Step Down to Terror (Universal Pictures) (1958)

Universal-International Presents “STEP DQWN TO TERROR” starring COLLEEN MILLER CHARLES DRAKE ROD TAYLOR with JOSEPHINE HUTCHINSON JOCELYN BRANDO Directed by HARRY KELLER Screenplay by MEL DINELLI CZENZI ORMONDI and CHRIS COOPER Produced by JOSEPH GERSHENSON the east Helen Walters. COLLEEN MILLER Johnny Williams CHARLES DRAKE Mike Randell..__..._.. ROD TAYLOR Mrs. Walters JOSEPHINE HUTCHINSON Dilys ee JOCELYN BRANDO Director of Photography, Russell Metty, A.S.C.; Art Direction, Alexander Golitzen; Set Decorations, Russell A. Gausman and Julia Heron; Sound, Leslie I. Carey and Robert Pritchard; Film Editor, Frank Gross, A.C.E.; Gowns, Bill Thomas; Make-up, Bud Westmore; Assistant Director, Marshall Green; Special Photography, Clifford Stine, A.S.C. Music Supervision by Joseph Gershenson. the story (Not for Publication) Johnny ‘‘Williams” (CHARLES DRAKE) returns to his small town home after a 6-year absence. His doting mother, Mrs. Walters (JOSEPHINE HUTCHINSON) and young nephew (RICKY KELMAN) are elated, but his widowed sister-in-law, Helen (COLLEEN MILLER) wonders what brought him back, and why he is suddenly so affluent. Her suspicions grow when he shuns strangers, gives her a valuable ring that bears an unrelated set of initials, and eludes a pair of “reporters.” Helen, attracted to one of them, learns that they are really officers seeking a psychopathic killer who preys on women, and that one of the victims bore the initials graven on her new ring. When Johnny attempts to kill her by sawing out the tread of a stairway, and she falls, but is only injured, she realizes that he is really the killer and that a young widow friend (JOCELYN BRANDO) is to be his next victim. She calls one of the officers (ROD TAYLOR) to come get Johnny, but Johnny knocks him out, takes her with him as his hostage and flees in his car, with his mother suspecting nothing. On the highway, traveling at high speed, he turns to avoid a boy on a bike, crashes the car and is killed. At the funeral, Helen and Mike keep his criminal record a secret to protect the mother that even he loved. Senn "STEP DOWN TO TERROR" {2A} Charles Drake is about to slug Rod Taylor while Colleen Miller looks on helplessly in this key scene from Universal-International’s “Step Down to Terror,” the study of a psychopathic killer. All three are co-starred, with Josephine Hutchinson and Jocelyn Brando in featured roles. (Still 1883-12) Director Creates New ‘Suspense’ Technique (Advance) Meet a director who practices what he preaches. He is Harry Keller, who directed “Step Down To Terror,’ the harrowing suspense drama due.......... ab (ne See theatre. Trying to heighten the tension between Charles Drake and Colleen Miller in a climactic scene, Keller created his own brand of psychology. He simply ordered that the entire crew on the set, from the start of that’s day’s shooting, speak only in whispers. For four hours the entire company worked in a nervous hush, until the critical six-minute “take’”’ had been recorded. The results justified the efforts, as both stars attested when they later saw the “rushes”. Keller is acquiring something of a Hollywood reputation as a director who applies practical psychology effectively. When he was doing ‘The Unguarded Moment” he had all the students in a high school corridor scene which preceded a fight mad at each other before the cameras rolled. In “Voice of the Mirror” he made Richard Egan spend a night in the drunk tank of a Los Angeles jail before he actually shot the scene. Besides Charles Drake and Colleen Miller, “Step Down To Terror’ co-stars Rod Taylor and features Josephine Hutchinson and Jocelyn Brando, Marlon Brando’s sister. SUGGESTED “LIVE” RADIO COPY (ONE MINUTE) ANNOUNCER: Without reason he stalked .. . without warning he struck .. . without mercy he destroyed .. . Step by step, a force he could not control led him to murder, but he never knew why ... See “STEP DOWN TO TERROR”, an unforgettable adventure in unbearable suspense coming soon to the..............-theatre. “STEP DOWN TO TERROR,” starring Charles Drake, Colleen Miller and Rod Taylor, with Josephine Hutchinson and Jocelyn Brando . . . the strange, compelling story of a psychopathic killer ae OME SA DOWN Oe oT ERAGON | . and don't tell anyone the ending ...“STEP...DOWN ...TO...TERROR!” (30 SECONDS) ANNOUNCER: Killer or lover . . . Which will he be tonight? “STEP DOWN TO TERROR?” is the story of a man who didn’t know which it would be until it actually happened . . . Coming soom-1a tie. 8 = theatre, it’s an adventure in unbearable suspense seldom equalled . . . the drama of a man who made a compulsive career of love and murder . . don’t tell the ending! (15 SECONDS) . Don’t miss Charles Drake, Colleen Miller and Rod Taylor in “STEP DOWN TO TERROR” .. . and ‘Step Down to Terror’ New Suspense Film Masterpiece (Review) Like a scream knifing through the dark, Universal-International’s taut suspense drama, “Step Down To Terror,” cut a path of tremendous excitement through audiences at the tear theatre, where it opened yesterday. Charles Drake, Colleen Miller and Rod Taylor are starred, and to their deft performances should be added the keenly understanding portrayals of Josephine Hutchinson, Jocelyn Brando and Ricky Kelman. Playing a suspected psychopathic killer whose guilt is open to question, Charles Drake is frighteningly real in his part. One moment he is the affectionate, generous wandering son come home to his small town, but the next he is ruthless, vicious, unreasoning, and psychopathically homicidal. Drake displays an amazing grasp of the characterization of Johnny Williams, quiet killer of rich, romantic women. As his widowed sister-in-law, who first detects the fleeting changes in Johnny’s