The Girl in Black Stockings

Plot

A lodge in Kanab, Utah is where Los Angeles lawyer David Hewson goes for a peaceful vacation. He quickly is attracted to Beth Dixon, a switchboard operator and a former personal assistant to lodge owner Edmund Parry.

The murder of playgirl Marsha Morgan, her throat cut, disrupts the peace and quiet. Sheriff Holmes begins the investigation, starting with the wheelchair-bound Parry, who admits to hating the dead woman, and Parry's possessive sister Julia, who helps him run the lodge. It turns out David once dated Morgan as well.

A new guest, Joseph Felton, checks in. The sheriff's suspects also include guests Norman Grant, a drunken actor, and his ambitious girlfriend, Harriet Ames. A missing kitchen knife believed to be the murder weapon is found by Indian Joe, who works at the lodge.

Beth eavesdrops on a phone call Felton makes from his room. Felton is later found killed by a gunshot, and it turns out he was a private detective. David becomes more and more convinced that the Parrys are behind all this. Ames is seen kissing Edmund Parry, which does not please Edmund's sister or Grant.

To his shock, David arrives as Beth holds a knife to Julia Parry's bloody throat, claiming to have stabbed her in self-defense. It turns out, however, that Edmund had hired the investigator Felton to follow the psychologically disturbed Beth, who is responsible for all the murders.

Production

The movie's working title was Black Stockings. It was filmed on location in the small Utah city of Kanab; the lodge in the film is the real-life Parry Lodge in Kanab, which had often served to house movie crews filming in the area.

The Girl in Black Stockings was Van Doren's first film after the birth of her son and her consequent release from Universal.

Production began in July 1956.

Like much of Bel-Air's output, The Girl in Black Stockings was a low-budget exploitation film released as a second feature.

Turner Classic Movies showing

Turner Classic Movies presented The Girl in Black Stockings on September 17, 2015 in commemoration of what would have been Anne Bancroft's 84th birthday. Shown after The Girl in Black Stockings was 1957's Nightfall, 1964's The Pumpkin Eater, 1966's 7 Women, 1975's The Prisoner of Second Avenue and 1984's Garbo Talks.