V. DOUBLE-ACTION PICTURES THE FINALYEARS 1948-1949
The final years of D-A were long ignored by most fans who naturally preferred the films of the “Golden Age (1940-1945) or the “Silver Age” (1945-47). The films of 1948-49 were disadvantaged in that few of them got much showing on television and were among the last to emerge from the Kansas Vault. Ironically the first D-A film to attract mainstream attention was from this period, STRANGERS ON A HIGHWAY (1949) starring Adrianne Palmer and Kristen Belmont written by Mila Kirova Van Witt (under her M.V.Kirkwood pen name) and directed by the hard-working Taylor Colt (who somehow squeezed this project in between her regular work on the “Rose Darewood” historical films and dark crime dramas of “Undercover Agent”, though it is clear the noirish world of UA is reflected even more darkly in “Strangers”.
Among the more surprising discoveries from 1949-49 was the work of the producer-writer-director team of Joseph King and Marlene Daughtery. Originally teamed up to work on YUKON GOLD series, they were able to produce three different, but intriguing films—AND PRESUMED DEAD (1948) a private eye noir picture, the off-beat comedy VAMPIRE BRIDES FOR JUSTICE (1948) and the straight horror film SHADOWS OVER RAVENSWOOD (1949)—all featuring essentially the same group of young actresses: Troian Spencer, Shannon Ashley Mitchell, Ashley Marrin. and Karen Lucy Hale. (Sharp-eyed fans have noted Sasha Allison, Jane L. Parrish, and Paige Shaw reoccur in at least some of the productions).
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