moods, Colleen Miller’s performance is equally impressive. Unwilling to believe that her own kin could commit cold-blooded murder, she is forced to the inevitable conclusion that he is so, indeed, when jewels he gives her prove to have come from a murder victim. Yet cleverly as the killer, she is able to make him believe he is not suspected through most of the picture. Then occurs the dramatic incident that gives the picture its title. Rod Taylor, as an undercover officer, is both deft and sympathetic in the role of one who must step between a killer and his family. Josephine Hutchinson provides an unusual study of a mother, afflicted by heart disease, who never learns what her son has become. Equally deft in his performance is 8-year-old Ricky Kelman, who provides the psychological reasons for the startling end Motherhood, Career In Films, Mix Well For Colleen Miller (Advance) Movie star mothers who are worried about whether a career and children can be mixed successfully should take a try at Colleen Miller’s formula for motion picture and maternal compatability. “Tm a full-time mother and a part-time actress,’’ she says, explaining her position. Colleen returns to the screen in Universal-International’s suspenseful drama, “Step Down To Terrors: <Quen atothe:s ss theatre, after an eighteen-month absence, during which she had her second child. She is a firm believer in the policy that a career and a home can be happily combined, and is going all out to prove it. “T just can’t understand all the fuss being made over movie stars who have children and want to pursue their careers at the same time,” says Colleen. ‘Mothers all over the country today are proving that jobs and home-making can be successfully put together. Statistics show that over 65 per cent of all the working wives in Charles Drake plays a psychopathic killer, Colleen Miller, his widowed and suspicious sister-in-law in “‘Step Down to Terror,” from UniversalInternational, which also stars Rod Taylor. Josephine Hutchinson and Jocelyn Brando have prominent supporting roles in the CinemaScope suspense drama. (Still 1883-5AD ) ing of the picture. Jocelyn Brando, sister of Marlon Brando, returns to the screen after a twoyear absence in a striking vignette of a coy widow who fears that second love is passing her by. Director Harry Keller’s polished hand is evident throughout, and Russell Metty’s photography is sensitively attuned to the psychotic mood of the story. “Step Down To Terror” was produced by Joseph Gershenson. Twin Suspense Show Studies Psychopath (Advance) An insight into the operations of a good-natured psychopath heightens the suspense of murder in “Step Down to Terror,” due next-at -thev 2". theatre. Charles Drake, Colleen Moore and Rod Taylor are co-starred in this new Universal-International production, with Josephine Hutchinson and Jocelyn Brando, Marlon’s sister, in prominent supporting roles. For Miss Brando, who never knows how close she comes to being the killer’s next victim, the role is her first after a 2-year retirement from the screen. Harry Keller, pursuing the pattern of realism he did in “Unguarded Moment” and ‘Voice in the Mirror,” directed, and Joseph Gershenson produced. ANNOUNCER: Killer or lover... Which will he be tonight? STEP DOWN TO TERROR .. . an unforgettable experience in suspense! Drama of a man who made a career of compulsive murder! Don't miss Charles Drake, Colleen Miller and Don Taylor in America are also working mothers, and doing both very well.” Marrying camera manufacturer Ted Briskin three years ago, Colleen moved her home from “STEP DOWN Charles Drake adds another top portrayal to his gallery of film characterizations as good-natured Johnny Williams, the psychopathic killer of romantic widows in “Step Down to Terror.” Colleen Miller and Rod Taylor are co-starred. Josephine Hutchinson and Jocelyn Brando have prominent supporting roles. The new suspense drama from Universal-International is in CinemaScope. (Still 1883-1AD) Page 2 STEP DOWN TO TERROR ., . . coming.....-.. IONE eS theatre! TV TELOP OR SLIDE Order Telops and Slides for television direct from QQ TITLE CARD CO., 247 West 46th St., New York 36. Your cost is $6.00 with theatre playdate and station identification, $5.00 without. Additional copies, $2.50 each. Be sure to state whether you are ordering Telop or Slide. STREAMERS and BANNERS Order direct from NATIONAL FLAG COMPANY, 42 West 2\st St., New York 10, N. Y. In Canada order from THEATRE POSTER SERVICE, 250 Victoria St., Toronto, Ontario. California to Chicago, her husband’s home base. Continuing her movie career with U-I under her contract with the studio, she “retired” temporarily after starring in “The Rawhide Years” to await the birth of her first child, Robin. “From then on I became an actress on a part-time basis only,” she says. Colleen returned to Hollywood several months afterwards to star with Jeff Chandler and Orson Welles in ‘Man In the Shadow,” before “retiring” again to have her second child, Richard. “And when ‘Step Down To Terror’ is completed, back home I go to Chicago and my family,” she smiles. ‘Naturally as an actress I want my career to grow, but I also want the same things for them. With careful planning, not haphazard working, I think both can grow together.” “STEP DOWN TO TERROR” [1-0 Colleen Miller has every right to be frightened in “Step Down to Terror,” Universal-International’s new suspense drama, in CinemaScope, which stars Colleen, Charles Drake and Rod Taylor, for she has been marked as the next victim of a good-natured psychopathic killer. The strategem whereby she escapes is part of the surprise ending. Josephine Hutchinson and Jocelyn Brando also are featured in the production. (Still 1883-2AD) Copyright 1958 — Universal Pictures Co., Inc.