Directed by
Nicholas Ray
Rated G
Reviewed by
Bernard Hemingway
On Dangerous Ground
Robert Ryan plays Jim Wilson a burn-out big city cop who is sent upstate to help in a murder case and finds redemption in the arms of a blind woman (well-played by Ida Lupino) whose mentally-disturbed brother has killed a young girl
On Dangerous Ground is a worthy attempt to raise the film noir to something of grander dimensions (based on an opposition between urban decay and rural purity) but as a result it is also rather contrived and at times approaches the melodramatic. There is an interesting use of mood-creating stylistic devices (the echo in the empty alley as Ryan is berated by his partner, the close up of the hand pumping the car horn etc.).
As usual Ward Bond as the murdered girl's father gives a woodenly-exaggerated performance and Ryan has some trouble dealing with the good cop/bad cop duality of his character whose transformation is somewhat hurried over the film's relatively brief 82 minute running time.
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