The Come On (1956) User Reviews

Anne Baxter, Sterling Hayden go through paces in routine crime thriller

[bmacv · 5/10 · 20 July 2003]

During the 1950s, Anne Baxter appeared in any number of routine, less than distinguished crime thrillers – last gasps of the dying noir cycle that were long on plot but short on style. One of them, The Come-On, is a warmed-over tale of murder and duplicity, but Baxter, bless her trouper's heart, gives it her considerable all as though she were starring in a major-studio `A' production.

Coming out of the surf down in Mexico, Baxter finds Sterling Hayden ogling her. They strike sparks and agree to meet aboard his boat, the imaginatively christened Lucky Lady. She abruptly leaves their rendezvous; later, in a bar, Sterling sees her with her drunken, abusive husband (John Hoyt). It happens, however, that Baxter and Hoyt aren't really married but partners in a racket – high-class grifters. Only Baxter wants out and wants Hayden to help her – by murdering Hoyt.

It's a mechanical, wheels-within-wheels plot, featuring a mercenary gumshoe (Jesse White) and `accidents' with missing bodies that turn out to be neither missing nor bodies, at least in the dead sense. Through it all, Baxter, emotes all over the place (never more effectively than in a scene near a mail chute, where an incriminating letter may or may not be headed to the police). Sterling's role is less meaty: He's not quite the chump, but except for throwing a couple of slaps and punches, he's pretty passive. Come to think of it, he appeared in any number of routine, less than distinguished crime thrillers during the 1950s, too.

'50s noir

[blanche-2 · 6/10 · 7 October 2017]

Before I start, I'd like to call out 'melvelvit-1' - obviously a male - who refers in his review to Anne Baxter as "no spring chicken." She was 32. Get a life.

"The Come On" is a low-budget noir starring Baxter, Sterling Hayden, John Hoyt, and Jesse White. Baxter plays Rita, who meets Dave (Hayden) on the beach. There's immediate electricity, but meeting her in a nightclub later on, he finds out the man she's with, Harold (Hoyt) is her husband. He loses interest. Later she explains her situation - she grew up poor and is not married to Harold. They work cons together for big money, and she stays in the best hotels, wears the most beautiful clothes, travels first class - and she likes it that way.

Rita doesn't fool around - she's in love with Dave and tells him that to keep him on a string, Hoyt is keeping money he owes her. Of course, should he die...well, we've all seen that before.

The whole thing becomes convoluted with blackmail, lies, and betrayal.

Routine stuff, with Bancroft effective as a femme fatale. Hayden just never does it for me, he always comes off as stiff and monotonal, though he does have a certain presence. Jesse White is great as a sleazy detective, and Hoyt gives a good performance as the controlling and vicious Harold.

Entertaining if not exceptional.

Bargain basement noir with a fervent femme fatale

[melvelvit-1 · 6/10 · 22 May 2010]

Allied Artists' plot twisty low-budget noir opens with shapely con-artist Anne Baxter emerging from the Pacific to come on to restless fisherman Sterling Hayden who immediately falls hook, line, and sinker. Before you know it, she's begging him to kill her brutal partner-in-crime but Anne isn't wrapped too tight and their plans soon spiral out of control...

In 50s B movies where the budget is spent on the salaries of stars on the cusp of "past their prime", it's their chemistry that counts and although there's none here, it's not for lack of trying on the leading lady's part. Anne Baxter certainly doesn't hold anything back in what amounts to a dry run for her scheming Nefritiri in THE TEN COMMANDMENTS and it's kind of campy seeing her vamp it up in broad strokes, especially since she's no spring chicken. Sterling Hayden always seems the same for some reason and was no different than he was in CRIME OF PASSION (1957) when he steeled himself to make love to a mature Barbara Stanwyck -but at least here he does it in swim trunks, albeit briefly. Quirky character actor John Hoyt smoothly plays Anne's control freak "husband" as a civilized sadist while a rumpled Jesse White (TV's Maytag repairman) provides the sleaze as the two-bit private dick Hoyt hires to watch his wayward woman. The twists and turns the story takes keep the pulpy pot boiling until the star-crossed lovers come full circle in the surf and although Baxter & Hayden are no threat to Romeo & Juliet, the body count is satisfying at least. The director (not that it matters) was publicist Russell Birdwell who coined the tagline "How would you like to tussle with Russell?" for THE OUTLAW and would go on to make the preposterous THE GIRL IN THE KREMLIN with two -make that three- glam-mannequins: the life-like lunk Lex Barker and chattering magyar Zsa Zsa Gabor in a dual role.

Gentlemen prefer blondes.

