cult film freak: HUBERT CORNFIELD'S FILM NOIR PROGRAMMER 'SUDDEN DANGER'

Written by James M. Tate / 1/31/2021 / No comments / beverly garland , bill elliott , cop , fifties , film noir or melodrama , helene stanton , hubert cornfield , mystery , thriller , tom drake , wrong man

HUBERT CORNFIELD'S FILM NOIR PROGRAMMER 'SUDDEN DANGER'

1/31/2021 | No comment

Title: Sudden Danger Year: 1955 Rating: ***1/2

All of Film Noir turned Neo Noir director Hubert Cornfield's thrillers start out with an illegal act followed by the characters dealing with the consequences...

And this, being his first picture, marks the biggest difference in that it's a partial mystery...

Especially since you just know blind Tom Drake can't afford a cure... until his mother's apparent suicide provides him the exact amount for a top surgeon... isn't what the badgering cop Bill Elliott (the second of five movies) thinks he is: guilty of murder...

Let's forget the men: the best character is also the prettiest, and there are two contrasting dames including the outright bombshell Helene Stanton, oblivious moll of a sneaky rich guy...

But it's Beverly Garland as the blind man's faithful girl-next-door girlfriend who steals the show, particularly in scenes where the cop, trying to wear her down while learning she's not as weak as she seems, gets worn out in the process, thus making SUDDEN DANGER stand above the typical poverty row programmer that, like our blind Wrong Man, deserves another look.

Bill Elliott and Tom Drake in SUDDEN DANGER

Good girl Beverly Garland in SUDDEN DANGER

Semi bad girl Helene Stanton with wrong man Tom Drake in Sudden Danger

Tom Drake and Bill Elliott in SUDDEN DANGER

Sudden Danger title card with Allied Artists logo SUDDEN DANGER

Director Hubert Cornfield gets his due for SUDDEN DANGER

Some Foreign Poster artwork for SUDDEN DEATH

Share This Post :

Tags : beverly garland , bill elliott , cop , fifties , film noir or melodrama , helene stanton , hubert cornfield , mystery , thriller , tom drake , wrong man

James M. Tate

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

FAVORITES SHORTLIST

1)OTLEY 2)THE FEARMAKERS 3)CANYON PASSAGE 4)HOT CARS 5)THE CROWDED SKY 6)RAIDERS FROM BENEATH THE SEA 7)VIOLENT SATURDAY 8)JUNGLE STREET 9)THE MAN FROM LARAMIE 10)HELL IS A CITY 11))ANATOMY OF A MURDER 12)SHARKS' TREASURE 13)SWEENEY TWO 14)HARDCORE 15)FRENZY 16)THE SYSTEM 17)WHITE HEAT 18)THE SERGEANT 19)AL CAPONE 20)FALLEN ANGEL 21)ASH WEDNESDAY 22)CURSE OF THE DEMON 23)ATLANTIC CITY 24)KILLER FISH 25)AIR PATROL 26)DUEL IN THE JUNGLE 27)EASY LIVING 28)WILLIAM CONRAD'S BRAINSTORM 29)VENOM 30)THE ROARING TWENTIES 1)DANA ANDREWS 2)JAMES CAGNEY 3)JACK NICHOLSON 4)MARLON BRANDO 5)CHARLES BRONSON DAMES 1)VIRGINIA MAYO 2)SUE LYON 3)GENE TIERNEY 4)MERRY ANDERS 5)FAYE DUNAWAY DIRECTORS 1)JACQUES TOURNEUR 2)RICHARD FLEISCHER 3)STANLEY KUBRICK 4)ORSON WELLES 5)OTTO PREMINGER 6)JOHN LANDIS 7)JOHN GUILLERMAN 8)VAL GUEST 9)JOHN CARPENTER 10)MICHAEL WINNER