Film Noir Classic Collection, Vol. 3 (Border Incident / His Kind of Woman / Lady in the Lake / On Dangerous Ground / The Racket)

Amazon.com

Two peak achievements by as many top noir directors ... a customized vehicle for one of noir's premier icons ... an oddball experiment in making a truly "private eye" movie ... and a Howard Hughes remake of his earliest contribution to the gangster genre. Such are the five titles corralled for Warner Home Video's third box set of film noir classics.

For eye-popping dynamism coupled with ferocious intensity, no noir director matched Anthony Mann. Border Incident (1949) was Mann's and cinematographer John Alton's first film for MGM following a string of darkly dazzling low-budget beauties at Eagle-Lion (T-Men, Raw Deal, The Black Book, et al.). In structure it's virtually a remake of T-Men, transposed from the shadowy city where a Secret Service team battled counterfeiters, to California's Imperial Valley where the Immigration Service sets out to infiltrate a gang exploiting--and often murdering--Mexicans eager to work the farms. From the opening night scene of three laborers trying to recross the border and meeting a grisly end, the movie relentlessly imagines ways the human body can merge with the earth. Visually stunning, and replete with memorable villains (headed by Howard Da Silva, a past master at making affability lethal), this is one of Mann's strongest noirs and surely his most inventive. Its neglect can be explained only by people's assumption that nothing worthwhile could come of a movie top-billing Ricardo Montalban and George Murphy (as the government agents). Wrong, wrong, wrong.

After a scalding first reel in big-city night streets, Nicholas Ray's On Dangerous Ground (RKO, 1951) likewise forsakes familiar noir terrain for the countryside--the mountains and snowfields where city cop Robert Ryan seeks a psychotic killer. For both the actor and the director, Ryan's character is an exemplary creation: a man with personal demons whose overzealous pursuit of criminals has pushed him into sadism. His passage from urban darkness into the silent white mountain country becomes a redemptive journey, thanks largely to his interaction with a blind woman (Ida Lupino) in an isolated farmhouse whose younger brother may be the quarry he's after. Ray developed the screenplay with A.I. Bezzerides under the supervision of producer John Houseman (for whom Ray had made his feature debut, They Live By Night). The film boasts a thrilling music score by Bernard Herrmann, anticipating his great soundtrack for North by Northwest.

His Kind of Woman (also RKO, 1951) is a vehicle for both RKO's reigning bad boy, Robert Mitchum, and Howard Hughes' definitive coup of distaff engineering, Jane Russell. Their characters cross paths en route to a seaside Mexican resort, where she aims to continue her gold-digger pursuit of Hollywood ham Vincent Price, and Mitchum will figure in a plot to get deported mobster Raymond Burr back into the U.S.A. The slow-brewing romance between this dauntingly tall, broad-shouldered pair gives off little heat, but the players' good-natured, weary-pro rapport as they go through their mostly preposterous paces makes for very good fun. Still more is supplied by Price, who just about steals the movie when he gets to extend his sub-Errol Flynn screen heroism into real life--all the while supplying his own florid running commentary on the action. The urbane director John Farrow filled the movie with one delicious, what-the-hell-is-going-on-here scene after another (highlight: a bored Mitchum ironing his money), but that wasn't enough for studio boss Hughes. Richard Fleischer was brought in to stretch the climactic melodrama aboard Burr's yacht in the harbor, and the picture grew to an overblown two hours in length. Not that you're likely to regret a minute of it.

Robert Montgomery directed and played Phillip Marlowe in Lady in the Lake (MGM, 1947), Raymond Chandler's novel as adapted by Steve Fisher (I Wake Up Screaming). The gimmick is that, apart from a few scenes of private detective Marlowe chatting us up in his office, everything is viewed through his eyes, with Marlowe himself remaining unseen unless he glances in a mirror. This literal-minded conceit is more curious than compelling; the camera simply doesn't see the way the human eye does, and the artificiality constantly calls attention to itself. Montgomery, a suave actor who enjoyed playing it coarse and obnoxious on occasion, makes his screen Marlowe more smartass than any other ("dumb, brave, and cheap"). With him cracking wise off-camera, much of the movie is really carried by Audrey Totter, a swell late-'40s dame who has to stand up under more relentless scrutiny than even her shifty character deserves.

