Code Two * (1953, Ralph Meeker, Sally Forrest, Elaine Stewart, Robert Horton, Keenan Wynn, Jeff Richards) – Classic Movie Review 11,449

Sally Forrest (born Katherine Feeney; May 28, 1928 – March 15, 2015).

Director Fred M Wilcox’s 1953 MGM black and white crime drama movie Code Two about men training to be motorcycle cops is a shaky, dark and dour filler thriller.

Ralph Meeker, Robert Horton and Jeff Richards star as cadet classmates Chuck O’Fair, Russ Hartley and Harry Whenlon, a trio of motorcycling buddies in the Los Angeles police academy, one of whom, Harry (Richards), is murdered by hijackers while chasing a truck. Sally Forrest also stars as Russ’s wife Mary, whose sister Jane (Elaine Stewart) prefers shy Harry over extrovert Chuck.

Chuck is crushed by Harry’s death and persuades his bosses to let him work undercover to find the culprits, and then finds they are modern cattle rustlers.

Jeff Richards and Elaine Stewart as the gal he romances are dull in their first star roles and the film’s gloomy tone further helps to sink it. But, released eight months before The Wild One, it is notable as the first modern motorcycle stunt film.

Ralph Meeker in a publicity photo for the MGM film Code Two (1953).

It stars Ralph Meeker as Chuck, Robert Horton as Russ, Sally Forrest as Mary, Jeff Richards as Harry, Elaine Stewart as Jane, Keenan Wynn as Sgt Jumbo Culdane, with James Craig, William Campbell, Jonathan Kott, Robert Burton, and Fred Graham.

It had a budget of $472,000, took $711,000 at the box office, and still recorded a loss to the MGM studio of $37,000.

Sally Forrest (born Katherine Feeney; May 28, 1928 – March 15, 2015). Forrest owned Jean Harlow’s former Benedict Canyon home on Easton Drive in Beverly Hills, renting it to Jay Sebring before his murder at the nearby home of Sharon Tate.

© Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 11,449

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