A Life at Stake

A Life at Stake
Directed by	Paul Guilfoyle
Produced by	A.C. Burger (associate producer) Charles Maxwell (executive producer) Hank McCune (producer)
Written by	Russ Bender (screenplay) Hank McCune (story idea)
Starring	See below
Music by	Les Baxter
Cinematography	Ted Allan
Editing by	Frank Sullivan
Running time	78 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

A Life at Stake is a 1954 American film directed by Paul Guilfoyle.

The film is also known as Key Man.

Plot summary

Down on his luck architect and builder Edward Shaw (Keith Andes) is approached by Mrs Doris Hillman (Angela Lansbury) with a business proposal: buying land together, on which he would build houses that she would then sell, using her experience as a former real estate broker. Her husband, a wealthy businessman, would be willing to contribute half a million dollars as capital for the venture. Mrs Hillman also seems interested in more than a purely professional relationship. Shaw starts an affair with her and accepts the business offer. However, an accidental discovery leaves him convinced that the Hillmans' interest lies less in the long-term profits of the venture than in the $175,000 key man insurance policy he took on himself as a precondition for the deal, and that an attempt on his life is imminent.

Cast

• Angela Lansbury as Doris Hillman
• Keith Andes as Edward Shaw
• Douglass Dumbrille as Gus Hillman
• Claudia Barrett as Madge Neilan
• Jane Darwell as Landlady
• Gavin Gordon as Sam Pearson
• Charles Maxwell as Lt. Hoff
• William Henry as Myles Norman
• Kathleen Mulqueen as Mary
• Dan Sturkie as Officer Biff
• Jeane Wood as Mabel, the maid
• Robert Haver as Mechanic

Soundtrack

• "Summer Interlude" (By Hank McCune and Les Baxter)

External links

• A Life at Stake at the Internet Movie Database
• A Life at Stake is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]

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