Cry Danger

Plot synopsis:
Rocky Mulloy was sentenced to life in prison for a robbery and murder that he didn't commit. He's released five years later when a witness named Delong appears and provides an alibi. Rocky then sets out to find who framed him, hoping that by uncovering the actual criminals, he'll be able to free his friend Danny Morgan, also accused of the same crime.
Delong is lying about the alibi. What he really wants is a share of the missing robbery loot. Rocky insists he wasn't involved. They go see Morgan's wife, Nancy, a former love of Rocky's, who now lives in a trailer park.
Police Lt. Gus Cobb keeps an eye on Rocky because he's still convinced of his guilt. Rocky believes that bookie Louis Castro is the mastermind. He demands $50,000 at gunpoint. Castro won't agree to that, but gives him $500 to bet on a fixed horse race.
Shots are fired at Delong and girlfriend Darlene near the trailer and she is killed. Nancy believes the intended victims were Rocky and herself. Rocky goes back to Castro and plays Russian roulette until Castro reveals where the robbery money can be found. It turns out Morgan was indeed involved and that Nancy now has his share.
Lt. Cobb gradually comes to believe Rocky's innocence. Nancy says she loves him and invites him to run off together with the loot, but Rocky leaves her for the law.

Tags: violence

Review:
Dick Powell gets off a train at the Union Station after spending 5 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit.
Powell intends to prove not only his innocence, but that of his buddy.Add to the mix William Conrad as a bad guy with his own agenda and you have a better than average noir.
I'm fairly new to film noir (started getting into the style in my mid to late teens, and now at twenty, I'm a fanatic) and while I've seen almost all of the massive hits, the films that define the genre to the critics and the movie-loving public, I've found that my personal favorites are films like these, the ones that are so obscure you just might stumble upon them on accident and find that you've unearthed a treasure trove!
From there, we're introduced to a set of characters so shady and so thoroughly corrupted by circumstances beyond their control that the story itself must logically take place in one of the seediest, most dilapedated settings to have ever been featured as a primary backdrop in a film noir...a worn-down trailer park!
The cramped trailer that Dick Powell and Richard Erdman share looks like it could have easily been ground zero for a moderately large hurricane, but as this is a west-coast noir, the above theory can be easily disputed.
His prickly temper informs Robert Parrish's Cry Danger, the last true noir he would appear in before affecting a pipe and cardigans in The Bad and the Beautiful.Carrying a grip with the weight of the world in it, Powell steps off a train in Los Angeles; he's just spent five years in prison for a robbery and murder for which he took the rap.
But Powell has never met this old buddy before.Nonetheless, they throw their lot together and rent an armadillo-like trailer in a run-down park, where the wife of his old partner (Rhonda Fleming) lives, too.
Powell has scores to settle, beginning with big-time bookie William Conrad who, he reckons, owes him $50-grand.
He starts stalking Conrad for revenge, even though he's dodging pot-shots in the trailer park, while the duplicity that ensnared him lies much closer to home....Cry Danger has a number of points in its favor, chief among them the pitiless photography of Joseph Biroc (it's decidedly the low-rent side of the City of Angels).
Powell moves into a seamy trailer park on a hill overlooking the downtown (there is a great film shot of this) and teams with a disabled ex-marine.
Castro is definitely bad news for everyone around him.The plot is not exceptional and certainly does not transcend B-movie standards, but the film is visually good and somehow the characters and the setting create a milieu which draws in the viewer.
Dick Powell, Rhonda Fleming, Regis Toomey, Richard Erdman, and Jean Porter star in "Cry Danger," a 1951 film directed by Robert Parrish.
Powell plays Rocky Mulloy, an ex-con, recently released from prison after an alibi appears that clears him of a robbery/murder.
The Marine wants money from the robbery.The two rent a trailer in a trailer park, where the wife (Rhonda Fleming) of his ex-partner, who is still in prison, lives.
Rocky goes after a bookie (William Conrad) who cheated him and unknowingly bets on a fixed race, is paid in the robbery money, which sends the police after him.It's good to read the comments for this film and realize that many people appreciate the versatility and talent of Dick Powell.
Not all of his later films were "A" productions, but he was always excellent.The performances by Erdman and Conrad are very good.
Rhonda Fleming is her usual beautiful self, and Jean Porter plays a lively party girl.This is a good noir that captures the atmosphere of post-war LA, the down and out side of it.
