Background to Danger (1943)

A German spy ring plans to publicize a false rumor that Russia, who is fighting Germany, plans to invade neutral Turkey in order to ally them with the Nazis.

Director:

Raoul Walsh

Writers:

W.R. Burnett (screenplay), Eric Ambler (novel),

Stars:

George Raft, Brenda Marshall, Sydney Greenstreet

Cast

Complete credited cast:
George Raft	...	Joe Barton
Brenda Marshall	...	Tamara Zaleshoff
Sydney Greenstreet	...	Colonel Robinson
Peter Lorre	...	Nikolai Zaleshoff
Osa Massen	...	Ana Remzi
Turhan Bey	...	Hassan
Willard Robertson	...	'Mac' McNamara
Kurt Katch	...	Mailler

Storyline

Ankara in neutral Turkey : World War Two. A town of intrigue and of provocateurs. The Germans are planning to leak maps apparently proving that the Russians are about to invade the country. American Joe Barton is in the know and in the middle, along with Zaloshoff and his sister who may or may not be Russians. What is clear though is that odious Colonel Robinson is a full-blown Nazi.

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Plot Keywords:

nazi | spy | confession of crime | nightclub | gettysburg address | 

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Taglines:

Love in the midst of intrigue!

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller | War

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English German Turkish French

Release Date:

3 July 1943 (USA)

Also Known As:

Intrigues en Orient

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros

Technical Specs

Runtime:

80 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Actor Steven Geray mispronounces the capital of Turkey as ANN-KAHRA.

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Quotes

Nikolai Zaleshoff: [Petulantly] I want some vodka! I WANT SOME VODKA!

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Connections

Featured in Warner at War (2008)

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Soundtracks

"Rosen aus dem Süden (Roses from the South), Op.388"
(1880)
Written by Johann Strauß
Played on a radio

User Reviews

Ankara, City of a Thousand Plots

It's now part of Hollywood lore how George Raft immeasurably aided the career of Humphrey Bogart by turning down High Sierra, The Maltese Falcon and Casablanca. After the last one I guess Raft thought he'd go for a Casablanca type story and the film of Eric Ambler's Background to Danger seemed like a good bet. If working with Sidney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre worked for Bogey...........

Background to Danger only confirmed Raft's wisdom about trying to stick to what he could handle. Had he been in Casablanca, the film today would be a routine action adventure picture not the cinema classic it is.

According to a biography of Raft, Peter Lorre was stealing scenes all over the place and blew cigarette smoke in Raft's face causing him to lose concentration. After repeated requests to stop doing it, Raft clocked Lorre on the chin and that settled the problems they had. On the set that is, on screen Raft registers no presence at all with his fabled co-stars.

Raft is an American agent, Greenstreet a Nazi, and Brenda Marshall and Lorre are a brother and sister team of Soviet agents all looking for a forged document about false Soviet invasion plans for Turkey. The action starts in Turkey's capital of Ankara and ends up in the city of Istanbul.

Background to Danger had to be the first American made film based in Ankara. Before the overthrow of the Ottoman Empire, Ankara barely passed for an oasis. Mustapha Kemal selected it for his capital because of its central location on the Anatolian peninsula. The city grew exponentially between the wars and Turkish neutrality in World War II kept up the growth rate though the Ankara we see here is depicted on the back lot of Warner Brothers studio.

All the neutral capitals in the World War II years were good subjects for espionage films. Everyone of them could have been described like Ankara as a city of a thousand plots. Too bad a better film couldn't have been done here.