Dangerous Partners (1945)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Edward L. Cahn

Writers:

Edmund L. Hartmann (adaptation)
Marion Parsonnet (writer)

Release Date:

7 June 1945 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Mystery

Plot:

After surviving a plane crash, a couple tries to find out why one of the passengers was carrying four wills for a million dollars, with each one naming him as the beneficiary.

Plot Keywords:

Airplane | Nazi | Airplane Accident | Nazi Financial Backers

Cast

James Craig	...	Jeff Caighn
Signe Hasso	...	Carola Ballister
Edmund Gwenn	...	Albert Richard Kingby
Audrey Totter	...	Lili Roegan
Mabel Paige	...	Marie Drumman
John Warburton	...	Clyde Ballister
Henry O'Neill	...	Police Lt. Duffy
Grant Withers	...	Jonathan Drumman
Felix Bressart	...	Prof. Roland Budlow
Warner Anderson	...	Miles Kempen
Stephen McNally	...	Co-pilot (as Horace McNally)
John Eldredge	...	Farrel

Runtime:

74 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved | Sweden:15

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Convoluted B picture

I confess to having a hard time following "Dangerous Partners," a strange little B movie starring James Craig, Signe Hasso, and Edmund Gwenn, with a short appearance by Audrey Totter. Part of the problem for me was that the plot seemed to have no context. The film begins with the survivors of a plane crash, and two people trying to get inside a man's briefcase. It was like coming in at the middle, and I spent the rest of the time trying to figure out who was who trying to do what to whom and why. By the time I had it all straight, it didn't seem worth it.

Anyway, the plot concerns four wills, each of which leave $1 million to the same man. People go around reciting a menu backwards, which is some sort of code for, you're one of us. A lawyer for one of the four who winds up dead joins forces with a woman interested in intercepting the millions, Hasso.

Signe Hasso was an excellent actress who for some reason never rose above B movie leads or small parts in A films, and it's really a shame. Throughout her 65-year career, she consistently handed in good performances. Everything about her was interesting - her look, her voice, and her characterizations. Hollywood possibly didn't know what to do with her.