On Dangerous Ground (1951) User Reviews (127)

Garbage, all we handle is garbage.

[hitchcockthelegend · 8/10 · 10 January 2010]

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 to, 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

Timeless Noir

[jpdoherty · 8/10 · 30 June 2010]

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??

Loneliness, Trust and Redemption

[claudio_carvalho · 8/10 · 11 June 2008]

The lonely and tough Jim Wilson (Robert Ryan) is an efficient detective that frequently uses excessive violence to resolve his cases and even his partners do not approve his behavior. While chasing two cop killers, he blows the bladder of another suspect during the interrogation to get the information to catch the assassins. He is warned by his chief Captain Brawley (Ed Begley) to cool off, and when he beats another suspect on the street, Brawley sends him "upstate to Siberia" in the cold Westham to calm down and help the locals in a murder case of a girl. When he arrives, he visits the family of the victim, whose father Walter Brent (Ward Bond) is decided to kill the murderer. 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. Brent and Jim are lodged by Mary to spend the night, and Jim is affected by Mary in a process of humanization and redemption.

"On Dangerous Ground"is a simple movie with a tale of loneliness, trust and redemption developed through two totally different characters that have only loneliness in common. Jim Wilson lives in the big city, is brutal, trusts nobody and is in the edge in his career, acting like a gangster wearing a badge. Mary Malden lives in the countryside, is gentle, has to trust everybody and sacrificed her chance to see again to take care of her mentally unstable brother. The process of humanization of Jim Wilson is depicted through his relationship with Mary and is very touching. Ida Lupino and Robert Ryan have great performances under the direction of Nicholas Ray in this credible story. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Cinzas Que Queimam" ("Ashes that Burn")

Note: On 14 January 2017, I saw this film again.

Is it a thriller? Is it a character study? Romance? One of the most interesting movies of the 1950s with another superb performance from Robert Ryan.

[Infofreak · 20 August 2003]

'On Dangerous Ground' is a very original and striking movie, one of the most interesting to come out of 1950s Hollywood. The movie is in two halves. The first is urban and sees Robert Ryan play Jim Wilson a brutal but seemingly moral cop who appears to be on the brink of a complete breakdown. His character could well be the toughest cop ever seen on screen until the early 1970s heyday of Dirty Harry and Popeye Doyle,etc. The second half is rural, with Wilson being sent out of the city to investigate the murder of a young girl (shades almost of Stellan Skarsgard in 1997's 'Insomnia'). There he encounters a local blind woman (Ida Lupino), the sister of his number one suspect. The first half is as I said, extremely tough, the second half is ALMOST a mystery (yet it's obvious who the murderer is), and ALMOST a romance (but handled in a very subtle and "unHollywood" way). It's an odd combination but really works because the script lacks cliches, Nicholas "Rebel Without A Cause" Ray's direction is very fresh and inventive, and the acting is first rate. Lupino makes the most of her supporting role, as does Ward Bond ('The Searchers') as the father of the murdered girl, and Sumner Williams as Lupino's disturbed younger brother, but Robert Ryan steals the movie. I'm beginning to regard Ryan as one of the most underrated screen actors of all time. Just watch him in this, the boxing classic 'The Set-Up', 'Crossfire', 'Bad Day At Black Rock', and of course, 'The Wild Bunch' and see what I mean. 'On Dangerous Ground' deserves a much larger audience. Highly recommended.

While far from perfect, this film was unique and had a lot to offer

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 17 March 2007]

There were a couple aspects of this Film Noir-ish movie that didn't work so well for me, though the overall effort was still very watchable and I appreciate how those involved with the production tried something different. The movie started with a bang--with Robert Ryan giving one of his best performances as an angry and violent cop on the edge. Again and again, Ryan's character felt the best way to get information out of a suspect was to beat it out of him. Despite being a Noir film (at least in the first half), his behaviors were so extreme even the other cops were alarmed by his actions. This portion of the film was, in my opinion, the best--especially for folks like me that LOVE Noir.

Because Ryan is so out of control, his boss (Ed Begley) sends him upstate to assist in capturing a murderer. While this second half of the film is very good, I found it far less satisfying because now Ryan's character was quieter and more emotionally stable!! I LIKED seeing the maniac cop in action and the second half of the movie was NOT Film Noir, but more of a romantic cop film. Plus, while interesting, the romance between Ryan and Ida Lupino seemed a bit contrived. After all, he barely knew the woman at all, yet in the end he drives all that way and the film ends in a clinch! Interesting, yes, but gritty and believable, no. One reviewer called this film "Noir with a heart". I know this sounds awful, but I like that Noir doesn't have a heart and sentimentality has no place in the genre.

