★ 8 / 10
Garbage, all we handle is garbage. On Dangerous
John Chard
Garbage, all we handle is garbage. On Dangerous Ground is directed by Nicholas Ray and stars Ida Lupino, Robert Ryan & Ward Bond. It's loosely adapted by Ray…
Garbage, all we handle is garbage.
On Dangerous Ground is directed by Nicholas Ray and stars Ida Lupino, Robert Ryan & Ward Bond. It's loosely adapted by Ray and A. I. Bezzerides from Gerald Butler's novel Mad With Much Heart. Cinematography is by George E. Diskant & the music is provided by Bernard Herrmann & Paul Sawtell. The story concerns Ryan's weary, lonely and psychologically bothered cop, Jim Wilson. Who after finally snapping the patience of his superiors is sent to Westham in the rural north to aid a murder case there. The idea is to get him off the streets he's so bitter about and to stop him finally going over the violence tinged edge. It's here, amongst the wintry landscapes, that he is brought into contact with Mary Malden (Lupino). A practically blind woman, Mary holds all the keys to the mystery and to the door at the end of Wilson's journey.
Right from the outset we are in no doubt that Nicholas Ray is about to take us on a noir journey. Herrmann's pulse like score accompanies its nighttime opening, Diskant's photography immediately painting a harsh city where life on the streets is tough. A place where loneliness can eat away at the soul and bleakness pours down off of the bars and the cheaply built apartments. It is in short, firmly encapsulating of Jim Wilson's bitterness and frame of mind. Wilson, once a prime athlete, is mired in solitude, his only telling contribution to society is his work, but that is ebbing away by the day. His mood is not helped by his partners, Pop & Pete, who can easily switch off once their shift has finished; but they have family to go home too, Wilson does not. Wilson's only source of joy comes courtesy of the paperboy he briefly plays football with out on the street (a rare ray of light in the film's moody atmospheric first half).
Then the film shifts for its second act, a shift that has made On Dangerous Ground a most divisive picture in discussions over the years. Sent north to effectively cool down by Captain Brawley (Ed Begley), we find Wilson leaving behind the dank city and entering the snowbound countryside in the north. Dark has become light as it were. The whole style and pace of the film has changed, yet this is still a place tainted by badness. A girl has been murdered and Wilson is still here to locate potential evil. An evil that the murdered girls father (Ward Bond as Walter Brent) wants to snuff out with his own vengeful fury. 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). Odd then that Ray himself wasn't happy with the film, calling it a failure and not the finished product he had envisaged. Ray had wanted a three structured movie, not the two part one it is; with the final third being far bleaker and more noirish than the one we actually get. However, and the ending is a bit scratchy for the genre it sits in, it's still a fabulous film that is more about the journey of its protagonist than the diversity caused by its finale. Ryan is terrific, a real powerhouse and believable performance, while Lupino beautifully realises Mary's serene impact on Wilson and the counter opposite to the darkness within the picture. It's a given really, but Herrmann's score is potent, listen out for the opening, the crossover section from city to countryside and the rock face pursuit. While Ray directs with his customary knack of blending the grim with the almost poetic. 8/10
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★ 8 / 10
Timeless Noir
jpdoherty
ON DANGEROUS GROUND is one of the finest and most enduring film noirs to emanate from Hollywood. Made by the undisputed home of noir RKO Pictures in 1952 it is…
ON DANGEROUS GROUND is one of the finest and most enduring film noirs to emanate from Hollywood. Made by the undisputed home of noir RKO Pictures in 1952 it is fondly remembered chiefly for a blistering performance by Robert Ryan and a riveting score by the great Bernard Herrmann. Produced for the studio by John Houseman it was directed with great flair by Nicholas Ray and photographed in vivid monochrome by George E.Diskant. Based on a novel by George Butler it was expertly written for the screen by A.I. Bezzerides.
Robert Ryan is Jim Wilson the brutish cop in the city who just cannot control his temper when it comes to questioning suspects. He beats up on them with frightening vehemence. "We're just garbage men - cleaning the streets of garbage" he exclaims to his two colleagues Pop Daly and Pete Santos (Charles Kemper/Anthony Ross). To Pop Daly he asks "How do you live with this garbage"? Daly replies "I don't... I live with other people.....I never bring the job home with me......I leave it outside. To get anything out of this life you've got to put something into it with a heart". Wilson's boss Captain Brawley (Ed Begley) comes down hard on him over his violent methods. "I get results" Wilson retorts. To get him out of the city Brawley sends him on a murder case 70 miles up state. When he gets there he ties up with Walter Brant (Ward Bond) who's young daughter has been brutally murdered. Brent is bloodthirsty and will not rest until he empties his double barreled shotgun into the killer. In Brant's brutish behavior Wilson sees a reflection of himself. The killer happens to be the younger, yet deranged, brother of Mary Malden (Ida Lupino) a gentle blind girl who lives alone in a remote cabin in the snow covered hills. A perceptive woman she senses in Wilson a great loneliness and he in turn finds himself being drawn to her. Eventually - after a desperate pursuit across the snow - the killer falls to his death from a cliff. Wilson - the job now completed - begins his return to the city. But just as he gets there he suddenly turns back as he realises his destiny is by the side of Mary Malden.
One of the most striking elements of ON DANGEROUS GROUND is the outstanding score by the brilliant Bernard Herrmann. The main title over the credits is the frenetic "Hunt Theme" developed later in the picture for the scene where the killer is being chased across some snow covered terrain. The baying horns and yelping trumpets cleverly simulating the howls and barks of hunting hounds. Then there is the highlight of the score - the exquisite and persuasive "Viola de Amour" which characterizes not only the vulnerability but also the gentle nature of Mary Malden and poignantly provides a tender aura for her scenes with Jim Wilson. Herrmann himself was so taken by Virginia Majewski's Viola playing of the piece he insisted her name be included on the credits. A rare instance in film where a studio orchestra instrumentalist's name appears on the titles.
ON DANGEROUS GROUND is a defining creation of old Hollywood picture making! A masterpiece of ingenuity, exceptional performances, adroit writing, vibrant cinematography and brilliant music. IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE WE NEED??
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