On Dangerous Ground (1951)

Rough city cop Jim Wilson is disciplined by his captain and is sent upstate, to a snowy mountain town, to help the local sheriff solve a murder case.

Directors:

Nicholas Ray, Ida Lupino (uncredited)

Writers:

A.I. Bezzerides (screen play) (as A. I. Bezzerides), A.I. Bezzerides (based on an adaptation of the novel)

Stars:

Ida Lupino, Robert Ryan, Ward Bond

Cast

Complete credited 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)

Storyline

Hard, withdrawn city cop Jim Wilson roughs up one too many suspects and is sent upstate to help investigate the murder of a young girl in the winter countryside. There he meets Mary Malden, whom he finds attractive and independent. However, Mary's brother is chief suspect in the killing. And Mary herself is blind.

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Plot Keywords:

murder | revenge | based on novel | cop killer | redemption | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Drama | Film-Noir

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1952 (UK)

Also Known As:

Dark Highway

Filming Locations:

Granby, Colorado, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

RKO Radio Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Lee J. Cobb, Albert Dekker and Howard Da Silva were all considered for the role eventually played by Ward Bond.

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Goofs

Wilson & the Sheriff are stopped on the bridge discussing the crime. When the car begins to move, a reflector known as a "Shiny Board" can be seen in the reflection of the side window. It's clear enough to see it's the "Soft Side" of the board being used.

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Quotes

Jim Wilson: Why do you make me do it? You know you're gonna talk! I'm gonna make you talk! I always make you punks talk! Why do you do it? Why?

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Connections

Featured in The Rules of Film Noir (2009)

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Soundtracks

Danceland Jive
(uncredited)
Music by Roy Webb and Gene Rose

User Reviews

The Big Thaw

The Nicholas Ray-A.I. Bezzerides On Dangerous Ground is a modestly budgeted film that tries to be different, and succeeds. Tough, brutal city cop Robert Ryan is sent upstate to help solve a murder case, and also to be got rid of, since he seems to be on the verge of mental breakdown. Along the way he runs into a blind woman, the father of the murdered teen, and a few locals. This is the bare bones of the story, such as it is, which on the surface appears mundane. But writer Bezzerides and director Ray were up to other things, and the crime picture trappings of this film are deceptive. The movie is really about that most modern of issues, alienation, and more generally, anomie, the feeling of displacement, namelessness, uselessness, that so many people have in such a fast-paced and mechanized society as ours. Ryan's character is a solitary, apparently celibate cop, who loves no one, and doesn't even like his job. He has a sense of morality, which is maybe what keeps him going. It also, alas, gets him into hot water with his superiors when he punches out one too many suspects, which is the reason for his being sent upstate, to Siberia, as he puts it. Ida Lupino, the blind woman he falls for, is equally isolated, but more serene. Her intuition tells her that Ryan is far more sensitive than he seems (or even understands), and they become close (but not lovers). She represents his good side, the part of him he has repressed all these years. Ward Bond, as the vengeful father of the murder victim, is like a caricature of Ryan, and also skeptical of him as a "city cop", as he puts it.

There's much to recommend in this film. Bernard Hermann's music is excellent. Ray's handling of the chase scenes in the snow, and his evocation of a small rural community, is masterful. The movie seems a little too short to me, for what it's trying to do, and at times spreads itself too thin. It's at various points a crime film, a romance, a mystery, an action picture and a psychological study. The actors, Ryan in particular, are outstanding. No one could play a brooding loser like he could. His emotional outbursts early on feel almost psychotic. Later, mellowed out in the frozen north (irony of ironies!), his vulnerable side begins to emerge, and he becomes sympathetic to us, and eventually empathetic toward the woman. One senses his cluelessness about what's happening in him emotionally, as we, the audience, get it, and he doesn't. He's almost fragile trying to deal with tender feelings, especially since if he messes up or things go wrong he can't very well punch his way out of this one.