Sudden danger

One evening, returning home from the Braille Institute , a blind young man, Wallace Curtis ( Tom Drake ) opens the door of his apartment, after which his guide dog starts to bark uneasily. Sensing the smell of gas, Wally sneaks into the kitchen, turns off the gas stove and opens the windows. Then he covenant mother Edna, who lives with him, but no one answers. A few moments later, Wally discovers her lying on the couch. While he calls an ambulance, a housewife, Mrs. Kelly ( Minerva Urekal ), appears in the apartment, who says that Edna is dead. The case is handled by Lieutenant Andy Doyle ( Bill Elliott ) of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department. He finds and reads Wally's typewritten death note by Edna, in which she insists that her son use the money received from her insurance for surgery from a reputable ophthalmologist surgeon, Dr. Hastings. Wally tells the detective that he was blind five years ago when, instead of eye drops, he accidentally took a bottle of the wrong medicine from a medicine box, which led to loss of vision. He goes on to say that his mother, together with Raymond Wilkins ( Dayton Lammis ), owns the Playtime Togs women's clothing company, which is currently in a difficult period. At one time, Wally's partner was Wally's father, but after his death, Edna became the partner of Wilkins, who took on a significant part of the work. When leaving, Andy collides in the doorway with Phyllis Baxter ( Beverly Garland ), the designer of “Playtime” and the girl Wally, who came to console him. Andy then talks to Mrs. Kelly, who claims to hear Wally and Edna arguing loudly recently. According to Mrs. Kelly, Edna told her son that since she had taken out a loan to insure her life, she would not be able to pay for another eye surgery for her son. Andy comes to the Playtime office to talk with the Phillies, who tells him that before the accident, she and Wally were about to get married, but then Wally refused the wedding, because he did not want to be a burden on her. When asked about what Edna was, Phyllis replied that she was a brave and decent woman, and was unlikely to commit suicide. Andy then walks into Wilkins' office, where he talks with him and Edna's lawyer named George Caldwell ( Pierre Watkin ). The lawyer reports that Wally is the only heir to Edna, but her entire condition at the moment includes only a life insurance policy. Asked by Andy why Edna had no other assets, Wilkins explains that when the company is in a difficult financial situation, they and Edna refuse their own remuneration, spending all their money to finance current activities. Andy then quietly makes print samples of the typewriters available in the office, finding out that Edna's suicide note was typed on the Phillies typewriter. Andy also finds out that Edna’s calendar marks a meeting with her New York partner Harry Woodruff ( Lyle Talbot ), which was due to take place two days later. The detective wonders why, before committing suicide, make a note of the upcoming meeting. Andy instructs Sergeant Mike Duncan ( John Close ) to find Woodruff. Meanwhile, Wally goes to Dr. Hastings' clinic to have surgery. After surgery in the hospital, he is visited by both Phyllis and Andy, who is continuing the investigation. The Phillies detective finds out that it was Edna who was to blame for the accident, as a result of which Wally went blind. During a conversation with Wally, the detective suggests that he could have killed his mother out of revenge and for the sake of money, but does not refuse the version that the killer could be someone else whose motives have not yet been established. Meanwhile, Caldwell’s lawyer tells Wally that he will receive a little less than five thousand dollars under the insurance policy, while all family jewels worth at least 15 thousand dollars that were stored in his mother’s safe have disappeared. The Phillies suggests that Edna could sell jewelry to pay for previous eye surgeries without telling Wally. However, the detective begins to suspect Caldwell, who also had access to the safe.

Three weeks after surgery, Wally’s bandages are removed and his eyesight is fully restored. However, he asks the doctors not to tell anyone about this, deciding that under the guise of a blind man, it will be easier for him to conduct his own investigation into the death of his mother. About what he again sees normally, Wally says only Phyllis, who at his request that night secretly takes him to Caldwell. When they ring the door of Caldwell, no one opens them, because the lawyer is killed and his corpse is in the apartment. The next morning, after hearing a radio message about Caldwell’s death, Wally runs away from the hospital, and Andy goes in search of him, first calling at the Playtime office. Shocked by the news of Caldwell’s murder, Phyllis admits that she and Wally came to the lawyer’s house last night, but they did not kill him. Meanwhile, Wally arrives at her home, insisting that Mrs. Kelly remember exactly what happened during his quarrel with his mother. The housewife admits that she did not see the arguing, but only heard that the dispute was about money. She also recalls that a man recently came to Edna several times in the absence of Wally. When Mrs. Kelly mentions that she once saw a “bright blonde” who was waiting for this man on the street in a car, Wally realizes that this is Vera ( Helen Stanton ), a model from Playtime, and the man must have been Wilkins, who is with her met secretly. At the police station, Andy and Mike interrogate Woodruff, who is a silk supplier and long-standing business partner of Edna's company. He says that when Prime time unexpectedly decided to give up his services and sign a silk supply contract with the Royal Cross company some time ago, he decided to conduct his own investigation, finding out that a company with that name was simply not on the market. Meanwhile, Wally watches Vera and Wilkins, who come to an expensive nightclub. From bartender Kenny ( Frank Jenks ), Wally learns that Wilkins regularly spends a lot of money on Vera. A businessman rented her an expensive apartment, and also constantly makes expensive gifts. Having led Vera home, Wilkins leaves, after which Wally appears at the door of her apartment. Not knowing that his vision was restored, Vera does not remove the jewelry, and Wally notices a bracelet on her mother’s. Faith is amazed that Wally returned to sight. She is even more shocked by Wally's statement that Wilkins was forging the company's accounting documents, and when Edna guessed it, he killed her. Wally leaves and calls the Phillies, inviting her to a meeting. However, she is being watched by the police, which detains both and delivers them to the station. There, Andy tells Wally that after receiving information from Woodruff, he called Playtime accountant Dave Glennon ( Lucien Littlefield ), after which they went together to the company office to find evidence confirming the fact of embezzlement by Wilkins, since it was he who commissioned the company to go to the collaboration with the Cross Cross. In the Primetime office, they see that the checks for the Royal Cross were endorsed by a certain Harry Apperson. Andy takes the papers with a sample of Wilkins' handwriting to compare them with both the signature of Upperson and the signature on Edna's suicide note. Then, leaving Wally in the office, Andy, together with Glennon, goes to the address of the company “Royal Cross”, finding out that there is nothing there except a desk, after which they are sent to the warehouse where the silk delivered by this company should be stored, but it is empty. It becomes clear that the Cross was a shell company through which Wilkins laundered and appropriated money. Wilkins comes to Vera, finding out that Wally suspects him of embezzlement and intends to check the company's books. He immediately heads to the Playtime office. After seeing Phyllis in the office, Wilkins tells her that he killed Edna because she guessed about his financial frauds, which put the company on the brink of bankruptcy, and then killed Caldwell, who blackmailed him. After that, Wilkins takes the tape and tries to strangle the Phillies, however, Wally appears and pushes him away. A fight ensues between the men, during which Wilkins pushes Wally away and tries to escape, but returning Andy, Mike and Glennon block him. Wilkins tries to hide in a dark warehouse, but Wally, who deftly feels in the dark, easily finds and twists him. After the arrest of Wilkins, happy Wally and Phyllis hug each other and leave, and Andy offers Dave a drink of beer.

