On Dangerous Ground (1952)

Director:

Nicholas Ray
(more)

Writers:

A.I. Bezzerides (screenplay)
A.I. Bezzerides (adaptation) ...
(more)

Release Date:

20 June 1952 (France)

Genre:

Drama | Film-Noir

Tagline:

In One Strange Night she met both LOVE ... and MURDER!

Plot:

Hard, withdrawn city cop Jim Wilson roughs up one too many suspects and is sent upstate to help investigate...

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Redemption | Snow | Blind Woman | Car Accident

Cast

Ida Lupino	...	Mary Malden
Robert Ryan	...	Jim Wilson
Ward Bond	...	Walter Brent
Charles Kemper	...	Pop Daly
Anthony Ross	...	Pete Santos
Ed Begley	...	Capt. Brawley
Ian Wolfe	...	Sheriff Carrey
Sumner Williams	...	Danny Malden
Gus Schilling	...	Lucky
Frank Ferguson	...	Willows
Cleo Moore	...	Myrna Bowers
Olive Carey	...	Mrs. Brent
Richard Irving	...	Bernie Tucker
Patricia Prest	...	Julie Brent (as Pat Prest)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Roy Alexander	...	Town Resident (uncredited)
Frank Arnold	...	Man (uncredited)
Vince Barnett	...	George the Waiter (uncredited)
Leslie Bennett	...	Sgt. Wendell (uncredited)
A.I. Bezzerides	...	Gatos (uncredited)
Ted Birdsill	...	Town Resident (uncredited)
Vernon Birdsill	...	Town Resident (uncredited)
Eddie Borden	...	Man (uncredited)
William Challee	...	Thug (uncredited)
Jimmy Conlin	...	Doc Hyman (uncredited)
Joe Devlin	...	Bartender (uncredited)
Homer Dickenson	...	Man (uncredited)
Don Dillaway	...	Man (uncredited)
Jim Drum	...	Stretcher Bearer (uncredited)
Art Dupuis	...	Man (uncredited)
Mary Dyger	...	Posse Member (uncredited)
Budd Fine	...	Man (uncredited)
Dee Garner	...	Boy (uncredited)
Ronnie Garner	...	Boy (uncredited)
Tommy Gosser	...	Boy (uncredited)
Bill Hammond	...	Fred (uncredited)
Clint Hardenbrook	...	Posse Member (uncredited)
Al Hodgson	...	Man Walking on Snowy Hill (uncredited)
Francis Jenkins	...	Town Resident (uncredited)
Jay Jenkins	...	Boy (uncredited)
Mike Lally	...	Man (uncredited)
Kate Drain Lawson	...	Woman (uncredited)
Ruth Lee	...	Helen (uncredited)
Eddie Linke	...	Posse Member (uncredited)
Al Murphy	...	Man (uncredited)
William J. O'Brien	...	Hotel Clerk (uncredited)
Nestor Paiva	...	Bagganierri, the News Vendor (uncredited)
Eugene Persson	...	Boy (uncredited)
Stephen Roberts	...	Charlie (uncredited)
Tracey Roberts	...	Peggy Santos (uncredited)
Vera Stokes	...	Mother (uncredited)
Nita Talbot	...	Woman in Bar (uncredited)
Joan Taylor	...	Hazel (uncredited)
Ken Terrell	...	Crook (uncredited)
Bill Thompson	...	Man Walking on Snowy Hill (uncredited)
Arthur Tovey	...	Man in Restaurant (uncredited)
Andy Vaughan	...	Town Resident (uncredited)
Harry Joel Weiss	...	Boy (uncredited)
Don Yager	...	Town Resident (uncredited)
Esther Zeitlin	...	Woman (uncredited)

Directed by
Nicholas Ray
Ida Lupino		(uncredited)

Writing credits
A.I. Bezzerides		(screenplay)
A.I. Bezzerides		(adaptation) and
Nicholas Ray		(adaptation)
Gerald Butler		(novel "Mad with Much Heart")

Produced by
John Houseman	....	producer
Sid Rogell	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Bernard Herrmann