Somehow, I missed this little gem over the years.Excellent location filming, combined with a compelling script and great acting - a definite must-see for "film noir" fans.
Richard Erdman and Jean Porter are excellent in their supporting roles.It was rare in 1951, to see so many actual locations in a film, but this is obviously a low-budget enterprise.
"Cry Danger" was shot at two locations on Bunker Hill, one at the corner of Third and Olive (the Amigos Club, where William Conrad had an upstairs office) and the other at the New Grand Hotel complex on the northwest corner of Third and Grand (where Conrad tricked Dick Powell into winning a bet with hot money from the robbery that had sent him to prison).
(To see film stills matched with 2010 photos, check out www.electricearl.com/bh.) I recently (April 2010) saw the restored film version of "Cry Danger" at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood (where, incidentally, Rhonda Fleming and Richard Erdman were on hand to talk about the movie), and I can attest that the location scenes drew audible breaths and exclamations from the audience.
When his career floundered he changed genres and became one of the movies' best tough guys, in many ways better in the role than Humphrey Bogart, although Powell never became the cult hero Bogart became.
William Conrad's Castro is an excellent foil for Powell's character, Rocky Mulloy.
Rocky (Dick Powell) and Delong(Erdman)have trouble with their women in "Cry Danger." Both Rhonda Fleming and Jean Porter turn in creditable performances and add to the overall effectiveness of the film.
Good dialog and a fast-moving story make this one of the better somewhat-unknown film noirs of its day.Dick Powell and Jay Adler wisecrack their way through this film with some humorous sarcasm.
His dialog with the tough cop, played by Regis Toomey, also is excellent stuff.Jean Porter provides added humor with her supporting role as the bimbo-thief date for Adler and Rhonda Fleming adds beauty.
A younger William Conrad - with a dark head of hair and a mustache - also has a key role in here.Even though it is classified as film noir, I'm not sure it belongs in that category because it doesn't feature the brooding, dark type of characters and atmosphere one usually sees in that genre.
With Cry Danger, Dick Powell said good bye to the noir genre that had served him well since his electrifying Philip Marlowe in Murder My Sweet.
He's out now due to an alibi provided by Richard Erdman who says Powell had been drinking with him the night the robbery had taken place.With five years of his life taken from him, Powell's out to find who framed him and he hunts with only the determination Dick Powell can muster.
Good photography of the seamy side of Los Angeles, especially the trailer park where Powell is residing with Erdman, Rhonda Fleming who's the wife of his partner who's still in prison and Erdman's gal Jean Porter.
After five years in prison wrongly accused of robbery of US$ 100,000.00 and murder, Rocky Mulloy (Dick Powell) is released when the ex-marine Delong (Richard Erdman) gives the necessary alibi to him.
They go to visit Nancy (Rhonda Fleming), who was Rocky´s former girlfriend that married his best friend Danny Morgan that is in prison for the same robbery, and she welcomes Rocky.
He ached to do something more and around the end of WWII he got it--a great string of tough film noir movies.
Forever grim and determined, he is a the archetype of an unhappy man, and usually, as in "Cry Danger," he's out to fix some problem.This is a Dick Powell movie all the way, and a really good one.
There are some great secondary characters, especially the mob leader William Conrad and a suspicious and wise-cracking Marine sidekick played by Richard Erdman.
William Conrad, who is thirty at the time of filming here, went on to be television's "Cannon" and "Jake and the Fat Man," but he appeared in a bunch of these B-list noirs and is good every time.
Set in run-down bars and trailer parks of downtown Los Angeles, it has a patina of grime to counterbalance its sense of humor and to satisfy those who like their noirs seedy.Grade: A.
So when Rocky Mulloy (Dick Powell) is freed from a life sentence after five years - for a crime he didn't commit - he's eager to hunt down those who framed him; and also, to do what he can to clear his buddy, Danny Morgan, still in stir.
No sooner after detraining at Union Station, Rocky's buttonholed by police Detective Cobb (Regis Toomey) who's accompanied by an ex- marine, Delong (Richard Erdman), both wanting to know: So, Rocky ...
Cobb wants to recover the money for his investigation; Delong wants his just reward for providing Rocky with the alibi that freed him from jail.Cobb lets Rocky walk away with Delong, but puts a 24/7 tail on them as they make their way downtown to catch up with Danny's wife, Nancy (Rhonda Fleming), at a low rent, seedy caravan park.
