Highly Dangerous

Last updated
Highly Dangerous
Highly Dangerous FilmPoster.jpeg
Directed by Roy Ward Baker (as Roy Baker)
Written by Eric Ambler
Produced by Antony Darnborough
executive
Earl St. John
Starring
Cinematography Reginald H. Wyer
Edited by Alfred Roome
Music by Richard Addinsell
Production
company
Distributed by
Release dates
  • 6 December 1950 (1950-12-06)(London)
  • 12 October 1951 (1951-10-12)(US)
Running time
88-90 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Highly Dangerous is a 1950 British spy film starring Margaret Lockwood and Dane Clark. It was directed by Roy Ward Baker, based on a screenplay and novel The Dark Frontier written by Eric Ambler.

Contents

It was released in the USA by Lippert Pictures as Time Running Out.

Plot

Frances Gray is as a British entomologist trying to stop a biological attack with the help of an American journalist. [1]

Cast

Production

Margaret Lockwood had not made a film in 18 months following Madness of the Heart , and had been focusing on stage work. [2] Earl St John wanted a comeback vehicle and commissioned Eric Ambler to write a film specifically as a vehicle for Lockwood. Ambler had recently specialised in melodramas, but Highly Dangerous was a comedy thriller in the vein of Lockwood's earlier hits, The Lady Vanishes and Night Train to Munich . [3] It was directed by Roy Ward Baker, who had served with Ambler during the war. [4]

"One thing about Eric is that he presents you with a script that is beautifully finished in every detail", said Baker. [5] He added " Eric had invented a language for the people the other side of the curtain which wasn’t Russian or anything else and the poor actors had to learn this stuff. He was playing a game with that." [6]

"I think Margaret Lockwood wanted to play a modern woman", recalled Baker. "It was actually Eric Ambler's first or second book, although the book had a different title and its main character was a man; Eric changed it to a woman to make it more interesting". [7]

The studio wanted a Hollywood leading man to play opposite Lockwood. Wendell Corey was originally sought [8] before the role was given to Dane Clark, who had recently left Warner Bros. "He was just delivering a stock leading man movie performance which was virtually nothing," said Baker. "He wasn’t very efficient. I think he fell in love with London. He also fell deeply in love with Jean Simmons which was unrequited. He was a pillock, I’m afraid. Marius Goring played the Belgravian heavy; he was very heavy, I'm afraid. I couldn't control him at all. It was a satisfactory run of the mill picture." [6]

There was location work done in Trieste. "I found it very difficult to make anything of that location," said Baker. "I was a bit disappointed and to tell the truth I didn't do it very well. The reason I say that is that many years later... I realised I’d been trying to piece it together in a logical way, sticking to the topography of Trieste I’d done myself an injury because the audience doesn't give a damn." [6]

Filming started at Pinewood Studios in June 1950. [9]

Reception

Baker later said that "Highly Dangerous wasn't a very successful picture.... It was a good idea although I don't think I did it very well." [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Rennie</span> British actor (1909–1971)

Michael Rennie was a British film, television and stage actor, who had leading roles in a number of Hollywood films, including his portrayal of the space visitor Klaatu in the science fiction film The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951). In a career spanning more than 30 years, Rennie appeared in more than 50 films and in several American television series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margaret Lockwood</span> British stage and film actress (1916–1990)

Margaret Mary Day Lockwood, CBE, was a British actress. One of Britain's most popular film stars of the 1930s and 1940s, her film appearances included The Lady Vanishes (1938), Night Train to Munich (1940), The Man in Grey (1943), and The Wicked Lady (1945). She was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best British Actress for the 1955 film Cast a Dark Shadow. She also starred in the television series Justice (1971–74).

<i>The Wicked Lady</i> 1945 film

The Wicked Lady is a 1945 British costume drama film directed by Leslie Arliss and starring Margaret Lockwood in the title role as a nobleman's wife who becomes a highwaywoman for the excitement. It had one of the largest audiences for a film of its period, with an estimated British attendance of 18.4 million seeing it in cinemas, according to a 2004 ranking of the most popular sound films in Britain. In the list, compiled by the British Film Institute for Channel 4, it was placed ninth overall, and was the second-most successful British film, behind only Spring in Park Lane (1948).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roy Ward Baker</span> English film director

Roy Ward Baker was an English film director.

Cast a Dark Shadow is a 1955 British suspense film noir directed by Lewis Gilbert and written by John Cresswell, based on the 1952 play Murder Mistaken by Janet Green. It stars Dirk Bogarde, Margaret Lockwood, Kay Walsh, Kathleen Harrison and Robert Flemyng. The film was released on 20 September 1955, distributed by Eros Films Ltd. in the United Kingdom and Distributors Corporation of America in the United States. The story concerns a husband who murders his wife.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jean Kent</span> English actress (1921–2013)

Jean Kent, born Joan Mildred Field was an English film and television actress.

<i>Sleeping Car to Trieste</i> 1948 British film

Sleeping Car to Trieste is a 1948 British comedy thriller film directed by John Paddy Carstairs and starring Jean Kent, Albert Lieven, Derrick De Marney and Rona Anderson. It was shot at Denham Studios outside London. The film's sets were designed by the art director Ralph Brinton. It is a remake of the 1932 film Rome Express.

