Dangerous to Know (1938)

A gangster tries to fix things so that he can marry a rich society woman.

Director:

Robert Florey

Writers:

Edgar Wallace (novel), William R. Lipman,

Stars:

Anna May Wong, Akim Tamiroff, Gail Patrick

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Anna May Wong	...	Lan Ying
Akim Tamiroff	...	Stephan Recka
Gail Patrick	...	Margaret Van Case
Lloyd Nolan	...	Insp. Brandon
Harvey Stephens	...	Philip Easton
Anthony Quinn	...	Nicholas 'Nicki' Kusnoff
Roscoe Karns	...	Duncan
Porter Hall	...	Mayor Bradley
Barlowe Borland	...	James - Recka's Butler
Hedda Hopper	...	Mrs. Emily Carson
Hugh Sothern	...	Harvey Gregson
Edward Pawley	...	John Rance
Ellen Drew	...	Secretary (as Terry Ray)

Storyline

Racketeer Steve Recka, art patron and political power-maker, rules his town and Madame Lan Ying, his beautiful Oriental friend and hostess (read: mistress), with an iron hand. He meets Margaret Van Kase, a socialite not impressed by his power nor his wealth, having no money herself, and Steve makes frantic efforts to win her and turns away from the loyal Lin Yang. Margaret ignores him as she plans to wed Philip Easton, a penniless bond salesman. The furious Recka, poses as a friend to Easton, while planning to ruin him. His henchmen kidnap Easton when he is carrying a large assignment of bonds, and he is branded as a runaway thief. The only doubters are Margaret and Police Inspector Brandon, who knows Recka's methods and suspects foul play. Easton is found in an abandoned house and arrested as the gangsters have taken the bonds and tipped the police where to find him. Recka offers to clear Easton if Margaret will become his bride and, while her hatred for Recka is intense, her love ...

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Plot Keywords:

based on play | based on novel

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Taglines:

No woman ever survived his love!

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 March 1938 (USA)

Also Known As:

Gefährliche Mitwisser

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

70 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since.

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Goofs

Stephen Recka comes out of his home office late in the film, meeting Kusnoff in the front hall. Recka lets the door slam shut behind him, and the wall to the left wobbles visibly, revealing that it's just a piece of set.

User Reviews

A must-see among B movies

This is about as good as a one hour B movie can get. While coming from the series of Paramount's Anna May Wong vehicles made in the late 30s, it rises above the straight formula nature of the vast majority of B movies with strong acting, various aspects of the art direction, and a final scene that is genuinely suspenseful. As usual, Wong visually dominates her scenes. The directing and editing play on that to the hilt.

For those into the subtle art of references slipped into the background, symbolism, use of numbers, etc, there is a lot to look for and see in this movie.