Where Danger Lives (1950)

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

I hope Mitchum was paid extra for all the flopping around he has to do. But then his character Dr. Jeff should have known better. Getting mixed up with spider woman Margo (Domergue) was a dumb move away from his hospital practice and loving nurse Julie. Okay, Jane Russell look-alike Margo is seductive as heck, but she's also wacko as heck. So the two of them are on the run after Jeff thinks he's killed scheming Margo's elderly husband Frederick (Rains). Actually, Jeff's head is reeling with a concussion thanks to batsman Frederick. So, will the two fugitive lovers make it to the Mexican border and freedom before Jeff's head explodes and Margo goes completely wacko. Except for the Hollywood enforced ending, it's a good noir. It's also a different Mitchum, playing a very vulnerable character for a change. Actress Domergue's skills are often derided, but here she manages the slippery Margo in fairly convincing fashion. Basically, director Farrow tells the tale in a series of close-ups, so there're extra demands on the players, especially Mitchum. Plus, it looks like only ugly middle-aged guys live in rural Arizona, so chamber of commerce, look out. Too bad Rains only gets what amounts to a cameo. More of his cynical face-offs with Mitchum would be a real treat. There's been nobody quite like his barbed arrogance before or since.All in all, the 80-minutes amounts to an interesting and suspenseful noir, plus a showcase for both the leads. Now if only the dead hand of the Production Code weren't there to contrive a forgettable ending to a story deserving of something more novel.

Down to earth, real life visit to the side of life less traveled also known as film noir. What happens in the world of film noir everyone can relate to. Its raw, exciting, real life and has you asking how to get out of a predicament just like it had you wanting to get into it. Excellent movie that starts out slow but for a reason so relax and don't be impatient! The beginning becomes clear in the end. Excellent acting and story-line that when it kicks into gear keeps you there and won't let go. I like movies that have you asking yourself "what would you have done" and then play itself out letting you see the choice the writers made. There is a scene where Robert Mitchum starts to figure things out but at a cost. Listen closely as he has dialog that makes the whole story make sense down the line. You also get to see another good cliché at work and acted out to perfection in this film: "be careful what you ask for cause you may just get it" as well as the principal of wanting and needing a second chance. Nice little goody-gem of a flick. Imagine back then how people would go catch a movie with a date or friends, popcorn and coke and get treated to a couple of features of this quality. That's a nice night out. I like to eat while watching and this is a good sandwich movie with a tasty drink plus a snack of choice especially when the action kicks in. To me, Robert Mitchum could do no acting wrong. I read his biography and he was a yahoo anything goes anti-establishment type of guy. He never got the rebel under control but he managed to make it make a living for him. I thought he went too far in his book but it is his life to do with as he pleases. He most certainly did! The title of his book said it all: Baby I Don't Care

Domergue and Mitchum lives in dangerous ground after a series of mistakes end up a dead end...this unusual noir has some holes but has action and suspense enough to forget a minor bugs...the last part of the picture near the Mexican border the plot has a high point and burn than never...the supporting cast are quite good mainly Claude Rains and Maureen o'Sullivan maybe a little older for this role,"Our" Irwin Allen was associate producer.Resume: First watch: 2017 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 8

Film noir plots in which a fall guy gets framed by a femme fatale are not exactly rare but what distinguishes this movie from other similar ones is the way in which the victim's personal road to hell is depicted as a nightmare. The respectable man's normally good judgement deserts him when he becomes infatuated by an attractive woman and later, the effects of alcohol and concussion further impair his powers of reasoning. The disorientation and confusion that follow make his predicament increasingly worse as he experiences the kind of illogicality and loss of control that are common in dreams and feels himself being helplessly propelled towards an uncertain destiny.This sense of everything being off-kilter is also reflected elsewhere in the movie as the femme fatale is mentally unbalanced, the people that the couple meet when they're on the run are extremely eccentric and a whole series of wonderfully off-balance visual compositions are also featured.At the end of a long shift in a San Francisco hospital, hard-working Dr Jeff Cameron (Robert Mitchum) attends to an attempted suicide case. The patient is a young woman known simply as Margo (Faith Domergue) who recovers quickly and is soon discharged. Mysteriously, neither Margo or the man who brought her to the hospital disclose any other details of their identities or addresses but shortly after, Jeff receives a note from his patient containing her address. In an attempt to ensure that she doesn't try to commit suicide again, he visits her mansion and she gives him an account of why she tried to kill herself. Although he already has a regular girlfriend, Jeff continues to see Margo and falls in love with her.When Margo tells Jeff that she's got to accompany her very old father to Nassau the next day, he decides to meet Mr Frederick Lannington (Claude Rains) in the hope of changing his mind and in order to overcome his nerves, fortifies himself with a number of strong drinks. At the mansion, the young doctor tells Mr Lannington that he's in love with Margo and is shocked to be told that Margo is actually the old man's wife who married him for his money. Disgusted by this revelation, Jeff leaves the mansion but then goes back in after hearing Margo scream.Lannington had apparently ripped a earring out of one of Margo's ears and then hits Jeff with a poker before the younger man knocks his attacker out. Jeff is perpetually shaken and unsteady after this incident and after going to the bathroom to freshen up, returns to find that Lannington is dead. Margo persuades him that the police will be suspicious of the circumstances under which her husband died and so the couple go on the run together. Their journey to the Mexican border proves to be difficult and hazardous as Jeff realises he's suffering from concussion and they also get swindled by a whole succession of unscrupulous people.Robert Mitchum and Claude Rains are so good in their roles that they easily outshine everyone else in the cast and make the whole production far better than it might otherwise have been. The growing tension and paranoia that prevails during the couple's road trip is expertly created and maintained and their experiences of feeling trapped and disorientated are also strongly emphasised by the movie's wonderful cinematography and the use of some terrific low-angle shots. "Where Danger Lives" is extremely enjoyable and some of its twists are top class.