Shack Out on 101

Army veteran George saved his money and followed his dream of owning a café after surviving “D-day,” as the wounded man was carried to safety by his close friend Eddie. The good-hearted Eddie was deeply affected by the brutality of the war and now cringes at any rough stuff. He is a steady patron, who works as a traveling salesman. The place is in a sparsely populated area located next to both a beach and highway 101; also, nearby is a nuclear research facility. One of the steady customers is a leading nuclear scientist Professor Sam Bastion, who is a government agent posing as a traitor selling secrets to Commie agent Slob. Sam’s mission is to crack the spy ring and find out who is the leader they call Mr. Gregory. To provide a reason for frequenting the café, Sam is romantically involved with the hot looking waitress Kotty. She’s a good-hearted numbskull boning up to take a government civil service test because she thinks a job there would better impress her boyfriend professor. George loves her, but she likes him without feeling any romantic sparks. Slob offends her with his crudeness and sexual advances, and angers the boss when he refers to her as the Tomato.

Kotty one night while undetected stumbles upon the Professor, Slob and a drunken scientist, Professor Dillon, conversing in the darkened eatery after hours, and overhears a troubled Dillon say he wants to stop giving secrets to the enemy and go to the authorities but is dissuaded by Sam. A week later his body is discovered coming ashore with a knife in his back. Kotty threatens to inform the authorities about what she suspects, but things happen so fast that she’s held at gunpoint by Slob. —Ozu’s World of Movie Reviews