Five Steps to Danger (1957)

Director:

Henry S. Kesler

Writers:

Henry S. Kesler (screenplay)
Donald Hamilton (story) ...

Release Date:

10 May 1957 (Finland)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

They Carried a Hell-Bomb Horror From East Berlin Across Ten Thousand Miles---To a Secret U. S. Rocket Base! (original poster)

Plot:

When his car breaks down during a trip from Los Angeles to Texas John Emmett meets another motorist...

Plot Keywords:

Scientist | Enemy Agent | California | Murder | Berlin Germany

Cast

Sterling Hayden	...	John Emmett
Ruth Roman	...	Ann Hemple Nicholson
Werner Klemperer	...	Dr. Frederick Simmons
Richard Gaines	...	Dean William Brant
Charles Davis	...	Edward Manning Kirkpatrick aka Kirk
Jeanne Cooper	...	Helen Bethke, RN
Peter Hansen	...	Karl Plesser
Karl Ludwig Lindt	...	Dr. Reinhart Kissel (as Karl Lindt)
John Mitchum	...	Bud, Deputy Sheriff
John Frederick	...	Sheriff

Also Known As:

Five Steps to Danger (USA) (alternative spelling)

Runtime:

81 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | Finland:K-16

Company:

Henry S. Kesler Productions

Trivia:

In 1957, United Artists distributed this film on a double bill with 12 Angry Men (1957) starring Henry Fonda.

Why we know Hitchcock, but not Henry S. Kesler.

Another IMDb reviewer, dbdumonteil, made the key observation that this movie was reminiscent of Hitchcock-- about an ordinary man caught up in extraordinary circumstances. It also has handcuffed characters ("39 Steps"), an evil doctor ("Spellbound"), and German scientists ("Notorious"). But this is a far cry from Hitchcock. In Henry S. Kesler's hands, I'm not even sure what the eponymous five steps to danger were.

The idea isn't bad. The first scene is intriguing. The road scenes are wonderfully redolent of the American Southwest in the mid1950s. And the performances are adequate (except for the many lawmen who are so rigid and expressionless, you'd think they'd be convincing, but no).

But its minor attributes are overwhelmed by major problems: there is no memorable dialog; the plot is more convoluted than complex; the editing is atrocious (the chase scene with the gunsel is particularly inept); and the big final scene at the weapons lab is too little, too late.

Kesler made three movies before he migrated to TV, where he directed only a few episodes of each of a handful of 1950s series, the most famous of which is "Highway Patrol." If you've seen "Highway Patrol," then you know that Kesler is strictly from the point-and-shoot school of film-making. There isn't an ounce of creativity in "Five Steps"-- nothing in the editing or camera-work that builds tension or rhythm, let alone pace.

It deserves less than a 5 rating, but I've always admired the under-rated Ruth Roman; and it was fun to see Werner Klemperer, Jeanne Cooper ("Young and Restless"), and Ken Curtis ("Gunsmoke") in early roles; but in the final analysis, I can't give any Sterling Hayden picture less than a 5.