Death in Small Doses (1957) User Reviews

Not that much suspense in this crime drama

[AlsExGal · 5/10 · 11 March 2017]

Peter Graves is a federal agent trying to find out the source of the amphetamines that is killing and driving insane so many long haul truck drivers. An opening segment shows one of the long haul truck drivers trying to stay awake and downing "bennies" as they call them here to the point where he sees cars where there are none, and swerves, crashing his truck and dying, grabbing the viewer's attention.

Tom Kaylor (Graves) goes undercover as a student truck driver. He moves into the rooming house run by the widow of the dead truck driver from the opening segment.

Tom keeps asking for bennies from people who he thinks might be selling them, and getting rebuffed - practically with a sermon - every time. His first partner on a long drive actually opens up to Tom about the bennie business and how the pills are killers and how he is going to ask around to see if he can find out who is supplying them. He winds up beaten to death.

There are a number of suspects as usual in this kind of film, and it keeps you guessing as to whether they are in on the pill business or just afraid of crossing those who are. The end is rather anti-climactic as the person who is the guilty party doesn't evoke either anger or sympathy from the audience. Plus the opening segment makes you believe that Kaylor is after a "Mr. Big", and this person hardly comes across like that.

The best part of this film is seeing Chuck Connors of "The Rifleman" TV fame, which is a role that is to come only a year later,as a perpetually hyped up hepcat amphetamine addict of a truck driver, "Mink", who also lives in the boarding house with Tom. It's worth the price of admission just to see him hammily - and figuratively - climbing the walls.

I'm giving this five points for Chuck Connors' cheesy performance and for the great roadhouse atmosphere of a bygone era - of boarding houses, transistor radios, cramped ma and pa diners with friendly service, of long haul working stiffs just trying to make ends meet. Then there is the sympathetic treatment the actual addicts are given. Considerable time is taken to show how some of the addicts got trapped in the web of addiction with a good dose of empathy.

Peter the Narc

[telegonus · 7/10 · 1 July 2002]

Capable genre director Joe Newman directed this magnetically tawdry tale of a federal agent trying to crack a drug ring that preys on long-haul truckers. This is no French Connection, but it's a fascinating glimpse of a bygone era, and if one has a taste for low-budget AA features of the fifties this one is definitely worth a look. Peter Graves makes a fine Viking hero. There's a pseudo-adultness here of the sort one used to find in cheap paperback novels that were basically semi-porn but masquerading (or trying to) as exposes of one sort or another. As with Dragnet, one has to have a certain kind of empathy to get into the spirit of this sort of thing. If you do, this one will reward you handsomely.

Benny is your friend

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 17 March 2019]

Going way back to the days of my youth a 'benny' was short for benzedrine, one of those amphetamine laced pills you needed to keep awake. Kids took them to cram for finals and they were real popular with truck drivers making those long hauls in those big rigs. They can be mighty addictive.

In Death In Small Doses Peter Graves plays a narcotics cop who's given an assignment by his superior Robert Shayne to find out who's selling and distributing these pills which are causing the deaths of so many drivers.

This is a nicely done B noir film from Allied Artists and Graves gets some good support from two females in the cast with substantial roles. Mala Powers plays the landlady who has a boardinghouse catering to truckers where Graves stays and Merry Anders plays a hashhouse waitress.

Best support of all comes from Chuck Connors who plays an amphetamine addicted driver and he plays it broadly and to the max. He's also real terrifying when he freaks out.

Some good work was done by all the cast members in Death In Small Doses.

An Unusual Topic for Its Time

[dougdoepke · 9 March 2012]

Truckers depend on illegal amphetamines to stay awake over long distances, causing a number of road accidents. So the government assigns an undercover agent to expose the criminal connections.

I expect this film amounts to an offspring of 1955's Man With a Golden Arm, the first post-war film to deal seriously with drug addiction. More directly is 1956's Bigger Than Life that dramatizes the maddening effects of a new prescription drug on an over-worked schoolteacher (James Mason). Up to 1955, drug addiction was pretty much taboo among non-exploitation filmmakers. So this minor oddity was dealing with an unusual topic not conventionally seen on the screen. (As a teen seeing the movie on initial release, I recall being puzzled by the topic).

The movie itself is standard Hollywood expose—the clean-cut gov't agent (Graves), the nefarious criminal ring, a mysterious headman, plus a winsome romantic interest (Powers). Still, the director is Joe Newman who could occasionally rise above the potboiler as I think he does here with some effective touches. Note the well-played surprise twist, along with pill-popping Chuck Connors, a really long way from his sober-sided role in The Rifleman. In fact, I wouldn't have believed Connors' giddy performance if I hadn't seen it.

Thanks to the several twists, unusual subject matter, and the manic Connors, the movie remains an oddly memorable potboiler, despite the lowly origins.

Peter Graves vs. illegal drug suppliers

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 18 July 2016]

DEATH IN SMALL DOSES is an American B-movie crime thriller set in the world of truckers and trucking. It's nowhere near as good as that British classic HELL DRIVERS, but the plot is unusual enough to keep you watching and it could be a lot worse. Future MISSION IMPOSSIBLE star Peter Graves is tasked with investigating the prevalence of illegal amphetamines which truck drivers have been taking to keep them awake during long drives. Unfortunately the side effects include hallucinations and death, so Graves must find the supply chain and nip it in the bud before anybody else dies.

