Mission périlleuse

This is a good movie.

It's the story of a good guy cop going West to find a killer. Mature is the good guy, and Price is the killer. The killer is also trying to execute a witness to a murder (Piper Laurie). Any male watching will be sure to notice the heroine's perfect looking girl friend, played by Betta St John. One watches this film and wonders how this eye popper didn't become the centerfold girl of all time.

But enough about going gaga over Betta. This is a good old fashioned, rootin tootin film. There's a lot we'd probably all like to change. For instance, I notice many say Bendix as the park ranger should have had more to do, and I certainly agree with that. It looks like maybe some of his lines were cut, or perhaps it was just a hastily put together job. Price, as the killer, probably wasn't the best choice, but as an icon, it's good to see Price in the role.

The action sequences and adventure are well thought out, and it has a little something for everybody. It just seems like a lot was cut out. Still, the cinema scenery is excellent, and it is a great popcorn and soda film.

In the 1970s Hollywood brought the world a spate of disaster pictures including EARTHQUAKE, TOWERING INFERNO, ROLLERCOASTER, AVALANCHE, METEOR, CASSANDRA CROSSING, etc. That said, by 1954 two films (DANGEROUS MISSION and NAKED JUNGLE) came out that can now be seen as blueprints for the massively cataclysmic outpourings of two decades later.

DANGEROUS MISSION is a short 75-minute film with Victor Mature an undercover cop seeking a subject on a mission to kill Piper Laurie for witnessing a murder. A lively dance is interrupted by an avalanche, followed by a forest fire (pity it did not happen in the opposite order, the avalanche would have killed the fire) in which Mature saves Price from certain death, only to lose him later to a fall in the snow... after a Glacier National Park radio station warning that a killer is on the loose and targeting lovely Laurie, who promptly jumps off a moving car to save her life. Which she does for a happy ending in Mature's arms.

I know embarrassingly little about Director Louis King, but he certainly keeps the action ticking bomb style, and cinematography shows Glacier Park to great advantage.

Excellent cinematography by William Snyder. 7/10.

A man tinkering on the piano with one hand – "One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)" – is murdered by an unseen gunman. A woman, whom we also do not see, happens upon the site, screams, and runs before the killer can plug her too. The next set shows a New York City backdrop with Johnny Yonkers and two men in a room discussing the necessity of tracking down and killing the female witness, who is in hiding. Although the gunman is present we still do not see him. The very next scene is at the visitor's entrance to Glacier National Park in northern Montana, where Matt Hallett (Victor Mature) has just driven. He packs a pistol. The Park will be the setting – a most attractive one – for the remainder of the movie.

Louise Graham (Piper Laurie), originally from the east, runs a gift shop at the Visitors' Center. Converging there are amateur photographer Paul Adams (Vincent Price), Hallett, and chief ranger Joe Parker (William Bendix). Parker reminds Hallett that he needs to disclose to park authorities that he has a .38-caliber pistol on the grounds, even though it is legally registered. Hallett says he is an ex-marine. But is he a policeman or the killer hired by Yonkers? For it is obvious that either Adams or Hallett is the gunman. Louise is unaware that both Adams and Hallett are after her for different reasons. Neither of the two men knows her likeness.

This formerly 3D movie features an avalanche, forest fire, Indian dance/ceremony, and live wires (downed electrical power line), none of which is related to the plot. Katoonai Tiller (Steve Darrell), at large in the distant part of the National Park, is wanted for murder. His state of affairs also has nothing to do with the plot. Tiller's daughter Mary (Betta St. John) is the sexy Indian girl in love with Adams, who is much older. Dennis Weaver ("Gunsmoke," 1955-1964) has a small role as a park ranger. As of this writing Piper Laurie is still acting; she had silver screen parts in "The Hustler" (1961) and "Carrie" (1978). Victor Mature, who was decent enough, had good roles in "My Darling Clementine" (1946), "Cry of the City" (1948), and "The Robe" (1953). Also, Mature played such diverse historical figures like Sampson (Jewish), Hannibal (Carthaginian/North African), and Chief Crazy Horse (American Indian).

The editing of "Dangerous Mission" is quite choppy, and the character development is rather weak. For instance, at movie's end we still know very little about Louise Graham and Matt Hallett. And what is the story on Katoonai Tiller? Was he really guilty of murder? Then again there is the Cave of the Winds shootout and an exciting chase along the park glacier (even though it's a sound stage). The park setting, lovely ladies, and ending save the movie.

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.

Plot line for "The Old Corral, 1936": Night club singer (Hope/Irene Manning) witnesses a gangland murder and heads West and is saved by Gene Autry; Plot line for "Dangerous Mission, 1954": Night club bookkeeper (Piper Laurie) witnesses a gangland murder and heads West and is saved by Victor Mature. RKO added 3-D, Technicolor, Glacier National Parks location and still came up short of the original. Not surprising, since the original had Gene Autry, the Sons of the Pioneers (when Roy Rogers was still a member), Smiley Burnette and Champion.

And even Gene Autry was more animated than Victor Mature. Come to think of it, so was Glacier National Park.