Wings of Danger

"Wings of Danger" is a disappointing Hammer film directed by the cult-director Terence Fisher. The plot of blackmailing and smuggling is messed and weak despite the expectations of the fans. There is nothing to highlight in this forgettable film. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Asas do Perigo" ("Wings of Dnger")

When charismatic Nick Talbot (second billed Robert Beatty) disappears after flying into a storm after his partner Richard Van Ness (gravel-voiced Zachary Scott) has ordered the plane to be grounded, it seems not unlikely that (a) he's up to no good and (b) that we'll see him again before the movie's over. Made on a shoestring at Riverside Studios, Hammersmith but supposedly mainly set in Guernsey, this is quite a clever thriller with lively dialogue, though Richard's liability to black out when flying is too irrelevant. For nostalgic film buffs it's good to see naughty lady Kay Kendall a year before her breakthrough performance in 'Genevieve', Diane Cilento (at one time Mrs Sean Connery) as Nick's fiancée and camp Harold Lang as a blackmailer, but Naomi Chance is a boring heroine. I'd lost track of the malarkey before the end, but the finale has action and excitement.

Zachary Scott comes over from across the pond to star in this British noir film about a pilot investigating the crash of another pilot whom he supervised that he let go up in a storm over the English Channel. As it turned out Scott was between a rock and a hard place, he has to let Robert Beatty fly because Beatty knows that Scott suffers from occasional blackouts and the Board of Trade wouldn't like that if they heard about it.

Why does Beatty go up. The more Scott digs on his own he uncovers, blackmail, counterfeiting, and smuggling. And a few more surprises before this film ends.

Although Hammer Films before it started doing horror films and became known for same, they turned out some decent low budget noir films that the British call quota quickies. This isn't one of them it drags in many spots and such talented folk as those already mentioned are wasted. Even Kay Kendall who plays the gangster's moll in this and well doesn't spark this film at all.

I think most will be bored with this one.

"Dead on Course" is sort of like an American film noir movie but made in the UK. And, like many European films from the 1950s, they lured an American actor (Zachary Scott) to star in the film-- presumably to give the film greater international marketability. Unfortunately, it's still a relatively bland film.

Richard (Zachary Scott) is a pilot working for his small air transport company. His friend, Nick, knows Richard's secret--that he occasionally blacks out due to some old injury! So using this as leverage, Nick takes off in a plane during crappy weather---and the plane crashes. What follows is a dark story involving smugglers and Richard trying to sort out who his real friends are.

The best thing about this film is Zachary Scott and his dialog. It's pure noir--and works very well. But the rest of the cast all seem very dreary--with limp dialog and an almost complete lack of menace. Not terrible...just not all that interesting.

Another early Hammer studio film watched for context on the "House of Hammer" podcast. "Wings of Danger" was actually on a classic movies channel in the UK, so I didn't have to use YouTube this time. Unfortunately, it didn't help much with a film that I struggled to follow.

Richard Van Ness (Zachary Scott) loses his friend Nick Talbot (Robert Beatty) to a plane crash, when Talbot insisted on leaving and ignoring a weather warning. Confused as to why Talbot was so keen to leave, Van Ness begins to investigate his friend and discovers his part in smuggling organisation. With the customs officers involved, Van Ness tries to investigate the company he works for and convince them that he's not involved.

So, as I said above, I struggled with this film. Previously I may have struggled because of an issue with the audio recording, or film stock but here both those are decent. The performances are OK too, though I didn't ever feel I got a handle on the actual personality of the lead character Van Ness and that did mean I never really understood the motivations behind the character. For example, Talbot was supposed to be his friend but in their only scene together at the start of the movie, they're very antagonistic towards each other.

But it's the plot that I never actually got to grips with, perhaps on multiple viewings I would do but ultimately, I feel it's a film that suffers with a "show, don't tell" problem. I did get the basics of the plot; I don't put spoilers in my reviews, but I understand the twist and the reasons for it. I understood that the gay coded heavy, Snell, played by Harold Lang was not the brains of the operation but I honestly couldn't tell you how any of the other characters fit into it, or what the smuggling/counter fitting scam actually was.

If it was more interesting, I might be inspired to give it a few more watches to nail down that plot, but it isn't, so I'm not.