"You get so you don't trust anybody"

[ackstasis · 8/10 · 8 August 2008]

Director Nicholas Ray really knew how to give film noir a unique edge. 'In a Lonely Place (1950),' which starred Humphrey Bogart and Gloria Grahame, was a brooding study of trust and paranoia, thematically similar in some ways to Billy Wilder's 'Sunset Blvd. (1950),' though more overt in its exploration of Hollywood's failings. Likewise, 'On Dangerous Ground (1952)' presented such an curious interpretation of noir that RKO wasn't sure what to do with it, and the film collected dust on a shelf for two years. Indeed, thematically, the film might even be considered a separate progression from the film noir style, a form of cinematic purification that serves to cleanse a decade of seedy, cynical decadence in the American film industry. 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. Whereas his colleagues, having found stability in their families, are able to leave their work behind at the end of every shift, Jim returns home each night seething with the rottenness of city life. In his futile efforts to scourge the streets of scum, he has become those whom he despises, and has a tendency to unexpectedly explode with violence. Nicholas Ray, who would later give a resounding voice to teenage angst in 'Rebel Without a Cause (1955),' here captures perfectly the pressure and frustration of Jim Wilson's occupation, and the horror when he suddenly realises what he has driven to become: "Why do you make me do it? You know you're gonna talk! I always make you punks talk!" This seedy urban nightmare has the grittiness equal to any film noir of the era, and Bernard Hermann's pounding score lends a fierce intensity.

Then – against all expectations – 'On Dangerous Ground' takes a dramatic narrative turn. Jim, in order to cool off, is assigned to a murder case in the snow-strewn countryside upstate. A young girl has been killed, and her father (Ward Bond) has pledged to murder the man responsible. 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). Jim's interactions with Mary inevitably lead him towards some sort of redemption, but I was struck most profoundly by their earlier conversations, particularly when Mary thanks Jim for his compassion in not showing any pity towards her. 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. George E. Diskant's claustrophobic camera-work, which made dynamic use of hand-held photography, becomes slower and more contemplative, and Herrmann's score similarly tones down into the mournful melody of Virginia Majewski's viola da gamba. Jim's tentative partnership with the murder victim's mutinous father allows him to acknowledge his duty as a police detective, providing an avenue through which he can evade his violent compulsions. The trust and kindness demonstrated by the blind Mary also permits him to recognise the overwhelming goodness of human beings, and even a certain element of sympathy to be found in the acts of a criminal. Though Nicholas Ray originally wished to end the film on more of a downbeat note, the studio enforced an optimistic ending. 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.

Fascinating But Uneven

[evanston_dad · 7/10 · 17 May 2006]

"On Dangerous Ground" is a strange, schizophrenic film that straddles the fence between film noir and romantic melodrama, managing to be both and neither at the same time. 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. These early scenes are the most fascinating ones in the film, though (or maybe because) they have really nothing to do with the film's main plot and are all about developing the character of Ryan. 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. He stumbles into the home of a blind woman (played by Ida Lupino looking like Loretta Young) and strikes up a timid romance with her, her gentleness and trustworthy nature providing just the antidote his jaded sensibilities need. Will their romance work, or are the two worlds they're from too different? There's much of interest about the portion of the film set in the country. The idea that the kind of crime traditionally reserved for the back alleys of city slums could be working its way into the great nowhere had to have been an uncomfortable idea for post-war America. And the crazed, vengeful father of the murdered girl is a far cry from the simple, kind souls we like to think people the American heartland. And Ray creates a visual interest in the country scenes as well. The harsh, barren landscape looks like the surface of the moon, no more inviting than the sinister, shadowy city streets to which it's juxtaposed.

But I got bored with the romantic plot line, and felt it was out of place in a film like this. And the ending especially didn't sit well with me. It seemed much more likely that Ryan would return to the streets he knows so well and continue his lonely existence, rather than come back to the love of a good woman in a cozy cottage in the middle of nowhere. I felt cheated, and wished that the ending could have had the guts that the rest of the film did.

A fascinating film in its own right, but a flawed one. You can't watch it and not think of the opportunities missed.

Grade: B+

Hot headed cop on shaky ground gets rocked

[johno-21 · 8/10 · 31 March 2006]

Nicolas Ray who directed a string of good films, most notably In a Lonely Place, Flying Leatjernecks and They live by Night and would become best known for Rebel Without a Cause directed this fine film-noir flick from 1952. He had taken the idea for the story based on the Gerald Butler novel Mad With Much Heart. Ray teamed with Albert Bezzerides for the screenplay who had written They Drive by Night, Desert Fury and Thieves Highway for the screen and would become best known in film for Kiss Me Deadly. He would become better known in television as the creator of the long running western series The Big Valley. Excellent photography in this film from cinematographer George E. Diskant. Robert Ryan is one of Hollywood's most underrated actors and in the staring role of a burnt out city cop on the road to redemption and awakening, turns in yet another great performance. Ida Lupino is another of my favorites and this time around plays a blind woman living alone in rural upstate Mew York. This is a film in two acts that are almost like tow separate films. Part one we find the Ryan character as a violent tough and over the edge cop who once was a popular high school football star and has become burned out in his job and dissatisfied with his lonely small apartment so he hates his job and his life away from work. The first half of the film is mostly night scenes. He is sent by his superiors to cool off in the frozen north and try to help solve a local murder. In the Ward Bond character as the Father of a murdered woman he meets someone even more angry and violent than he is. Bond delivers a strong supporting role performance. Rounding out the fine cast are Ed Begley, Charles Kemper and Anthony Ross. Famed, prolific composer Bernard Hermann provide the musical score. The story might be a little simplistic at times and predictable but it is still a strong film and I would give it an 8.5 out of 10.

