Main Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Barry Sullivan, Ralph Meeker, Lee Aaker
Release Year: 1953
Country: US
Run Time: 69 minutes
Plot
The answer is: A turgid melodrama. The question: What is Jeopardy? Barbara Stanwyck stars as a suburbanite on a Mexican vacation with her husband (Barry Sullivan) and son (Lee Aaker). The threesome runs afoul of escape convict Ralph Meeker. Stanwyck's dilemma: Attempting to rescue her husband from drowning, while staving off the carnal demands of Meeker, who holds Stanwyck and her son at gunpoint. Jeopardy is on and off in only 69 minutes, but 64 of those minutes seem far longer. Trivia note: When dramatized on Lux Radio Theater, Jeopardy costarred child actor Harry Shearer, later a comic regular on Saturday Night Live. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
If Jeopardy's too-bare-bones screenplay keeps it from being a great film, it's still a taut, nifty little thriller that delivers plenty of excitement and keeps the viewer on the edge of his seat -- even as he rolls his eyes slightly at the blatant manipulation of the script. It's a great set-up: husband of vacationing family is trapped underneath heavy timber and must be rescued before the tide comes in and he drowns. Throw in a psychotic maniac who is going to keep the wife from getting help, and the picture practically writes itself -- and at times seems to have done just that. But director John Sturges doesn't care if there's a lack of subtlety and nuanced characterization to the material -- he's hell-bent on making this as exciting a little picture as he can, and he succeeds admirably. He's helped no end by Barbara Stanwyck as the wife and Ralph Meeker as the psycho. No one played these kind of determined-but-distressed damsels better than Stanwyck, and as usual she gives the role her all, not caring that the script ain't exactly Shakespeare. For his part, Meeker grabs hold of the role and shows us how darned entertaining a dangerous nut case can be. By contrast, poor Barry Sullivan is left with little to do and therefore makes little impression. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Rico Alaniz - Mexican Officer; Salvador Baguez - Second Officer; Bob Castro - Machine Gunner; George Derrick - Gas Station Attendant; Paul Fierro - Mexican Lieutenant; Sol (Saul) Gorss - Captain's Driver; Alex Montoya - Walkie-Talkie Officer; Charles Stevens - Mexican Father; Ken Terrell - Barricade Officer; Juan Torena - Mexican Police Chief; Felipe Turich - Mexican Border Official; Natividad Vacio - Vendor; Bud Wolfe - Lieutenant's Driver; Victor Milner; George Navarro; Margarita Martin - Mexican Mother; Carlos Conde - Vendor; Louis Tomei
Credit
William Ferrari - Art Director, Cedric Gibbons - Art Director, Helen Rose - Costume Designer, Frank Delmar - Costume Designer, John Sturges - Director, Newell P. Kimlin - Editor, Dimitri Tiomkin - Composer (Music Score), Dimitri Tiomkin - Musical Direction/Supervision, Victor Milner - Cinematographer, Sol Baer Fielding - Producer, Charles Schnee - Producer, Fred MacLean - Set Designer, Edwin B. Willis - Set Designer, Maurice Zimm - Screen Story, Mel Dinelli - Screenwriter, Maurice Zimm - Play Author