The Racket (RKO, 1951) is the second film version of a 1920s play about municipal corruption, gangsterism, and the attempt to squash an honest police precinct captain. John Cromwell had acted in the original Broadway production, which may help explain why, as director, he let so much of this movie turn back into a play. Eventually studio boss Howard Hughes, who had produced the 1928 film version (directed by Lewis Milestone), once again called in another director to do salvage work.

That was Nicholas Ray, whose scenes include police captain Robert Mitchum's pursuit of the man who has just bombed his home. Mitchum's fellow cast members include Robert Ryan as the ultra-paranoid gangster; husky-voiced noir blonde Lizabeth Scott as a nightclub thrush romanced by Ryan's brother; future Perry Mason D.A. William Talman as a dedicated street cop; and Ray Collins and William Conrad as two municipal officials negotiating a delicate dance with morality and expediency. --Richard T. Jameson

Description

Five more film noir classics lined up with genre stars such as Robert Mitchum, Robert Montgomery, Robert Ryan, and Jane Russell, are now available in Volume 3 of the Film Noir Classics Collection series. The new 6-Disc DVD set is only available as a collection and includes a bonus documentary disc on the Noir genre.

Customer Reviews:

Lesser known, but still a good set.......2007-09-03

Genre is often hard to define. Even something as simple as the Western has its difficulties. Sure, The Searchers or Once Upon a Time in the West are Westerns, but what about Brokeback Mountain, which has the right setting, or Little House on the Prairie, which has both the setting and the standard time period? If the Western is hard to really set in stone, how much harder is it to define Film Noir, which may not even be a genre but more of a style?

The Film Noir Classic Collection Volume 3 provides five more examples of how the "noir" label can be applied to a wide range of movies. The first film in the set, Lady in the Lake, is also the most off-beat. An adaptation of a Raymond Chandler novel with Philip Marlowe, this movie both stars and is directed by Robert Montgomery. What makes this movie unique is it is shot from Marlowe's perspective: only occasionally, such as when he looks in a mirror, do we get to see the character. It's a different approach, and after you get used to it, it even works.

Border Incident is the most topical of the five movies as it deals with illegal immigration, particularly from Mexico. Ricardo Montalban plays the Mexican undercover agent in a joint U.S./Mexico effort to stop a ring of crooks who smuggle in workers and then put them to work under slave-labor conditions. Those who cause trouble disappear.

The Racket is much more of a straight gangster film, with Robert Ryan as the vicious crime boss who doesn't like being part of the Syndicate (which he finds too polite in its criminality). Opposing him is Robert Mitchum as a police captain whose efforts to clean up the town have caused him career damage.

His Kind of Woman is my favorite of the five, with Mitchum as a gambler sent to Mexico as part of a scheme to get a deported gangster (played by Raymond Burr) back into the country. While waiting at a resort, Mitchum befriends the locals, including Jane Russell (who he wants to be more than friends with). What's merely a decent movie becomes highly entertaining in the second half when Vincent Price steals the show as a hammy actor who assists Mitchum with a truly Shakespearean flare.

On Dangerous Ground has Robert Ryan as a brutal, cynical cop who is forced to leave the city to help find a child killer in the snow-covered mountains. Out of his environment, he is forced to rediscover his humanity when he meets the blind Ida Lupino, who is the sister of the killer.

How much any of these movies fit into the film noir category will vary from person to person. Certainly, the strongest argument can be made for the last two movies, with their more complicated characters. To help the viewer make his own determination, this set also includes a nice documentary on film noir; this final disc also includes five of MGMs "Crime Doesn't Pay" shorts. Four of these are so-so, the preachy sort of short subjects that would often lead off a Mystery Science Theater. The best in the bunch - and also the most noirish - is The Luckiest Guy in the World, an ironic tale of a man driven to crime out of desperation.

Each film comes with some nice commentary. Overall, the films rate four stars on average, with some better, some worse (I personally rank them, best to worst, as His Kind of Woman, On Dangerous Ground, Border Incident, Lady in the Lake and The Racket). With all the bonuses, I am pushing my rating up to five stars. These are not the most well-known movies, but if you are a fan of film noir (whatever it is), this is a set worth picking up.

awesome noir.......2007-04-20

like the other 2 volumes in this series vol 3 outshines even them. found all dvd's compelling viewing,well remastered for excellent sound and picture quality. if film noir from the 40's and 50's is your penchant then look no further than these releases. i have only one question, when or where are we getting volume 4? Jim Boggan, Dublin, Ireland

A must-have .......2007-03-23

The Noir genre appears as the most original cinematographic legacy of the American cinema along the Century.

