On Dangerous Ground (1952)

Snowclad Noir:
Off-Kilter Cop Redeemed
On Dangerous Ground (1949)
Studio: RKO • 81 min B&W • AR 1.33:1 • US: 15 Feb 1952
Re-release: Warner Bros (Jul 2006)
Series: Warner Bros Film Noir, Vol 3 (6-DVD)
Starring: Ida Lupino, Robert Ryan, Ward Bond, Charles Kemper, Ed Begley Sr, Sumner Williams
Dir: Nicholas Ray

Ida Lupino may have top billing but Robert Ryan walks away with this viewer’s admiration for his evolving portrayal of a cop close to the breaking point but whose humanity is restored through tragic events. As he begins to see himself reflected in those around him, notably a desperate, obsessive man whose daughter was recently murdered, Ryan’s manner softens and his soul renews — he’s a man who rediscovers he has a heart.

Jim Wilson (Robert Ryan) has been on the city police force for 11 years. Unlike his patrol mates, who are happily married, Wilson has no life beyond his work and is growing bitter and angry at the scum and meanness he faces everyday. When he lets his anger out once too often, his superior, Capt. Brawley (Ed Begley Sr) sends him on assignment in the country to help a an under-staffed county sheriff who is dealing with the recent murder of a teenage girl. The girl’s father, Walter Brent (Ward Bond) is blind with rage and, when the scent of the killer appears, teams up with Wilson to seek immediate justice. Unexpectedly, Wilson finds himself in the role of restrainer. The trail leads to the home of a blind woman, Mary Malden (Ida Lupino), whose younger brother Danny (Sumner Williams), is tagged as the murderer and hounded till tragic consequences ensue.

The film opens with classic noirish episodes: night scenes, urban streets slaked with rain, violence, unsavoury characters, and a man — a cop this time — on the edge of disaster. Nicholas Ray was one of the great directors and he, along with Ryan’s superb acting and Bernard Hermann’s tension-seething score, take risks which pay off, time and again. But this isn’t really noir, is it? More than half the film takes place in the snow-laden countryside where the character in anguish finds redemption and reason for optimism that life can be full and good. Never mind: it’s a terrific picture!

Apart from Ryan, Ida Lupino shines, given the rather weak dialogue she has to work with. By contrast, Cleo Moore, who has a bit part as a hood’s girlfriend, gets more memorable lines in an attempt to seduce Ryan earlier in the film. Even 19 y/o Nita Talbot, doing a very good Lauren Bacall impression and having one line in a sleazy bar, stands out. Ed Begley Sr has only three brief scenes, one of them added after filming had wrapped, yet adds gravitas and a warning which the Ryan character finally internalises.

Ward Bond, who plays up the obsessive rage toward his daughter’s murderer almost over the top, also surprises, endearing himself to us as he finally realises, too late, that the killer “was only a boy”, and carries him back to the farm tenderly as if he were his own son. And while he has only one scene, Sumner Williams as the mentally-off-kilter brother Danny, acquits himself with conviction. He only made eight films, several with Nicholas Ray, and wrote one produced screenplay in 1966; I couldn’t find anything else out about this handsome actor who appears to have disappeared completely.

A few words on Director Nicholas Ray. Born in 1911, he studied architecture and theatre at the University of Chicago; and though he received a fellowship to apprentice with Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin Foundation, clearly theatre (first the stage, then movies) drove his creative energies. In 1947, he directed his first film They Live By Night, at RKO, with John Houseman as producer (Houseman produced On Dangerous Ground as well). His most important work reveals great sympathy for rebellious teenagers, the most famous being Rebel Without A Cause. Ray made an astonishing set of films through the early 1960s, influencing many, including Francois Truffault. His lesser films from this period are generally underrated and deserve full revivals.

Glenn Erickson’s commentary is capable and informative buts lacks the enthusiasm Eddie Muller brings. Packaged economically in slimline Thinpak cases with four other films — plus a 68 min documentary Bringing Darkness To Light and five 20 min shorts from the “Crime Doesn’t Pay” series — Warner Bros Film Noir, Vol 3 matches its predecessors in value, restoring long-buried content in high quality to circulation. Recommended without reservations.