Dangerous Mission (1954)

Pretty Good

It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Oh Gawd...... RKO in the Howard Hughes years.... terrible films with good production values.... and in 3D comes DANGEROUS MISSION.... what a terrible title... it is like calling a film SOMETHING HAPPENED. Of course it is a dangerous mission.. what would be the point of it otherwise.....In this hybrid noir and faux-Republic western, we get some terrific location forest and glacier footage mixed with shoddy studio shots, half the film is re created indoors on sound stages almost as if to give the studio staff and crew something to do. The whole film could easily have been filmed on location, but for almost this 'keep 'em busy at Gower St' reason insert shots and close ups and odd shots get a studio level makeover.. and this includes a 3D forest fire (!) a 3D whiplash loose electrical cable, a 3D avalanche.. all of which believe it or not have nothing to do with the story. If you see the trailer on the "3D trailers DVD" available in discount shops, there is a hilarious gangland assassination of some piano player in reel one (he keeps tinkling on the treble keys as he slides off the stool) some gal sees it and some guys follow her to her holiday hideout in the mountains. The second unit alpine reality is gorgeous and the Indian theme inspires 50s sets and clothes are kitsch.. and the interaction and jumbled scenes often do not make sense... in fact it is downright startling that some scenes have nothing to do with the next. One scene in the lobby early in the film has Vincent Price and Victor Mature chatting up the two female characters in the film. cut to: entry at a chalet square dance where Mature arrives with one of them... no asking her out in the last scene... just 'here they are here now:... then the roof falls in courtesy of producer Irwin Allen. The glacial scenes in the last reel make no sense as they swing between the same actors in shopping clothes in icy terrain and them them on a cardboard set shooting each other. It is just a mess...BUT and here I have to admit, it is all so entertaining. Almost no story, subplots dismissed (the Indian Dad), pointless running about and apparently witty macho banter between the guys. Some noir twists and BANG it's all over in a 3D avalanche too. What a mess. How enjoyable!

No doubt the real star here is Glacier National Park and its scenic vistas. It's 1953 and Hollywood is trying to lure TV audiences back into theatres with lavish Technicolor that b&w can't compete with, and with a 3-D process that faded as quickly as it soared. In short, Hollywood is looking for new formulas that work. I suspect an uncertain background of this sort accounts for this very odd movie product. In brief, it's a scenic jumble. Maybe you can make sense of story developments, I couldn't. It's a weird blend of noirish plot with The Nature Channel. Something about a mysterious hit-man tracking down a murder witness in the Park. But somehow the thread never really gels amid a welter of confusing events. I also suspect the screenplay is the result of too many chefs, even good chefs like W.R. Burnett, Horace McCoy, and Charles Bennett (a Hitchcock favorite), all of whom are credited, and each likely with his own ideas.The cast is also an uneasy blend of aging names and hopeful no-names. Mature, Price, and Bendix lend some waning marquee strength, while Laurie and St. John are attractive newcomers. Yet, it's a real stretch to have the nubile young St. John ga-ga over the slightly effete, 40'ish Price. Then too, casting the unlikely Price as a top New York hit-man doesn't help. I realize there's supposed to be a surprise factor here, especially with the guffawing Cheshire's role; still, these come across as little more than artificial plot devices. Note too, the remnants of 3-D that come rolling at us during the avalanche sequence. And judging from the extravagant set for the climactic crevasse scene, "disaster" producer Irwin Allen is already experimenting with big ideas. Anyway, the storyline may jumble, but those Technicolor vistas continue to shine through and remain about the only reason to catch up with this RKO goulash.

The film begins with some sap getting blasted by a hood. Unfortunately, a woman witnessed the killing and the murderer knows he faces serious jail time unless she can be located.The scene abruptly changes to Glacier National Park as Victor Mature is heading into the park. As he reaches for the glove box, you see a gun but really don't know why he has it--perhaps he's a cop or perhaps he's a killer on the trail of the witness.Much later, after some mushy romance between Mature and a gorgeous Piper Laurie, an assassin sent by the murderer makes his move and tries to kill Piper. However, when it's unsuccessful, the law is after the man and this leads to a very exciting chase through the mountains and onto a glacier.While the plot is apparently recycled from a Gene Autry film according to one of the reviews, I felt that the action and suspense were good and setting most of the action in beautiful wilderness was a very nice touch. This might not have been the most surprising suspense movie I have seen, but it did deliver a pretty good punch and is well worth seeing.

"Dangerous Mission" probably occupied the bottom half of double bills, back when they had such things. The mission referred to in the title: find a missing witness (Piper Laurie) to a gangland murder. The cops want to put her in protective custody; the hoods want to shut her up (accidently on purpose).The first half of the picture tries to suggest that the unidentified hitman is actually leading man Victor Mature, but it's pretty easy to spot the fact that he's actually our hero. No, the villain in this piece is an unctuous Vincent Price, a "dangerous gunman from NYC". Having yet to perfect his evil leer, employed with ease in his many later horror pictures, Vinnie is still pretty smarmy in a greasy sort of way.Mature always seems to be reading his lines from well-placed cue cards and never works up too much of a sweat while he's tailing (in more ways the one) our wayward witness. He soon saves the day, rescuing our damsel from the clutches of the killer as well as saving her from a fall into a glacial crevasse. Price gets his in the end, thanks to his own misguided ineptitude!An avalanche & forest fire are thrown in to pad the running time, but little tension or suspense is generated during the thankfully short running time. The film is poorly edited (via "a chainsaw", according to Leonard Maltin)& the performances are uniformly trite (led by William Bendix' customary wooden performance in a supporting role).If it's on past 11:00 PM, don't bother! You'll never stay awake.