What follows is your usual second-tier story with a little mystery, a little suspense, and a handful of action scenes. Graves is a perfectly likable hero but the real scene-stealer here is Chuck Connors as a beatnik-inspired loudmouth who lights up the screen whenever he appears. Mala Powers is particularly stunning as the love interest of the piece, and the stunt scenes, while hampered by the low budget, keep the production moving along nicely. The twist ending is a strong way to end the film too.

Chuck Conners is a master thespian in this flick...NOT!!!

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 19 February 2018]

A federal agent, Tom Kaylor (Peter Graves) is posing as a long-haul truck driver because of the damage being done by truck drivers using amphetamines in order to work their exhausting hours. The only really obvious lead is a trucker named 'Mink' (Chuck Connors), a guy who very obviously uses pills because he's perennially giddy and the acting is WAY over the top! But Mink won't talk and so Tom needs to keep his eyes open and be very, very careful because whoever is supplying the junk is more than willing to kill to keep this secret...and they soon end up beating Tom's co-driver to death because he asked too many questions!

While occasionally the film is obvious and anything but subtle, it is entertaining and does provide a public service. I just wish they'd made Mink semi-realistic and explained that most Amphetamine users do NOT have hallucinations or end up in the Psyc Ward! It's not nearly as silly as films like "Reefer Madness" but if should have been a tad less goofy. It's really a shame, as the topic is an important one AND most of the movie was very good. Still, overall it is never dull and certainly is entertaining!!

Speed Kills

[bnwfilmbuff · 6/10 · 22 July 2020]

Peter Graves is dispatched by the FDA to go undercover as a truck driver to uncover where drivers are getting amphetamines that they are taking while operating their rigs and causing accidents. Chuck Connors is the standout in the cast as a whacked out driver in a very unusual role for him. Mala Powers is attractive as the owner of the boarding house and eventual love interest for Graves. Graves is too obvious in his pursuit of information. Otherwise fairly predictable until a somewhat unexpected finish.

Benny Haw Haw

[sol1218 · 6/10 · 14 March 2012]

***SPOILERS*** FDA Agent Tom Kayler, Peter Graves, is sent undercover as a student trucker to uncover a drug ring that providing truckers amphetamines known as "Bennies" to keep them awake during their long and tedious cross country hauls. It doesn't take long for Kayler to get his trucker partner Wally Morse, Ron Engle, to open up on what's going on in the trucking industry in him being addicted to "Bennie" himself and not keeping it, by popping them all the time, secret. In Kayler trying to find out the identity of the Mr. Big who's behind the drug smuggling operation causes Wally, who just couldn't keep his mouth shut, to be murdered by Mr. Big's thugs for talking too much.

Kayler for his part keeps on digging and finally gets a lead with his new trucking partner hipster and beatnik like Mink Reynolds,Chuck Conners. Mink is so strung out on "Bennies" that it's a miracle that he can drive a tricycle much less an 18 wheeler. Minks addiction to "Bennies"soon lead to him freaking out and attacking Kayler that lead him to him, after Kayler flattened him, ending up in the hospital emergency ward suffering from a serious case severe drug with-drawls. Soon it becomes evident that Mr. Big is working out of Dunc Clayton's, Robert B. Williams, truck stop that's a popular watering hole for Mink who seems to get his supply of "Bennies" there. With Kayler getting too close to the source, Mr. Big or Mr. Brown as he's known, of who's behind the drug ring he's set up to be whacked like Wally was by one of Mr.Big's top henchmen.

***SPOILERS*** As we and Kayler soon find out this drug operation a lot bigger then he even imagined. Big enough to have him put his guard down in becoming deeply involved with with the person, not Mr.Big, who's been secretly running it right from the start! Never getting his hair mussed up or his fine tailored and pressed clothes, as a trucker, soiled Peter Graves as DEA Agent Tom Kayler almost single handedly puts an end to this drug operation! But not without the help of Dunc Clayton who changed sides when convinced, by Kayler, that he'll be iced along with Kayler by his drug pushing cohorts. The ending has a still immaculately dressed, this time with a suite and tie, Kayler confront the real Mr.Big who, in after trying to bribe Kayler to lay off, doesn't realize that he not only has the goods on him but also has the cops and DEA Agents waiting outside about arrest and cuff him!

A reasonable B-movie

[MOscarbradley · 5/10 · 29 April 2017]

A drugs movie with a difference. This B-Movie was designed to show the dangers of prescription drugs, in this case amphetamines such as Benzedrine or 'bennies' as they are called here. Joseph M Newman was a better director than he was given credit for and he handles the somewhat sensationalized material well enough. The cast, (Peter Graves, Mala Powers, Chuck Connors, Merry Anders) are strictly bargain basement and the script is something of an embarrassment but it's nicely shot on location by Carl Gutherie and there is some decent stunt driving and as the bottom half of a double bill it's not that bad.