more melodrama than film-noir, but it does have some excellent stuff in it

[Quinoa1984 · 7/10 · 13 May 2006]

I would be inclined more to give On Dangerous Ground a higher rating, or just think of it as a great film, even as I find there are certain things in the second half that doesn't quite click as well as in other parts. 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. As the sort of masculine-centered core of the film, Ryan is quite good. Herrmann's score, meanwhile, in what he referred to as his favorite of his many many scores, delivers up emotion through the strings in the dramatic bits and the tougher stuff when need be. He, too, is on top of his game here.

What's interesting about what didn't quite work, at least for myself, in On Dangerous Ground was a little more in due to the screenplay and to the performance from Ida Lupino. For a director who often has a script as one of the best parts of what he's doing, the writing here starts off fantastically in the city, then as it goes further on in the snowy, rural setting, the melodrama-side starts to loose some of its shape. It's not that the more rough, gritty style of the first part of the film doesn't correspond well enough with the later scenes; in fact some of these chase scenes and shots of Ryan going through the snow after his 'suspect' are well done from Ray's end. But part of the acceptance of the change that occurs in the character of Jim Wilson has to be as believable as Lupuno's performance can allow, and she is good in her blind-girl-who's-totally-compassionate up to a point. For example, I did get a lot of emotional contact when Ray shot her in close-ups. 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). Yet if certain parts of the story's fabric and sentimentality might not click as well as it should to you, you're not alone. At the least, there's a heap-load of entertainment to be had with the scenes following the cops on their nights across the city streets, like a superlative short film amid a tragic tale of losing and finding yourself. 7.5/10

Appointment with danger

[TheLittleSongbird · 8/10 · 3 December 2019]

'On Dangerous Ground' sounded right up my street. The story sounded incredibly gripping, and have always been a fan of films with a film noir atmosphere. Love some of director Nicholas Ray's other work, especially 'In a Lonely Place' and 'Rebel Without a Cause'. Robert Ryan was a great talent as an actor, especially in ruthless and villainous roles (i.e. 'Billy Budd', 'Crossfire', he is bone-chilling in both), and when he was in a particularly great role he was brilliant.

Found 'On Dangerous Ground' to be a very good film that could have been a great one if it was a little more consistent all the way through. It is a very good representation of Ray, it is a great representation for composer Bernard Hermann who pens one of his best non-Hitchcock scores and it is a great representation for Ryan in a role that fits him perfectly. Have seen better from Ida Lupino though, from personal opinion of course.

Positives are numerous and they outweighs the negatives by quite some way. Just loved the stylish and quite eerie way it was photographed which couldn't have been more perfect for the darkness of the story. The landscapes are just as striking and the photography is clearly in love with it without going into self-indulgence land. Hermann's score is remarkable, it has a very haunting atmosphere enhanced by the truly ominous orchestration. As said, to me it's among his best scores for a film that isn't from Hitchcock. The script, especially in the first half, is thought probing and taut as needed for a film of this type.

The first half of 'On Dangerous Ground' is absolutely brilliant, taut, full of grit and edge and nail-bitingly suspenseful. The subject matter is a dark, grim one and the first half matched that perfectly. Ray's direction is never less than assured and keeps the suspense going. Ward Bond is compelling in his role, but as far as the performances go the film belongs to Ryan, his intensity is absolutely riveting.

Didn't however find the second half quite as strong. It is still good certainly, nicely paced, exceptionally well made, scored, directed and acted and is absorbing. It just lacks the hard-boiled edge of the first half.

If the romance was more developed, it was interesting enough but slightly bland, and gelled within the story a little better it would have been even better. Lupino has charm and pathos but could have done with more steel, like the romance she doesn't quite fit within the rest of the film, but that is just personal taste.

All in all, very good. 8/10

Deeply moving at its core, but a hair off-kilter, too, despite all the talent here

[secondtake · 7/10 · 11 March 2013]

On Dangerous Ground (1952)

Certainly a classic noir but an odd one. It has the personal introspective digging and bits of romance that director Nicholas Ray is so good at. And it has the struggling urban man with a weight that seems unbearable, at odds with even his best friends. It's filmed really well, by a new talent who later moved to television, George Diskant, and it has a score by none other than Bernard Herrmann. Yes, this movie has all the drippings of a classic. It even daringly mixes up heavy urban society and a raw rural mountain existence in basically two halves to the movie, much like the spectacular "Out of the Past."

