Girl in Danger

1934's "Girl in Danger" marked the finale of Columbia's forgotten series starring Ralph Bellamy as Police Inspector Steve Trent, granted such a promising start the year before with "Before Midnight," then "One is Guilty" and "The Crime of Helen Stanley." Those familiar with Bellamy's later portrayal of Ellery Queen may be surprised to find his Trent a no nonsense investigator, this last of the quartet sadly inferior to its entertaining predecessors. Back from previous entries are leading lady Shirley Grey (third straight), J. Carrol Naish, Ward Bond (second straight), and future Warners director Vincent Sherman (third straight). Shirley's 'girl in danger' is Gloria Gale, whose adventurous fling with gangster Daniel S. Terrence (Charles Sabin) makes her his accomplice in the theft of the valuable Cortez emerald, also coveted by mob boss Mike Russo (J. Carrol Naish). Inspector Steve Trent at first tries to gain Gloria's confidence by posing as Terrence's confederate, but she winds up with one of Russo's henchmen, Wynkoski (Ward Bond), the trigger man who murders Terrence at a nightclub. All the villains are a weak bunch, easily susceptible to Trent's strongarm tactics, the script slapdash and formulaic in the extreme. One gets the feeling while watching that the studio knew this would be the series' last gasp, therefore putting little effort into situations or characterization; at 57 minutes, it's just as brief as number 3, "The Crime of Helen Stanley," but nowhere near as much fun. Bellamy quickly moved on to another police investigator in Universal's "Rendezvous at Midnight," but by 1940 returned to Columbia to begin the Ellery Queen series, completing four before yielding to William Gargan, who did three more, none truly distinguished, yet far better known than Inspector Steve Trent.

Shirley Grey is one of those bored society debs who gets hooked up with gangster Charles Sabin for a night of adventure. When he gets gunned down, and she's holding the half-million dollars worth of gems, other gangsters like J. Carroll Naish and Ward Bond come sniffing around.... and they're not the sort to say please and then stifle their disappointment and go away. Neither is Ralph Bellamy in his fourth appearance as Inspector Steve Trent. He's been trying to put Naish away for years, and he thinks he has him when Naish kidnaps Miss Grey!

It's a solid little B mystery, with some actually interesting situations, and gangsters willing to use brains as well as guns. Of course, with the Production Code being enforced, this was a necessity, as was Naish shooting someone just out of the frame, while Miss Grey looks horrified. That's some intelligent direction, which is hardly surprising that the director is Ross Lederman, one of those intelligent directors who never moved out of the B movies. Fortunately there's enough talent in front of and behind the camera to make this one work.

"Girl in Danger" (1934) is the fourth of four Inspector Trent movies which starred Ralph Bellamy, quick little mystery/detective films from Columbia Pictures. It's well-put-together and easy to watch and short (57 minutes). If you let it go right afterwards then-and-there, all is well. If you sit and think about it, oops... The show is so impossible as to never have occurred! A girl (Grey, in the opening shot) is in a night club with another girl and two men, and Grey is complaining endlessly about how bored she is, how life is uninteresting, how nothing ever happens, how she needs some excitement to feel alive. Well, she spots a man sitting by himself in the club. She wonders who he is. A man sitting with her (I never found out if he was her date or not!!) happens to be someone working in the prosecutor's office and knows who the man is. He's a known crook. She asks her man with her to go say to the man that she'd like to meet him. Well, the man (Charles Sabin) ends up alone at the table with her. She leaves with the man and drives his car to a destination...where he steals a famous emerald. So begins the caper. It gets crazier and crazier - - - though it's a fun ride! Ward Bond is an evil henchman, and he works for crime boss J. Carrol Naish. Turns out Sabin was working independently this time, but usually he works for Naish, too. Well, he shouldn't have worked independently. And, as we already knew, Grey shouldn't have wished for what she wished for. Sometimes it's possible to get it...

Worth the watch. Ralph Bellamy, Shirley Grey, Charles Sabin, Arthur Hohl, J. Carrol Naish, Ward Bond, and lots of others.

This, the last of the Inspector Trent series by Columbia, starring Ralph Bellamy, involves a bored society woman (Shirley Grey as Gloria). She sits at a nightclub with her friends when one of those friends tells her about a gangster who wanted to hire him as an attorney. That gangster, Dan Terrance, happens to be in the same nightclub. He introduces them (Some friend!). Gloria tells dashing Dan she craves excitement, and Dan lets Gloria be the getaway driver when he steals an expensive emerald, which is apparently in a room with an open window, no burglar alarm, and no guards. Some people just don't deserve nice things. They make a semi-clean getaway, in that they get back to Gloria's place unarrested. Dan says he will send somebody to her to retrieve the emerald tomorrow. But he won't tell her who the guy is, give her a password, or anything. When the next day somebody shows up but only speaks in vagaries about what he is there for, Gloria is dubious about the authenticity of this person.

By the time the film is half way over, Gloria is regretting that the chose this path for excitement. No surprise since her new hobby involves high speed chases, kidnapping, crooked bankers (they've always been a problem, haven't they?), murder, and a whole other bunch of thieves she didn't anticipate who also want the emerald and will do anything to get it.

This is a fast moving little crime drama at under one hour. Columbia was a poverty row outfit, so they didn't have money for expensive sets, and it is obvious that several rooms are the same room with different set pieces. There is no element of mystery in this entry as there was in the others, and everything feels very rushed. The movie poster, with Trent's arm around Gloria, makes it look like they are romantically involved, but they are not. Trent is smarter than that. If Gloria would do this, who's not to say that some day, five years down the road, she would get bored with the kids and dishpan hands and go on a five state crime spree to blow off some steam? Pretty embarrassing for a cop looking to make it to retirement!

"Girl in Danger" is the fourth and last film from Columbia Pictures starring Ralph Bellamy as Inspector Trent. It's only okay...and apparently wasn't enough to keep the series going.

Gloria is a rich idiot and she thinks it is neat having a boyfriend who is a hoodlum. She willingly helps this creep with a robbery and even holds on to the stolen gem....yet what the film does next doesn't make a lot of sense. First, she later feels bad about what they did and decides she wants out...which makes little sense considering she was such an active part of the robbery. Plus...but this point, her hoodlum boyfriend is dead so it's a bit late! Second, when Trent gets the case, he automatically assumes the woman is basically innocent and she isn't the REAL criminal! Huh? I think the film was probably being very sexist here, as it seems to say that the woman couldn't help herself and she's also, in a way, a victim! Huh?? The rest of the film is decent enough....but the setup for all this seems really flawed and a bit silly.

While Bellamy is good, as you'd expect, the script is weak. And, because of that, I can see why the series went no further.