Storm Fear (1955)

Interesting facts

Storm Fear is a 1955 American crime drama film noir directed by Cornel Wilde in his directorial debut, and starring Wilde, Jean Wallace, Dan Duryea, and Lee Grant. It follows a bank robber and his gang who seek shelter at his brother's mountain cabin, where he rekindles a romance with his brother's wife and connects with her son, whom he believes he fathered. It is based on the 1954 novel of the same name by Clinton Seeley.

Production

The film was based on a novel by Clinton Seeley which was published in November 1954. The New York Times called the Sealey work "a pleasant discovery... a tale of terror presented with economy, insight and a surprising amount of technical skill." It was told through the first person of a 12 year old, Davie.

Cornel Wilde bought the film rights in December 1954.

Wilde had recently moved into producing, establishing his own company, Theodora, with his then-wife Jean Wallace. Their first film was The Big Combo. In January 1955 he hired Horton Foote to write the script, and announced he wanted this to be Theodora's second film, putting others (Curly, Lord Byron, Second Act Curtain) on the back burner.

Wilde, who had recently directed an episode of General Electric Theatre, decided to direct this.

Steven Hill, a highly regarded Broadway player, was cast as a gang member in the film.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.