Where danger lives

Screenwriter Charles Bennett is best known for scripting Alfred Hitchcock’s films The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934 and 1956), 39 Steps (1935), Sabotage (1936), and Foreign Correspondent (1940, Oscar nomination) ), and later - to the horror film " Night of the Demon " (1957) ^[2] . Director John Farrow directed such noir films as Calcutta (1947), Big Clock (1948), A Thousand Eyes at Night (1948), Nickname Beale (1949), and The Woman of His Dreams (1951) , with Mitchem ) ^[3] .

Robert Mitchum was one of the most sought-after actors in the film noir genre; he starred in the films Medallion (1946), From the Past (1947), Crossfire (1947), Angel Face (1952), “ The Night of the Hunter ”(1955) and“ Cape of Fear ”(1962). In 1975, he played the role of Detective Philip Marlowe in the remake of the classic noir “ Murder, My Sweetheart ” (1944), released under the title “ Farewell, My Beauty ” (1975), and in 1978 he played in the remake of another classic noir - “ Big Dream " ^[4] .

Faith Domergue played her first major role in 1950 in the crime drama Vendetta (1950). Soon her career began to decline, she played in Western B category duel on Silver Creek (1952), Pass in Santa Fe (1955) and Western Escort (1958), and in the low-budget science fiction films This Island Earth "(1955)," It came from the bottom of the sea "(1955) and" Cult of the cobra "(1955). She also played in the science fiction film Journey to the Prehistoric Planet (1965), which was redone from the material of the Soviet film Planet of the Storms (1961) ^[5] .

Claude Raines was nominated four times for an Oscar for supporting roles, including in the political drama Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), the military romantic drama Casablanca (1942), and in Hitchcock 's post-war thriller Bad Glory (1946) ) ^[6] . He also starred in the classic horror films The Invisible Man (1933) and The Wolfman (1941). He also played in the film Noir “ They Won't Forget ” (1937), “ Deception ” (1946) and “ Beyond Suspicion ” (1947) ^[7] .

At the San Francisco City Hospital, Dr. Jeff Cameron ( Robert Mitchem ) is helping a young woman who introduces herself as Margot, who was trying to commit suicide ( Faith Domerg ). When she gets better, Margot suddenly disappears from the hospital, notifying anyone. Soon she sends a telegram to Jeff with her home address in case he wants to hear her story. Arriving at the indicated address, Jeff discovers that Margot lives alone in a chic mansion. Concerned about her condition, Jeff overtakes a phone call with his girlfriend, nurse Julie ( Maureen O'Sullivan ), because Margot’s mental state makes him anxious and decides to stay with her.

Soon, Jeff falls in love with Margot, she also shows interest in him. But the time of the next meeting in the restaurant, she unexpectedly reports that the next day she must fly to Nassau with her elderly father. Jeff does not want to part with her, but she is adamant. In the end, they quarrel, and Margo leaves. With grief, Jeff drinks hard at the bar, and then arrives at Margot's home. She does not want to let him in, but he bursts in almost by force. In the house he is met by Frederick Lannington ( Claude Raines ), whom Margo initially represents as his father. Without hesitation, Jeff tells him that he loves Margot and wants to marry her. To which Lannington replies that he understands his feelings well, but Margot cannot marry him, she is married, and her husband is he, Lannington. As he states, he exchanged his money for her beauty.

Shocked at this turn, Jeff leaves, despite Margot's requests to stay. However, when he hears a scream from the house, he quickly returns. Jeff sees Margot lying on the floor with an earring torn from her ear in a bloody hand. Jeff is trying to help Margot, at this moment Lannington beats him with a poker from the fireplace on the back and head. Jeff manages to twist and deliver several retaliatory punches, after which Lannington falls to the floor unconscious. Jeff begins to feel dizzy, he goes to the bathroom to bring himself to his senses, and then assist Lannigton. Returning, he sees that Lannington is dead. Jeff wants to call the police, but Margot discourages him, claiming that the police will consider him guilty of intentionally killing an opponent. After the strike, Jeff's mind does not focus. Taking advantage of this, Margot persuades him to flee. First, they arrive at the airport, where they try to fly on available tickets to Nassau (where Jeff pretends to be Lannington). However, when they saw two policemen in the waiting room and heard the announcement that Lannington was asked to approach the service desk, they hid in fear.

