Step Down to Terror

{{Infobox film

| name = Step Down to Terror

| image = Step Down to Terror poster.jpg

| caption = Film poster by Reynold Brown

| director = Harry Keller

| producer = Joseph Gershenson

| writer = Mel Dinelli
Czenzi Ormonde
Sy Gomberg

| based_on = story Uncle Charlie by Gordon McDonnell

| starring = Colleen Miller
Charles Drake
Rod Taylor

| music =

| cinematography = Russell Metty

| editing = Frank Gross

| studio = Universal Pictures

| distributor = Universal Pictures

| released = {{film date|1958|9||United States}}

| runtime = 76 minutes

| country = United States

| language = English

| budget =

| gross =

}}

Step Down to Terror (also known as The Silent Stranger) is a 1958 American film noir crime film directed by Harry Keller and starring Colleen Miller, Charles Drake and Rod Taylor. It is a remake of the 1943 Alfred Hitchcock film Shadow of a Doubt.Stephen Vagg, Rod Taylor: An Aussie in Hollywood, Bear Manor Media 2010 p. 58{{cite magazine|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/a-brief-history-of-hitchcock-remakes/|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|magazine=Filmink|title=A Brief History of Hitchcock Remakes|date=March 25, 2023}}

Plot

Johnny Williams (Drake) is a psychotic serial killer who returns to his hometown to visit his mother (Hutchinson) and widowed sister-in-law Helen (Miller), both of whom are ignorant of his criminal past. Johnny hopes to settle down and start life anew, but Helen, her suspicions aroused by visiting detective Mike Randall (Taylor), discovers the truth about her beloved brother-in-law. Failing to talk Helen out of turning him in, Johnny methodically plots her murder. When all his plans fail he drags Helen into his car and drives off with her. Knowing Johnny is going to kill her, Helen grabs the keys, and he is forced to swerve to avoid hitting a boy riding a bike, and is killed in the resulting accident. At the memorial service, as Johnny is lauded as a model citizen, only Helen and Mike know the truth.

Cast

Colleen Miller as Helen Walters
Charles Drake as Johnny Williams Walters
Rod Taylor as Mike Randall
Josephine Hutchinson as Mrs. Sarah Walters
Jocelyn Brando as Lily Kirby
Alan Dexter as Roy the photographer
Ricky Kelman as Doug Walters

Production

At one stage Ross Hunter was going to produce and Donna Reed was going to star.{{Cite news|title=Kennedy, Field 'Peyton' Favorites; Big Global Group to Honor Disney|author=Schallert, Edwin|date=May 3, 1957|work=Los Angeles Times|page=25}}