Green for Danger

Directed and produced by Sidney Gilliat and Frank Launder, the British mystery-comedy Green for Danger is a rare treat. Featuring the incomparable Alastair Sim as Cockrill, a bumbling Scotland Yard detective and the redoubtable Trevor Howard as a suspicious doctor, the plot is a convoluted murder mystery in which five people have motive and means to commit murder -- but whodunit?

Set in a rural British hospital (that looks like an Elizabethan mansion) during the latter stages of World War II, two people are murdered before you can say "buzz bomb". The first suspicious death occurs when a postman suddenly dies on the operating table after receiving an anaesthetic. This is soon followed by the death of Nurse Marion Bates (Judy Campbell) after she announces at a party that she has found evidence to expose the killer. The possible killer includes the uptight Dr. Barnes (Trevor Howard), the emotionally unstable Nurse Sanson (Rosamund John), Nurse Woods (Megs Jenkins), Nurse Linley (Sally Gray), the object of affection from both doctors, and the philandering surgeon, Mr. Eden (Leo Genn). Each one of the suspects looks and acts guilty.

There are many twists and turns and, without giving anything away, a staged mock operation after an attempted third murder ultimately will tell the tale. But the film belongs to Alastair Sim. The word whimsical must have been invented with him in mind. You just cannot take things too seriously when he is around. His capricious charm and impudent smile lights up every dark shadow in the old hospital. Green for Danger is a bit stodgy but lots of fun.

Green For Danger (and how cheeky is THAT title!) is a bravura example of simplicity in the art of movie making. It's a rural whodunnit set in WWII (it was nearly banned in case it frightened soldiers from going to hospital!) wherein a small group of medical professionals soon discover there is a murderer in their midsts after the homicide of a soldier. Enter a Scotland Yard Inspector (Sim) to tidy up the loose ends and swiftly solve the case - before handing in his resignation!!!

This film, despite its whimsical charm, is replete with fine examples of every film-making ingredient. The acting (though a tad stiff) is dead on the ball; the dialogue is always precise and frequently ingenious (Sim's music hall gag about impurities...); the editing is never less than effective and the direction and cinematography constantly inspired (the mood and lighting for the second murder is awesome). It is clear from this type of gem that the ingredients of cinematic success are not always excessive ones - unless it is an excess of skill and talent; and this film has that in abundance. On top of this it also has the gorgon-eyed brilliance of Alistair Sim: a man late to his profession but BOY did he make up for it! Check out his delivery in this film and his constantly out-of-kilter (and surely spontaneous) body language. He is an actor relishing being the fulcrum of every scene he's in - and even those he isn't: The night-time scene in the woods being a perfect example of his equal gift for comedy and scene stealing. And he still makes me laugh out loud!

This film opens with this line and is one of the greatest opening hooks I've heard in film. These words are spoken as anonymous hands are clanging away on a typewriter. And so begins "Green for Danger".

This is a great, quirky British mystery drama that I found quite entertaining. At times it's tense and scary, then its humorous - and then its almost noir. I found this kept the film interesting and the pace was quite energetic. I will say the beginning is a little slow to start after the great opening hook. It starts out looking like it will be just another doctor/nurse soap opera. But hang with it and it gets rolling.

I found the black and white cinematography to be quite accomplished and loved its great use of architectural shapes, shadows, and the mix of light and dark.

Alastair Sim as The Inspector was great. He has an unusual mug of a face and bulging eyes. He's tall and somewhat clumsy. And more than a little goofy. He makes quite effective use of sarcasm. I loved his line when he said "My presence lay over the hospital like a pall."

It was interesting to see some of the old hospital equipment. I noticed there was a coin meter for gas utilities in the kitchen - never saw one before. My only complaint during the film was having difficulty following some of the clipped British accents.

There is a nice twist at the end. The hapless inspector solves the crime, but causes harm in so doing. There is a clever closing line back on the typewriter - " I offer my resignation, in the confident hope that you wont accept it.''

Quirky piece - loved it!

Although I would not quite go as far as Halliwell in listing "Green For Danger" among my top 100, I have to confess to a certain affection for this rather old-fashioned whodunit of 1946. Made in the days when repertory theatre flourished and railway carriages were full of passengers reading Agatha Christie rather than Harry Potter, it captures the very essence of what my grandchildren now refer to as "the olden days". Although based on a novel by the almost forgotten Christianna Brand, it has many of the hallmarks of a good Christie - murder in a hospital operating theatre, six suspects, second murder of of one of them who claims to know the killer's identity, a near re-enactment of the original crime to trap the murderer. Admittedly the film now shows its age. It is very much a studio bound production with backdrops including a painted village church spire. One actual country lane was used but nothing else as far as I can remember. Launder and Gilliat wrote intelligent scripts and directed and produced competently but their work was no match for what Lean and Reed were producing around the same time. A physical scuffle between the two male suspects has a staginess that would not have got past even an American B-movie director. However there are three features that lift what could have been a third-rate work into the realm of the "special". The first is the plot itself that manages to intrigue to the end - obviously a very good choice from among the innumerable whodunits of the period. The second is how good it is in evoking a very atmospheric period of our history - the near-final stage of the war when we were menaced by those quite terrifying "doodlebugs", the ominous drone of their flight, the sudden silence followed by their dreadful explosion. However for a film like this to work you have to have a really memorable detective of the likes of Poirot or Miss Marple. Alastair Sim's Inspector Cockrill is just such a creation. Sim was one of the great character actors of his time and in "Green For Danger" he never did anything finer. He brought to the role considerable subtlety. When there is no-one around he is a bundle of human weakness and self-doubt, sheltering nervously from a flying bomb, or failing to guess the murderer from a whodunit which provides his bedtime reading. However when on the job he displays a sense of professional competence that at times borders on aggression. Although he makes a serious mistake at one point we are in no doubt that, like Chabrol's Inspector Levardin, he is not a cop to be messed with, but, by letting us into his hidden weaknesses, Launder and Gilliat have given us one of British cinema's most endearing characters.

With its darkly atmospheric tones,Green for danger works extremely well.The second murder is incredibly well shot with scenes reminiscent of 'I walked with a Zombie',the noise & movement caused by wind being particularly effective.A stellar cast interact perfectly with a special mention for Sally Gray,on her first role after a 5 year break due to 'a mental breakdown',comes across as a glacial goddess.I'm not worthy.Alistair Sim's lugubrious narration provides a perfect framing device building a sense of anticipation and atmosphere.I don't find the movie slow and I was surprised that people find it 'talkie',maybe its modern audiences with their legendary short attention span!