A Life at Stake

Interestingly thought out thriller here, with Angela Lansbury (one of my favorite 60's actresses) playing a seductress who may or may not be setting up her business partner to die just so she can collect on some life insurance they have put up for a business deal (don't ask, I'm not 100% sure of the logistics of it). Keith Andes, an actor who I've never heard of before, plays her would-be-victim. She of course plays up her sex to him, and Andes can't resist. Oh, and did I say Lansbury was married? Soon (well, actually, quite quickly) Andes wises up and tries to foil the plan, but Lansbury and husband have plan B's in place..

This was quite a tricky little thriller. It almost looks and seems like it once was a play at one time, what with it's dormitory sets, but the acting sure signs through. Lansbury is fabulous as usual, and I have no idea what became of Keith Andes, because he certainly had the looks and the acting chops to go a long way.

It's no secret that many judge Keith Andes (by the criteria of ethical-emotional normativeness and acting prowess) to be the best actor of the past century. Because of studio politics and poor judgment--the presentation of merely pretty faces who looked good on posters as "stars"--he only played leads in fewer than 10 films; this is a very interesting one I suggest, for several reasons. Andes has been rediscovered by critics and film fans more often than Atlantis; with the exception of 2 "I Spy" episodes where they deliberately denied him the camera to set him up for a defection and future elimination, every part he ever played, by my evaluation, deserved a nomination for best actor at some length of film. Here he plays the interesting part of an architect in a B/W noir thriller. He gradually comes to believe he is going to be killed by his partners once he signs an insurance contract, ostensibly to protect their financial investment in his ability (that alone makes a new project of profitable building possible); and he is fascinating at every moment and professionally superb in a film that give him little to work with; he makes a charismatic triumph out of an underwritten cipher. Opposite him, Douglass Dumbrille is powerful as always as his backer's jealous husband, and Angle Lansbury is attractive bu no match for Andes as a siren who tempts and perhaps threatens him a the same time. As her sister, the interesting young Claudia Barrett does quite well. The serviceable direction by Paul Guilfoyle is taut, the script above average for a "B" B/W film of ant era. This is the sort of film which has seldom been made--a good piece of inexpensive storytelling carried by competent actors. But the focus is on Andes as he goes from boredom in a lonely room to temptation by Lansbury to the gradual realization that he is perhaps being set up for elimination. The violent climax is both surprising, satisfying and visually exciting; and the ending leaves viewers equally satisfied that Andes' character will receive justice, and that he has someone who genuinely cares for him. An underrated thriller that I can unreservedly recommend; I obtained it to see Andes. But this is a good story well told on screen, a true rarity when it was made, and especially in the years of badly acted and special-effects-dominated childish film-making that have been practiced since its mid-1950's release.

This one is a bit weird... first of all, who in the heck would build a cabin in the mountains with a back door that opens on the edge of a cliff? This door literally opens up and if you step off you are gone. Unrealistic and too convenient to me. That is my main problem with the film.

The other problem is the film starts out slow - the first 20 minutes seems like 2 hours but it does pick up after that and does get somewhat interesting.

Another problem I had is the 21 year old helping the poor guy figure out what to do - not to run away with the $1000 bill. That is a pretty lame way for this guy's problems to be solved.

It's not a horrible film mind you, it's just not all that good either. I did watch this one until the end so it's kinda interesting.

5/10

The main-character finds himself in a Hitchcockian situation when he suspects his female boss ( Angela Lansbury ) from wanting to kill him over insurance money. I didn't quite grasp how that works, it seems a bit far-fetched to me...Is he being paranoid? Or is there really a sinister plot to kill him over the dough? And what about the beautiful younger sister and her amazing story? The movie is as mediocre as a thriller can get, filled with illogical twists and weird choices from its characters. Angela Lansbury just doesn't convince as the seductress, but maybe that has to do with her current status as mystery solving-granny Jessica Fletcher. The main-character Keith Andes is decent enough. He's like any fifties ''hero''; a touch cynical, overly masculine and well-behaved.

That early scene at poolside with Andes in a tacky suit and Lansbury in a revealing swimsuit is a fine slice of fateful seduction. The movie's remainder may not rise to that level, but it has its moments. Andes, an unemployed architect, is inveigled into an insurance scheme by an unlikely couple-- an aging Dumbrille and his young sexy wife, Lansbury. The narrative unfolds in none to clear fashion, but at least we know someone's trying to kill Andes, probably for the insurance payoff. It's almost certain Lansbury's a part of it, yet the actress's performance doesn't suggest moments of deception, unlike Stanwyck's tour-de-force in Double Indemnity (1944). Then too, a spotty script doesn't help. As a result the climactic scene lacks the emotional force it should have.

In fact, the script, as others point out, contains a number of gaps—like Andes apparently walking away from a cliffside car plunge! Then too, director Guifoyle lacks any noticeable style that might lift the visuals. Had the production been done, say, 5-years earlier, I expect a 70-minute noir would have emerged. After all, the elements are there—a spider woman, a wobbly fall-guy, a fateful scheme. All in all, the potential is there, but muddy execution undercuts the result. (In passing, at least, worthy movie vet Jane Darwell picks up a payday in a tacked-on role. Thanks be to someone in production.)