Why do people rave about this film ???
Please can someone describe to me how they can like this film, because i struggle to see why. It was shoddy and average at best.
shareI loved the character, a cop on the edge who finds his soul again.
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MovieChat Forums > On Dangerous Ground (1952) Discussion > Why do people rave about this film ???
I loved the gritty city crime scenes contrasted with the beautiful country scenes where crime also occurs despite it's beauty.
Ryan realizes thru Lupino that no man is an island. She was just as afraid of seeing the world's ugliness as he was afraid to see it's beauty.
They were two halves that made a whole. Great film even though I must admit for me the ending was a little weak in it's execution.
Overall your right about the shoddy look. It seems to be an RKO trademark but I've come to appreciate it as part of the look of these types of films. Like the old cheap pulp crime magazines of the '50's.
Classic film fans have many, many, many great titles to indulge their addiction in. If your a fan of Robert Ryan, Ida Lupino, Film Noir and great music scores by Bernard Herman of Alfred Hitchcock fame then you are going to like this movie. The music is a lot like the music from North by Northwest. I agree that this should not be your first introduction to film noir but as a staple in the genre-this film is entertaining at best.
Robert Ryan is magnificent in the title role-plus sexy. So is Ida Lupino.
Great director in Nicholas Ray who directed Rebel Without a Cause.
There are many reasons to like this movie.
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kim
http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/index.jsp?cid=186977
The Truth is out there.
Why do people rave about this film ???
Because it's *beep* brilliant?
End of story.
Saving Private Ryan = Forty minutes of steely violence and two hours of cliché-ridden flab.
Because ON DANGEROUS GROUND is one of the most artistic works I've ever witnessed on film. The music score by Bernard Hermann coinciding like poetry with the stunning black and white cinematography is nothing short of brilliant. And I disagree with the poster who said the ending is poorly executed. It is absolutely powerful. I've watched this movie too many times to count.
"When an alibi is full of bourbon, sir, it can't stand up."
I'm a fan of the music score here as well.
Terrific movie!
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Jim Hutton: talented gorgeous hot hunk; adorable as ElleryQueen; SEXIEST ACTOR EVER
The only strong points for me was the acting from Robert Ryan, Ida Lupino and Ward Bond along with the deep characterisation of the amoral lead. These were strong concepts to On Dangerous Ground which unfortunately were not as fleshed out as much it could have been.
"I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not".
Yeah, I don't think it was that great either. And the script is confusing. It's like watching 2 separate films. What happens in the city has nothing to do with what happens in the country. There's not much mistery or suspense. It's more a melodrama, but still I don' understand the need to divide the movie in 2 so abruptly. The music was good though.6/10
shareWhat happens in the city has nothing to do with what happens in the country.What happens in the city has everything to do with what happens in the country. Jim (Robert Ryan) is out of his element, away from the soul crushing city. He's on dangerous ground, spiralling out of control and in the country he has the chance for redemption, the chance at the love he has been seeking. It wasn't in the city. He had to find it elsewhere.
"Fortunately, I keep my feathers numbered for just such an emergency." share
He had to find it elsewhere.
And he DID find it elsewhere, and the last place he would expect to find it, in the country, and during a murder investigation. He was sent to the country by his boss to get him out of the city, as he had become a liability, and to cool off, it seems, literally, or he would lose his job. It was not his choice to go to "Siberia," as he called it. Had Wilson stayed in the city, he would have eventually been either taken out on a stretcher, killed a suspect, or committed suicide. By finding love with Mary, he now has the choice of remaining in the country, or they could go back to the city together, and he could still be a cop, just not a violent cop, but the good man and cop he always was. He will be like his partners, able to leave the job at work, as Pop told him to do, and to love and be loved by Mary, as they are by their wives and families.
I agree with you, misspaddylee. I'll be rewatching this tonight...first time in about a year, I think. I've always loved this movie!