Nothing goes terribly wrong here, but the story just doesn't quite hold water. At first it's okay that we don't know quite what the main point is, and where our sympathies are meant to lie. But eventually there is a diffusion that gets in the way. This seems like a Ray strategy. Most of his films, the famous ones I've seen, tend to do this in a magical way. They start out with one thing and end up doing another. (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. Ryan's classic brooding evilness never reaches the sympathetic or pathetic levels we might expect of him, but he's supposed to be a tender guy under it all, waiting for someone or something to turn that on. Lupino plays a blind woman (this becomes apparent right away to the viewer but for some reason not to the characters), and of course we sympathize with here. She is strong and kind and wise. And she needs someone.

It seems that Ryan is too caught up in his inner turmoil to quiet make it work, however, and he ends up being just a great cop by the end. There is a clash of cultures that is a slightly corny--the city slicker in the country, and so on. And there is the mingling of the two personalities, which lacks some kind of inner magic. (You might say the same in "In a Lonely Place" but it seems more an intentional ploy there.)

There is also the problem of the basic crime aspects of the plot. We aren't meant to care too much about that, but it takes up much of the screen time and we need to make it make sense. It's a little compacted and clumsy for all its inner angst. The blind woman's little brother is mentally disturbed--and there's even an implication she skipped out on surgery for her eyes because of needing to care for him. But things have spun out of control, and she can't do much about it any more.

See this? Well, absolutely if you like the actors, the director, or noirs in general. It fits into the pack well, and has aspects that are moving and well done. That it doesn't gel into a masterpiece is aggravating because the material is really terrific at its core--a man is fighting for his emotional survival, and seems to stumble on a solution in the least likely way. Beautiful.

The Big Thaw

[telegonus · 9/10 · 9 May 2002]

The Nicholas Ray-A.I. Bezzerides On Dangerous Ground is a modestly budgeted film that tries to be different, and succeeds. Tough, brutal city cop Robert Ryan is sent upstate to help solve a murder case, and also to be got rid of, since he seems to be on the verge of mental breakdown. Along the way he runs into a blind woman, the father of the murdered teen, and a few locals. This is the bare bones of the story, such as it is, which on the surface appears mundane. But writer Bezzerides and director Ray were up to other things, and the crime picture trappings of this film are deceptive. The movie is really about that most modern of issues, alienation, and more generally, anomie, the feeling of displacement, namelessness, uselessness, that so many people have in such a fast-paced and mechanized society as ours. Ryan's character is a solitary, apparently celibate cop, who loves no one, and doesn't even like his job. He has a sense of morality, which is maybe what keeps him going. It also, alas, gets him into hot water with his superiors when he punches out one too many suspects, which is the reason for his being sent upstate, to Siberia, as he puts it. Ida Lupino, the blind woman he falls for, is equally isolated, but more serene. Her intuition tells her that Ryan is far more sensitive than he seems (or even understands), and they become close (but not lovers). She represents his good side, the part of him he has repressed all these years. 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. Bernard Hermann's music is excellent. Ray's handling of the chase scenes in the snow, and his evocation of a small rural community, is masterful. The movie seems a little too short to me, for what it's trying to do, and at times spreads itself too thin. It's at various points a crime film, a romance, a mystery, an action picture and a psychological study. The actors, Ryan in particular, are outstanding. No one could play a brooding loser like he could. His emotional outbursts early on feel almost psychotic. Later, mellowed out in the frozen north (irony of ironies!), his vulnerable side begins to emerge, and he becomes sympathetic to us, and eventually empathetic toward the woman. One senses his cluelessness about what's happening in him emotionally, as we, the audience, get it, and he doesn't. He's almost fragile trying to deal with tender feelings, especially since if he messes up or things go wrong he can't very well punch his way out of this one.

A Snowy Noir

[blakiepeterson · 7/10 · 2 May 2015]

Lovely is not a word I would normally use when describing a film noir, yet here I am, labeling On Dangerous Ground as a lovely piece of work. It is perhaps Nicholas Ray's most upbeat movie, beginning as a hard- hitting cop story and ending on a heartwarming note, with renewal and hopefulness at its beck and call. It is the only tender film noir I've seen. Genre turnarounds can be hurtful to the tone of a film, as no one wants to go to the theaters for a Will Ferrell vehicle only to find it sinking into tragedy rather than an uproariously funny closer. But by tying the pessimistic atmosphere of the first act into the neuroses of the title character, the shift in On Dangerous Ground is largely flattering, a difficult feat that Ray pulls off with unwavering certainty. He believes in the story, and, as a result, so do we.

Robert Ryan portrays Jim Wilson, a worn-out detective who is growing increasingly intolerant towards the disreputable scum he deals with on a regular basis. In past film noirs, cops as violent as Wilson would eventually go as far as murdering someone, spending the rest of the movie trying to make their wrongs into rights. But in On Dangerous Ground, it immediately becomes evident that Wilson is capable of saintly good nature but has been pushed over the edge by the constant surrounding sleaze.