Unlike the Western whose emblematic epic feature (with their few exceptions), the Noir is supported by the unbearable lightness of the being in which twists of fate, ironic designs, existential instability, lack of center, cosmic nasty tricks hovered by an irrational universe in which nobody is like it seems.

This manifest incapacity of distinguishing what's right or what's wrong, the awful sensation of diffidence respect your beloved couple, the new friend you met last night, was systematically enhancing with new visions, fed by the plethora of European filmmakers that certainly had experienced his particular fears and anguishes with the dark shadows of a raising Nazism and the emerging void's perception that you could feel and even breath in your environment.

All this set of new factors, enriched, enhanced and expanded the vision of many layers of a society, seers, salesmen, boxers, gangsters, false policemen, doctors, sideshow performers, psychologists or depressive characters.

The WW2 in good measure, renovated the internal demons of the alcoholism, gangster's rivalries, corruption, sexual frustrations or the figure of the classic antihero of the thirties ( The petrified forest or High Sierra) frequently ex cons or orphans youngsters whose parents died in the WW1 or committed suicide during the great Depression.

Good copies of good films.......2007-01-13

An excellent product, good copies of some really good films

Film Noir Classics of the second rank, Very Good indeed.......2007-01-06

Lady in the Lake is the weakest and On Dangerous Ground/The Racket are the strongest Border Incident and His Kind of Woman quite good as well. The other two volumes are as good or better but where can you see good prints of these exciting noir movies for a great price? The only other set to recommend to those new to the genre is the Kino's noir set with star performers (and some non-star performers) with great directors. Don't miss out on these four sets, they're terrific entertainment (after a noir movie, we watch a Charley Chase, Keaton or Lloyd short). Great night at home watching these movies before our time (born 1956).

Average customer rating:

Irish Dance of the Future
An Incredibly Lucky Find
celtic dance
Beautiful and Unique, but oddly frustrating
Patchy

Dancing on Dangerous Ground
Starring: Jean Butler , and Colin Dunne
Director: Lindsay Dolan (II)
Manufacturer: Kultur Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0002VGTYI
Release Date: 2004-10-26

Description

The thrilling new Irish dance drama based on Celtic Legends' most passionate and enduring love story - the tragic romance of the dashing young warrior Diarmuid and the beautiful, wilful Princess Grainne.The show features the world famous dancers and Riverdance stars Jean Butler and nine-times world dancing champion Colin Dunne in a more free form, sensual performance."Jean Butler and Colin Dunne were the best thing about Riverdance. Now these superlative dancers have returned with their own infinitely more creative spectacle, Dangerous Ground. Congratulations are in order. For what Ms.Butler and Mr. Dunne accomplish through their choreography is to channel Irish step dancing into genuine artistic expression. They have come up with one terrific show, filled with a consistent integrity that does not look down on popular appeal. A full house greeted the New York premiere of Dancing on Dangerous Ground. " THE NEW YORK TIMES.

Customer Reviews:

Irish Dance of the Future.......2007-06-03

Wow! I am an adult Irish dancer who loved Riverdance and Lord of the Dance (except the a fake machismo of M Flatley). I am so impressed by this show because it is vastly different than those that have come before. Jean and Colin are brilliant as always; and are truly trying to push Irish dance to become an expressive dance form instead of just showcasing the actual steps and rhythmns like previous shows have done. They have expanded on the traditional aspects of the dance and gone into uncharted territory. The dancing itself is top tier, near perfect execution, but with much more feeling and passion than previously seen in ID shows. Top quality dancers, innovative steps and beautiful but simple costumes and sets~ as close to perfect as you can get. What a terrible shame that this show did not have a longer run. Jean and Colin are two gifted artists and their vision of where ID can go is truly modern. Not to be missed!

An Incredibly Lucky Find.......2007-05-19

As a former Riverdance nut, I am amazed that I actually missed this! As it is, that incredibly lucky discovery came from a most unlikely source, but I feel so lucky that I found it. Having seen (as it turned out) clips that were posted against permission, I HAD to buy the DVD.

