Dangerously They Live

Nothing to complain about concerning acting, directing because it is a Warner Bros film, so very fast paced without any length, no scene in excess, no, the problem is that it is a dull espionnage yarn, anti Nazi, so predictable that it is a shame that John Garfield, the most gifted actor of his time, the announced heir of Humphrey Bogart, was involved in this so lousy story where everything is written ten miles in advance. And the sequence when Garfield falls - not jumps, falls - from the second floor balcony and then stands up quietly, just as if he stood up from the lawn after taking a sunbath, this scene is just awful to watch...I reject this movie from such a talented director, who gave us authentic film noirs, real dark, terrific - CROOKED WAY, JOHNNY ONE EYE, KING OF ALCATRAZ instead of this one.

Working for a British group, pretty Nancy Coleman (as Jane) is kidnapped in a New York cab. An unexpected car accident lands her in the temporary safety of a hospital, under the care of unlikely intern John Garfield (as Michael "Mike" Lewis). Mr. Garfield wants to investigate Ms. Goodman because he's interested in amnesia cases. Garfield becomes even more intrigued when Coleman tells him she's not really forgetful, but being pursued by Nazi spies. Coleman doesn't want to go home with the man claiming to be her father, but he produces family pictures proving she's her daughter.

Psychic amnesia expert, and former Garfield professor, Raymond Massey (as Ingersoll) is hired as head shrink, by the wealthy Goodwin family. They have trouble getting "daughter" Coleman to return home, so Mr. Massey suggests Garfield come along as in-house physician. Garfield thinks their mansion is beautiful, but Coleman says it's a "concentration camp." It's really too bad "Dangerously They Live" makes it clear who the bad guys are, because this picture had greater potential.

Marion Parsonnet's story should have received a better treatment. It has a Hitchcockian sensibilities, but squanders much suspense potential. Imagine, for instance, a little re-writing and re-editing to make the moment Garfield receives the "Get the girl out of here - she is in grave danger" note the moment you KNOW, for sure, who is telling the truth. And, it would have been easy to adjust Garfield's "intern" character (and wardrobe) to more flatter the actor. He does as well as possible with the assignment, however. Robert Florey's direction, Coleman's debut performance, and Massey are impressive.

******* Dangerously They Live (12/24/41) Robert Florey ~ John Garfield, Nancy Coleman, Raymond Massey, Moroni Olsen

I was very pleased to finally see this film again after many years. I can never understand why other people complain about the storyline or some of the individual actors in the film or any other irrelevant aspect of the film without properly recognizing its significance. This film was released in 1941 at a time when world peace was being seriously threatened by some of the most evil forces then known to mankind. It was a means of conveying to as many as possible the evils of Nazism at a time when people in America were arguing, loudly by the way, that the country should remain neutral as far as the rest of the world was concerned. How people can, today, quibble about the acting abilities or weaknesses of the story line is beyond me. This was 1941 and films such as this were designed, first and foremost, to make the then-current world situation a reality for those people who didn't seem to know, or even care, about what was happening around them. In that respect, it succeeds magnificently. And how ironic that it should star John Garfield who was so hounded by the treacherous McCarthy era that he died at the unforgivable age of 39!!! Nancy Coleman, who later became the mother of twins, lived across the street from me for many years. One might, perhaps, want to think about just where our world would be today if not for the efforts of all those responsible for this unappreciated film from 1941.

Alfred Hitchcok is not my favorite director by any means but imagine what he could have done with this! The plot holds much potential for suspense. John Garfield is as almost always excellent and Raymond Massey is scarily cast against type. Nancy Coleman is not a very impressive leading lady but the supporting cast is large and very capable.

Yes it starts to sag fairly early. There are too many coincidences. And an important subject is trivialized by its being made into little more, in the end, than a love story.

It's fun to watch for Garfield, Massey, and the character performers. But it's not awfully good.

Nancy Coleman plays an British agent based in Washington D.C during the Second World War who has some vital information about Allied convoys which

German agents are keen to get their hot and sticky little hands on it and none too scrupulous about how they do it .They capture her but she escapes from their clutches only to be involved in an auto accident which leaves her concussed and with memory loss, Enter John Garfield as the intern in charge of her case .He facilitates her recovery but -suspecting many of the people who claim to know her are in fact Nazi agents -she continues to feign amnesia .She is taken into a private sanatorium by an eminent psychologist ( Raymond Massey ) who is a Nazi agent and which turns out to be a prison in all but name .All the servants and other help are "de facto" wardens and the last part of the movie deals with the attempt of Coleman and Garfield to escape and prevent the bad guys extracting the vital information from them Garfield was unenthusiastic about doing this movie -and agreed to do so only because he could not afford another suspension by the studio .It shows in a lacklustre performance and Raymond Massey has no problem stealing the acting honours in what is a proficient but minor Warner Brothers melodrama -watchable but not exceptional