On Dangerous Ground

Plot synopsis:
Bitter, cynical police detective, Jim Wilson (Robert Ryan), is known for beating information out of suspects and witnesses. His violent tendencies are noticed by both his partners and the police chief. After Wilson ignores the Chief's warnings, he is relegated to a case up-state so that he might cool off. He joins a manhunt for a killer—teaming with the father of the victim, Walter Brent (Ward Bond). Wilson and Brent are separated from the others in the manhunt and track the killer to a remote house.
Initially, they do not locate the killer, but, rather, find Mary Malden (Ida Lupino), a blind woman by herself in the house. They learn that she lives with her brother, Danny (Sumner Williams). Wilson is drawn to Malden and her selflessness and, when he learns that the killer is her brother and that he is mentally ill, he offers to protect him from Brent.
Wilson and then Brent locate Danny in a secluded shack. A fight between Wilson and Brent ensues and Danny flees. They chase him up a rugged mountainside where Danny loses his footing and falls to his death. Brent is shocked by Danny's youth. He carries him back to town. Wilson and Mary walk, alone, to her house where they have an intimate conversation. Wilson drives to the city, but he's a changed man. In the end, he returns to Mary.

Tags: revenge, murder, melodrama

Review:
On Dangerous Ground is directed by Nicholas Ray and stars Ida Lupino, Robert Ryan & Ward Bond.
As the two men track down the killer, Wilson sees much of himself in Brent's anger, but once the guys arrive at Mary Malden's isolated cabin, things shift just a little more.Said to be a favourite of Martin Scorsese, and an influence for Taxi Driver, On Dangerous Ground has often been called Nicholas Ray's best film by some of his fans (I'd say In A Lonely Place personally).
They chase the man through the snow, and after a car accident, they reach the isolated house of Mary Malden (Ida Lupino), a blind woman that lives alone in the middle of nowhere with her brother Danny (Sumner Williams) that has mental problem.
The hard-edged squalor of inner-city crime gives way to a liberating expanse of trees and snow, revealing an incidence of crime, certainly, but also, and more importantly, a fresh and cathartic sense of nobility that is not to be found in the urban back-streets.Robert Ryan is terrific as Jim Wilson, a city cop who's been on the Force for eleven years, after which he has become bitter, lonely and completely disillusioned.
Almost immediately, the pair strike out in pursuit of the accused perpetrator, and their frantic chase ends at the home of a lonely blind woman, Mary Malden (Ida Lupino, who also directed a few scenes after Ray fell ill).
This moment illustrated so poignantly, I think, how far from humanity Jim has allowed himself to drift: his reaction to Mary's condition was not borne from any compassion or kindness, but rather from his lack of it; he long ago abandoned the ability to feel pity for another person.Though 82 minutes to perhaps too brief a running time to present such a drastic character turn-around, the mid-film tonal shift is otherwise handled very well.
Nevertheless, I liked that 'On Dangerous Ground' acts as a counterpoint to the inescapable doom in most film-noirs; that a soul as disillusioned as Jim Wilson can ultimately uncover salvation is a reassuring thought in today's crazy world..
Ward Bond, as the vengeful father of the murder victim, is like a caricature of Ryan, and also skeptical of him as a "city cop", as he puts it.There's much to recommend in this film.
Ignored at the time of it's release and still criminally underrated, On Dangerous Ground is a masterpiece from director Nicholas Ray, and maybe his best film {yes, better than Rebel Without A Cause}, a powerful yet poignant study of loneliness, urban alienation and finally redemption.
What I found was an interesting, fairly intense movie for all but the last 10 minutes (but I liked that part, too.) That second half was still a crime story a lot more than any romance as two guys tracked down a killer.To digress, the first part was in the big city and it portrayed Ryan as a too-gung- ho cop who's fast getting burned out on the job.
It has the same otherworldly quality that director Nicholas Ray frequently brought to his films, but ultimately I'm not sure whether it's successful or not.The first half of the film finds brutal cop Robert Ryan stomping around the mean streets of a dark, brooding city, his abusive approach to meting out punishment keeping him only one small step from becoming the kind of criminal he spends his time tracking down.
