After some bit parts in movies during World War II, Mark Stevens emerged after the war as a dependable second-tier star at Twentieth Century-Fox. He appeared in film noir dramas such as The Dark Corner (1946), The Street With No Name (1948) and Between Midnight and Dawn (1950), as well as musicals like I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now (1947) and Oh, You Beautiful Doll (1949).

But Stevens was unsatisfied with merely acting. He really wanted to make his own films. In 1954 he got his chance with Cry Vengeance, an Alaska-set noir that he directed and in which he starred. The same year, he joined the cast of the television series Big Town, a newspaper/crime drama, and he produced and directed 40 episodes over the next three years. Before that show wrapped, he directed -- as well as produced and starred in -- his second feature film, Timetable (1956).

Another noir-ish crime story, it was written by Aben Kandel (They Won't Forget [1937]) from a story by Robert Angus that came from Stevens's own idea: an insurance investigator (Stevens) is assigned to the case of a train heist that he himself masterminded. Taut and well paced, especially in its bravura opening train robbery sequence, the film confirmed Stevens to be perfectly competent behind the camera. The Hollywood Reporter praised it as "frequently fresh... Often shows a lively realism, especially on location shots."

Stevens set up his own production company to make Timetable as an independent film, distributed by United Artists. While in production in May 1955, he told the Los Angeles Times: "To get the money from a bank, as we have done, is really unusual. However, being on your own gives you a wonderful sense of freedom. I was happy enough at Fox, but I wouldn't work for a big studio again. In a year or so I expect to quit acting and simply direct and produce." Reality would prove different: he directed three more features, as well as a dozen more television episodes, over the next decade, and kept acting on the big and small screen until 1987.

Jack Klugman, of later Odd Couple TV fame, made his feature film debut in Timetable after having met and worked with Stevens in two episodes of Big Town. Also on hand is Felicia Farr -- the future Mrs. Jack Lemmon -- in just her second feature.

By Jeremy Arnold