They decide to flee to Mexico in an expensive Margo car, however, in order not to be caught, they choose a bypass route. Jeff is trying to listen to the radio news to find out what is reported about the murder, but Margot is constantly stopping him from doing this, clearly fearing to hear something. Fearing that they can be calculated by a car, they exchange it at a rogue dealer in one of the car dealerships for an old truck, giving in addition an expensive mantle. Upon reaching the motel, Jeff tells Margo that his consciousness is still clouded, probably a concussion, which can lead to paralysis of the limbs and possibly half of the body, which can be followed by a coma in a day or two.

In one of the towns, Jeff at the wheel almost faints and right at the central intersection crashes into the car of a local drunkard. Despite the persuasion of Jeff and Margo, who are afraid to present their documents, the sheriff forces them to go to the station to draw up the protocol. However, thanks to the local doctor, who, out of sympathy for the couple, persuades the sheriff not to file the incident, they manage to leave.

When they arrive at the border town of Roseville in Arizona, locals suddenly grab them and take them to the sheriff. It turns out that the town hosts the local holiday, Wild West Sideburn Week, which fines everyone who goes without a beard and sideburn. Margo explains that they are fleeing to Mexico to get married, and they have absolutely no money. Then the sheriff insists that they formalize a commercial marriage with a local notary (which they do under false names), and then negotiates with a local motel to provide him with a free number for their wedding night. When Jeff leaves the bedroom, Margot listens on the radio for news that she is mentally ill and is being treated by two well-known specialists. The couple secretly escapes from the motel. In the meantime, Margot’s portrait is being taken to the local police, and the sheriff gives a signal to the border about her detention. Soon from the news, Jeff and Margo find out that the body of Lannington, who was strangled by a pillow, was found.

With no money, Jeff and Margo sell a $ 9,000 Margo bracelet to a local moneylender for just one thousand. To hide from the police, the moneylender helps the couple to hide in the performance of a traveling circus. The circus owner promises to transport them across the border in the evening in his wagon train for a thousand dollars. In anticipation of the circus, Jeff can no longer stand on his feet, he also finally realizes that Margot is abnormal and that she strangled her husband. Jeff refuses to flee to Mexico, trying to detain her too. In response, Margot knocks him down and strangles him with a pillow, however, being late for the train of the departing circus, he does not have time to finish the job. Jeff hardly rises and gets to the border post. Seeing Jeff, Margo takes out a gun and starts shooting at him. The sheriff who appeared in return fire kills Margo. Before dying, Margot tells police that Jeff is not guilty of anything.

Recovering at a local hospital, Jeff asks permission to send Julie a flower in San Francisco, not knowing that she is waiting for him in the hallway.

• Robert Mitchem - Dr. Jeff Cameron
• Faith Domergus - Margot Lannington
• Claude Raines - Frederick Lannington
• Maureen O'Sullivan - Julie Dawn
• Charles Kemper - Sheriff
• Harry Shannon - Dr. Maynard
• Philip Van Zandt - Milo DeLong

Bosley Crowther in the New York Times wrote about the film:

Follow the established rules of behavior requires an energetic melodrama "Where danger lives." This rule, expressed in simple words, is this: always notify the police when you kill someone, especially when this happens by accident. The wisdom of this modest commandment is demonstrated in the reverse order and with a tiring duration in this picture, the stars of which are Robert Mitch and Faith Domerg . Here a mistake is made by a young doctor who thinks he killed the husband of a seductive lady with whom he had a relationship. With a clouded head after several strong cocktails and a couple of blows to the head, our hero does not obey his own instinct, but, together with the lady, breaks down into the night. And thus begins the series of adventures of his flight, which leads him, in the end, to the understanding that the police must always be informed. In this serious demonstration, Mr. Mitchem convincingly plays a man who finds himself in a vacuum and captured by unsuccessful circumstances. As the lady who pulls him into trouble, Miss Domerg shows nothing but a rather lascivious appearance and the ability to pronounce a simple text. Claude Raines does not grin for a long time in the role of her husband before he is killed, and Ralph Damke, Billy House and Charles Kemper vividly fulfill their characteristic roles. John Farrow has shown himself to be a capable guy as a producer and director of this film. But earlier Mr. Farrow did it better - and it would be better if he did this in the future ^[8] .

