The Shakedown

Porn noir? Well, not quite. Diving into the world of very early 60’s sleaze, John Lemont’s The Shakedown tells a fairly mild variation on the theme where an ex-con opens a modeling agency as a front for an amateur erotic photography studio with a built-in blackmail mechanism. Terence Morgan plays the execrable Augie Cortona, just released from prison and immediately at war with fellow gangster Gollar (Harry Corbett), who took over their syndicate for himself while Cortona was behind bars. Seeking a new business venture, Cortona recruits down-on-his-luck photographer Jessel (Donald Pleasance) to set up the fake modeling agency, luring in customers for the “discreet” racy photos so that he can procure (through hidden cameras) blackmail material. Hazel Court plays an undercover detective who enrolls as a modeling student to fish around for evidence of a criminal scheme. The screenplay by Lemont and Leigh Vance maintains a strong pace, alternating action with drama, and we get a mild dose of noir style (note the swinging ceiling lamp that illuminates the otherwise shadowed confrontation between Cortona and Jessel). The loungey theme song performed by Sheila Buxton is a treat, but some may find the repetitive refrain of the jazz score a bit irksome.