Step Down to Terror

Step Down to Terror
File:Step Down to Terror poster.jpg Film poster by Reynold Brown
Directed by	Harry Keller
Produced by	Joseph Gershenson
Written by	Mel Dinelli Czenzi Ormonde Sy Gomberg
Based on	story Uncle Charlie by Gordon McDonnell
Starring	Colleen Miller Charles Drake Rod Taylor Josephine Hutchinson
Cinematography	Russell Metty
Production company	Universal-International
Distributed by	Universal-International
Release dates	1958
Country	United States
Language	English

Step Down to Terror (also known as The Silent Stranger) is a 1958 American film directed by Harry Keller. It is a remake of the 1943 Alfred Hitchcock film Shadow of a Doubt.

Plot

Johnny Williams (Drake), a psychotic serial killer who returns to his hometown to visit his mother (Hutchinson) and widowed sister-in-law Helen (Miller), both of whom are ignorant of his criminal past. Johnny hopes to settle down and start life anew, but Helen, her suspicions aroused by visiting detective Mike Randall (Taylor), discovers the truth about her beloved brother-in-law. Failing to talk Helen out of turning him in, Johnny methodically plots her murder. When all his plans fail he drags Helen into his car and drives off with her. Knowing Johnny is going to kill her, Helen grabs the keys, and he is forced to swerve to avoid hitting a boy riding his bike, and is killed in the resulting accident. At the memorial service, as Johnny is lauded as a model citizen, only Helen and Mike know the real truth.

Cast

• Colleen Miller as Helen Walters
• Charles Drake as Johnny Williams Walters
• Rod Taylor as Mike Randall
• Josephine Hutchinson as Mrs. Sarah Walters
• Jocelyn Brando as Lily Kirby
• Alan Dexter as Roy the photographer
• Ricky Kelman as Doug Walters

Production

At one stage Ross Hunter was going to produce and Donna Reed was going to star.

See also

• List of American films of 1958

External links

• Step Down to Terror at IMDb
• Step Down to Terror at AllMovie
• Step Down to Terror at the American Film Institute Catalog