Main Cast: Alan Ladd, Phyllis Calvert, Paul Stewart, Jan Sterling, Jack Webb
Release Year: 1951
Country: US
Run Time: 90 minutes
Plot
Al Goddard, (Alan Ladd) special investigator for the U.S. post office, is assigned to collar two criminals who've murdered a postal detective. Goddard must first locate the only witness to the crime, attractive young nun, Sister Augustine (Phyllis Calvert). Posing as a crook, Goddard gains the confidence of the murderers' boss Earl Boettiger (Paul Stewart), who has worked out a scheme to defraud the post office of one million dollars. Once they've tumbled to the deception, the crooks take Goddard and the nun prisoner, leading to a fight to the finish in a lonely industrial district. Appointment with Danger tends to draw chuckles rather than shivers nowadays, thanks to the casting of future Dragnet co-stars Jack Webb and Harry Morgan as the murderers -- and as icing to the cake, viewers are treated to a scene in which Webb bumps off Morgan! As a whole, the film, the last of Alan Ladd's series of film noir, is uneven and generally unsuccessful. However, it contains some crisp, tough dialogue and some terrific action sequences which make it worthwhile. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
One of the lesser-known films noir, Appointment with Danger is decidedly uneven, but when it's kicked into high gear, it's quite memorable. It's a shame that the stretches of the film between its highs don't have more vitality and spark to them; they're not bad, mind you, but they come across as routine. That feeling of "routine-ness" is more in the execution, for Danger has a number of elements that are somewhat different for the genre and which had greater potential than was realized. For example, having a nun as the crucial witness had not been done to death in the genre, and the decision to make the protagonist a member of the postal police was original. If these were missed opportunities, we're quite fortunate that director Lewis Allen and screenwriters Richard L. Breen and Warren B. Duff were in better form for the sequences that stand out -- especially the squash game and the murder of Henry Morgan. The former is an outstanding sequence in which Alan Ladd's seething anger is allowed to boil over, resulting in an exciting game in which the ball becomes almost a weapon of death. In the latter, Jack Webb's cold blooded killing, with a pair of bronzed baby shoes that themselves are filled with meaning, is shockingly brutal yet thrilling. Ladd does well in the lead role, although his laidback style will not engage all viewers. Phyllis Calvert is excellent as the nun, and Jan Sterling gets in some memorable moments as the moll. The most interesting casting, however, is future Dragnet co-stars Webb and Morgan as the villains, with Webb's patented deadpan style proving chilling and disturbingly psychopathic. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Stacy Harris - Paul Ferrar; Henry Morgan - George Soderquist; David Wolfe - David Goodman; Dan Riss - Maury Ahearn; Harry Antrim - Taylor, Postmaster; Geraldine Wall - Mother Ambrose; George Lewis - Leo Cronin; Paul Lees - Gene Gunner; Murray Alper - Driver; Billy Engle - Man; Fritz Feld - Window Dresser; Kathleen Freeman - Nun; Frank S. Hagney - Motorcycle Cop; Sheldon Jett - Fat Man; Pat Lane - Policeman; Patsy O'Byrne - Woman; Ralph Sanford - Wilder Bartender; Russell Saunders - Gary Policeman; Sid Tomack - Trainman; Harry Tyler - Brakeman; Ann Tyrrell - Secretary; Erno Verebes - Window Dresser; Herb Vigran - Policeman; Bruce Wong - Chop Suey Restaurant Proprietor; John Whitney - Postal Inspectors; James Cornell - Gruber; Jerry James - Policeman; Bill Meader - Sharkey; Symona Boniface - Woman; Byron Barr - Policeman
Credit
Hans Dreier - Art Director, Albert Nozaki - Art Director, Mary Kay Dodson - Costume Designer, Francisco Day - First Assistant Director, Lewis Allen - Director, LeRoy Stone - Editor, Victor Young - Composer (Music Score), Wally Westmore - Makeup, John F. Seitz - Cinematographer, Robert M. Fellows - Producer, Sam Comer - Set Designer, Bertram Granger - Set Designer, Harold Lewis - Sound/Sound Designer, Gene Garvin - Sound/Sound Designer, Richard L. Breen - Screenwriter, Warren B. Duff - Screenwriter
The film tells of Al Goddard (Alan Ladd), a detective who works for the United States Postal Inspection Service. He's assigned to arrest two criminals who've allegedly murdered a U.S. postal detective.
Goddard must locate the witness to the murder, an attractive young nun named Sister Augustine (Phyllis Calvert). He poses as a crook, and gains the confidence of the killers' honcho Boettiger (Paul Stewart), who has worked out a plan to steal one million bucks from the post office.
Once they discover the deception, the villains take Goddard and witness Sister Augustine prisoner. This leads to a fight in an industrial district.
The film features both Jack Webb and Harry Morgan, who would later work on the Dragnet television show, as villains.
Critical reception
Bosley Crowther, film critic for The New York Times, liked the film, especially the screenplay which Alan Ladd took full advantage of. He wrote, "[I]t's fairly obvious that it's all familiar stuff to our hero, for he evinces as much emotion over these muscular goings-on as a postal clerk counting air mail stamps. But he is fortunate in having a vehicle, which is basically a cops-and-robbers tale, tautly written by scenarists Richard Breen and Warren Duff, who also have injected humor in the modern idiom into their dialogue. And he is fortunate too in having the support of principals who handle these lines and roles as to the manner born. As a result, Appointment With Danger lives up to its title as Ladd, checking on the murder of another postal inspector in Gary, Ind., finds a visiting nun who saw the criminals."[2]
The staff at Variety magazine gave the film a positive review, writing, "Ladd is right at home as the tightlipped, tough inspector assigned to the case. There is a neat contrasting byplay in the nun character done by Phyllis Calvert as co-star, which adds an offbeat note to the meller plot.[3]
