Le prix de la peur

Merle Oberon is always worth experiencing in any circumstances, and here they are rather confused. She is a top member of society, a lady above reproach, who happens to a car accident: an old man with a dog loses control of his dog and walks out into the street without seeing her coming, she hits him, she wants to report it immediately to the police taking responsibility at once, but as she already is starting to talk in a phone booth, her car is stolen. Instead she reports her car stolen. That's how it begins.

It appears she wasn't quite satisfied with the film herself, because after this film she almost never appeared on screen again - just a few TV shows, some minor parts now and then, while she still had a long life ahead and never lost her beauty.

It certainly isn't one of the best noirs, rather pale for a noir, and the script is too muddled up with improbabilities. How could she at all have anything to do with those rude gangsters, that later gets her involved, the last thing she wants? She blames her weakness, and that is very womanish, of course, so there is much in this film to discuss - Lex Barker isn't very attractive either, so their love business isn't very convincing. Anyone could love her, but he is rather wooden, while the other guy, Warren Stevens, is simply impossible in his rudeness.

It's worth seeing for her sake, you will remember her, but you will forget the picture.

The Price of Fear is directed by Abner Biberman and adapted to screenplay by Robert Tallman from a story by Dick Irving Hyland. It stars Merle Oberon, Lex barker, Charles Drake and Warren Stevens. Music is by Heinz Roemheld and cinematography by Irving Glassberg.

Little seen or just forgotten these days, The Price of Fear is actually a rather tight and entertaining piece of film noir film making. Rising above some production limitations, pic is strong on characterisations and it looks just splendid. Story essentially finds Barker as an innocent man out to prove he didn't kill two people in two separate incidents!, while Oberon slips into femme fatale clothes as a love interest who's trying to avoid being found out for one of the killings Barker is under scrutiny for.

Narrative is deliciously twisty in how characters react and perform during the play. Into the mix is an intrepid detective, smooth talking villain, a blackmailing wife, a witness under duress and even a train sick canine! Old noir faithfuls coincidence and fate play their big hands, as does some narration drive. The look is minus chiaroscuro but the nighttime scenes are impressive enough, shiny streets and bulbous lights excellently photographed by Glassberg, while Biberman plays with frame tilts and interesting framing of the lady characters.

There's been some complaints about cast performances, but all are fine here. OK, so it lacks in viper femininity and laconic masculine as per noir classics previously, but nothing here hurts the piece. Solid as a rock is this, it even has the courage of its convictions to provide a genuine surprise ending. Where the main players catch a train to noirville, the termination point worth waiting for. 7/10

Moderately entertaining B picture, "The Price of Fear" embodies several noir elements, but plays as little more than a made-for-television crime drama. A hit and run sets off a chain of events that include murder, blackmail, double-cross, bribery, and theft. A late-career Merle Oberon stars as Jessica Warren, a successful financial advisor who makes a fatal mistake. While an unexpected turn offers her the opportunity to blame someone else, by implicating another, she inadvertently provides an alibi for murder. In her mid-40's, Oberon retains her beauty, although her confidence must have been faltering, because the other characters are obliged to throw compliments her way. Casting the eight-years-younger former Tarzan, Lex Barker, as her love interest, was even more flattery to an aging star. Barker's character is not the brightest bulb, and the 6'4" blonde hunk falls for Oberon's icy charms and easily into her duplicitous trap.

Engaging a voice-over introduction and employing Irving Glassberg's crisp black-and-white cinematography, director Abner Biberman and writer Robert Tallman construct a decent, if unexceptional, mid-1950's film noir. Oberon and Barker are ably supported by Warren Stevens and Phillip Pine as gangsters and Charles Drake as a police sergeant. While the roles are undemanding, the cast is creditable for the material.

Fast moving and relatively taut, "The Price of Fear" has the usual plot holes and an unconvincing romantic angle that seems to develop overnight. However, the twists are enough to keep viewers' attention and provide 80 minutes of entertainment for fans of Oberon and Barker and for less-demanding film-noir enthusiasts.

"The Price of Fear" is a movie that has quite a few film noir sensibilities....though I am sure many purists would consider it just a crime film because it lacks the slick cinematography and lighting of a noir classic. Nevertheless, it's an awfully good film....and the ending really, really worked great for me.

Dave (Lex Barker) is a nice guy. But like so many nice guys in noir films, he's behind the eightball. A crook hates him and decides to frame him for murdering a man he'd been seen threatening. In addition, a selfish lady (Merle Oberon) runs over an old man and instead of staying to talk to the police, she ran and reported her car stolen. Soon, Dave is picked up for BOTH crimes. He could NOT have done the hit-and-run robbery AND shot a man across town at the same time. But it sure looks like they'll be able to pin at least one of them on him unless he can somehow prove his innocence.

Barker and Oberon were good....as were all the actors. But to me, the star were the writers. They created a very interesting story with great characters and a finale that leaves you breathless. No sentimental crap here...just gritty folks and a grittier ending. Well worth seeing.

Merle Oberon stars as a beautiful, glamorous business woman who is motivated by fear to do some despicable things. Guilty of a hit-and-run car accident, she must frame the man she loves in order to get away with murder! Along the way, she becomes involved with gangsters and detectives, and becomes ever more deeply mired in a chain of incriminating events. This is the type of role we are used to seeing Barbara Stanwyck fill, and Oberon does a beautiful job, but plays it her own way -- not as a tough dame, but as gracefully refined and secretly cunning. Sadly, this would be one of Oberon's last starring films. Clearly, Hollywood stopped offering her work too soon, but those were the days when glamorous female stars were phased out after 40.

This film is now available on DVD as part of the TCM Vault Collection's "Women in Danger: 1950s Thrillers" Collection (all Universal films). The quality is very good and this is a set worth adding to your collection.