Achtung: Grün

A great British who-done-it mystery that was charming and entertaining. A great murder mystery for the entire family with historic value woven right into the script.

Alastair Sims plays Inspector Cockrill from Scotland Yard called to a hospital after a set of murders are committed. It appears that someone in the surgical ward of the hospital is killing people and the Inspector is called out to find who and why the kills are happening.

Inspector Cockrill finds more than he bargained when he deals with the lives of the hospital personnel. Each person has some emotion they want hidden from the rest of the public thus making the mystery more interesting.

This movie is a great mystery film. It will keep you on the edge of your seat the entire time. And the entire cast really performs beautifully as each character shows the human side of their emotion.

Even with the ending kind of crowded- the film deliveries with suspense and thrills for all viewers. There is a lot of history in this film. From hospital procedures to war time fears, this movie is a gem to watch. A good who-done-it flick.

By gum, from the 1940's through the 1960's, when the British put together a murder mystery with a psychological edge, nobody could beat them! This little thriller starts out in WWII as a team of surgeons and nurses are quite busy repairing the bodies of people hit by Nazi planes whose targets are not military but civilian in an effort to beat down the morale of British citizens.

One night a fellow named Higgins is brought in, badly injured by one of these Nazi bombs, and he dies on the operating table. He says something right before he goes under the anesthetic to one of the members of the team - I won't tell you what - and you think "Oh this is easy, THAT person did it." Then you find out another member of the team has psychological issues stemming from her mother's death in a raid while she was away from home, that there are jealousy issues over a woman between the two doctors, and yet another member of the team just likes to cause trouble.

Big tip here - if you suspect that someone is guilty of murder, do not stop a social event in a room that includes all of the suspects and say "I know there has been a murder, I know who the murderer is, and I am now going alone out into the dark of night to retrieve the evidence that will convict that person!" You will wind up dead, and so does that person.

Enter stage left Alistair Sim as a representative of Scotland Yard -in other words a cop - and he is every bit as unlikeable as any murderer could be. He announces that Higgins was murdered, he announces that the five surviving members of the surgical team are suspects, and he also announces that four poison pills are missing from the pharmacy. The implication is that the one of the five that is the murderer plans to kill the other four. On his way to solving the case, Sims' character seems to really enjoy making women cry hysterically and causing the doctors to come to blows with only words and insinuations.

There will be several places right up to the end where you are SURE you know who is guilty and you will be wrong right up to the ironic ending. Watch and find out who did it and why. I guarantee you'll be on the edge of your seat right up to the end, which is when the confusing title of this film is explained.

Green For Danger (and how cheeky is THAT title!) is a bravura example of simplicity in the art of movie making. It's a rural whodunnit set in WWII (it was nearly banned in case it frightened soldiers from going to hospital!) wherein a small group of medical professionals soon discover there is a murderer in their midsts after the homicide of a soldier. Enter a Scotland Yard Inspector (Sim) to tidy up the loose ends and swiftly solve the case - before handing in his resignation!!!

This film, despite its whimsical charm, is replete with fine examples of every film-making ingredient. The acting (though a tad stiff) is dead on the ball; the dialogue is always precise and frequently ingenious (Sim's music hall gag about impurities...); the editing is never less than effective and the direction and cinematography constantly inspired (the mood and lighting for the second murder is awesome). It is clear from this type of gem that the ingredients of cinematic success are not always excessive ones - unless it is an excess of skill and talent; and this film has that in abundance. On top of this it also has the gorgon-eyed brilliance of Alistair Sim: a man late to his profession but BOY did he make up for it! Check out his delivery in this film and his constantly out-of-kilter (and surely spontaneous) body language. He is an actor relishing being the fulcrum of every scene he's in - and even those he isn't: The night-time scene in the woods being a perfect example of his equal gift for comedy and scene stealing. And he still makes me laugh out loud!

Directed and produced by Sidney Gilliat and Frank Launder, the British mystery-comedy Green for Danger is a rare treat. Featuring the incomparable Alastair Sim as Cockrill, a bumbling Scotland Yard detective and the redoubtable Trevor Howard as a suspicious doctor, the plot is a convoluted murder mystery in which five people have motive and means to commit murder -- but whodunit?

Set in a rural British hospital (that looks like an Elizabethan mansion) during the latter stages of World War II, two people are murdered before you can say "buzz bomb". The first suspicious death occurs when a postman suddenly dies on the operating table after receiving an anaesthetic. This is soon followed by the death of Nurse Marion Bates (Judy Campbell) after she announces at a party that she has found evidence to expose the killer. The possible killer includes the uptight Dr. Barnes (Trevor Howard), the emotionally unstable Nurse Sanson (Rosamund John), Nurse Woods (Megs Jenkins), Nurse Linley (Sally Gray), the object of affection from both doctors, and the philandering surgeon, Mr. Eden (Leo Genn). Each one of the suspects looks and acts guilty.

There are many twists and turns and, without giving anything away, a staged mock operation after an attempted third murder ultimately will tell the tale. But the film belongs to Alastair Sim. The word whimsical must have been invented with him in mind. You just cannot take things too seriously when he is around. His capricious charm and impudent smile lights up every dark shadow in the old hospital. Green for Danger is a bit stodgy but lots of fun.

A wonderful film, a great adaptation of the book by Christianna Brand (some might say a definite improvement). Wonderful acting by Alastair Sim in particular as the detective. Captures the WW11 mood well. Great movie to watch on a rainy afternoon.