Danger Zone (1951)

Claire Underwood hires San Francisco private-detective Dennis O'Brien to purchase a saxophone case at an auction, and O'Brien is promptly slugged and the case is stolen by Larry Dunlap. ... See full summary »

Director:

William Berke

Writers:

Herb Margolis (story) (as Herbert Margolis), Lou Morheim (story) (as Louis Morheim)

Stars:

Hugh Beaumont, Edward Brophy, Richard Travis

Cast

Complete credited 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)

Storyline

Claire Underwood hires San Francisco private-detective Dennis O'Brien to purchase a saxophone case at an auction, and O'Brien is promptly slugged and the case is stolen by Larry Dunlap. O'Brien snoops around and learns that Claire and Dunlap are rivals in a smuggling racket, and he seizes Claire just as she is about to leave the country with the case and its stolen jewels. O'Brien then gets involved with the murder of Vicki Jason's husband and gets slugged again and framed. With the aid of "Professor" Schickler, he proves his innocence when Vicki kills her co-conspirator lover, Edgar Spadely---another private-detective who had gotten O'Brien involved to begin with---and Vicki admits her own guilt in the murder of her husband.

---

Plot Keywords:

strained husband wife relationship | poverty row film | double feature film | damsel in distress | compilation film | 

---

Taglines:

Warning! Fast curves placed her in the DANGER ZONE

---

Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Romance | Thriller

---

Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 April 1951 (USA)

Also Known As:

Pier of Peril

Filming Locations:

Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sigmund Neufeld Productions

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Edited down to each of its two segments, each of them re-titled, this was sold to television in the early 1950s as two parts of a syndicated half-hour mystery show.

---

Connections

Followed by Pier 23 (1951)

User Reviews

Forgotten Noir for a reason

This film was so bad it was good. Fireign Theater must have drawn upon Danger Zone when they concocted Nick Danger. The hilariously corny metaphors (e.g., "...about as interesting as Mother's Day at an orphanage..."), the sudden right turns in the plot, characters stiffly showing up out of nowhere, the wise cracking, police taunting leading man. Oh, this is indeed a tarnished gem. And the names. Spadely (shades of Sam Spade) and the rummy bloodhound human mascot, Shicker. (Shicker, of course, is Yiddish for drunkard.) The flatness of the scenes reminded me of the early Superman TV series. Let's all stand around and deliver our lines one at a time. OK, I said my line. Now you say yours. Everybody get a turn? Good. Next scene. It takes about a half hour to solve the mystery, so they introduce a brand new plot with some of the same characters. Oy, what a mess.