Avoids exploitation and hits its mark.

[mark.waltz · 5/10 · 10 March 2022]

Keep away from Benny. He's no good. Well Benny isn't a man, but a little pill that keeps truck drivers and other people who need to stay awake alert. That is until they become addicted, and they're acting like a lunatic like Chuck Connors does in this movie. Peter Graves is a government agent out to expose whoever is providing illegal sales as Benzedrine is a prescription drug, but life street drugs today can make the pusher is a lot of money as well as the big people behind the scenes supplying them to street sellers. Mala Powers is the wiidow of a man who knew too much, and Graves falls for her during the course of his investigation. He's also forced on drives with the out of his mind Connors who ends up in the hospital, hallucinating and giving the audience of you unintentional chuckles with his over-the-top performance.

As he did even in his comedies, Graves is very serious, only lighting up in the romantic scenes, and there's a twist involving that. Merry Anders place a hard-working waitress whom Graves finds out is a pusher, but she denies it, eventually agreeing to help him but disappearing, only providing a letter with information. Harry Lauter plays an attorney aiding Powers in a case, and that leaves hence of something in her past being suspicious. Her performance ends up going overboard as well. While there are a few unintentionally funny moments other than Connors' performance, the film is quite direct in its message, and Graves and Anders do a good job in their characterizations.

I know this movie to be true

[rayleigh · 10/10 · 27 August 2003]

This movie is considered a "classic" in my family; my Dad was the agent (brilliantly acted by Peter Graves) on whom the title character was based. Hollywood added a romance but other than that they got the story (based on a series of articles about my Dad in the Saturday Evening Post) right. Some message boards about the movie criticize Chuck Connors for over-acting, but he didn't; that's how it was. This movie is a good reminder of what we owe to a lot of America's unsung heroes who have taken on messy tasks over the years to make America a safer place. Thanks to my Dad and other agents the movie now looks like a dated "period piece" portraying world with which we do not have to be familiar.

Peter Graves should have known.

[youroldpaljim · 2 May 2002]

Note this commentary may contain a ***SPOILER**

Another one of those "B" 1950's crime thrillers "...ripped from the pages of todays headlines." This film was inspired by a Saturday Evening Post expose about the use of amphetamines of long haul truck drivers. In this film, Peter Graves plays an FDA agent who goes undercover as a truck driver in order to get the goods on who is supplying the drivers with "bennies". Chuck Conners plays a hip talking truck driver hooked on the pills and freaks out and almost kills Peter. Mala Powers plays the widowed boarding house owner that caters to truck drivers whom Peter becomes romanticly involved. Too bad Peter never learned never to trust grieving widows who wear cocktail dresses. Robert Shayne has a small part as Peters boss. Graves gives his usual dependable performance as the determined agent. Its amazing how many of these forgotten low budget films Graves made in the 1950's. Chuck Conners however, goes way over the top as the hip talking, jazz loving amphetamine hooked truck driver. Mala Powers is attractive.

Truckers and Bennies

[zardoz-13 · 8/10 · 20 April 2018]

Chuck Connors steals the show in "Red Skies of Montana" director Joseph M. Newman's "Death in Small Doses" as a long-haul trucker addicted to illegal amphetamines in this criminal expose. The movie opens with a reckless trucker gobbling Benzedrine pills who has gone too long without sleep and then hallucinates that a car has swerved into his lane traffic. He tries to avoid smashing into the oncoming vehicle, plunges his rig down the side of hill and dies in the crash. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration in Washington, D.C., launches an investigation into this epidemic. They dispatch a clean-cut, square-jawed agent (Peter Graves of "Stalag 17") to infiltrate the trucking business and come up with a lead. Everybody that Tom Kaylor runs into while he masquerades as a student driver either is addicted to 'co-pilots' or dies from them. One guy dies from a heart attack that was connected to his amphetamine abuse while loading up Kaylor's truck. As Mink Reynolds, Connors lives at the same boarding house as Kaylor. Mink is strung out constantly and living perilously on the edge as if there is no tomorrow. The guy can get neither enough action nor enough amphetamines. He pushes them on Kaylor, but Kaylor doesn't buy. Eventually, even a workhorse like Mink succumbs to their dire effects, and reluctantly divulges to Kaylor the name of his source. Earlier, Tom had been training as a student driver with an older, more mature trucker, Wally Morse (Roy Engel of "The Naked Dawn") who knew how deleterious the drugs were. Morse stuck his neck out too far snooping around and got beaten to death at a truck stop while Kaylor was sleeping in the back of the cab. Now, with the tip that Mink gave him, Kaylor has a solid lead. Ironically, he discovers that the woman, Valerie 'Val' Owens (Mala Powers of "Rage at Dawn"), who runs the boarding house where he lives, is up to her ears in the amphetamine racket. Incidentally, she was married to the guy at the beginning of the movie who wrecked his rig and rolled it down a hillside. The criminals nab Kaylor and take him to remote spot where they intend to kill him when one of them changes his mind and helps Kaylor defeat them. The beauty of this concise, efficiently helmed, black & white, 79-minute film is that Newman doesn't waste a second. The dialogue is sharp, too.