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Appointment with Danger (1951)

A good, run-of-the-mill crime story. It's more a heist film than a true noir, and it has a popular twist of featuring a government cop as the lead character. There are several FBI films like this (they start with a shot of government building and have a serious narrator or title card give the context), but this is the only one I know of about the U.S. Post Office police.

Alan Ladd is a solid actor, in urban crime films or in Westerns, but he's never quite inspiring or memorable, and so the movie is hampered from the start. On the other hand, there is a slew of interesting secondary characters, and some are real characters (like the ever-impressive Paul Stewart, who had his real start in "Citizen Kane"). We get to bomb through some great sets and locations (including the waterfront), and the photography by John Seitz (one of the best, see "Sunset Blvd." and "Double Indemnity") is great. The editing seemed a little sudden at times, almost as if this was shortened version (it wasn't, as far as anyone has noted), but you have to pay attention a couple times to follow what happens. In a way, I think they expect the audience to know the usual twists of this kind of plot, and if that helps explain its fast cutting, it also reveals a kind of formula behind it all.

See it? Yes, of course. It's great in particular ways.

Appointment with Danger is directed by Lewis Allen and written by Richard L. Breen and Warren Duff. It stars Alan Ladd, Phyllis Calvert, Paul Stewart, Jan Sterling, Jack Webb, Stacy Harris and Harry Morgan. Music is by Victor Young and cinematography by John F. Seitz.

Al Goddard (Ladd) is a U.S. Postal Inspector sent to investigate the grim murder of one of his colleagues. There's a witness to locate and possibly protect, a nun, Sister Augustine (Calvert), and soon enough Al has to go undercover as a crook to infiltrate the gang responsible for the murder. Not only that, but they plan to steal one million dollars being transported by the U.S.P.S., clearly Al has a lot on his plate.

Alan Ladd's last film noir (though it barely qualifies as such) is good entertainment that relies on hardboiled speak more than it does action or mystery. A great opening involving the murder is kind of a false dawn, in that the mood and visual strengths on show here are rarely reproduced during rest of pic. However, that is a small complaint in truth because it's so much fun to be around Ladd's Al Goddard.

We quickly learn that he is basically a great cop but not much of a human being, since we know who did the murder from the off, we have to rely on Goddard's undercover operation for our suspense quota, which comes in spades. Goddard is constantly at threat of being exposed, he has to consistently think on his feet, have a quip or yarn to spin to deflect suspicion, so this keeps things spicy in the story.

The strand involving Calvert's nun is a weak one, it's clearly a narrative device to smooth out Goddard's rough edges, but it never really works and that the writers turn her into a dumb ass late in the play is annoying. Another irritant is that Sterling (wasted) as Paul Stewart's (good villain value as usual) moll really doesn't impact on proceedings, she wanders in and out of the film promising to be a femme fatale, but it never happens and after playing out as a weak red herring she exits with a whimper.

Some smart location work is on show, with the backdrop of pool halls and cheap hotels utilised to good effect by Allen and Seitz, and a couple of scenes really sock the jaw; literally in one case! But it never rises above being a routine cops and robbers based homage to the U.S.P.S. Inspectors. Thankfully Ladd is on form and delivers the best parts of the screenplay with a steely cold sharpness that positively tickles the fancy of noir lovers. 6.5/10

This is a very routine film noir which features a very nice nun part.Her lines are very smart,and her notion of duty teaches the cop (Ladd) a thing or two(and maybe more).The other female part,the gangster's moll,well played by Jan Sterling,is pretty endearing too:she's primarily a lazy girl,who enjoys listening bebop records ,and she reckons that she will lose anyway:either she will go to jail or she will wear mink,but what's the point of wearing furs if you've got to hide from the world?

As for the male parts,they are okay but nothing extraordinary.The film begins with a well-deserved tribute to the post office.