[brogmiller · 6/10 · 31 December 2020]

Anne Baxter was assuredly one of America's finest actresses whose sheer professionalism enabled her to shine regardless of the material. She had 'gone blonde' for Hitchcock in 'I Confess' and decided to stay that way for a while. This change of hair colour may not have brought her better films but it certainly accentuated her extraordinary sensuality.

From the moment she emerges from the water in a two-piece swimsuit in this potboiler one is 'hooked' and it is her subsequent performance that keeps one watching. The character of Rita is one of film's most fascinating femme fatales who spells trouble with a capital 'T'. She is ably supported by John Hoyt, suitably reptilian as a blackmailer and Jesse White as a venal private investigator. She finds true love with the fisherman of Sterling Hayden but their relationship is, naturally, doomed from the outset.

The film itself, one of five made by former publicist Russell Birdwell, is in truth pretty dire but is redeemed by the performances and by having Ernest Haller behind the camera.

Hayden, one of Hollywood's mavericks, has a thankless part. He professed to hate filming but his persona was at least used to great effect by Stanley Kubrick. Such a pity that 'tax problems' prevented his playing Quint in 'Jaws'. As for Miss Baxter, it was Cecil B. de Mille who came to her rescue with 'The Ten Commandments'.

This splendid artiste never gave less than her best and it is only fitting that the final words be hers: "Acting is not what I do. It is what I am."

Fantastic film noir

[lor_ · 12 January 2024]

Two genres: Horror and Porn have one characteristic in common: a morbid approach to the subject matter. Allied Artists' relatively obscure 1956 release "The Come On" is late-period film noir, like Welles' "Touch of Evil" coming several years after the post-war genre was dwindling, but is singularly morbid and fatalistic in its approach.

With Anne Baxter and Sterling Hayden as the star-crossed lovers (plus veteran John Hoyt a rather amazing villain), the movie is bookended by visually arresting scenes set on a remote beach in Mexico, where Anne and Sterling first meet and finally face their inevitable fate, staged in an idyllic way that contrasts with the traditional look and mood of noir.

Her casting is a key to the movie's success. She begins the movie looking very sexy in her bathing suit, conjuring up any number of 1950s blonde bombshells like Mamie Van Doren, Anita Ekberg, Greta Thyssen or Juli Reding. But instead we have the Oscar-winning Anne Baxter, just as sexy without pinup credentials, and providing the powerful acting her bustier peers could not dream of bringing to the role of a classic femme fatale that screams "lovely but deadly".

With many, many plot twists that are increasingly hard to swallow, the movie verges on fantasy by film's end. It is notable in its emphasis on misogyny, with every male character an exteme example of male chauvinist. Hayden's opening scene on the beach plays like textbook sexual harassment, and Anne's relationship with heavy John Hoyt is an amazingly morbid portrait of codependecny created by his domination/submission approach to her. Even the private eye played so well by a well-cast Jesse White manipulates Anne unmercifully.

After watching this rather strange movie, I was surprised at how obscure its filmmakers were: director Russell Birdwell directed a couple of early talkies (in 1929 and 1933) and then this film and the even stranger "The Girl in the Kremlin" (with Lex Barker and Zsa Zsa Gabor!) almost three decades later -what a career gap! Novelist/screenwriter Whitman Chambers similarly has few screen credits, but is responsible for a true noir classic "Blonde Ice".

Forgotten Late Noir...Baxter, Hayden, Hoyt & White...Minimal Style Maximum Emoting

[LeonLouisRicci · 7/10 · 8 January 2024]

Allied Artists Studios was Formed by some of Hollywood's Independent Thinking "Stars".

It was a Reconditioned "Monogram" that had its Place for some Fine Actors to Work Outside the Studio System.

Although Envisioned as an Alternative to Big-Buck, Highly Controlled Studio Work,

the Major Problem was that Transforming a Poverty-Row Studio into a Look-as-Good as the Majors Film Proved to be a Task Insurmountable.

It's Extremely Evident in "The Come On" where there isn't a Scene that looks Stylish, or for that Matter Believable.

Of Course the Outdoor Stuff doesn't Suffer as Much because it Brings its Own "Natural" Ambience.

But Here all the Indoor Scenes Look Tacky, Droll, Lifeless and Void, even though Fronted by some Top-Talented Thespians.

Anne Baxter, is known as one of the Consummate-Professionals, Hard Working, Oscar Winning, and Sexy.

A Privileged Private Upbringing didn't Prepare Her for the Troubling Ups and Downs in Her Private as Well as Professional Life.

Always, Giving Her All, Willing to Work in Prestigious Productions...Nefertiti in "The 10 Commandments" (1956), the same Year as this Bargain-Basement Film-Noir.

