On Dangerous Ground **** (1951, Ida Lupino, Robert Ryan, Ward Bond) – Classic Movie Review 8189

Director Nicholas Ray’s distinguished 1951 film noir drama On Dangerous Ground stars Robert Ryan as brutal, obsessive city police detective Jim Wilson, who sees the error of his savage ways when he is sent upstate to help the local sheriff (Ian Wolfe) investigate a snowy mountain small-town murder of a young girl.

He teams up with the victim’s vengeful father Walter Brent (Ward Bond) and falls for the unsighted sibling Mary Malden (Ida Lupino) of the suspected killer Danny (Sumner Williams).

Ray’s gripping and atmospheric romantic thriller did not do well at the box-office in 1951, but it has become an admired film noir of the era. Underrated players Ryan and Lupino turn in charismatic performances, even if they are normally better cast in tougher roles than these. George E Diskant’s gleaming black and white outdoor cinematography Bernard Herrmann’s beautiful score and Ray’s moody direction keep it on the firmest possible ground.

On Dangerous Ground is a bit literary, static and non-cinematic, and runs like a filmed play, though it is in fact based on a novel (Mad with Much Heart by Gerald Butler). There is a quality RKO production by the always-ambitious producer John Houseman, with a fine backstage work all round.

Also in the cast are Charles Kemper as Pop Daly, Anthony Ross as Pete Santos, Ed Begley as Captain Brawley, Gus Schilling as Lucky, Frank Ferguson as Willows, Cleo Moore as Myrna Bowers, Olive Carey as Mrs Brent, Richard Irving, Patricia Prest, Leslie Bennett, A I Bezzerides, Eddie Borden, William Challee, Jimmy Conlin, Joe Devlin, Homer Dickerson, Don Dillaway, Art Dupuis, Budd Fine, Bill Hammond, Mike Lally, Ruth Lee, William J O’Brien, Nestor Paiva, Eugene Persson, Stephen Roberts, Tracey Roberts, Vera Stokes, Nita Talbot, Joan Taylor and Ken Terrell.

Lupino took over the direction for several days when Ray fell ill.

Herrmann used a baroque instrument the viola d’amore to symbolise the blind heroine’s isolation and it is heard much of the time she is on screen. He was so impressed with Virginia Majewski’s performance on viola d’amore that he insisted she is credited on the film. Herrmann composes a sequence that he reuses in 1957 as the opening theme to the TV show Have Gun Will Travel starring Richard Boone.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8189

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