He cruises around dark streets, the camera placed in the back seat of his car, filming the passing street as he is seeing it, his eyes reflected in the rearview mirror (Martin Scorses borrowed this kind of shot for "Taxi Driver" perhaps?) What emerges is the portrait of an isolated and lonely man barely maintaining a grip on his sanity in the midst of an insane world.But the second half of the film dissipates the claustrophobic tension of the city environment by sending Ryan out into the country to investigate the murder of a young girl.
Yet, as Jim Wilson moves from the seamy, mean streets of the city into the pure, snow-covered landscape of the country, Ray stages it like a compassionate, caring moralist who is unwilling to let any fatalistic excuses usurp society's responsibility to its members.The visual, tonal changes are what's so startling about "On Dangerous Ground".
When he gets there, he teams up with the crazy, rifle-toting father(Ward Bond giving perhaps too zealous a performance) of the girl in a chase for the killer ending up on a small, out-of-the-way farmhouse where a blind woman(Ida Lupino) lives with her mentally challenged brother Danny.
The first half of the film is pure film noir material and features a hard boiled cop trying to clean the streets of filth; while the second half focuses more on characters and features the same detective trying to solve a murder case in a small town, and at the same time falling in love with a blind woman.
We are expected to believe that the hard-bitten, truly obsessed Wilson, suddenly within the spate of 24 hours, finds contentment, affirming what his old colleague warned him was true about engaging with others, in the arms of a blind woman.This dilemma is enhanced not eased by the wintry and isolated environment, which, contrary to Mr. Crawford's views, I found sinister and alienating, especially when seen through the character played by Ward Bond, a hard-bitten man filled with hate.The acting in this film, by the way, is superb.
(The two main ones that are in many top ten lists from this era are "They Live by Night" and "In a Lonely Place.") Robert Ryan is certainly the star, even if Ida Lupino gets first billing--she is only in the second half of the film.
Two pieces of brilliance go by way of co-writer/director Nicholas Ray, however- casting Robert Ryan as the stoic-faced Jim Wilson, and getting Bernard Herrmann for the musical compositions.
Ryan here has a great performance almost by not doing anything spectacular, by just having this very hard-boiled look to him in the early scenes in the urban, film-noir landscapes, and then as it very subtly peels away as he gets a touch of the 'heart' he's been lacking back home.
But overall there just seemed to be some spots in not just her portrayal of the material, but also in the performance of her character's brother (not right in the head, perhaps, but is his work interesting, not really).I would definitely recommend On Dangerous Ground for the crowd of film-noir lovers, and those getting into Nicholas Ray's work (as this will finally be on DVD soon enough).
The most vivid thing about this film is its score by Bernard Hermann, which sounds very much like his sweeping, exciting music in "North by Northwest." It's fitting, too, because in one of the scenes, Robert Ryan and Ward Bond are climbing a rocky, difficult hill, the music comes in - and brings to mind the Mount Rushmore scene.This is a strange, moody movie that, thanks to Nicholas Ray's research, captures the grittiness of police work.
And when it came to this character roaming around inside her cluttered home, she was just too sure-footed of herself without the aid of a cane.And, it really killed me when Mary actually ventured into the outdoors and traipsed across the open country (through shin-deep snow, no less) and she never once lost her balance or needed the help of a walking stick.As far as I'm concerned (when you take all of what I've said above into serious consideration), I think the introduction of Mary into the story completely ruined what started out as a very effective and potentially promising 1950's tough-guy movie.Up until Mary (and her unbelievable challenged vision and her ridiculously manicured looks) stepped into the picture, On Dangerous Ground was sailing along quite nicely.
After a superbly acted scene in which Ryan almost beats a suspect to death (off camera), the movie then explores the profound transformation that takes place when his boss banishes him from the city to to investigate a rural murder.The lovely Ida Lupino is Ryan's angel-of-mercy, a blind beauty who touches and transforms Ryan's tormented soul in the remote farmhouse where the second half of the movie takes place.
