appointing his good-natured yet dim-witted friend Louie Phelan (Frank Jenks) to be its head. Once Duncan departs, Atlas reassures Shay that he plans to dump Duncan as soon as he is no longer useful. When Shay and Atlas travel to St. Louis to present the plan to Emile Constant (John Zaremba), the head of a nationwide crime syndicate, Constant warns Atlas that the operation must be nonviolent.
Duncan appoints Louie head of the company, and the naïve Louie blithely signs all contracts presented to him. When Shay comes to visit Duncan in his office one day, the wary Duncan surreptitiously tapes their conversation. After laying out a plan to siphon oil from the refineries at the docks, Duncan instructs Shay to hijack a load of pipes from a truck that evening, and cautions that there must be no violence.
Deciding to sabotage Duncan's advancement by insuring that the hijacking fails, Shay tells his thugs to kill one of the drivers. With the murder of the truck driver, federal agents are called in to investigate. When Constant confronts Duncan about the killing, Duncan plays the tape recording in which he tells Shay to avoid violence. Furious, Constant fires Shay and after installing Duncan in his place, warns Atlas that he will hold him responsible for Shay's subsequent indiscretions.
That night, Chris Barker, (Chris Alcaide) one of Shay's lieutenants, forces Zoe at gunpoint to phone Duncan and beg him to lend her $25,000, arranging to meet him later that evening at the observatory atop the Houston Justice Building. Upon arriving at the observatory, Duncan finds Barker waiting for him, gun in hand, demanding the money. After Duncan hands over the envelope, Barker announces his plan to kill him anyway, prompting Duncan to shove him over the side of the building. Duncan then hurries to Zoe's apartment, where he finds her severely beaten by Shay, who is still there. As Duncan lashes out at Shay, Atlas arrives and begs Duncan to spare his protégé. Duncan then consents to give Shay a chance at redemption by coercing the uncooperative owner of a refinery into selling his property.
When Barker's body is found, federal agents identity him as a member of Constant's syndicate and focus their investigation on Houston. Duncan, meanwhile, double-crosses Shay by alerting the authorities about the sabotage attempt at the refinery. After lobbing a grenade into one of the derricks, Shay is arrested by the police and exposes Atlas' role in the oil hijacking scheme.
While trying to flee the authorities, Atlas is shot down in the street. Upon learning of the situation, Constant sends his two thugs, Don Stokes and Kalo, to eliminate Duncan. After arriving in Houston, Constant's enforcers go to Duncan's offices, where, through the intercom, Duncan overhears them pummeling Louis in the anteroom. Fleeing out the back, Duncan phones Zoe, instructs her to pack her things and meet him at the Derrick Café. Still believing in Duncan's rectitude, a dazed Louis notifies the police about his friend's peril.
At the Derrick Café, Duncan tricks the sweet, unsuspecting Madge into driving to his apartment and retrieving his clothes and money from the safe. When Madge arrives, she finds Zoe cleaning out the safe, and Zoe then coldly informs Madge that Duncan has double-crossed her. Stuffing her purse with cash, Zoe hurries out of the building but is picked up by Stokes and Kato. After forcing her to divulge Duncan's location, Stokes and Kato shoot her and throw her body out of the moving car. As Duncan waits at the café, Madge, shaken, notifies the police. Stokes and Kato arrive at the café first, however, and shoot it out with Duncan as police sirens wail in the distance. After disposing of his assailants, the wounded Duncan hears Louis, pleading over the police megaphone, to give himself up. With no other alternative, Duncan surrenders
A 1956 American crime film noir directed by William Castle, produced by Sam Katzman, written by Robert E. Kent (as "James B. Gordon"), cinematography by Henry Freulich, starring Gene Barry (Bat Masterson), Barbara Hale (Della Street, Perry Mason (1957)'s secretary), John Zaremba (Dr. Raymond Swain of the The Time Tunnel (1966), Jeanne Cooper, and Edward Arnold. Debut screen appearance of Claudia Bryar. Distributed by Columbia Pictures.
Shot at what was then Houston International Airport, and is now William P. Hobby Airport. The name was changed in 1967 to honor the Texas governor.