Norman Conquest; Park Plaza 605

1805. NORMAN CONQUEST (Park Plaza 605) (1953-England). With Tom Conway, EVA BARTOK, JOY SHELTON, IAN FLEMING. Urbane Tom Conway, best known for his rough- and-tumble roles in Hollywood melodramas, stars in this entertaining, elaborately plotted thriller. He’s cast as the title character: a famed private eye who comes with a charmingly nosy “main squeeze,” and who remains ever so cool and casual in the face of any sort of adversity. As the story opens, Conquest finds himself mysteriously summoned to a hotel room. He shows up to snoop around, and is confronted by a blonde bombshell (sexy Eva Bartok, Hungarian-born stage and screen actress who added spark to numerous international productions during the 1950s). This dame summarily drugs Conquest with a gas gun; when he wakes up, he finds himself staring at the puss of his least-favorite Scotland Yard superintendentÑand accused of being responsible for the death of a man who minutes before had come crashing out of the room’s window. Our hero must deal with this dimwitted dick, along with a thick-accented Nazi baron/diamond smuggler and his various, slimy cronies. Then there is that blonde, whose name is Nadina and who proves to be a “dangerous little devil,” as well as a most elusive, unpredictable nemesis. You’ll also note the presÂence of Ian Fleming, the famed spy novelist, cast in the supporting role of Colonel Santling. 78 minutes. Crime-Mystery-Suspense