The superior cast and great acting by the principals makes the film better than it is.Three cops, Jim Wilsom (Robert Ryan), Pop Daly (Charles Kemper) and Pete Santos (Anthony Ross) work the night shift on the wet streets of a big unnamed city.
There he meets Walter Brent (Ward Bond), the father of the victim, who has become a one man vendetta against his daughter's killer.While chasing the killer across snow covered fields, Wilson and Brent come upon an isolated farm house wherein they meet the blind Mary Malden (Ida Lupino) and learn that the suspected killer is her brother Danny (Sumner Williams).
All Lupino is asking is for an opportunity to get her impaired brother to civilly retreat and be put intact in an institution where he can get the help he needs.The film starts as a prototypical hard-line film noir about the protagonist stuck in a gloom from which he can't flee, but when he gets out of the city and breathes in the apple-pie farmland air and Lupino's patient "view" of life, he is remarkably able now to candidly look within himself for the brutality that boils inside and is suddenly wise enough to know that he can't return to the city with his same antagonistic approach.Robert Ryan's brooding performance is persuasive, as he's able to conclusively sell that he has a genuine moral rebirth.
Helped along greatly by one of the best of Bernard Herrmann's scores, On Dangerous Ground is a terrific noir story, taking place in as diverse settings as the slick, shady city streets and the vast, snow-blanketed countryside landscape.
The woman, portrayed in another terrific performance by Ida Lupino, has a brother who is suspected in the killing of a young girl.Ryan is a hard-bitten officer who strongly believes in beating up criminals to obtain information.Ward Bond is excellent in a supporting role of a father hell-bent on exacting revenge for his daughter's revenge.
ROBERT RYAN has to carry at least forty-five minutes of the first half of ON DANGEROUS GROUND which seems to be establishing the story as a tough crime drama with some interesting looks at the tough as nails cop (Ryan) who is accused of not caring about people other than seeing all thugs as human punching bags.When he's forced to take a change of scene away from the big city, he's sent to a rural farm where the police are on the lookout for a man who has murdered a young woman.
It turns out that she's a blind woman protecting her mentally deficient brother whom she knows did commit the crime--but she makes a pact with Ryan that he won't use brute force on her brother when they do capture him.What happens next would give away too much of the plot, but suffice it to say that from the moment they enter Lupino's home the film veers more into psychological drama than noir, as the puzzle surrounding the murderer and his capturers becomes clear.
Jim Wilson is a tough, cynical cop, who doesn't trust anybody.This gets him in trouble a few times.Then he is sent up north to find the killer of a young girl.The girl's father, Walter Brent, wants to kill the guy.The case leads Jim to a blind woman, Mary Malden, the sister of the fugitive.On Dangerous Ground (1952) is directed by Nicholas Ray.Bernard Hermann is behind the great score.Robert Ryan is a perfect man to play Jim Wilson.Ida Lupino is marvelous as Mary Malden.Ward Bond is superb as Walter Brent.Charles Kemper is terrific as Pop Daly.Anthony Ross is great as Pete Santos.Ed Begley does excellent job as Capt.
There he encounters the rage filled mirror image (Ward Bond) of a grieving father while having to adopt different methodology in questioning a suspect's blind sister (Ida Lupino).On Dangerous Ground offers up the quintessional Ray protagonist in the alienated Wilson played with disturbing menace by Ryan.
Nicholas Ray directed this underrated film noir that stars Robert Ryan as tough cop Jim Wilson, who has grown cynical and brutal in his big city dealings with the criminal elements, and gets too rough with one suspect, so is sent upstate in the snowy winter to investigate the murder of a young woman.
The director boldly underscores this transition with a car crash and this memorable line from Mary, the blind girl, to Ryan: 'You can trust no one, I must trust everyone'.Now compare the plot elements of On Dangerous Ground with North By Northwest: both tell the story of a man who makes a trip from the city to the countryside, meets and falls in love with a woman who has a love relationship with his enemy and then defeats his enemy by tossing him off a cliff.
