Danger Signal
| Danger Signal | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Robert Florey |
| Produced by | William Jacobs |
| Screenplay by |
C. Graham Baker Adele Comandini |
| Story by | Phyllis Bottome |
| Based on |
the novel by Phyllis Bottome |
| Starring |
Faye Emerson Zachary Scott |
| Music by | Adolph Deutsch |
| Cinematography | James Wong Howe |
| Editing by | Frank Magee |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
| Release dates |
|
| Running time | 78 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Danger Signal is a 1945 film noir starring Faye Emerson and Zachary Scott. It was adapted from the novel of the same name by Phyllis Bottome.[1]
Plot
A mysterious artist - and psychopath - named Ronnie Mason, steals a dead woman's wedding ring and money and leaves a fake suicide note. Her husband, Thomas Turner, when questioned by the local police, believes his dead wife might have been seeing Mason behind his back. He also believes his wife was murdered, but in the absence of other evidence, list it as a suicide and drop the case.
Mason leaves town, changes his name to Marsh and, using a limp he acquired jumping from the dead woman's bedroom window and a veteran's pin he steals from a fellow passenger on the L.A. bus, passes himself off as a wounded soldier amd rents a room in the house of public stenographer Hilda Fenchurch and her younger sister Anne. To the consternation of professor Andrew Lang, who secretly loves Hilda, she falls for Marsh, the new tenant.
The scheming Marsh learns that it is Anne who might inherit a great deal of money, so he suddenly switches his affections toward her. Hilda is jealous and suspicious. She plots to lure Marsh to a beach house and poison him. She isn't able to go through with it, but when Marsh runs off, he is surprised by Thomas Turner and plunges off a steep cliff to his death.
Cast
- Faye Emerson as Hilda Fenchurch
- Zachary Scott as Ronnie Mason
- Richard Erdman as Bunkie Taylor (as Dick Erdman)
- Rosemary DeCamp as Dr. Jane Silla
- Bruce Bennett as Dr. Andrew Lang
- Mona Freeman as Anne Fenchurch
- John Ridgely as Thomas Turner
- Mary Servoss as Mrs. Fenchurch
- Joyce Compton as Kate
- Virginia Sale as Mrs. Crockett
Reception
Critical response
Bosley Crowther, the film critic for The New York Times, panned the film and wrote, "A woman scorned and a handsome cad whose romantic impulses fluctuate according to the size of a lovely lady's bank account are apt to do the strangest things, especially in diluted little melodramas such as Danger Signal, ...Sometimes, too, scenarists let such plots get out of hand and wander perilously close to boredom, so close, in fact, that the director resorts to one of those screeching-tire automobile races against time—and death—in what is obviously a last desperate attempt to overcome narrative anemia."[2]
Film critic Dennis Schwartz also was not complimentary, "This routine noir feature just doesn't cut it -- its story is too implausible and it lacks proper tension...The story simply didn't add up, but its quick pace helped move things along. Zachary Scott can always be counted on to give a competent performance. But nothing can save this film from mediocrity. It's a febrile attempt to study a psychopath."[3]
References
- ↑ Danger Signal at the Internet Movie Database.
- ↑ Crowther, Bosley. The New York Times, film review, November 22, 1945. Last accessed: February 8, 2010.
- ↑ Schwartz, dennis. "Ozus' World Movie Reviews", film review, May 20, 2000. Last accessed: February 8, 2010.
External links
- Danger Signal at the Internet Movie Database
- Danger Signal at allmovie
- Danger Signal at the TCM Movie Database
- Danger Signal film trailer at YouTube