On Dangerous Ground
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On Dangerous Ground is a 1951 film released by RKO Radio Pictures, directed by Nicholas Ray and produced by John Houseman. The screenplay was written by A. I. Bezzerides based on the novel Mad with Much Heart by Gerald Butler. The film's score is from composer Bernard Herrmann. On Dangerous Ground is a film noir drama generally considered to be one of director Nicholas Ray's best works.
Some have observed On Dangerous Ground's influence on Hitchcock's Psycho - namely the characterisation of the shy young psychopath living in isolation from 'normal' society. The visual/narrative resemblance to the Norwegian film Insomnia (later remade by Christopher Nolan and starring Al Pacino) is also worth noting: both involve a burnt out city cop dispatched to an icy wasteland to investigate the murder of a young girl and finding redemption).
Plot
The film opens with Herrmann's music of which is played over the RKO logo and the title credits as the camera cruises down a dark city street. The stark nighttime scenery immediately signals the noir atmosphere. The intense, almost sadistic music symbolises the psychological malaise of Robert Ryan's Los Angeles cop Jim Wilson toughened by his job and cracking up in the process. Ryan's edgy performance dominates the first act, creating a sense of tension and pent-up emotion. By the end of this first act, his character has lost control. "What kind of job is this, anyway?" Wilson cries after he's restrained by his partner from beating up a thug. "Garbage, that's all we handle, garbage!"In the second act, Wilson is sent up north to cool out. "Siberia", he wryly notes, but Wilson's exile to the wintry countryside marks the beginning of his journey of redemption though he is given a job that is not too dissimilar from what he has left behind in the city -- to investigate a killing. Following a pursuit of the killer, Wilson is brought together with a blind woman Mary Malden (Ida Lupino), the sister of the fugitive. In the final brief third act, Wilson's redemption is a foregone conclusion, but it is his journey towards that redemption that matters most: in that journey Wilson has walked on dangerous ground.
Featured cast
Cleo Moore is featured as a doomed gun moll, Myrna, in a role that launch her screen career.
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