He is very much like Clint Eastwoods Dirty Harry, though here the film maker and writer of this excellent movie are not siding with his motives as in the later film seen some 20 years later.Robert Ryan who often played villains, is perfectly cast as Jim Wilson due to the nature of this character, whose behavior appears to be due to his disillusionment of life, the environment he lives and works in, and perhaps , a 1940's and 50's attitude, no family, to go home to be loved and to love, as I think is explicitly shown in this film.Some of the film reminds me of "Insomnia", and I think that Trufaut when making "Shoot The Piano Player" remembered the car driving on the road in the snow.
"On Dangerous Ground", Nicholas Ray's short, yet powerful drama of one cop's journey from destruction to redemption, took nearly two years to reach the screen upon completion, was panned by critics and ignored by audiences when released, and still generates discussion to this day (How much is actually Ray's vision, and how much did Howard Hughes change it, prior to release?) Fortunately, time has given perspective to the film, and it is recognized, today, as one of the greater film noir classics of the era, and a showcase of it's star, the unfairly underrated Robert Ryan.The film, based on Gerald Butler's "Mad with Much Heart", of a British policeman finding renewal during a manhunt in the English countryside, was rewritten, by director Ray and screenwriter A.I. Bezzerides, into a three-movement 'symphonic' piece: big city cop (Ryan), sliding toward self-destruction as the corruption and filth he deals with, daily, destroys his soul (1st movement); exiled into the mountains to observe and aid in a manhunt, he meets a blind girl (Ida Lupino) with the purity and innocence he once had, and a local (Ward Bond), whose brutal single-mindedness mirrored the man he had become (2nd movement); and his metamorphosis, falling in love, attempting to save the girl's brother instead of simply crushing him, and rediscovering in himself the 'good' man he had been, and could be, again (3rd movement).
The causes of his emotional state, the damaging effect it has on how he does his job and also the means by which his feelings of isolation and anguish are gradually eased, are all depicted with great skill and intensity and produce a very human story which illustrates the immense value of achieving a successful work/life balance.Whilst involved in a hunt for the killers of another police officer, detective Jim Wilson (Robert Ryan) beats up a contact of the suspects and successfully elicits information which leads to the arrests of the culprits.
Nicholas Ray's excellent On Dangerous Ground is, in essence, a brilliant character study of a tortured, hard, combustible and lonely city cop, Jim Wilson (Robert Ryan), who finds something in life worth living for when he falls in love with a sweet, independent yet vulnerable blind woman Mary Malden (Ida Lupino).Aside from a very brief opening shot of who we later find out is Lupino and her brother, the film opens in the city, where morally sick cop Wilson is on the beat.
I was just a little bit disappointed with Nick Ray's "On Dangerous Ground", especially after witnessing the tense and visually exciting build-up where "cop" Jim Wilson (Robert Ryan) stalks the night streets of New York, only a thin line separating him from the criminals he beats into submission.
And I never became as interested in Wilson's relationship with the blind home-maker Mary Malden (Ida Lupino) as the director Ray clearly wanted me to.I guess the most interesting thing about the film is the way the structure divides the story into two clean parts, urban and rural.
When he meets Mary Malden (Ida Lupino), he finds her to be isolated by her blindness, living alone with her mentally challenged brother in a remote small town some seventy miles north of the City.If this was going to be about simply catching the killer of an innocent young girl, it could have been handled in the first half of the film when we first see Ryan's character as the hard boiled and cynical street cop.
On Dangerous Ground is not so much a noir as it is a movie of redemption, I can't think of any other actor of Ryan's era who could have performed the role of Jim Wilson half as well.
(Some Spoilers) The movie "On Dangerous Grounds" starts off like your average film-noir crime drama with a tough no nonsense cop Jim Wilson, Robert Ryan, getting the job done by almost putting crime suspects into the hospital after he interrogates them.
Also known as DARK HIGHWAY, this thriller is directed by Nicholas Ray. A bitter and jaded detective, Jim Wilson(Robert Ryan), has roughed up enough suspects in the hard city streets and his boss sends him upstate to investigate the murder of a young girl in the snow-blanketed countryside.