Dangerous Crossing (1953)

Waste of time

Too much of everything

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

Jeanne Crain plays Ruth Stanton, only now she's Ruth Bowman because she just married John Bowman who she barely knows. The couple seems happy enough as they set off on their honeymoon, a transatlantic sea voyage. But then John disappears soon after they board the ship. Cue melodramatic hysterics from Ruth. Crying, screaming, shaking, fainting spells, the whole bit. Something surely seems to be tormenting this woman, maybe something more than a husband who's gone missing. Nobody else on the ship recalls having seen John. And it turns out Ruth was booked onto the ship alone, under her maiden name. Did John Bowman ever really exist? The ship's crew sure have their doubts, the general consensus is that Ruth is delusional and insane. Only one person seems genuinely interested in helping her. That's the ship's doctor, played by Michael Rennie. He may have his doubts about Ruth's story but he at least makes the effort to get to the bottom of things.So what exactly is going on here? Has Ruth really misplaced her husband or is she just nuts? It's supposed to be a mystery film but if we take it on face value there's not much of a mystery. The movie tries to lead you astray with a number of red herrings but it becomes rather obvious very quickly what's really happening. There are so few plausible explanations for the goings-on that the movie can't even stretch to a proper feature-length running time, clocking in at just 75 minutes. There's just nowhere for the story to go. And the ending disappoints on multiple levels. Firstly it's much too predictable, meant to shock but failing to do so. And secondly it's jarringly abrupt. Wham bam, movie's over. That's it? Not even a cursory explanation for what happened, no insight into the background and motivation of those involved? Nope. It's a movie with some decent moments and a good noir atmosphere. Rennie is quite good in his role. Crain is over the top with her hysterics but hard to blame her, that had to be what the director was looking for. Crain's overwrought emotion may be a desperate attempt to give the movie some life. It certainly could use some kind of spark. All in all it's very bland and not very compelling. The story doesn't grab you and if you think about it that story has some rather massive holes in it. Logic is often tossed overboard in this movie. Dangerous Crossing is a movie which had some promise but ultimately was doomed to disappoint.

I could only award this film 4/10 as I found it very irritating on several counts, (despite unfettered praise from nearly all your other reviewers).Perhaps the screenwriter, Leo Townsend, should be blamed as he made the character of Ruth (Jeanne Crain) needy, neurotic, paranoid, melodramatic and rather wet.I brightened up when Dr Paul Manning (Michael Rennie) slapped her face to bring her to her senses at one stage.Also irritating was the stock footage of "The Queen Mary" posing as an American cruise liner, the producer should have picked a less recognisable vessel as it grated on me to hear American crew accents on a British liner! I disliked how Jeanne Crain's character kept drawing attention to herself and monopolising nearly all the time of the ship's doctor.When did Dr Paul Manning find time for his other patients?Jeanne Crain's character in this film continued to give women a bad name, being pathetic, standing on the sidelines while the "baddie" grappled with the "goodie" by the ship's rail at the denouement.The evil stewardess' character was insufficiently dramatised.Ruth obviously should have lived with her fiancée much longer to learn about his true character.As a previous reviewer stated "Marry in haste - Repent at leisure".The director/producer must also take a large part of the blame for this "B" picture.

In 1950, the film "So Long at the Fair" debuted. It was the film about a brother and sister who went to the Paris Exhibition--only to have the brother disappear. Even more odd, no one seems to have remembered seeing him and soon the authorities seem to think she is losing her mind. Only three years later, a very, very similar film is released and "Dangerous Crossing" is essentially the same film but with a very different ending. I know that a few other similar films have been released--so clearly "Dangerous Crossing" won't get points for originality.In the case of "Dangerous Crossing", a brand-new wife (Jeanne Crain) soon is separated from her husband (Carl Betz) on a cruise ship. And, oddly, he doesn't return and no one seems to be able to find any evidence that he existed. For most of the film, this is handled pretty well. However, Crain's part isn't written very well. At one point she swoons--and swooning is a STUPID cliché. People rarely faint in real life--yet in movies women pass out right and left--especially when they hear shocking news or a monster is nearby! Late in the film, Crain (who is still convinced she isn't crazy) begins screaming and acting 100% crazy! This seriously undermines her character--and this was simply a case of overdoing it. Still, despite all this, the film is entertaining and worth seeing--mostly because the story idea is captivating. Worth seeing--but certainly not without flaws.

Ruth (Jeanne Crain) and John (Carl Betz) board a ship for their honeymoon. However, within 15 minutes of sailing, John has disappeared. Not only has he disappeared but there has never been any trace of him and there are no witnesses that have seen the couple together. The room that they originally booked into is now empty and only Ruth's suitcases seem to be located on board - in a different room! So begins the mystery. The film follows Ruth's attempts to locate her husband while we are introduced to a suspicious cast of characters. No-one believes her story and even the confidante that she finds in Dr Paul Manning (Michael Rennie) has his doubts. She receives a phone call in her cabin from John saying that they are both in danger.......The film gets you involved from the beginning and you know that something sinister is occurring. The various characters are introduced to us - eg, stewardess Anna (Mary Anderson), single traveller Kay (Marjorie Hoshelle), steward Jim (Casey Adams) and a foreign passenger with a walking stick (Karl Ludwig Lindt) - and we are never quite sure what is in the back of their minds. Even Dr manning is not above suspicion. The fog horn that continually sounds adds to the tension in the night scenes and it is a well acted film by all.