Danger Signal
| Danger Signal | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Robert Florey |
| Screenplay by | |
| Based on | Danger Signal 1939 novel by Phyllis Bottome |
| Produced by | William Jacobs |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | James Wong Howe |
| Edited by | Frank Magee |
| Music by | Adolph Deutsch |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release date |
|
Running time | 78 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $471,000[1] |
| Box office | $1,110,000[1] |
Danger Signal is a 1945 film noir starring Faye Emerson and Zachary Scott. The screenplay was adapted from the novel of the same name by Phyllis Bottome.
Plot
A mysterious artist—and psychopath—named Ronnie Mason, steals a dead woman's wedding ring and money and leaves a fake suicide note. The woman's husband, Thomas Turner, when questioned by the local police, believes his dead wife might have been seeing Mason behind his back. He also believes his wife was murdered, but in the absence of other evidence, the police list it as a suicide and drop the case.
Mason leaves town, changes his name to Marsh and, displaying a noticeable limp he acquired jumping from the dead woman's bedroom window and a veteran's pin he steals from a fellow passenger on the L.A. bus, passes himself off as a wounded soldier and rents a room in the house of Mrs. Fenchurch, who she shares residency with her daughters Hilda, a public stenographer, and her younger sister Anne. All three women are extremely naive and gullible and to the consternation of professor Andrew Lang, who secretly loves Hilda, she, and Anne, fall for the scheming Marsh.
Marsh learns that Anne might inherit a great deal of money, so he suddenly switches his affections from Hilda and towards her. Hilda is jealous and suspicious. She plots to lure Marsh to a beach house and poison him. She is unable to go through with it, but when Marsh runs off, he is surprised by Thomas Turner and plunges off a steep cliff to his death.
Cast
- Faye Emerson as Hilda Fenchurch
- Zachary Scott as Ronnie Mason / Marsh
- Richard Erdman as Bunkie Taylor (as Dick Erdman)
- Rosemary DeCamp as Dr. Jane Silla
- Bruce Bennett as Dr. Andrew Lang
- Mona Freeman as Anne Fenchurch
- John Ridgely as Thomas Turner
- Mary Servoss as Mrs. Fenchurch
- Joyce Compton as Kate
- Virginia Sale as Mrs. Crockett
Reception
Bosley Crowther, the film critic for The New York Times, panned the film, describing it a "diluted little melodrama" in which the filmmakers resort to a car chase in order to relieve boredom.[2] The ending proved to be a disappointment. In the Bottome novel, Hilda does indeed poison Marsh. Warner Bros., however, thought it improper to portray Faye Emerson, who was the daughter-in-law of President Franklin D. Roosevelt by her marriage to Elliott Roosevelt, as a murderess.
Box office
According to financial records at Warner Bros., the film was a box-office success, earning $689,000 domestically and $421,000 internationally.[1]
References
- ^ a b c Warner Bros. financial information in "The William Shaefer Ledger". See Appendix 1, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, (1995) 15:sup1, 1-31 p 26 DOI: 10.1080/01439689508604551
- ^ Crowther, Bosley. The New York Times, film review, November 22, 1945. Last accessed: February 8, 2010.