Cinematography by
George E. Diskant		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Roland Gross

Casting by
Dick Stockton		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
Ralph Berger
Albert S. D'Agostino

Set Decoration by
Harley Miller
Darrell Silvera

Makeup Department
Mel Berns	....	makeup artist
Larry Germain	....	hair stylist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
William Dorfman	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Johnny Peacock	....	sketch artist (uncredited)

Sound Department
Phil Brigandi	....	sound
Clem Portman	....	sound

Special Effects by
Harold E. Stine	....	special effects (as Harold Stine)

Music Department
C. Bakaleinikoff	....	musical director
Virginia Majewski	....	musician: viola d'amour
Bernard Herrmann	....	conductor (uncredited)
Paul Sawtell	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Roy Webb	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)

Other crew
Louis Shapiro	....	location manager (uncredited)

Production Companies

• RKO Radio Pictures

Distributors

• RKO Radio Pictures (1952) (USA) (theatrical)
• C&C Television Corporation (1955) (USA) (TV)
• Silver Screen (2007) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Turner Home Entertainment (1990) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (Canada) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

82 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Iceland:16 | UK:A (1951) (cut) | USA:Approved (certificate #14508)

Filming Locations:

Granby, Colorado, USA

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Trivia:

After being completed, the film was shelved for two years, which was not uncommon in RKO under the control of Howard Hughes. Upon Hughes insistence, 10 minutes was cut out of the film, and a scene which originally was just before the ending, the assassination of Myrna, was moved to the ending of the first part of the film.

Goofs:

Continuity: After Ward Bond knocks the lamp over, starting a fire, Ida Lupino brings a lantern from the kitchen and places it on the end table where the lamp had been. A few minutes later however, when she brings the tea tray, the table is on its side and Robert Ryan hurries to right it before she trips on it.

Quotes:

Jim Wilson:Serve drinks to juveniles, you get into trouble. How many times do I have to tell you that?
Bartender:Whatta ya want me to do...? Every dame comes in here, look at her teeth...?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Act of Violence: Dealing with the Devil (2007) (V)

Soundtrack:

How Long Did I Dream?

Mad wit Much Heart

On Dangerous Ground is a flawed favourite, boasting an exceptional performance from Robert Ryan as a man as much attracted as repulsed by his own capacity for violence - the look on his face before beating a suspect into the hospital, the almost sexual glee tinged with disgust as he repeats "Why do you make me do it?" to justify his own imminent enjoyment to himself give him a disturbingly raw emotional violence that's far more worrying than anything his fists can do. Even Ward Bond's distraught and vengeful father of a murder victim is disturbed by the joy of the hunt he finds in that face. Nicholas Ray's camera-work is similarly on the brink of falling to pieces in the opening city section, eavesdropping in and out of windows and windscreens before erupting into a brutal alley chase shot with a bold use of hand-held camera that's still seems shockingly vital for a 50s studio picture. They're both matched blow for blow by Bernard Herrmann's strikingly violent score, with a main title like a sword slashing through flesh and striking bone but with passages beautifully underlining the loneliness and sadness behind the savagery. Mad With Much Heart indeed.

Even the prolonged section with Ida Lupino's blind woman and the possibility of another, more compassionate way of life avoids mawkishness, not least because pity is neither sought nor given. Only the miraculous ending doesn't work. Whether this is due to the 10 minutes of studio-imposed cuts and the re-editing and restructuring the film went through during more than a year on the shelf or whether it was always a problem we'll probably never know (it would have been nice to have included the script as an extra, especially since Eddie Mueller's scripted audio commentary on the R1 DVD is often awkwardly delivered and often lacks the substance of others in the Film Noir boxed set). There is definitely the feeling that the whole third act of the movie has gone, making Ryan's decision seem almost arbitrary and not allowing us to see if he really has changed back on his home ground. Indeed, it probably would have been better to have ended the film a minute earlier with the almost purgative drive back to the city. But so much of what has gone before is so remarkable that it's a failure you can forgive.