Danger Zone (1951)

Director:

William Berke

Writers:

Herbert H. Margolis (story) and
Lou Morheim (story) ...
(more)

Release Date:

20 April 1951 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Romance

Tagline:

Warning! When you deal with these dames you're in the DANGER ZONE

Plot:

Claire Underwood hires San Francisco private-detective Dennis O'Brien to purchase a saxophone case at an auction...

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Private Detective | Auction | Smuggling | Saxophone

Cast

Hugh Beaumont	...	Dennis O'Brien
Edward Brophy	...	Prof. Frederick Simpson Schicker
Richard Travis	...	Police Lt. Bruger
Tom Neal	...	Edgar Spadely (2nd Episode)
Pamela Blake	...	Vicki Jason (2nd Episode)
Virginia Dale	...	Claire Underwood (1st Episode)
Ralph Sanford	...	Larry Dunlap (1st Episode)
Paula Drew	...	Sheila Jason (2nd Episode)
Jack Reitzen	...	Cole - the Auctioneer (1st Episode)
Edward Clark	...	Elderly Man at Auction (1st Episode)
Richard Monahan	...	Henry - the Bartender (1st Episode)
Don Garner	...	Bud Becker (1st Episode)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Tiny Jones	...	Woman at Auction (1st Episode) (uncredited)

Directed by
William Berke

Writing credits
Herbert H. Margolis		(story) (as Herbert Margolis) and
Lou Morheim		(story) (as Louis Morheim)
Julian Harmon		(screenplay)

Produced by
William Berke	....	producer
Jack Leewood	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Bert Shefter

Cinematography by
Jack Greenhalgh

Film Editing by
Carl Pierson
Harry Reynolds

Art Direction by
Frank Paul Sylos		(as F. Paul Sylos)

Set Decoration by
Harry Reif

Makeup Department
Paul Stanhope	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
John Francis Murphy	....	assistant director (as J. Francis Murphy)

Art Department
Leigh Carson	....	property master
Tom Kemp	....	construction supervisor

Sound Department
Glen Glenn	....	sound

Special Effects by
Ray Mercer	....	special effects

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Alfred Berke	....	wardrobe (as Al Berke)

Other crew
Diane	....	handknits and fashions
Stanley Price	....	dialogue coach

Production Companies

• Spartan Productions

Distributors

• Lippert Pictures (1951) (USA) (theatrical)
• Kit Parker Films (2004) (USA) (all media) (copyright owner)
• Weiss Global Enterprises (198?) (USA) (TV)

Also Known As:

"Pier of Peril" - USA (TV title)

Runtime:

USA:56 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved

Company:

Spartan Productions

Trivia:

Virtually identical plot used on 6/26/1947 "Johnny Madero, Pier 23" radio show episode entitled "Fatal Auction." Johnny Madero was a wise-cracking, sardonic PI played by Jack Webb.

TV pilot foisted off as feature fails to fool anybody

Danger Zone is an odd little double-truck of a movie; it tells two entirely independent stories, one after the other, though with three recurring characters. The only plausible explanation is that the stories were pilot episodes of a television series that never got picked up, but were salvaged by packaging as a twofer and farming out as a programmer to theater chains.

A troubleshooter who earns his keep renting boats on the San Francisco waterfront, O'Brian (Hugh Beaumont) picks up spare change by taking on freelance assignments; his usual fee is $50, for which he is usually set up. He shares his nautical digs with an old souse called (of course) The Professor (Edward Brophy), a Runyonesque character with a Thesaurus instead of a voicebox -- he never says "I had the chance" if he can proclaim "The opportunity befell me." Then there's the dim-witted and antagonistic police detective (Richard Travis), always ready to clap the cuffs on Beaumont just before the truth emerges.

Neither of the stories -- the first about a woman who pays Beaumont to bid an exorbitant amount on a locked suitcase that turns out to contain a saxophone, the second about a private detective (Tom Neal, of Detour notoriety) who sets up Beaumont as correspondent, and murderer, in a society divorce case -- gets worked out in any satisfying way. The half-hour allotted to each allows little room for extra characters or unexpected bends in the road (television was to prove that the most successful mystery/detective shows thrived in a hour format). Danger Zone, viewed as early television, is perhaps a tad better than such pioneers as Martin Kane, Private Eye -- at least it's filmed, not done live in studio -- but was nonetheless passed over by the networks in 1951. Beaumont would have to wait six more years, until Leave It To Beaver, to hit his personal jackpot.