Films of this type, so namely thriller, really appeal to me, love films with tautness, edge and suspense and have done for a long time now. The story sounded great too on paper and the cast is a talented one, with Alan Ladd proving more than once that he does well in the sort of role he plays here (one that plays to his strengths rather than stretching him too much) and the rest of the cast is full of ever reliable actors.

'Appointment with Danger' for me was nifty and entertaining if a little disappointing at the same time, as there was more room for it to be better than it turned out to be with the promise it had. Having its issues while also having a lot to recommend, so all in all not too bad a position to be in. Regarding as to whether to class it as a film-noir, from my perspective 'Appointment with Danger' and can easily be classed as one, at the same time it can be considered a mystery/heist film with a lot of noir-ish elements (if not as hard-boiled as most and it does lack a strong "femme fatale").

Starting with what doesn't quite work, to me Phyllis Calvert's role is underdeveloped and her later scenes distract a little from what's going on and don't always add much. Calvert does portray her very winningly it has to be said, the fault does not lie with her.

Did think that at times the pace could have tightened up a little more in the middle and there could have been more suspense, with outcomes never really being in doubt and with there not being enough danger 'Appointment with Danger' has its bland spots.

It does look great though, loved the moody lighting and very atmospheric locations enhanced by some very stylish photography. They all gave off a real sense of foreboding. The music also gives off that vibe, classy and ominous without overbearing what's going on. Lewis Allen directs smartly and mostly does not let the momentum slip.

Maybe the script is not always what one calls hard-boiled, but it was hard to dislike its snappiness, tautness and surprisingly humorous moments, thankfully never unintentionally. The story on the most part does grip, thanks to a lot being packed in without feeling like there was too much going on and it doesn't feel muddled. Would have liked more suspense, but thankfully boredom never properly crept in and there were exciting moments, namely the climax.

The cast are good, a few great, Ladd has been better with him playing relatively similar roles with more steel but still does admirably (laconic does not come over as bland). Jan Sterling steals her (too few) scenes as the amusingly wise-cracking moll, that she plays the heck out of, and Paul Stewart does cynical and menacingly reserved expertly. Found the scene stealer to be a frighteningly vicious Jack Webb.

In summary, entertaining but more danger and suspense wouldn't have gone amiss. 7/10

If we learn one thing about the US Post Office in Appointment With Danger is that it takes care of its own. When a postal inspector winds up a homicide victim, it's another postal inspector that does the investigation. I was surprised that the FBI wasn't called in as they usually are with crimes involving the US mail.

But their top cop in the person of Alan Ladd is called in when one of the inspectors is murdered. He's found dead in an alley in a small Indiana town. And there's a witness, a nun played by British import Phyllis Calvert who sees the victim being dumped and is given an excuse by one of the perpetrators that they're just helping a drunken pal. That guy is played by Harry Morgan and Calvert recognizes him from the mug books once Alan Ladd tracks her down. The crooks also know that Calvert's been talking to the police.

Ladd's dead colleague was working on foiling a planned heist of a mail truck that will be carrying a large sum of currency. When Morgan goes missing and later turns up dead, the lead goes cold. Ladd's only way to apprehend the crooks is to insinuate himself with them and catch them in the act of robbery.

Appointment With Danger was Alan Ladd's final noir film with Paramount and it's a good one. He's a most cynical fellow in this film and can't quite wrap his mind around Calvert's character.

The gang includes Paul Stewart as the brains and trigger happy gunman Jack Webb. Interesting to see future Dragnet partners Webb and Morgan together. But though she only has a few scenes the one you'll remember is Jan Sterling playing Stewart's moll. Sterling is Stewart's girl to be sure, but she likes a little fun on the side. Her scenes with Ladd are the best in the film and Jan has a very practical turn of mind and a knowledge of the law gained from hanging around unsavory types.

Appointment With Danger is definitely a must for Alan Ladd fans and folks who might become Alan Ladd fans after seeing this movie.