After beating up a number of suspects during arrest, his precinct grows concerned and sends him away to the outskirts of town to investigate the murder of a young woman. Upon arrival, he finds a reflection of himself in the hateful family of the victim, and, during the investigation, falls for Mary Malden (Ida Lupino), the blind sister of the prime suspect who serves as a ray of light in his jet-black life. In theory, On Dangerous Ground should be clunky and awkward; yet, it is kind of brilliant. It looks and feels like a film noir, but that's only a disguise for the more touching instances of psychological study. Everything is presented in such a nonchalant, nearly conventional manner that the power it eventually bears is unexpectedly poignant. Only Ray could direct this sort of material; most do not have the same curious capacity to switch from the hard-boiled to the humane.

The contrast between the slick city streets and the snowy grounds of the more evangelical countryside are competently histrionic. As Wilson enters the fresh, cool landscape, a tidal wave of reversal falls upon us. In the first few minutes of the film, as we watch Wilson fight crime with boorish tenacity, the streets so usually enthralling in film noir turn into something uncomfortably grimy and greasy. Crime is like a horde of ants crawling up and down our arms. The countryside, though still the setting of a murder, has a comforting tranquility. Without people scattered in every nook and cranny, there is a chance to breathe. The entrance of Lupino is reminiscent to that of an angel falling out the sky; with no eyesight, she is unable to see the vile underpinnings of the world. Her kindness is a gift.

As Wilson's life converts from direly violent to one of prospect, there is something stirring that occurs that softened me more than I ever would have thought possible. In film noir, we're used to endless acerbity; it is rare that a character, a policeman who seems so destined to head down a dark path, is given a second chance. Throughout his career, Ryan was mostly typecast as a villain with a booming voice, but in On Dangerous Ground he is given a chance to be expressive and sensitive. It is a surprisingly wistful performance, connecting with ease towards the delicate, soul-baring Lupino.

On Dangerous Ground has been pushed aside as a minor work from the illustrious Nicholas Ray (The Big Heat, Rebel Without a Cause), but it's nevertheless shimmering all these years later. Its audacious attempts to subvert the norms of such a specific genre are absorbingly moving.

Read more reviews at petersonreviews.com

Sometimes The People Who Are Never Alone Are The Loneliest

[strong-122-478885 · 5/10 · 8 August 2014]

After watching this 1952 Crime/Thriller, I guess that blind people can be just as vain about their looks as those of us who can see.

But, with that said, I honestly found that I couldn't, for the life of me, fathom the full depth of character Mary Malden's puzzling conceitedness.

Here was a young, blind woman who lived pretty much alone in an isolated farmhouse on the farthest outskirts of a very small town. And, yet, you could always be sure to find Mary in full make-up, with her hair neatly coiffed and (get this!) her nails freshly polished.

I can't imagine a blind person ever being this concerned about their looks, especially since they rarely ever went out, nor were guests ever expected to be showing up at the door.

I'm sorry to say, but I found Ida Lupino (who played Mary) to be completely unconvincing as a blind woman. 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. And, then "THUD!", down came cupid's blasted sledgehammer.

Nicely Crafted.

[rmax304823 · 26 March 2004]

The first half is noir. Ryan is an embittered cop with violent tendencies, even exceeding those of his comrades. A bit too much of the old ultra violence and he's sent "upstate to Siberia" for a rest, seconded to a rural sheriff trying to find a young murderer. The second half stands in stark contrast to the first. In the course of the chase across snow mountains he meets and falls for Ida Lupino, the blind sister of the perp.

It's not really a crime story but a story about character development, mainly Robert Ryan's. There's little violence in it. But there is a great deal of sadness -- well, loneliness, really, and effectively conveyed by Nick Ray. The man who trusts nobody meets the woman who has to trust everybody. He comes back to her at the end, one of the few good ideas he's had. He's going to turn from the beady eyed monster of the city's streets (all shot at night) into a human being caring for another human being, breathing fresh mountain air. It's going to be difficult but it will work out okay.

Bernard Hermann's score, like the movie, is bifurcated. The chase scenes give us a melody and rhythm that he would recycle and use in several science fiction movies and in "North By Northwest." But he lavishes his considerable talents on a simple yet beautiful theme associated with Ida Lupino. (We first hear it when Ryan and Ward Bond break in on her and she sits in a chair.) The lead instrument is a viola da gamba played by Virginia Majewski. The viola is a strange instrument, like an overgrown mutated violin played under the chin. It doesn't have the sparkle of the violin. Nobody's going to play "The Flight of the Bumblebee" on it. But it's tone is dark and rich, like Lupino's character, like the relationship between her and Ryan.

What a neat simple black and white movie. It doesn't shred your mind. It moves along and asks you to move with it, the way Ryan treats Lupino. Very humanistic, very appealing.

The underaged blond in the bar towards the beginning is Nita Talbot. Yum.

Well done, especially with a Female Lead and Co-Director ... in 1951

[thespeos · 7/10 · 3 March 2022]

As for police films of its era it's rather unique, and I think well-done overall.