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JimHutton as ElleryQueen: talented hot sexy
I've enjoyed and appreciated misspaddylee's IMDB posts for years. She loves film, is knowledgeable and insightful, and is never sarcastic or nasty.
shareThe country is the flip side of the city. There is also terrible crime in the country and there is murderous rage that Brent has for another human being who he wants to kill without the benefit of a trial.
Brent is like Jim. Jim is shocked when he sees Brent get back his humanity when he gingerly picks up the dead Danny. The look on Robert Ryan's face is priceless.
Jim then gains back his humanity when he turns back around to go to Mary.
It's not like watching two separate films just because the locales change. The locations compliment each other. We see loneliness can occur anywhere which is what Mary says to Jim as she senses he is a lonely person.
Wonderful film if you give it a chance.
Because the emotions of the characters are so raw and honest, which is rare in Noir films (and I *love* Noirs). It is also the only Noir I can think of that tries to offer a solution for a character trapped in and who's sole is being crushed by the "mean city streets". That's what the 2nd half of the movie represents to me - its Jim's redemption and pathway out of despair, if you will.
"A bit of musicality, PLEASE!" Strictly Ballroom
People rave about this film because it is brilliant, and totally out of the ordinary. I just got my DVD copy of "On Dangerous Ground," one of my top ten movies, and what a beautiful film experience it was. Truly a masterpiece. Robert Ryan blew me away, and I was emotionally drained by the end of the film. Also, if it did NOT end that way, I would have thrown something through the screen. Can Ryan do a love scene or what? Especially with Ida Lupino, a great leading lady for him. It is DEVASTATING when a rugged guy does love scenes, far more than when a matinee idol attempts them.
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Yeah it's a really good one.
shareJust watched it. The acting, writing, music, and photography are great. Very interesting story and a very different kind of film noir. I love the whole "bad cop has to go investigate a crime up in the rural snow" motif. Reminds me of a retro "Insomnia" from Christopher Nolan.
shareJust watched it. The acting, writing, music, and photography are great. Very interesting story and a very different kind of film noir.
You forgot a very important reason the film was so great: the director Nicholas Ray. Also the producer, the great John Houseman, said the film was "done with love," by all parties.
Would love to see Matt Dillon win the Oscar with remake of RKO film noir
On Dangerous Ground with the following cast match-ups:
Robert Ryan / Jim Wilson character / Matt Dillon
Ida Lupino / Mary character / Marisa Tomei
Ward Bond / Brent character / Woody Harrelson
??/ Crazy Brother Danny character/ like Jude Law except younger/Elijah Wood?
Ed Begley/Police Chief/ Dennis Farina
Cop Partners/ Keanu Reeves and Eric Estrada
Wonderful lessons to be learned could be depicted -
Is blind person more handicapped than a person filled with uncontrolled rage?
Being needed has redemptive qualities even for the toughest among us.
Loneliness is tragic journey we can survive if we keep searching for the right person and not give up.
Hope someone who knows Matt will make this suggestion to him because I believe this would be the vehicle to get him Best Actor award. Beautiful book end style work to compliment his role as troubled cop in "Crash".
The original had ten minutes cut at conclusion of film - Howard Hughes directive - and the studio made Nicholas Ray re-shoot the final climax which was more downbeat and noir because they wanted a happy ending. Ida Lupino was the director when Nick Ray fell ill during part of shooting. With all these things going against it - the film depicts much needed examinations of human longing and torment.
The two parts of the film - dark city and bright countryside - are exemplary of hope and happiness that awaits each of us if we just trust and keep striving to move beyond our doldrums and personal pain.
Blind Mary role might have to be modified to meet tastes of today's audiences - could they make up Marisa to appear to have Downs or MS or Cystic Fibrosis? Could be a powerful comment that our modern audiences seldom deal with: those who are disadvantaged among us are capable of love and being loved and teach us valuable lessons not discerned from our daily contacts.
I hate remakes of great classic films, but I love your casting suggestions for a new version of this brilliant film. OMG, Tomei, Dillon, and Harrelson: dead-on perfection!
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