Jean Butler and Colin Dunne are perfectly matched, and I still feel that the world will have to wait a long time to see their equal - and that DEFINITELY includes the bombastic egotistic Michael Flatly. I've seen both Colin Dunne and Michael Flatley in person, and my feelings remain unchanged. I missed a live performance by the incredibly beautiful Jean Butler. Alas. Just to see these beautiful dancers together is alone worth the price of the DVD.

They chose an ancient Irish myth as their vehicle, and they could have gone in 2 directions. Either overdo it, or try to keep their production as spare as possible the more the show the myth. Fortunately, unlike Flatley's garish productions, they chose the latter. Also, fortunately, they DID chose to stretch the envelope of traditional Irish dancing, but in a very valid way and totally in context.

The setting and the costumes do take some getting used to, but used to them I did getDancing on Dangerous Ground. I've adored Riverdance, most particularly when both Butler and Dunn were the leads, but watching my beloved VHS of their New York show, strangely Riverdance looked stiff, albeit still beautiful, by comparison.

Their ARE uneven spots in Danching on Dangerous Ground, I won't deny it, but on the whole I LOVED it and would highly recommend it to anyone who truly does want to see where Irish dance CAN go - especially in the hands (or feet) of two of the greatest Irish dancers in the world. It will be a long time before any make us forget THEM! I so wish I had been able to see THIS live, and I can only hope that we haven't seen the end of their dancing.

celtic dance.......2007-02-10

wonderfull,loved it,love Jean butler in everything she does,superb,if you love celtic dance you will love this dvd.

Beautiful and Unique, but oddly frustrating.......2006-10-27

Dancing on Dangerous Ground is best described as a ballet expressed through the medium of Irish dance. The costuming is modern and the acts form a very cohesive story (much more so than Riverdance), but the superposition of romance, tragedy, and war on a dance invented for celebration seems...contradictory at best.

The performance is technically excellent, and for some, the military scenes alone will make the DVD worth it. But the Irish Legend - a tale of a first officer and a queen who betray their king not unlike Lancelot and Guinevere - has Griana truncating her forms so as not to bounce too much during her lament, and both leads trying to express longing without breaking Irish posture during their romance. In that sense, watching Dancing on Dangerous Ground is kind of like admiring a painting of the sunset over a tropical beach done in glorious black and white. Even if you think black and white photography is beautiful, and love sunsets and the tropics, you end up wishing that the painter had chosen to change either the subject, or the medium.

The one place where medium and subject DO work well is in the military scenes, where Irish precision is put to amazing use; then the watcher can feel the rhythm and the power conveyed, even through the TV screen. But in the scenes in between, I found myself craving a no-hold-barred energetic number that expressed the joy of Irish dance (like the ones which made Riverdance famous), and wishing for the full upper-body expression of a ballet during some oddly stilted during laments and romantic scenes.

As an Irish dance piece it's well executed, and as a ballet the costuming is inventive and the music beautiful, but there's an odd quality to watching it. Sometimes it gives the impression of muted color, sometimes of undersold majesty, but always there's the feel that the passion, while *almost* there, is somehow still missing.

Patchy .......2006-05-24

First of all, no one can complain about the story. It's an Irish legend. The costumes sucked until the intoxication dance (my favorite). The beginning and ending songs were REALLY good too. The rest of the show was mediocre and not worth watching, even for the feet. Rent this show if possible, or watch it when it comes on TV. If you feel that you must purchase it based on the integrity of a few dances, try to get a used copy.

On Dangerous Ground - Authentic Region 1 DVD from Warner Brothers starring Ida Lupino, Robert Ryan, Ward Bond

Average customer rating:

Superb noir
Strong Elements in Spite of Narrative Weakness.
Mad With Much Heart
Noir in the snow . . .
A Powerful Film

On Dangerous Ground - Authentic Region 1 DVD from Warner Brothers starring Ida Lupino, Robert Ryan, Ward Bond

Manufacturer: Warner Brothers
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Product Features:

FIlm Noir

ASIN: B000H0HF92

Customer Reviews:

Superb noir.......2007-06-24

Robert Ryan, possibly the scariest actor who has ever lived, plays a cop with what's now referred to as 'a history of violence'. He gets involved in a manhunt, in the course of which he meets Ida Lupino, the blind sister of the fugitive. In spite of her saintly temper and his crushing self-hatred and tendency to beat the stuffing out of people, they are strangely drawn to each other...