Here's my breakdown:

STORY: Roughly the first half hour feels like a typical cops n robbers flick,then it takes quite a turn. Yeah, it's a turn.

While the story isn't moving per se, it becomes a reflective story. You may even see some of yourself in it.

Not much for sub-plots, so it tends to grind, but overall it's quite nice.

ACTING: Solid to excellent acting all around, and can't complain about anyone in particular. Ryan is normally not a strong lead, but here I think he's well-picked and delivers the character's emotions very well.

As a side note, I do get tired and frustrated with the way women were (and are) portrayed in film. They're mostly portrayed as either an object of desire or disdain.

TEMPO: Good tempo, though as the story turns it almost takes a separate pace ... which felt a bit off.

CINEMATOGRAPHY: Excellent contrast from city to country life

Side note: Bernard Herrmann was Alfred Hitchcock's go-to man for music, and he delivers here. But ... the score is reminiscent of so many Hitchcock films that it was distracting. Reuse has it's place, but I think it's laziness here.

DIRECTING / WRITING: The fact that Ida Lupino (female lead) also co-directed this with Nicholas Ray is 1) a testament to Ray for sharing glory, and 2) for Lupino to shine as both a female actor and director in 1951. Very, very impressed.

Is it a good film? Yes.

Should you watch this once? Yes.

Rating: 7.5.

A Film Noir With A Heart

[ccthemovieman-1 · 9/10 · 3 December 2006]

I liked this better than I thought I would. I read a number of reviews (here, but mostly elsewhere) before seeing it, so I knew the two main things to expect: a hard- hitting film noir in the first half and a melodramatic romance in the second. 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. He's sick of all the punks in the world and just wants to beat the crap out of everyone. When he is one punch away from being suspended and losing his job on a police brutality charge, the boss sends him up north to snow country to find a murderer on the loose in the great outdoors.

That second half isn't some slow melodrama, as it's so often described. It's mostly more adventure as Ryan and Ward Bond track down the killer. Bond, whose daughter was the victim in this crime, is hell-bent for revenge. He makes Ryan like a calm-and-collected guy. Along the way, they meet "Mary Malden" (Ida Lupino), who is the sister of the kid on the run. She's also blind. Ryan befriends her and she pleads with him to promise to bring her brother in unharmed. Her trust in him helps bring about his personality change. You can see he's starting to soften up, become a little more caring toward his fellow man.

The ending of this film is not hokey - either in what happens in the manhunt or what happens to Ryan afterward. It's just a nice job of screen writing. I think this is a fine story, perhaps even underrated. I also think it is one of Ryan's finest acting jobs because he shows callous brutal toughness, loneliness and compassion all in the same film and he shows it convincingly.

Dames, without angles: the most dangerous kind

[cowboyandvampire · 7/10 · 1 July 2013]

Detective Jim Wilson is a good cop mired in a bad world of hustlers and pimps and crooks. He has a black and white sense of right and wrong, but he's trapped in infinite shades of gray — a garbage handler, as he self-identifies, who spends his days and nights thankfully cleaning up the trash on the mean streets. He's got pencil-pushing bureaucrats breathing down his neck, and every dame who crosses his path has angle. But he gets things done, he rights wrongs, usually by beating bad guys into submission. In other words, he is an archetype for every bad man on a good mission and this movie is a blue print for every renegade copy movie ever made thereafter.

And as is this case in almost every one of those cop movies thereafter, the world is quickly changing around him and in the new world, you can't solve all your problems with your fists — or, as in more modern movies, with a gun. (Side note: apparently things don't change too quickly much because this story line is still alive and well.) After a particularly brutal scene in which the sympathetic, sadistic cop beats a confession out of a craven, seemingly masochistic criminal, he draws the ire of his commanding officer who sends him upstate to a rural area gripped in an icy winter. A girl has been murdered and the locals, especially the father, aim to settle the score. Everything in his gritty, urban background has readied him to dole out some sympathetic justice, but there's just one problem — in the course of the investigation, he meets a dame without an angle: the beautiful, and blind, Mary Malden (played by Ida Lupino).

Her mentally challenged brother is a suspect and Jim and the victim's father are forced wait out the night at Mary's house. For a man who has seen too much and trusts no one, he can't help but fall for the lovely Mary who has can't see anything and is forced to, as she admits, trust everyone.

More modern sensibilities are used to (numbed by?) a direct visual treatment of passion, but the muted approach in this movie heightens the impact. When their hands touch, we are treated to a moment of romantic discovery that surpasses all the heat and energy of the currently more popular bra and pantie clad tussling between love interests.

The movie is shot in a jumpy, jerky way (mumblenoir?) with crackling dialog, adds to the tension, sense of foreboding and drama. And the car chase — sliding along icy roads — was well-executed. For such a short movie (82 minutes), it covers a lot of territory — from the heart of the city to the emptiness of the wilderness, and from cynical resignation and brutality to hope and redemption.

-- www.cowboyandvampire.com --

Nicholas Ray's Tense, Powerful Noir of Redemption...

