“Terrible and disgusting” was the verdict on this 1960 film, handed down by none other than President John F. Kennedy. The Catholic Legion of Decency agreed, condemning the film for indecency and leaving it without a US distributor. Thus, PRIVATE PROPERTY, despite a successful European release that netted around $2 million, was consigned to “lost film” status until 2015, when a restoration was undertaken by the UCLA Film & Television Archive.
PRIVATE PROPERTY (1960) Trailer
The film was made by writer-director Leslie Stevens (1924-1998) and producer Stanley Colbert (1927-2010), who called themselves “the only true New Wave filmmakers in America.” PRIVATE PROPERTY, headlined by Stevens’ then-wife Kate Manx (1930-1964) and featuring an early role by Warren Oates (1928-1982), was shot in and around Stevens’ own Hollywood Hills home for around $60,000. VARIETY proclaimed it the most impactful film of its time (second only to Hitchcock’s MARNIE) on independent filmmakers, and that would appear to be evidenced by subsequent shockers like THE SADIST (1963), LADY IN A CAGE (1964) and THE INCIDENT (1967), as well as a certain 1969 incident involving a Hollywood Hills break-in. In later years Stevens split from Colbert, directing the infamous Esperanto language chiller INCUBUS (1966) and creating THE OUTER LIMITS (1963-65).
In PRIVATE PROPERTY two switchblade-wielding punks, Duke (Corey Allen) and Boots (Warren Oates), emerge (it seems) from the ocean onto a Malibu beach. After harassing the meek owner (Jules Maitland) of a nearby gas station, they hitch a ride with Ed (Jerome Cowan), a salesman they terrorize into following the attractive blonde Ann (Kate Manx), a woman in a white corvette who ends up pulling into a Hollywood Hills house.
The punks initially break into a neighboring house where they spy on Ann, who likes to lounge around in extremely revealing outfits, and her husband Roger (Robert Wark). Eventually Duke makes direct contact with Ann, slowly worming his way into her life in the guise of a passionate gardener. When Roger leaves for a business trip in San Francisco Duke intensifies his approach, romancing and drugging Ann, and growing increasingly jealous of her effect on the less impassioned Boots.
The budget of PRIVATE PROPERTY may have been low, but the filmmaking is impressive. A simmering tension is established early on that’s impressively maintained, spiced with a higher-than-average (for 1960) level of sadism.
Other standout elements include a taut screenplay that makes excellent use of its contained setting, skilled cinematography by Ted McCord (THE SOUND OF MUSIC) and camera operator Conrad Hall (IN COLD BLOOD)—who create a compellingly noirish black-and-white palette—and performers whose conviction is absolute. Kat Manx is the surprise standout, creating a deeply vulnerable and dissatisfied character who, I suspect, wasn’t too far removed from herself. Manx, of course, divorced Stevens in 1964 and committed suicide later that same year by overdosing on sleeping pills.
Vital Statistics
PRIVATE PROPERTY
Kana Productions
Director/Screenplay: Leslie Stevens
Producer: Stanley Colbert
Cinematography: Ted McCord
Editing: Jerry Young
Cast: Kate Manx, Corey Allen, Warren Oates, Jerome Cowan, Robert Mark, Jules Maitland