Jim Wilson, un rudo policía de ciudad, es castigado por su capitán y enviado al norte del estado, a un pueblo montañoso nevado, para que ayude al sheriff local a resolver un caso de asesinat... Leer todoJim Wilson, un rudo policía de ciudad, es castigado por su capitán y enviado al norte del estado, a un pueblo montañoso nevado, para que ayude al sheriff local a resolver un caso de asesinato.Jim Wilson, un rudo policía de ciudad, es castigado por su capitán y enviado al norte del estado, a un pueblo montañoso nevado, para que ayude al sheriff local a resolver un caso de asesinato.
- Premios
- 1 premio ganado en total
- Julie Brent
- (as Pat Prest)
- Town Resident
- (sin créditos)
- Man
- (sin créditos)
- George
- (sin créditos)
- Newsboy
- (sin créditos)
Argumento
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- TriviaA hand-held camera was used in many scenes to give a "live action" feel to those sequences. This was extremely rare in feature films of the time.
- ErroresAfter Walter Brent knocks the lamp over, starting a fire, Mary Malden brings a lantern from the kitchen and places it on the end table where the lamp had been. A few minutes later, however, when she brings the tea tray, the table is on its side and Jim Wilson hurries to right it before she trips on it.
- Citas
Mary Malden: Tell me, how is it to be a cop?
Jim Wilson: You get so you don't trust anybody.
Mary Malden: [who is blind] You're lucky. You don't have to trust anyone. I do. I have to trust everybody.
- ConexionesFeatured in Music for the Movies: Bernard Herrmann (1992)
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.
- ackstasis
- 7 ago 2008
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- How long is On Dangerous Ground?Con tecnología de Alexa
Detalles
- Tiempo de ejecución1 hora 22 minutos
- Color
- Relación de aspecto
- 1.37 : 1