The most famous directorial works of Hubert Kornfield , who worked in Hollywood in the 1950-60s, were the film Noir “ Dear Theft ” (1957), the crime thriller “ The Third Voice ” (1960) and the crime drama “ The Next Day 's Night ” (1969) with Marlon Brando in the lead role ^[1] .

Actor Bill Elliott , also known as Wild Bill Elliott, from 1930 to the mid-1950s, was the lead actor in several dozen category B westerns , including The Valley of Disappearing People (1942), Las Vegas Sheriff (1944), Hellfire (1949), Clash (1950), Fargo (1952), Topeka (1953) and Gold Miners (1954) ^[2] . According to movie historian Hal Erickson, in 1955, Elliott “left the westerns for the sake of detective melodramas”, starring in the role of detective Andy Flynn in the film “ Call Emergency Services ” (1955). In the same year, Elliott changed the name of the detective to Andy Doyle, playing in the film “Sudden Danger”. Then, in the image of Doyle, until 1957, the actor appeared in three more detective films, after which he completed his film career ^{[3] [4] [5]} .

The working title of this film is “ Calculated Risk ” ^[6] .

Overall rating of the film

After the film was released, it did not attract the attention of critics. Modern film historians also give him low-key assessments. So, Spencer Selby included him in his list of noir films, writing that the film tells about a blind man who “restores his eyesight with the help of an operation, and then seeks to remove the charge of murder from himself” ^[7] . Another contemporary film critic, Michael Keeney, noted that this is "the first of the crime dramas about Lieutenant Doyle, whose role was played by a former Western star of category B Wild Bill Elliott ." According to the critic, “although“ Sudden Danger ”is slightly better than other films of this low-budget movie series, nevertheless, it is“ a confused detective with little action and even less suspense ” ^[8] . Arthur Lyons believes that this is "the first and best film from the movie series about Lieutenant Doyle with Wild Bill Elliott in the title role. In this first film, he acts without his partner Don Haggerty, who will play in the remaining films of the series. This film has significantly better production qualities than other paintings of the series, which were made on a very modest budget ” ^[9] .

According to Hal Erickson, “although the film was obviously made in a hurry, it rises above the usual level of such films due to a better script, as well as a good selection of supporting actors” ^[3] . Steve Copian calls the picture “a strong and good little detective,” which is worth the audience’s time. Copian pays particular attention to the image of Doyle, a “direct and honest” detective who will “follow the trail to the very end” ^[4] . On the other hand, Martin Teller gave the film a negative assessment, calling it "lifeless and uninviting." According to the critic, “except for the games of Minerva Urekal , the only reason to watch this film is a few frames with half-dressed beauties in revealing outfits in the office of the fashion house where Wallace’s mother worked.” Teller believes this is a "cliched detective with a murder, confusing, but not at all convincing." According to him, in the film “there is not a single colorful remark, there are no intriguing turns, there is not a single intense scene, the scenery is cheap, and the shooting is completely devoid of inspiration” ^[10] .

Actor rating

Opinions regarding the Bill Elliott game are also divided. Describing the personality of his character, Copian notes that "this is a person who will apologize if he turns out to be wrong and will not stop until he reaches the goal." Although his business style reminds me of Joe Friday from the “ Roundup ”, he goes beyond the scope of the profession and demonstrates a sense of humor, which makes him “much more human and real” ^[4] . On the other hand, according to Teller, “Elliott is banal and weak,” and his character “has no distinguishing features” ^[10] .

• Spencer Selby. Dark City: The Film Noir . - Jeffeson, NC: McFarland & Co Inc, 1997 .-- ISBN 978-0-7864-0478-0 .
• Michael F. Keaney. Film Noir Guide: 745 Films of the Classic Era, 1940–1959 . - Jefferson, North Carolina, and London: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2003. - ISBN 978-0-7864-1547-2 .
• Arthur Lyons. Death on the Cheap: The Lost B Movies of Film Noir . - Boston, MA: Da Capo Press, 2000 .-- ISBN 978-0-3068-0996-5 .

• Sudden danger on IMDb website  
• Sudden danger on AllMovie website  
• Sudden danger on the website of the American Film Institute
• Sudden danger on Turner Classic Movies