''Hot Cars'' is a 1956 American film noir crime film directed by Don McDougall and written by Don Martin and Richard H. Landau. The film stars

John Bromfield John Bromfield (born Farron Bromfield; June 11, 1922 – September 19, 2005) was an American actor and commercial fisherman. Early years Farron Bromfield was born in South Bend, Indiana. He played football and was a boxing champion at Saint Mar ...

, Carol Shannon,

Joi Lansing Joi Lansing (born Joy Rae Brown, April 6, 1929 – August 7, 1972) was an American model, film and television actress, and nightclub singer. She was noted for her pin-up photos and roles in B-movies, as well as a prominent role in the famous ...

Ralph Clanton Ralph Woodward Clanton (September 11, 1914 – December 29, 2002) was an American character actor of film, stage, and television. His most seen performance was Comte De Guiche in the 1950 film ''Cyrano de Bergerac'', the first sound versio ...

, Mark Dana, Charles Keane and George Sawaya. It was released on November 2, 1956, by

United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the stud ...

Plot

Nick Dunn, a used car salesman, can't close a deal with customers Karen Winter and Arthur Markel, so he is fired. A sympathetic Markel has a car lot of his own and offers a job to Nick, who quits after discovering Markel's disreputable sales methods. Nick and wife Jane have a financial dilemma when their son falls ill. Swallowing his pride, Nick asks for his job back with Markel, who promotes him to manager. But the criminal activity continues, until Nick becomes convinced that Markel has even ordered his henchman, Smiley Ward, to murder Davenport, a detective. Jane is appalled by Nick's new line of work. He seeks solace in the company of the beautiful Karen, but when the cops come to investigate Davenport's death, Karen refuses to give Nick an alibi. Now a suspect, he tracks down Ward, who during their struggle at an amusement park falls from a roller coaster to his death. Nick tries to explain the hot-car racket to the police, implicating Karen and Markel.

Cast

as Nick Dunn *Carol Shannon as Jane Dunn *

as Karen Winter *

as Arthur Markel *Mark Dana as Smiley Ward *Charles Keane as Lieutenant Jefferson * George Sawaya as Lt. Fred Holmes *

Dabbs Greer Robert William "Dabbs" Greer (April 2, 1917 – April 28, 2007) was an American character actor in film and television for over 60 years. With nearly 100 film roles and appearances in nearly 600 television episodes of various series, Greer ...

as Detective Davenport *John Frederick as Hutton *

Kurt Katch Kurt Katch (born Isser Kac; January 28, 1893 – August 14, 1958) was a Polish film and television actor. He appeared in ''Quiet Please, Murder'', ''The Purple V'', ''The Mask of Dimitrios'', ''Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves'', among many o ...

as Otto *Joan Sinclair as Miss Rogers *

Robert Osterloh Robert Osterloh (May 31, 1918 – April 16, 2001) was an American actor. His career spanned 20 years, appearing in films such as ''The Dark Past'' (1948), ''The Wild One'' (1953), '' I Bury the Living'' (1958) and ''Young Dillinger'' (1965). Bio ...

as 'Big John' Hayman *Maurice Marks as Paul the Bartender *Paula Hill as Mrs. Davenport

References

External links

*
''Hot Cars''
at the American Film Institute Catalog of Feature Films 1956 films Film noir 1956 crime drama films American crime drama films United Artists films Films about automobiles 1950s English-language films Films directed by Don McDougall 1950s American films American black-and-white films English-language crime drama films {{1950s-crime-film-stub