This is my favourite Ryan movie. He specialised in playing grindingly bad bad guys, so it's a special pleasure to see him as a character who starts out seemingly beyond redemption but who - well, I don't want to spoil it. Ida Lupino is equally brilliant as the blind woman; eerily lovely but also mysteriously knowing. (For a Cockney girl, she could do an immaculate American accent.)

Although Nicholas Ray was the director and a great director in his own right, the story goes that on some days he was 'indisposed' and Lupino, herself a tough-minded director of superior B-pictures, took over the hot seat. I like to think so. At any rate, 'On Dangerous Ground' is a wonderful and unusual noir, and once you've watched it, a film that sticks in the mind and defies you not to love it.

Strong Elements in Spite of Narrative Weakness. .......2006-10-21

"On Dangerous Ground" is based in part on the British novel "Mad with Much Heart", written for the screen by the renowned A. I. Bezzerides and director Nicholas Ray. Bezzerides and Ray altered the book's themes considerably and added the urban sequences for which the film is best remembered, turning the story into a character study of urban alienation and rural redemption. Neither Bezzerides nor Ray were pleased with the final result though. They didn't like the ending. This was a Howard Hughes production and, accordingly, suffered reshoots and delays. Sometimes Hughes ruined movies with his obsessive tinkering; sometimes he improved them. After its first edit, "On Dangerous Ground" underwent a major reorganization that changed the structure of the film and eliminated the third act. Oddly, this doesn't seem to matter beyond delaying the film's release for 2 years. Rearrange the pieces, and they add up to the same thing.

Jim Wilson (Robert Ryan) is a city police detective, and 11-year veteran of the mean streets. He lives alone, seldom socializes, dedicating himself to ridding the world of crime. His partners are worried about Jim. He can't leave his job at work. He carries the stresses of police work around with him all the time. He's anxious and increasingly violent. When Jim roughs up a suspect to the point of serious injury, police chief Captain Brawley (Ed Begley) sends him to assist a small-town sheriff in a murder investigation upstate. A young girl has been killed by a man while walking home from school. The girl's father Walter Brent (Ward Bond) is a single-minded farmer who won't stop until he has killed the man who killed his daughter. A frantic manhunt is underway, chasing the suspect across the countryside. The chase leads Jim and Brent to the isolated home of Mary Malden (Ida Lupino), a gentle blind woman with something to hide.

"On Dangerous Ground" failed at the box office when it was released in 1952. Critics thought that the urban first half hour of the film and the following 50 minutes of rural action felt like 2 different films. They found Mary Malden's dialogue too maudlin and the final scenes too sentimental. I have to agree with them. But in hindsight it is easier to see the film's successes along with its failures. Actor Robert Ryan and cinematographer George E. Diskant make "On Dangerous Ground" worthwhile. One of the great character actors of his day, Robert Ryan delivers quite an arc as Jim Wilson, a man so sensitized to cruelty that he embraces it. A trip to the countryside, where he comes face to face with a hick version of himself, turns his self-destructive tendencies on end.

Film noir fans gravitate toward the first 30 minutes of "On Dangerous Ground". Jim Wilson is a man consumed by the brutality he tries to stamp out. He's about to self-destruct in noir fashion. But the naturalistic photography of nighttime city streets by George E. Diskant may be the most stunning of its kind. All of the urban scenes take place at night, and they're all beautiful. A striking combination of neo-realist and low-key styles. The many shots from inside moving vehicles are great. Then we move to the snow-covered countryside, filmed on location in Colorado. Now everything is white. If the story doesn't grab you, the photography will. This is also one of Bernard Herrmann's most notable film scores, which successfully stands in for dialogue during the chase scenes. "On Dangerous Ground" doesn't tell a great story, but it does showcase some wonderful work.

The DVD (Warner Brothers 2006): Bonus features are a theatrical trailer (2 min) and an audio commentary by film critic and historian Glenn Erickson. Erickson's commentary is scripted, informative, and continuous. He interviewed A.I. Bezzerides in 1997, so is able to contribute Bezzerides' view of the film. Erickson addresses the film's cinematography, themes, characters, actors, dialogue, and score in scene-by-scene analyses. He relates the history of the production, compares the film to the novel, and talks about the editorial re-organization that restructured the film. Subtitles are available for the film in English, French, and Spanish.

