I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Crappy film

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Terrific film debut from director Robert Parrish, who shows what he learned from working in the cutting-room with John Ford. The cast is good, the dialogue snappy, and the tension cranks appropriately. The characters aren't given much development, but with a 79-minute running time, that's forgivable. The best thing about 'Cry Danger' is how Robert Parrish ignores the low-budget restrictions and mostly shoots the whole thing on location in trailer parks, city streets, and dingy storefronts. Highly recommended for the film noir enthusiast.

Former Academy Award winning editor Robert Parrish cut his teeth as a director on this gritty, hard-broiled, black & white, Dick Powell urban thriller. Powell plays a hard-luck guy fresh out of prison after serving five years of a life term for a $100-thousand dollar robbery. 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. Meantime, a Los Angeles Police Lieutenant, Gus Cobb (Regis Toomey of "The Big Sleep"), tells Rocky that he plans to maintain tabs on him twenty-four/seven until he recovers the stolen loot. Rocky checks in with a shady bookie, Louie Castro (William Conrad of "The Killers"), who gives him $500 to place a bet on a horse that he claims will pay off 18-to-1. Naturally, Rocky demands more money to make up for the $100-thousand that he lost because he went to jail and couldn't hold down his $20-thousand dollar a year job. Everything goes smoothly for Rocky and Castro's long-shot horse pays off. Rocky picks up five grand from another bookie (Hy Averback), but he learns to his chagrin that he was paid off with dough from the robbery. Cobb pulls Rocky in, and Rocky cannot prove where he got the race horse money. As it turns out, Cobb has been following Rocky so he knows that Castro is lying when Castro tells him that he hasn't seen Rocky. Rocky hooks up with a friend's wife, Mrs. Nancy Morgan (Rhonda Fleming of "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral"), whose husband Danny is up for parole. The villains shoot up a car that they believe is being driven by Rocky, but he isn't behind the wheel when the bullets blast holes in an innocent bystander, Delong's part-time model girlfriend Darlene (Jean Porter of "Bathing Beauty"). Delong winds up in the hospital, and Rocky packs a pistol and goes after Castro. He plays an interesting game of Russian roulette with Castro and convinces him to spill his guts to Cobb. When Castro calls the police, he is actually calling his own henchmen. Rocky calls Castro's bluff and forces him to ring up the police. 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. Conrad makes a sturdy villain. This complicated movie qualifies as a film noir because the heroine isn't on the level and the heroine is treacherous. She has been lying all-along to our soft-touch protagonist. Of course, Rocky gets away without having to go back to jail, and Cobb collects the loot. Powell and Fleming never generate sparks. Nevertheless, "Cry Danger" has some strong moments, and the Los Angeles setting is terrific. Interestingly enough, future James Bond credits creator Maurice Binder served as an assistant to the producer.

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. He's got the tough guy patter down, but somebody should have spoken to wardrobe and make-up. Then there's the well-scrubbed Rhonda Fleming, the femme fatale, who nevertheless dresses and simpers with all the girlish flair and sensuality of Andy Hardy's highschool prom date. Even criminal mastermind William Conrad, with a voice resonant enough to intimidate God, spends his main screen time pancaked on the floor, looking sweatily up at Powell. Together, the three are about as convincing as a politician at election time, leaving a hole in the picture where a heartbeat ought to be.The main reason to catch this otherwise tepid concoction is Richard Erdman. Hollywood has always had its share of raw talents who, because of obvious physical limitations, are left to work the fringes. The diminutive, dough-faced Erdman is one. Here, he not only steals the show with sly expressions and cleverly delivered lines, but wraps it up and takes it home. His well-scripted byplay with chippie girlfriend Jean Porter even manages to breathe some life into the otherwise listless pairing of Powell and Fleming. Here's hoping there is that proverbial place in Hollywood heaven for unsung talents like Erdman and the other anonymous credit crawl names who boost many a film beyond the merely forgettable.Fortunately there are some nice minor touches. A seedy downtown trailer-park atop Bunker Hill furnishes an unusual backdrop and a good view of LA at mid-century. 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. Stylistically, this is a film about transitions-- the darkly volatile 1940's are giving way to the sunnier, more assured Eisenhower era. So, if you're not expecting much in the way of noir, you might take a chance on this one, despite the key drawbacks.

Seen at the SF Film Noir Festival January 2007. Eddie Muller, the host of the affair, interviewed Richard Erdman between films. Erdman is viciously funny and a great raconteur. You'd recognize his face anywhere, he's done so many bit parts in movies over the years. His role in Cry Danger is one of his favorites and served as a kind of break through for his career. The scene where he has sworn off booze and is putting together a hamburger and pouring himself a glass of milk shows a man who makes himself promises and keeps none of them. He tosses the burger, pours out the milk and fills the glass with whiskey. Noir films from this era made no apologies. A drunk was a drunk. Nobody went to rehab. Cigarettes are lit like Roman candles and nobody complained about second hand smoke. Babes in low cut gowns make it obvious what they're after. Powell's character is focused and relentless. Rhonda Fleming is a gorgeous red herring (to match her red hair?) The print came up from the UCLA film vaults after the 35 mm print sent out from Cambridge proved technically unwatchable. Muller says there will never be a DVD of this film. The master is shot and the 16 mm version shown at the Castro Theater was murky and grey. Still, the film is worth watching if for no other reason than to hear Bill Bowers' sharp dialogue. His family was in the audience including his widow for a touching tribute to this master Noir scripter.