Time Out Magazine expressed surprise at Mitchem's odd choice for the role of a respected citizen and a dedicated doctor who is on the run, succumbing to the seductive songs of a psychopathic patient (Domerg, who strangles her husband Raines, making Mitchem believe that he killed him in a fight). Nick Muzuraki’s excellent camera work focuses on Noir, closely associated with Mitchem’s personality. Charles Bennett's script follows in the footsteps of those innocent thrillers they wrote for Hitchcock in the 1930s. The combination of these contradictory intros gives the film a look of oppressive reverie, curious and quite intriguing ^[9] .

Dave Ker wrote in the Chicago Reader about the film: Robert Mitchum plays the role of a young doctor who receives a heavy blow of crazy love for the suicidal housewife Faith Domerg ; before he realizes this, her husband Claude Raines gets hit by a cast-iron poker, and they escape in the direction of the Mexican border. Director John Farrow very accurately introduces nightmarish and hallucinogenic traits into this standard noir plot: Mitchum spends the second half of the film riding along the dusty roads of southern California with a concussion, periodically losing consciousness and waking up surrounded by the darkest landscapes that America can offer. The film does not carry anything special for its genre, but it is a strong, concise work from the director, usually inclined to preaching ^[10] .

In 2000, Dennis Schwartz noted that Robert Mitchum was taken in this film to the role of a law-abiding citizen, which contradicts his usual character. His hero, a single doctor from San Francisco, is loaded with an implausible melodramatic story and saddled with a boring game as the fateful woman on the part of Faith Domerg , who at that time was the protégé of Howard Hughes studio boss, and this film was her debut that did not bode well . The film was beautifully shot by Nick Muzuraka in a dark black and white noir style and expertly directed by director John Farrow , who was able to successfully convey the nightmare visions of his hero. The film is most interesting for its study of the character of a talented person blinded by passion, as a result of which his life is almost completely destroyed. Mitch is an innocent person who turns up and does not know that he is not guilty until the moment when he almost becomes too late, recovering just in time thanks to his strength of character and will to live. It is Mitchem’s convincing creation of the image of an innocent man on the run that makes this melodrama interesting ... In general, the film follows the cliche of noir films. But Mitchem saves the picture, realistically showing how a wonderful guy and a qualified doctor can be so vulnerable. Claude Raines, as always, is magnificent in a small role, where in his every gesture a manic rage is noticeable, ready to splash out. This raid of madness is best represented by his evil smile when meeting with his wife’s lover ^[11] .

Craig Butler, on the Allmovie website, described “Where Danger Live” as a sometimes fascinating, sometimes annoying film noir, which is worth watching, especially for fans of the genre. Although the film is uneven, at its best moments it is simply breathtaking. Several circumstances do not allow the film to become what it could become. The most important among them is that “discovered” by Howard Hughes, Faith Domergue was put on the key role of a mentally ill fatal woman. This role requires a woman with an appearance that instantly strikes a man and does not let him go, and this is what Domerg has. But this role also requires an actress who is able to play complex scenes and who possesses the subtleties of skill, including when performing strong dramatic scenes, and this actress is sorely lacking. Other film issues stem from the script of Charles Bennett, who sometimes loses credibility, introduces inappropriate lightness at inopportune moments, and does not provide Mitchem’s character with sufficient credibility. However, Bennett compensates for this with several powerful episodes, some magnificent dives in noir subjects and a rather impressive picture of a trip to hell. The strong directorial work of John Farrow allows you to hide the flaws and emphasize the merits of the picture, especially in creating an atmosphere of doom, which grows during the film. The camera work of Nick Muzuraki provides invaluable assistance to him. Mitchum was taken on the role contrary to his type, but he plays very well, and Claude Raines in his small role is simply magnificent ^[12] .

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