Mad With Much Heart.......2006-09-07

On Dangerous Ground is a flawed favorite, boasting an exceptional performance from Robert Ryan as a man as much attracted as repulsed by his own capacity for violence - the look on his face before beating a suspect into the hospital, the almost sexual glee tinged with disgust as he repeats "Why do you make me do it?" to justify his own imminent enjoyment to himself give him a disturbingly raw emotional violence that's far more worrying than anything his fists can do. Even Ward Bond's distraught and vengeful father of a murder victim is disturbed by the joy of the hunt he finds in that face. Nicholas Ray's camerawork is similarly on the brink of falling to pieces in the opening city section, eavesdropping in and out of windows and windscreens before erupting into a brutal alley chase shot with a bold use of handheld camera that's still seems shockingly vital for a 50s studio picture. They're both matched blow for blow by Bernard Herrmann's strikingly violent score, with a main title like a sword slashing through flesh and striking bone but with passages beautifully underlining the loneliness and sadness behind the savagery. Mad With Much Heart indeed.

Even the prolonged section with Ida Lupino's blind woman and the possibility of another, more compassionate way of life avoids mawkishness, not least because pity is neither sought nor given. Only the miraculous ending doesn't work. Whether this is due to the 10 minutes of studio-imposed cuts and the re-editing and restructuring the film went through during more than a year on the shelf or whether it was always a problem we'll probably never know (it would have been nice to have included the script as an extra, especially since Glenn Erickson's scripted audio commentary is often awkwardly delivered and often lacks the substance of others in the Film Noir boxed set). There is definitely the feeling that the whole third act of the movie has gone, making Ryan's decision seem almost arbitrary and not allowing us to see if he really has changed back on his home ground. Indeed, it probably would have been better to have ended the film a minute earlier with the almost purgative drive back to the city. But so much of what has gone before is so remarkable that it's a failure you can forgive.

Noir in the snow . . ........2006-08-25

This terrific 1950 film follows the descent and redemption of a big city police detective (Robert Ryan), alienated and emotionally isolated by the corrosive nature of his work and sent "upstate" by his boss (Ed Begley) to help the locals track down a killer. Upstate turns out to be Colorado, where much of the film was shot, knee deep in snow. There he teams up with the enraged father of the victim (Ward Bond), armed and determined to take the law into his own hands. And he also befriends a blind woman (Ida Lupino), who turns out to be the sister of the hunted man.

Removed from the dark, mean streets of the city and the morally compromised women that his work brings him in contact with, our (anti)hero discovers another world that calls to his higher instincts, both as a cop and as a man. In true Hays Code fashion, the cynicism characteristic of the hard-boiled crime fiction that gave birth to film noir is transformed in the end by the love a decent woman.

John Houseman produced this well-made film and Nicholas Ray directed. The sun-swept exteriors of wintertime Colorado are a visually striking contrast to the stylized urban shadow world of dark streets and low-rent hotel rooms. Camera work is inventive, and the Bernard Hermann score is sweeping and pulse quickening. The DVD has an informative scene-by-scene commentary that highlights the film's cinematic achievements while exploring its relationship to the genre of film noir and its place in the careers of the filmmaker and the cast.

