On Dangerous Ground
1952 Directed by Nicholas Ray
Synopsis
A big-city cop is reassigned to the country after his superiors find him tot angry to be an effective policeman. While on his temporary assignment he assists in a manhunt of a suspected murderer.
Cast
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This movie in its short run time manages to veer from a first half classic Film Noir into a less interesting drama in the second.
Robert Ryan delivers his usual brooding intensity as a tortured soul of a Policeman who is losing his connection to society as a whole through his prolonged immersion in the seedier side of humanity.
Benched by his superiors for heavy handed tactics he is loaned out to a country sherrif to assist in capturing a murderer. It is here that drama overtakes Noir with the appearance of Ida Lupino's blind lady suspected of assisting the murderer on the run.
The interaction of Ryan and Lupino in the second half is interesting and Ward Bond as…
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Robert Ryan ate the bones; Ward Bond drank the koolaid; Ida Lupino saw the light.
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What jumps out at you in this noir is the strange structure - the first third takes place in the city, and latter two thirds in the snowy country, with Robert Ryan's hardened detective the only self-evident common ground. But themes brought up in the city reemerge, and the dark, shadowy lanes of the city are juxtaposed with the harsh vast white snowscapes of the countryside. Ryan is absolutely terrific as a tough nut who may be able to be cracked, and Lupino is effective as the blind leading lady.
The ever dependable Ward Bond is great as the murdered girl's father, who brings his own ideas of hard, natural justice compared to the civilised law that Ryan is supposed…
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Beginning as a typical film noir, an angry cop happy to punch his way through cases walks a lonely beat through the tough city, alienating his colleagues On Dangerous Ground spends half an hour setting up Ryan's character just to send him to the country as punishment for his violent ways. It is 45 minutes before we are introduced to co-star Ida Lupino as a visually impaired plot device and at this point Ryan is on the hunt for a murderer in the icey wastelands of the countryside. The second half is largely melodrama conceived to exist as a journey to salvation for the protagonist. It's all a bit perfunctory, with touches on Ray's trademark of internal struggle in the…
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Sorry, Ray fanatics, I'm still not seeing his talent. When he's not crudely imitating much better directors, he's haphazardly throwing techniques against the wall to see what sticks (which results in, for instance, his clumsy attempt at hand-held camerawork). He couldn't direct actors, either; everyone here performs in that heightened, overwrought style that I find so alienating about his films in general. Ward Bond (who's always good) is the only principal cast member in this film who knows how to act in that Ray-quisite octave while remaining believable as a human being. Maybe I'd be more forgiving if I didn't have a natural aversion to plots that require the male lead to fall in love with a saintly blind woman (and why does this man, a policeman, no less, take so long to figure out that she's blind, when it's obvious to us right from the start?). Bernard Herrmann's score is way too good for this movie.
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Top-notch noir with Ryan and Lupino at their best. Very efficient plot and character development with a grand score by Bernard Herrmann.
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Robert Ryan ate the bones; Ward Bond drank the koolaid; Ida Lupino saw the light.
-
What jumps out at you in this noir is the strange structure - the first third takes place in the city, and latter two thirds in the snowy country, with Robert Ryan's hardened detective the only self-evident common ground. But themes brought up in the city reemerge, and the dark, shadowy lanes of the city are juxtaposed with the harsh vast white snowscapes of the countryside. Ryan is absolutely terrific as a tough nut who may be able to be cracked, and Lupino is effective as the blind leading lady.
The ever dependable Ward Bond is great as the murdered girl's father, who brings his own ideas of hard, natural justice compared to the civilised law that Ryan is supposed…
-
Beginning as a typical film noir, an angry cop happy to punch his way through cases walks a lonely beat through the tough city, alienating his colleagues On Dangerous Ground spends half an hour setting up Ryan's character just to send him to the country as punishment for his violent ways. It is 45 minutes before we are introduced to co-star Ida Lupino as a visually impaired plot device and at this point Ryan is on the hunt for a murderer in the icey wastelands of the countryside. The second half is largely melodrama conceived to exist as a journey to salvation for the protagonist. It's all a bit perfunctory, with touches on Ray's trademark of internal struggle in the…
-
Sorry, Ray fanatics, I'm still not seeing his talent. When he's not crudely imitating much better directors, he's haphazardly throwing techniques against the wall to see what sticks (which results in, for instance, his clumsy attempt at hand-held camerawork). He couldn't direct actors, either; everyone here performs in that heightened, overwrought style that I find so alienating about his films in general. Ward Bond (who's always good) is the only principal cast member in this film who knows how to act in that Ray-quisite octave while remaining believable as a human being. Maybe I'd be more forgiving if I didn't have a natural aversion to plots that require the male lead to fall in love with a saintly blind woman (and why does this man, a policeman, no less, take so long to figure out that she's blind, when it's obvious to us right from the start?). Bernard Herrmann's score is way too good for this movie.
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This was a cool movie. Noir content; high. Robert Ryan is great. He's given up on the world, but he can't actually stop being a cop. As one might suspect he ends up in a case that will challenge if not change that point of view. But the way it plays out is very subtle and very well done. Its a powerful and emotional shift. And, as usual, Ward Bond, proves that hes like the greatest character actor in history. Outshining everyone.
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This review reportedly contains spoilers. I can handle the truth.
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Beautiful film. Excellent score by Bernard Herrmann. Seems to have been influenced by and has influenced Hitchcock's work, particularly Psycho. Film noir that partly takes place in a snowscape.
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Top-notch noir with Ryan and Lupino at their best. Very efficient plot and character development with a grand score by Bernard Herrmann.
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This movie in its short run time manages to veer from a first half classic Film Noir into a less interesting drama in the second.
Robert Ryan delivers his usual brooding intensity as a tortured soul of a Policeman who is losing his connection to society as a whole through his prolonged immersion in the seedier side of humanity.
Benched by his superiors for heavy handed tactics he is loaned out to a country sherrif to assist in capturing a murderer. It is here that drama overtakes Noir with the appearance of Ida Lupino's blind lady suspected of assisting the murderer on the run.
The interaction of Ryan and Lupino in the second half is interesting and Ward Bond as…