Appointment with Danger

Appointment with Danger is a 1950 American crime film noir directed by Lewis Allen and written by Richard L. Breen and Warren Duff.[3] The drama features Alan Ladd, Phyllis Calvert, Paul Stewart, among others.[4]

Appointment with Danger
Theatrical release poster
Directed byLewis Allen
Produced byRobert Fellows
Screenplay byRichard L. Breen
Warren Duff
StarringAlan Ladd
Phyllis Calvert
Music byVictor Young
CinematographyJohn F. Seitz
Edited byLeRoy Stone
Production
company
Paramount Pictures
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
7 April 1950 (UK)[1]
  • May 9, 1951 (1951-05-09) (United States)
Running time
90 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$1,450,000 (US rentals)[2]

Plot

At the Hotel Compton in Gary, Indiana, U.S. postal inspector Harry Gruber is murdered by two men, Joe Regas (Jack Webb) and George Soderquist (Harry Morgan). They dump the body in La Porte during a rainstorm, but just then a nun, Sister Augustine (Phyllis Calvert), passes near them. Soderquist tries to distract her by helping unfurl her umbrella and pretending Gruber is drunk, but she reports the incident.

Postal inspector Al Goddard (Alan Ladd) is assigned to the case. He traces Sister Augustine to a convent in Fort Wayne, and recites to her a quotation from Martin Luther about personal responsibility. She then agrees to go to the police station, where she identifies Soderquist from a mug book, and then to Gary in the hope of identifying him there in person. She will stay at a convent there until she is needed to testify in court.

Soderquist is seen by Goddard and Sister Mary with another gang member, Paul Ferrar (Stacy Harris), but gets away. Meanwhile Regas, who Mary does not recognize, sees her and telephones Earl Boettiger (Paul Stewart), the head of the gang and owner of the Hotel Compton, warning him to hide Soderquist; later, when Soderquist rejects an order to leave town, they kill him.

Goddard realizes that since Soderquist has not left town, the gang must still be planning something. He talks to the Gary postmaster (Harry Antrim), who suggests a likely target for theft: a money shipment that arrives regularly at Gary by train but must change to another train, involving a 7-minute truck ride between stations. Gruber had asked him about the truck's drivers. One of them recently turned down a chance at a higher-paying job; it is Ferrar, and Goddard recognizes him from before.

Goddard, posing as a corrupt inspector, pressures Ferrar to meet the head of the gang. He then asks Boettiger to join the gang, promising to be more a reliable inside man than Ferrar. The plan is indeed to steal the money shipment, expected to be worth $1 million. Meanwhile Regas is still worried about Sister Augustine and tries unsuccessfully to stage a fatal accident for her.

When Boettiger makes a last-minute change to the plan, Goddard has no choice but to phone police from the gang's hotel suite. He is heard by Boettiger's mistress, hotel employee Dodie (Jan Sterling), but she protects him because she does not want to be an accessory to his murder. She "reports" the planned crime to him in order to stay on the right side of the law, and says she is leaving town at once.

The robbery does not go as smoothly as hoped, because Regas neglects his part of the preparations in order to take Sister Augustine prisoner. When the gang meets, she blurts Goddard's name, revealing his deception. He pleads for them not to kill her, then buys time by starting a fight. As police arrive, this turns into a shoot-out in an industrial district, ending in the death of all the gang members.

Cast

Background

The film was announced in July 1948 as Postal Inspector. It was always envisioned as a vehicle for Alan Ladd.[5] Ardel Wray and Robert L. Richards wrote the script and the film was meant to follow Chicago Deadline.[6] However production was pushed back to allow Ladd to make Captain Carey, U.S.A.. The movie's title was changed to Dead Letter.[7] William Keighley was originally announced as director, but then he was replaced by Lewis Allen.[8]

Phyllis Calvert was signed in April 1949.[9] According to Calvert the studio did not think she would accept the part, as she had turned down several films before. They spent another six weeks rewriting the script.[10] Filming started on 16 June.[11] The title was changed again to United States Mail.[12]

The film features both Jack Webb and Harry Morgan as villains. Both would later work on the Dragnet television show as fictional police detectives for the Los Angeles Police Department. One of the co-writers of the script, Richard L. Breen had previously worked with Webb on the radio series Pat Novak for Hire, and would write at least three scripts for Dragnet, including the 1954 theatrical film and the 1966 TV-movie pilot for the revival series in which Morgan joined the cast as Detective Bill Gannon.

