Danger Signal
directed by Robert Florey
directed by Robert Florey
This short movie doesn't reach the level of a true film noir though it certainly looks like it thanks to the fantastic cinematography by James Wong Howe, a rarity in early Hollywood, a Chinese-American cinematographer. Howe's work, along with some of the acting, gives the film a gravitas that unfortunately falls apart at the ending or when you closely examine it.
But since the movie moves fast it's entertaining enough I guess. In the sitcom Seinfeld there was an episode where the title character wanted to stop dating one roommate and switch to dating the other. His solution was to propose a threesome in the hopes that his current girlfriend would be disgusted and dump him while the other lady might be intrigued enough to become his new girlfriend.
His plans fell through when both women expressed interest. Danger Signal was made in 1945 so it lacks lurid sex, but it does have a man, a far more dangerous man than the hapless Seinfeld character, who wishes to switch from one roommate (here the women are sisters) to the other. We already know that this man Ronnie Mason (a perfectly cast Zachary Scott) is no good because we see him leaving his murder victim, after stealing her wedding ring and some cash and placing a fake suicide note where the authorities are sure to find it.
Changing his name and inventing a bogus wartime background Ronnie becomes a guest boarder in the home of an older woman (Mary Servoss) and her two daughters, the lonely Hilda (Faye Emerson) and the younger and naive Anne (Mona Freeman).
Swiftly schmoozing his way past Hilda's weak objections of having a strange man around, the sharp dressed Ronnie impresses all three women. Ronnie is a writer. He says he'll pay his rent just as soon as he's sold his next/first story. Somehow though he never seems to sell that story. And he certainly never pays rent.
Hilda doesn't mind though because Ronnie takes her out and makes her feel desired, something that her shy, boring boss and would be beau Dr. Lang (Bruce Bennett) can't seem to find the courage to do. Ronnie sweeps Hilda off her feet. Hilda and Ronnie talk of marriage. That is they talk of marriage until Hilda discovers that Ronnie has also been putting the moves on Anne, who is only too happy to steal her big sister's man.
Ronnie has learned that it's Anne, not Hilda, who's due for an inheritance. And Hilda has learned that Ronnie has lied about not selling any stories and thus being unable to pay rent.
When Hilda finds a gun among Ronnie's belongings and other discrepancies in his story she blows the whistle. But it may be too late. Anne and Ronnie are due to be married. Anne's convinced that Hilda's objections are sour grapes and sibling jealousy. Hilda will have to take matters into her own hands. But how far is she prepared to go?
The film purports to be a look at a psychopath. But by today's standards it's pretty light fare. The film doesn't go as far as it could have and perhaps should have. Part of it could have been that the actress playing Hilda was FDR's daughter-in-law. Hilda marches to the beat of her own drummer. I don't think there's any man that rushes to the rescue. Women make their own mistakes and fix or do not fix them on their own. This movie was one step above or below mediocre.