She can be Spotted Here, still with some Sexual-Charm (at 32).

Delivering Her Lines and Acting Like this could be an Oscar Contender. She Drives the Picture, almost Single-Handedly.

But Gets Stalwart Support from He-Man Sterling Hayden, very at Home in His Home Away from Home, On-a-Boat.

His Regular-Good-Guy Character is Opposed by John Hoyt, a Serpentine, Domineering Partner-in-Crime with Baxter, and He is a Great Love to Hate Villain.

Character Actor Jesse White is a Sleazy Private-Eye, Uncouth and Uncool, and makes His Presence Count along with the 3 Other Leads.

The Script is a Complicated Contrivance that Fuels Film-Noir Regularly, with Murder, Blackmail, Passion, and Greed.

The Down-Side is the Aforementioned Bland Look of the Thing that Puts the Burden of Making the Sleazy B-Grade Entertainment Entertaining.

They do a Fine Job in this 2nd Tier, Late-Noir, and that Makes it...

Worth a Watch.

Convoluted, confusing plot with Baxter as femme fatale

[adrianovasconcelos · 6/10 · 10 January 2024]

Russell Birdwell is not exactly famous as director and this movie helps explain why. Despite having a solid cast on his hands, including 1950 supporting actress Oscar winner Anne Baxter and such stalwarts as Sterling Hayden and John Hoyt, he fails to free this movie from its B picture cuffs.

Hoyt, the quick-thinking blackmailer who keeps Baxter on a short rein while amassing a fortune, and does not want to let her go to the man she is infatuated with (Hayden), really pulls the movie's strings. Poor Hayden's fate is predetermined by his falling in love at first sight with Baxter, who responds in kind but just a little bit slower - indicating that her love levels do not quite match his.

With rather pedestrian cinematography and no score as backup, the film jolts along from incident to incident, with Baxter revealing a cunning criminal mind. In fact, she buys dynamite to blow up Hoyt and keep his blackmail proceeds... all well and good, except that Hayden is too decent a fellow and throws the explosives into the sea.

But, not to be outdone, and with the obvious intent of faking his demise, Hoyt blows himself up on his boat. By this point, this material had become too combustible for me and I just wanted it all to end. I won't spoil anyone's fun but the resolution spoiled it for me.

Conclusion: do not waste 82 minutes of your life on this dud. 6/10.

Low budget pulp lacking the juice.

[mark.waltz · 3/10 · 28 August 2018]

Another tale of a shady broad involving an innocent ogler in her scheme to kill her alleged husband. Anne Baxter, having just gone Technicolor in a really bad MGM film noir ("Bedevilled") goes to lowly Allied Artists for this film that rivals "Bedevilled" and "Carnival Story" as truly low class trash that helped turn the former Eve Harrington into a campy, breathy joke. The Oscar Winning actress was very busy at this time with decent westerns and of course her unintentionally funny performance as Nefertiti in "The Ten Commandments", but this one goes into overdrive with its absurd plot and unlikable characters. Baxter's lounging in a tight one piece bathing suit off the Pacific coast of Mexico when Sterling Hayden spots her, ogles her enough to get her to meet him for a drink, then finds out that she is married to the seemingly older, apparently frail John Hoyt. When Hoyt confronts her with a slap while sharing a cocktail with Hayden, he responds in kind, giving Hoyt a slug. It is then we find out that Hoyt isn't a frail looking old man, but still a smarmy con-artist, having blackmailed her into joining him in a series of cons, and wait....they aren't even married! Hoyt prepares to kill Baxter after another row, but she gets the one-upmanship on him, and runs off to be with Hayden. Hoyt, however, is like the bad slug that ends up in a pile of valuable coins, showing up at the wrong time and always with evil intentions. This leads to a supposed final confrontation with Hoyt and another rendezvous with Hayden, but cockroaches are difficult to kill.

While I rank Anne Baxter in my list of favorite actresses, I find that many of her films show her in campier styles that do not stand the test of time as art but make her rather a parody of what she had started to develop after "All About Eve" came out. She is still a looker here, gorgeous in that one piece bathing suit, and while she is still a great actresses, weak scripts such as this one often defeated her. To make matters worse, she's at low grade Allied Artists which, formerly known as Monogram, was the ultimate come-down for veteran movie stars the decade before. By the 1950's, they were still busy making Bowery Boys movies, but their "A" features starring veteran actors like Baxter and Joan Bennett were often quickly written and weakly plotted. This film noir is filled with so many plot holes that if those plot holes were Baxter's bathing suit, she'd need a robe. The characters are all sleazy and unlikable, and the photography is gloomy and maudlin. The only thing I can say about the title that rings true is that every time Hoyt pops up, I had to say, "Oh, come on!". Veteran character actor Jesse White plays an equally sleazy private detective who slithers onto the screen here and there to add more low class to an already slimy tale of fraud, desperation and murder.