[cariart · 10/10 · 13 August 2006]

"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). Contemporary audiences, expecting a straight-forward action tale, couldn't understand this subtle character study (even co-star Ida Lupino called the script 'weak'), but Ray, who loved stories of alienation and spiritual rebirth, particularly in an era when many of his peers were being 'blacklisted' in the Communist 'witch-hunts', refused to sacrifice the richness of characterization and structure, simply to make the tale more 'commercial'. While Howard Hughes' tinkering diluted the symphonic format, somewhat (adding a romantic climax, as Ryan and Lupino end the film in each other's arms), he actually improved the film, clarifying the action, and 'cleaning up' a few ambiguous elements. This is one film where 'too many cooks' didn't ruin the 'recipe'! Of particular importance is the remarkable music score, by Bernard Herrmann. The brilliant composer was returning to Hollywood after conducting the CBS Symphony Orchestra for a few years, and he demanded, and got, an unprecedented amount of control on how his music would be used in the film. The end result was one of his best works, exciting, dramatic, and lushly romantic, and it would foreshadow his equally remarkable score for "North by Northwest".

It would take over thirty years for "On Dangerous Ground" to be recognized as the classic it actually was, and, sadly, many of the principals would never live long enough to see the film receive the attention it deserved. Martin Scorsese called it one of the most influential films on his work ("Taxi Driver" incorporated many of the film's visual and character elements, and would be scored by Bernard Herrmann, as well).

The film is, if not a masterpiece, among the handful of the 'film noir' genre of films that truly deserve to be called 'Classic'!

Oh Danny Boy!

[BaronBl00d · 6/10 · 29 July 2006]

A quality film by Nicolas Ray(director of Rebel Without a Cause) with or without directorial assistance from Ida Lupino and perhaps even Robert Ryan. Ryan plays a New York cop frustrated with the scum he deals with every day and has dealt with for eleven years. He starts to get caught up in all of these negative aspects(not much positive in his line of work to be real honest)and takes it out on the criminals by beating them. His police chief(Ed Begley)gives him a couple warnings and sends him upstate to help out on a rural murder case of a young girl. 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. Ryan and the blind woman begin to form some bond. Ray does a very good job creating the depth of characters in this film. He also is good at creating tension in the chase scene and between characters. Ryan is solid in the lead, but it is Lupino's performance which really enhances the film's credibility. The other performers are all pretty decent with Sumner Williams a standout in the brief yet complex role of Danny. I liked the film for the most part and enjoyed its film noir elements, but I did have some problems with a couple of things. The ending was just way to short and felt as if something along the lines of true resolution was needed. The other thing was that there is no way on this Earth that this film was filmed in New York or an attempt to make it looked like it was filmed in upstate New York was even tried. It is obviously filmed out West as the snow-covered mountains lack trees and a barren quality drenches the whole setting. These can be overlooked, but they did detract a bit from total enjoyment. The beginning sequences in New York were; however, very effective. Thematically the qualities of loneliness are examined with both Lupino and Ryan - both searching for some real meaningful purpose in lives that they really find no enjoyment in.

Worthy of Hitchcock's Finest.

[349th Heavy Weapons Crew · 9/10 · 7 June 2000]

The musical score is worthy of Hitchcock's Finest thrillers and is part of what raises this "On Dangerous Ground" to the level of classic film noir. In fact, one might say that it stands on its own as one of the movie's characters - that, plus strong direction and stunning photography with unusual close-ups. For example, the opening shot shows a WOMAN picking up a shoulder holster with a gun in it. Is she some one's long-time gun moll? Is this movie about her?

"On Dangerous Ground" surprises you again and again with its many plot twists and excellent, though sometimes frightening characterizations. Mr. Ryan's character purposely lacks the charm exhibited by tough, film noir leading men like those portrayed by Dick Powell, Humphrey Bogart and Robert Mitchum. And Detective Jim Wilson (Robert Ryan) is just too brutal for the audience to admire.

Ida Lupino doesn't come onto the scene until about 37 minutes into the movie. Ms. Lupino takes what could easily be a one-dimensional supporting role, normally given to a second rate actress, and turns Mary Malden into an intelligent, sensitive and complex character.

Ward Bond, the always-competent supporting actor, is excellent as the avenging father. He is so blinded by his loss and rage that he repeatedly misses important clues that are right before his own eyes. Like Mary's blindness, or a critically important fact about the murderer.

decent but nothing special for me

[funkyfry · 6/10 · 2 August 2007]

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. For me, the movie starts to head downhill as soon as he leaves town. I couldn't understand how the rural folk got word to the city that a murder had taken place, then Wilson drives what seems like a considerable distance to get to their location, and the murderer is still hanging out in the same field where the crime took place. 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. I never felt that the two were integrated fully enough to make the conclusion work though. Certainly Wilson can see a bit of himself in the vengeful Walter Brent (Ward Bond) who wants to kill the murderer (Sumner Williams, hopelessly out of his league in the role) on sight. But why he would develop such sympathy for Mary and her mentally ill brother never made sense to me, and I didn't feel any spark of romance between Mary and Jim either. Lupino was a very good actress and Ray works very well with actors but she did not seem real to me; she was far too wholesome to be a real person. The film attempts to contrast the cynical attitude that Wilson has developed because of his exposure to the urban criminal element to Mary's virtue and idealism, but we can only believe the film's conclusions if we accept the existence of a person like Mary who is utterly devoid of bitterness. Some of the stuff is just bizarre and makes no sense to me, like the way they tried to make out that she had become blind because of the sacrifices she made for her brother. It seemed like something out of a ridiculous 19th Century romance novel.