From there, while leaving Delong hitting on ravishing blonde Darlene (Jean Porter), Rocky sets his sights - and his Colt .45 pistol - on Castro (a very young William Conrad), the bookie who must know - right?
And don't miss Rocky's final confrontation with Castro: a tour de force of terrifying torture rarely seen in movies of this era.All the while, Dick Powell delivers great one-liners like no other actor; and with a cool, savoir-faire not again seen, in my opinion, until Mr Cool - Steve McQueen - arrived on the scene in the early sixties.
Jean Porter, who appears in this film as Darlene, claimed in an interview in later life that this film was really directed by Dick Powell himself, but that he allowed Robert Parrish to take the credit.
Prolific Director of Photography: Josef Biroc (It's a Wonderful Life '46, The Detective '69) captures the seedy sets designed by Hungarian Joseph Kish, to the point where you can almost smell the mold and dust on the walls.Paul Dunlap (Walk Like a Dragon '60, and several Samuel Fuller efforts) along with Emil Newman, are credited with the Music Score, but others were also involved, so it comes across as pretty much like a stock Library effort.Not first class Noir, but should please lovers of 50's mystery double features and, any work by Powell is worth watching..
It stars Dick Powell, Rhonda Fleming, Richard Erdman, Regis Toomey and William Conrad.
Engaging, compact crime meller has Dick Powell in excellent form as Rocky Mulloy, framed for a robbery and out of jail on parole after serving five years; he's being tailed by a Los Angeles police lieutenant, who thinks Rocky knows the whereabouts of the loot never retrieved from the heist.
Second-rate noir, made curiously memorable by atmospheric LA locations, a sardonic Richard Erdman, and a good look at history's ugliest car--the 1950 Nash 4-door sedan, an inverted bathtub cleverly disguised as a passenger vehicle.At the top of the list are the principal players, led by a usually capable Dick Powell who's supposed to be a hardened ex-con, but whose clean-cut looks and Brooks Brothers suit instead suggest nothing more menacing than an insurance company executive.
There's also Hy Averback's energized bookie, Joan Banks' mature vamping, Jay Adler's bad ukele playing, and that quietly inspired moment when alcoholic Erdman casts aside nourishing food and milk for yet one more drink and the dipso ward.Nonetheless, the loosening of classic noir standards is evidenced here by an absence of conflict between light and shadow and by a moral universe beginning to harden and stabilize, especially around Powell's unconflicted personality.
A Class Act. Cry Danger – 1951Dick Powell shines in this mid cycle film noir.
He says he was framed and wants to get even.This film noir is a true gem with some of the best use of location shooting in the genre.
Add all this to a screenplay from noir veteran, William Bowers, and we have a genuine classic.The cast includes, Dick Powell, Rhonda Fleming, Richard Erdman, Regis Toomey, Jean Porter, William Conrad, Jay Adler and Gloria Saunders.Dick Powell – He is very good as the less than pleased man just out of prison, who is trying to clear his name.
This is, in my humble opinion, his best noir role.Richard Erdman – Erdman also hands in an excellent performance as the alibi who arranged for Powell to be sprung from prison.
His voice can be heard on many Quinn-Martin productions.Rhonda Fleming - WHEN STRANGERS MARRY, SPELLBOUND, THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE, OUT OF THE PAST, INFERNO, THE KILLER IS LOOSE, WHILE THE CITY SLEEPS, SLIGHTLY SCARLET, Regis Toomey – PHANTOM LADY, SPELLBOUND, STRANGE ILLUSION, THE BIG SLEEP, THE GUILTY, THE BIG FIX, HIGH TIDE, I WOULDN'T BE IN YOUR SHOES, UNDERCOVER GIRL, THE HUMAN JUNGLE.Jay Adler – THE UNDERWORLD STORY, THE MOB, SCANDAL SHEET, THE TURNING POINT, VICE SQUAD, THE LONG WAIT, 99 RIVER STREET, DOWN THREE DARK STREET, MURDER IS MY BEAT, THE BIG COMBO, ILLEGAL, SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS, CRIME OF PASSION, THE KILLING Robert Parrish –Twice Oscar nominated and one time winner, Parrish, was involved with, SHOOT FIRST and THE MOB as a director.