A Powerful Film.......2006-08-16

While I certainly don't claim to be an expert on film making as the first reviewer apparently is, I do know what I like, and I really like On Dangerous Ground.
First, I like the storyline. A police story like this couldn't happen today. A rogue officer who beat information out of suspects, even those who deserved a beating or worse, would be quickly pilloried in the press and most likely fired and charged with some offense. In this film, Robert Ryan's character was merely sent upstate to help in a rural murder case while the public uproar over his brutality subsided. But the film is not just about the mean streets and police brutality, it is about a man who discovers and comes to terms with his real self and in the end is redeemed by love.
Secondly, I like the film-makers technique. The city streets are ever wet and grimy, while the rural mountainous area to which Ryan is sent is unrelentingly cold and bleak. The picture painted of a cold world is one that carries on throughout the film. One of the few spots of warmth is in the house where the blind Ida Lupino lives with her deranged brother.
Next, I like the mostly on-location shoots. Though the upstate "Siberia" to which Ryan's character was sent is putatively in New York, it was actually filmed mostly on location in Colorado lending an air of rural authenticity to the film it would otherwise not have. The locale, though bleak and cold, has its own majestic natural grandeur. Anyway, it LOOKS like Colorado (or California) and not New York, so until I read more about the film, I thought that Ryan was an LA cop rather than with the NYPD.
Lastly, the acting is first-rate. Ryan's transformation is spell-binding, and Lupino's role performed with aplomb. Ward Bond is excellent as an enraged father sworn to violently avenge the murder of his daughter.
If you are a fan of the film noir genre and have yet to see On Dangerous Ground, then you are in for a treat. The only negative comment I have to make is that in the commentary feature, Glenn Erickson natters on too long about the admittedly glorious score composed by Bernard Herrmann and misses commenting on a few scenes which would benefit from some clarification.

Average customer rating:

Beware - You might get a copy and not the original DVD
Jack Higgins Movie "On Dangerous Ground"

On Dangerous Ground
Starring: Daphne Cheung , Rob Lowe , and Jürgen Prochnow
Director: Lawrence Gordon Clark
Manufacturer: CineVu, Inc.
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B0002BSHY8
Release Date: 2004-05-01

Customer Reviews:

Beware - You might get a copy and not the original DVD.......2007-05-30

When I received On Dangerous Ground from Amazon I discovered that the shrink wrap had been carefully slit at the top. Upon opening the case I further discovered that the DVD was actually a copy and not the original DVD. I would have expected such a possibility from the individual sellers that do their business through Amazon, but not Amazon itself. I have returned the DVD for a refund and will now order it through AmazonUK.

Jack Higgins Movie "On Dangerous Ground".......2005-07-31

For those of you who have read the Jack Higgins Books, it is simalar to the book, but many differences. It is a very enjoyable movie, but I believe the movie isn't as good as the book. Rob Lowe as "Sean Dillon" isn't what Higgins makes him out to be. I do recomend buying it, but don't think the movie will follow the book word to word, but it does follow the book's plot. Dillon doesn't smoke or drink in the movie, like he does in the books. Dillon, Asta, Fergouson, and Kim don't go hunting, hell Kim isn't even in the movie or the Prime Minister. It is a good B film though, I just hope that they would make more movies based on Jack Higgins books, ones that follow the book very closely like "The Eagle Has Landed". I would buy this movie if your a "Jack Higgins" fan. Just don't buy it with high expectations thinking it's just like the book. Close but not 100% like the book.

Average customer rating:

Good spy thriller.

On Dangerous Ground [Region 2]
Starring: Rob Lowe , Kenneth Cranham , Deborah Moore (II) , Jürgen Prochnow , and Ingeborga Dapkunaite
Director: Lawrence Gordon Clark
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0000A1M37

Customer Reviews:

Good spy thriller........2000-09-01

What if there existed a document that could dismiss the transfer of Hong Kong from Brits to China? Rob Lowe plays Sean Dillon, a spy trying to gain evidence of that secret on behalf of Britain. But, as he engages his assignment, he is caught off-guard by a beautiful distraction, Deborah Moore. Good flick for Rob Lowe. No James Bond, though.

Average customer rating:

Irish Dance of the Future
An Incredibly Lucky Find
celtic dance
Beautiful and Unique, but oddly frustrating
Patchy

Dancing on Dangerous Ground [Region 2]
Starring: Jean Butler , and Colin Dunne
Director: Lindsay Dolan (II)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

( D ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B000050YLP

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On Dangerous Ground [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - Spain ]

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On Dangerous Ground [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - Spain ]
Director: Nicholas Ray
Manufacturer: Manga Films
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Product Description

Spain released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada. LANGUAGES: English (Dolby Digital 2.0), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0), Spanish (Subtitles), SYNOPSIS: Hard, withdrawn city cop Jim Wilson roughs up one too many suspects and is sent upstate to help investigate the murder of a young girl in the winter countryside. There he meets Mary Malden, whom he finds attractive and independent. However, Mary's brother is chief suspect in the killing. And Mary herself is blind. SPECIAL FEATURES: Scene Access, Interactive Menu, Filmographies, Biographies,

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DVD