I wouldn't completely disparage this film. Bernard Herrman's score is a masterwork, equal to his best. Ray's direction of the fight in the alley early in the film is worth the price of admission alone. I noted how he swiveled the camera around in a dramatic arc when Wilson slugged that guy -- a technique he used in one of my favorite shots in "Johnny Guitar", when Ward Bond throws the bottle against the wall. Ryan and Bond's performances are remarkable in many ways. But for me the film hinged on my acceptance of the Lupino character who I felt was portrayed in an overly sentimental way for the film to carry the weight of its own convictions.

Minor masterpiece film noir/film blanc

[wrygrass · 10/10 · 6 October 1999]

I consider this short, unpretentious film to be a minor masterpiece. The movement from the familiar cityscape of the film noir to the white of the snowy countryside, from the damned, despairing world of the detective to the redeemed world of love offered by the heroine is captured in minimalist dialog and with outstanding cinematography. That one kiss at the end is worth a thousand sex scenes.

Interesting noir split into two halves

[The_Void · 7/10 · 17 August 2009]

On Dangerous Ground is a short and rather simple film noir which is in two stages. 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. The film is directed by Nicholas Ray and many consider this to be his best effort; though personally I'd say it's not as good as In a Lonely Place. The lead character is Jim Wilson; he's a city cop and is tired of all the scum he has to deal with on a daily basis. As a result, he has become tired and withdrawn - and has a tendency to beat confessions out of suspects. He's beaten up one too many and as a result he's sent out of town to investigate a murder in the countryside. A young girl has been killed and her father is baying for blood. The investigation leads the cop to a Mary Malden; a blind woman who is linked to the murderer.

On Dangerous Ground is very dark throughout. The whole film is set entirely at night and this plays well with the fact that the lead character himself is so dark and grizzled. The two parts of the film play in stark contrast to one another - as the dark city gives way to a snow covered setting later on. It is the characters that take centre stage, however, and the film is well lead by Robert Ryan, who provides an interesting central character. The film also stars Ida Lupino and the two have a good on screen chemistry that is believable. Despite the positives, it does have to be said that the film is rather lacking in action; and neither half of the film really provides much excitement. It's basically like two mini stories in one film and neither one is exactly brimming with substance. The second half of the film is more involving than the first, however, and it's clear that this is the part of the story that director Nicholas Ray was more interested in. Overall, On Dangerous Ground is an interesting slice of film noir that will surely appeal to fans of the genre; but it falls short of being a masterpiece for me.

Change For The Weather

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 12 May 2009]

On Dangerous Ground casts Robert Ryan as a cop going too far over the edge in dealing with the lowlifes of the world. After giving some criminals a severe beating in the line of work, even though he obtained the needed information, his captain Ed Begley has decided Ryan needs a change of scenery, something far removed from asphalt. If you remember the same plot premise was used in one Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry films, Sudden Impact, where the brass decides Eastwood needs some time away from San Francisco.

But in Sudden Impact, Eastwood at least settled in before getting involved in a case. As Ryan is driving up, he sees a posse being formed to catch a rapist and the father of the victim, Ward Bond, isn't patiently waiting for law enforcement to due its thing. Ryan arrives and gets in the car right with him.

The trail leads them to Ida Lupino's farm where she lives as self sufficiently as she can for a blind woman. Looking at Bond's rage, Ryan realizes just how far he's come to that in himself. The target they're seeking is Lupino's younger brother, Sumner Williams who is mentally disturbed and probably should have been committed a long time ago.

What happens to all the folks involved you'll have to watch On Dangerous Ground for. For me the film didn't quite jell, probably it needed more running time to develop any kind of romance between Lupino and Ryan. That to me is a glaring weakness.

Also Ryan did look a whole lot ludicrous tracking down young Williams with Ward Bond in his city clothes. How could Nicholas Ray and writer A.I. Bezzerides not at least giver Ryan a chance to change into something suitable for the snow? He looks even more ridiculous next to Ward Bond who is dressed for the weather.

Ryan, Bond, and Lupino are quite good, but acting honors in On Dangerous Ground go to Sumner Williams for a very touching portrayal of a young mentally man on the run. The cop with the reputation for brutality might be his salvation.

On Dangerous Ground is a good noir film, but not as good as some rate it here, it has too many glaring weaknesses for me.