Can The Leopard Change Its Spots?

[boblipton · 5/10 · 22 December 2023]

Anne Baxter and John Hoyt have a nice racket. They're in a bad marriage, but there's always a sympathetic man to help her out, with a check to let her run and hide.... and then Hoyt shows up and demands more money, because what he giving his wife the money for? But when Sterling Hayden shows up, it's different. This time, she realizes, it's really love. She confesses it all to Hayden, and he forgives her. But will Hoyt let her go?

It's an ambitious Allied Artists movies straight down my strike zone when it comes to what I like: con men and women weaving a tale that drags in not only the suckers in the movie, but me. Unfortunately, it doesn't do that, although it took me a bit of time to recognize it. That settled, th twists that were offered after that were not surprises at all, just as inevitable as the shootout at the end of a B western.

There are some good performances here, including Mr. Hoyt and Jesse White as a crooked PI. Alas, the leads were not compelling: Hayden , as he so often did in this phase of his career, seemed anxious to get back on his boat, and Miss Baxter seems to play it too broad in overcompensation.

Take A Dip In The Tropic of Noir

[secragt · 8/10 · 19 April 2010]

Usually a movie with 20 total IMDb votes is a waste of time; there's probably a good reason nobody remembers it. In this case, The Come On is probably forgotten because snarled film rights have prevented a video or DVD release rather than any issues with the content. In fact, this low budgeter has enough small guilty pleasures and creamy nougat noir smoulder to get you through a late night TCM viewing in style. MACBETH it ain't but this is certainly better than its 5.8 IMDb rating, and definitely worth a look for any fan of Anne Baxter or slightly cheesy crime drama.

Baxter's leading lady career was nearing its expiration date by the time this surprisingly nimble b-movie came out late in the noir cycle but she was still one sexy cougar and she roars through this with all the breathy sigh and sexy twitch she's got. Though his acting is uneven, young Sterling Hayden is an effective physical presence with a couple standout moments. His piercing eyes and prurient "hi" to well-heeled Baxter do more to explain her otherwise well-calculated character's misguided but hungry attraction for this no-prospect schlub than three pages of exposition and setup ever could.

John Hoyt, who appeared in other violent shockers like BRUTE FORCE (though many may know him best for his short-lived ship's doctor role from the original Star Trek pilot), is delightfully violent and creepy here as the slick, tanned grifter who has no problem slapping Baxter around but won't let her go.

The actual set-up of the initial con Hoyt and Baxter are running is neatly done; we don't see it coming and it plays well. That Hayden's character is willing to stick with Baxter to a degree after learning what she's really about strains credibility, but somehow their unlikely doomed romance clicks and the viewer goes along for the ride. We can see Baxter will blow things with this dull-witted chump, but are curious to see how.

That the answer comes in the form of Jesse White, the actor who played the lonely Maytag repairman for 30 years, is another quiet pleasure in this tropical noir. White is surprisingly convincing as a seedy PI attemping to blackmail Baxter and Hayden. It's hard to say more about the plotting without pulling back the curtain too far; suffice to say that there are a few nice twists (probably one too many; one character actually says "I just don't seem to be able to stay dead…") but the ending is faithful to the noir tradition. Yes, a lot of cheese and cornballs are consumed over the course of this poison pill meal, but it's still a filling and satisfying repast.

Romantic passion is not enough to get out of a racket

[clanciai · 8/10 · 26 December 2023]

It has all the typical ingredients of a standard noir: crime, misery, blackmail, murder, motivation of money, scoundrels and at least one honest chap who commits the mistake of falling in love with the wrong woman, who is a racketeer, has always been so and is deeply involved with racketeers, as she officially but not legally is married to one of the worst of them, a completely ruthless criminal. We are used to see Anne Baxter in such roles, they were the kind of roles she was an expert on, she usually played them out with great passion, and so she does here with a vengeance. Sterling Hayden is the honest man, a fisherman, who isn't stupid but he is too sunken in love not to be bogged down in the confusion of it. John Hoyt is convincing enough as the villain, you hate him from the beginning and there are no mitigating circumstances in anything he does, you simply can't expect anything of him but the worst, which is what he delivers. Anne Baxter's luckless character does have mitigating circumstances though, she was somehow born out of luck which always has kept hounding her, and which she desperately tries to sort herself out of, while she only succeeds in making it worse. She is a tragic figure.