<i>The Man in Grey</i> 1943 film by Leslie Arliss

The Man in Grey is a 1943 British film melodrama made by Gainsborough Pictures; it is considered to be the first of a series of period costume dramas now known as the "Gainsborough melodramas". It was directed by Leslie Arliss and produced by Edward Black from a screenplay by Arliss and Margaret Kennedy that was adapted by Doreen Montgomery from the 1941 novel The Man in Grey by Eleanor Smith. The film's sets were designed by Walter Murton.

Arthur Crabtree was a British cinematographer and film director. He directed films with comedians such as Will Hay, the Crazy Gang and Arthur Askey and several of the Gainsborough Melodramas.

Leslie Arliss was an English screenwriter and director. He is best known for his work on the Gainsborough melodramas directing films such as The Man in Grey and The Wicked Lady during the 1940s.

Edward Black was a British film producer, best known for being head of production at Gainsborough Studios in the late 1930s and early 1940s, during which time he oversaw production of the Gainsborough melodramas. He also produced such classic films as The Lady Vanishes (1938).

The Clouded Yellow is a 1950 British mystery film directed by Ralph Thomas and produced by Betty E. Box for Carillon Films. It stars Jean Simmons and Trevor Howard. A dismissed secret service agent falls in love with a disturbed young woman who is wrongly accused of murder and the two go on the run, pursued by the police, the secret service, and the real murderer.

<i>Campbells Kingdom</i> 1957 British film by Ralph Thomas

Campbell's Kingdom is a 1957 British adventure film directed by Ralph Thomas, based on the 1952 novel of the same name by Hammond Innes. The film stars Dirk Bogarde and Stanley Baker, with Michael Craig, Barbara Murray, James Robertson Justice and Sid James in support. The story is set in Alberta, Canada, and largely follows the principles of the Northwestern genre of film-making.

<i>The Bad Lord Byron</i> 1949 film by David MacDonald

The Bad Lord Byron is a 1949 British historical drama film about the life of Lord Byron. It was directed by David MacDonald and starred Dennis Price as Byron with Mai Zetterling, Linden Travers and Joan Greenwood.

<i>The Vicious Circle</i> (1957 film) 1957 British film

The Vicious Circle is a 1957 British thriller film directed by Gerald Thomas and starring John Mills, Noelle Middleton, Wilfrid Hyde-White and Lionel Jeffries. It was written by Francis Durbridge based on his TV serial My Friend Charles (1956). The screenplay concerns a leading Harley Street specialist who is forced to work with the police to nail a gang of international criminals, after being falsely accused of murder.

Earl St. John was an American film producer in overall charge of production for The Rank Organisation at Pinewood Studios from 1950 to 1964, and was credited as executive producer on 131 films. He was known as the "Earl of Pinewood". John Davis of Rank called him "the greatest showman that The Rank Organisation has ever had, and probably the greatest showman to have lived in this country. "

<i>Madness of the Heart</i> 1950 British film by Charles Bennett

Madness of the Heart is a 1949 British drama film directed by Charles Bennett, produced by Richard Wainwright for Two Cities Films and starring Margaret Lockwood, Maxwell Reed, Kathleen Byron and Paul Dupuis. The screenplay was written by Charles Bennett, adapted from the novel of the same name by Flora Sandström.

<i>My Teenage Daughter</i> 1956 British film Herbert Wilcox

My Teenage Daughter is a 1956 British drama film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Anna Neagle, Sylvia Syms and Norman Wooland. The screenplay concerns a mother who tries to deal with her teenage daughter's descent into delinquency. It was intended as a British response to Rebel Without a Cause (1955). It was the last commercially successful film made by Wilcox.

<i>The Small Voice</i> 1948 film

The Small Voice is a 1948 British thriller film directed by Fergus McDonell and starring Valerie Hobson, James Donald and Howard Keel. The film is part of a group of British film noir produced around this time. It was based on the 1940 novel of the same name by Robert Westerby.

Ann Veronica is a 1952 British TV version of the 1909 H. G. Wells novel of the same name.

References

  1. ↑ "BRITISH THRILLER". The Australian Women's Weekly . Vol. 19, no. 4. Australia. 27 June 1951. p. 29. Retrieved 1 October 2017– via National Library of Australia.
  2. ↑ "Maggie comes back in Highly Dangerous". The Sunday Times . Perth. 7 May 1950. p. 10 Supplement: Sunday Times MAGAZINE. Retrieved 31 October 2015– via National Library of Australia.
  3. ↑ "Ambler writes a thriller-comedy". Times Pictorial. Dublin, Ireland. 15 April 1950. p. 13.
  4. ↑ STEPHEN WATTS (20 May 1951). "SUCCESS IN THE SHADOW OF FAILURE: Roy Baker Makes Mark as Director at Scene of Faded British Hopes On His Own Quick Return Army Training". New York Times. p. X5.
  5. ↑ McFarlane p 49
  6. 1 2 3 Fowler, Roy (Oct–Nov 1989). "Interview with Roy Ward Baker" (PDF). British Entertainment History Project.
  7. ↑ McFarlane p 50
  8. ↑ "IN THE FILM SPOTLIGHT". The Mirror . Vol. 27, no. 1457. Western Australia. 22 April 1950. p. 16. Retrieved 10 April 2016– via National Library of Australia.
  9. ↑ "JUST VERY, VERY, DEAR FRIENDS". The Mirror . Vol. 27, no. 1463. Western Australia. 3 June 1950. p. 15. Retrieved 10 April 2016– via National Library of Australia.
  10. ↑ McFarlane p 49-50

Notes

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.