Dangerous Intruder

Not a bad programmer by PRC standards (or the "New" PRC, as the title card purports), thanks to eccentric characters provided by Martin (Detour) Goldsmith, some effective performances, and a surprisingly stately setting. Veda Ann Borg, so memorable in many small but offbeat roles, gets to carry a whole movie for a change, but it's the creepy supporting cast that makes this a worthwhile time-passer. The obscure director Keays does a serviceable job, but shows no visual flair, which could have helped, and the mystery isn't terribly mysterious at all.

Confession time. I don't know how many times I have seen Veda Ann Borg in a film - many - and I always thought she was married to the head of a poverty row studio and had been an ice skater. I never took her seriously. Turns out I had her mixed up with Vera Hruba Ralston.

Borg stars here in "Dangerous Intruder" from 1945, a B movie. She plays Jenny, an actress who, stranded when a show closes, has to hitchhike. A driver knocks her over taking a hairpin turn, and she is injured. The driver, Curtis (Tom Keene) takes her back to his family home to recover.

It turns out that he recognizes her from a show, and at the time, sent her flowers and asked her out. Jenny meets the other members of the family - a child, Jackie (Jo Ann Marlowe), the frail woman of the house (Fay Helm) and her husband Max (Charles Arndt).

Jenny recuperates at the house for two weeks, and for the most part, they are a warm and welcoming family. She learns some background - they have money now, but that's only because an aunt died a few years earlier from a fall down the stairs.

One night, Max takes Jenny into a room to see his valuable collection of antiques. She notices he's a little too passionate about them, to the point of making her uncomfortable.

Then, when he's accidentally knocked out in her presence, he starts hallucinating. It's then she becomes really worried. He's threatening somebody and talking about a flight of stairs.

Her fears are only exacerbated when Max's wife, Millicent, dies. Jenny is sure Max had something to do with it, but she can't convince Curtis to believe her.

This film runs about an hour and is actually pretty good. It's a mystery, but it almost comes off like a haunted house story. Veda Ann Borg is believable, and JoAnn Marlowe, who played Kay in Mildred Pierce, is very good. Charles Arnt, who played Max, does a fine job of balancing calmness and passion.

If you expand the IMDB summary for this film, you'll be given a spoiler. So, for your sake, if you watch "Dangerous Intruder" you don't first read that summary.

"Dangerous Intruder" is a film that will keep your interest though some of the story simply makes no sense. After all, if you thought someone was a murderer, wouldn't you go to the police or District Attorney?

Jenny (Veda Ann Borg) is an out of work actress who is run over early in the film. She'll survive but the man who hit her has brought her back to the house to see a doctor and recuperate. Soon, Jenny is sort of a 'permanent house guest' as the family thinks she's swell. However, after the lady of the house dies, she starts to suspect foul play.

The problems with the story are two-fold. The first I mentioned above...why not report your suspicions to the authorities? Second, late in the film, all subtlety disappears and the killer is a bit ridiculous. Still, considering it's from PRC, it's practically a masterpiece...by their very humble standards.

By the way, if you do watch, notice how when Jenny comes to after the accident, she's perfectly coiffed! Now that is pretty incredible!

Veda Ann Borg is hitch-hiking her way from New York to LA when she is is struck by a car. She awakes to find herself in the home of Charles Arndt, who apologizes for his dangerous driving. He, wife Fay Helm, her daughter Jo Ann Marlowe, and her brother Tom Keene -- credited as Richard Powers -- insist she stay until she is well. It's a luxurious home, maintained by Miss Helm's money, and it's quite pleasant. Love seems to be blooming between her and Keene, but tragedy strikes when the perpetually ill Miss Helm dies. Although the doctor called in finds nothing odd, Miss Borg suspects MURDER.

The credit roll insists this is "The New PRC", but it's clear that there is little change in the budgets. Even so, a decent script, competent direction by Vernon Keays, and decent noir lighting by cinematographer James Brown Jr. Make this, if not a great movie, a nice little mood piece. There are the obvious cheap PRC attributes, like obvious day-for-night sequences, but the general competence of cast and crew make this a decent B movie.