Jean Porter has a couple of good moments as the party girl living in the trailer park."Cry Danger" while not a fine example of the crime film, gives us a look at how Los Angeles looked like thanks to the good black and white photography by Joseph Biroc.
With plenty of action, humour and violence, it's gripping right from the start and its relentless pace ensures that audience interest stays at a high level throughout.After serving five years in prison for crimes he didn't commit (robbery and murder), Rocky Mulloy (Dick Powell) is released early from his life sentence when a disabled ex-marine called Delong (Richard Erdman) steps forward with a strong alibi.
Mulloy is out for revenge on whoever framed him and wants to hunt down the real criminals in order to clear his name and also that of his best friend Danny Morgan who's still in prison.Danny's wife (Rhonda Fleming) who was also one of Mulloy's ex-girlfriends, is one of his neighbours at the trailer park and seems interested in reviving their relationship.
The determined Mulloy is more focused on other priorities, however, and so goes to visit local crime boss Louie Castro (William Conrad) who he knows was involved in setting up the robbery and demands a payment of $50,000 as compensation for the years he spent in prison.
Dick Powell is convincingly tough, cynical and witty in a performance that makes his shady character very likable and Richard Erdman stands out among the supporting cast who are all extremely good..
Rocky Malloy(Dick Powell)is released from prison and immediately begins looking for who framed him for a robbery he did not commit.
**Spoilers** Railroaded into prison for life in a payroll robbery that resulted in the shooting death of a security guard US Marine combat veteran Rocky Mulloy, Dick Powell, is given a break after serving five years of a life sentence.
Taking out Danny's wife Nancy, Ronda Fleming, together with Delong and his kleptomaniac girlfriend Darlene LaVonne, Jean Porter, to celebrate Rocky is shocked to find out from Det. Gus Cobb, Regis Toomey, that Castro and his bookie Hy paid him off in hot money!
In fact the very money that was taken in the payroll heist/murder that he was sent to the state pen for!Better then your average film-noir crime drama with not as much darkness like in William Powell's earlier film-noir flicks.
No sooner has Rocky (Dick Powell of "Murder, My Sweet") gotten out of stir courtesy of a lame Marine, Delong (Richard Erdman of "Objective: Burma"), who has provided an alibi about clearing Rocky of a crime that our hero didn't commit.
The cops show up just as Castro's gunsels are coming to his rescue."Cry Danger" isn't the best movie that Powell ever made, but this atmospheric RKO release holds its own until the final revelations.
mixing alcohol with his snarky comments, he notes "The way I drink, you have to start early."The gorgeous Rhonda Fleming has the leading female role of the girlfriend of someone still in prison for being involved in the heist, making a play for Powell even though she is supposedly still in love with this man.
Conrad, later a hero as a character actor on prime-time TV, would be alternately cast in film noir if Raymond Burr was not available.he makes it wonderful smarmy villain, and it is fun to watch Powell play cat and mouse with him, making his potential take-down all the more delightful..
As for Flemming, she is excellent as the dame who loves Rocky (Powell).William Conrad is the heavy as he sets up Rocky with a fixed horse racing bet to give Rocky stolen money that the cops are looking for, There's more to it, but that is the base line I will go with rather than spoil the ending here.Filmed in California in glorious Black and white, the film is a "b" RKO feature that is just over an hour in length.
Like most noirs it packs a lot into an hour including Powell beating up Conrad..
This film is usually credited to director Robert Parrish alone, but in point of fact it was Dick Powell who directed and rehearsed the players, whilst Parrish and Joe Biroc concentrated on the camera set-ups.
This makes Cry Danger Powell's first film as a director – and a really notable achievement it is!
However, it is actually Richard Erdman, who plays Powell's bogus buddy, who delivers the film's standout performance.
Your average run of the mill film-noir with Dick Powell starring as a recently released prisoner, who comes home to try to prove that he was not involved in a robbery that killed someone and sent him up the river.Rhonda Fleming plays the almost-innocent wife of the guy who went to prison along with the Powell character.
The dialogue was actually not bad.Neither is he young nor good looking--mostly just boring reminds one of an insurance agent.The trailer park was fun to watch...1950 seediness.The 2 tonne Nash was fun too (how do the front wheels turn?)--part of the time machine effect.Film noir?