Reception

The film was not released in the USA until 1951 by which time it was retitled Appointment with Danger. It was released in the UK almost a year earlier.[13]

The movie was nominated for the Edgar for best mystery film of the year from the Mystery Writers of America, but lost to Five Fingers.[14]

Critical response

Bosley Crowther, film critic for The New York Times, liked the film, especially the screenplay which Alan Ladd took full advantage of. He wrote, "[I]t's fairly obvious that it's all familiar stuff to our hero, for he evinces as much emotion over these muscular goings-on as a postal clerk counting air mail stamps. But he is fortunate in having a vehicle, which is basically a cops-and-robbers tale, tautly written by scenarists Richard Breen and Warren Duff, who also have injected humor in the modern idiom into their dialogue. And he is fortunate too in having the support of principals who handle these lines and roles as to the manner born. As a result, Appointment With Danger lives up to its title as Ladd, checking on the murder of another postal inspector in Gary, Ind., finds a visiting nun who saw the criminals."[15]

The staff at Variety magazine gave the film a positive review, writing, "Ladd is right at home as the tightlipped, tough inspector assigned to the case. There is a neat contrasting byplay in the nun character done by Phyllis Calvert as co-star, which adds an offbeat note to the meller plot.[16]

References
  1. N"EW FILMS IN LONDON" Our Film Critic. The Manchester Guardian 1 Apr 1950: 5.
  2. 'The Top Box Office Hits of 1951', Variety, January 2, 1952
  3. Silver, Alain (2010). Film Noir: The Encyclopedia. p. 29. ISBN 978-0715638804.
  4. Silver, Alain (2010). Film Noir: The Encyclopedia. p. 29. ISBN 978-0715638804.
  5. Schallert, Edwin (July 14, 1948). "Roberts Busy Perusing New Novel by Wolfert". Los Angeles Times. p. 21.
  6. THOMAS M. PRYOR (July 14, 1948). "SCHARY RETURNING TO METRO STUDIOS: Likely to Be Executive Producer Second to Louis B. Mayer -- RKO Leaders in Meeting". New York Times. p. 26.
  7. Schallert, Edwin (Nov 18, 1948). "Otto Preminger to Direct Tierney, Conte as Team; Barker Scouts Zoo Stars". Los Angeles Times. p. B9.
  8. THOMAS F. BRADY (Apr 6, 1949). "ELEANOR PARKER IN BOGART MOVIE: Warners Name Actress to Lead in 'Chain Lightning' -- Change Directors at Paramount". New York Times. p. 38.
  9. THOMAS F. BRADY (Apr 12, 1949). "FOX BUYS RIGHTS TO KERSCH NOVEL: Studio Pays $175,000 for 'Night and City,' 1946 Story of Nightlife in London". New York Times. p. 39.
  10. "Film: For love? Hell no, I did it for money Frustrated by the British studios, Phyllis Calvert went to Hollywood. What followed was even worse." Sweet, Matthew, The Independent; London, 25 Feb 2000: 12.
  11. "Of Local Origin". New York Times. May 5, 1949. p. 34.
  12. "New Screen Team". Chicago Daily Tribune. Mar 12, 1950. p. G2.
  13. THOMAS F. BRADY (Feb 6, 1951). "SANDERS TO PLAY 'ANDROCLES' ROLE: Actor Will Take Part of Roman Emperor in Screen Version of Shaw's Classic Story Of Local Origin". New York Times. p. 43.
  14. "Ladd's Picture Nominated for Mystery Award". Chicago Daily Tribune. Nov 25, 1951. p. g2.
  15. Crowther, Bosley. The New York Times, film review, May 10, 1951. Last accessed: December 28, 2007.
  16. Variety. Film review, May 10, 1951. Last accessed: December 28, 2007.
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