Dangereuse association

I confess to having a hard time following "Dangerous Partners," a strange little B movie starring James Craig, Signe Hasso, and Edmund Gwenn, with a short appearance by Audrey Totter. Part of the problem for me was that the plot seemed to have no context.

The film begins with the survivors of a plane crash, and two people trying to get inside a man's briefcase. It was like coming in at the middle, and I spent the rest of the time trying to figure out who was who trying to do what to whom and why. By the time I had it all straight, it didn't seem worth it.

Anyway, the plot concerns four wills, each of which leave $1 million to the same man. People go around reciting a menu backwards, which is some sort of code for, you're one of us. A lawyer for one of the four who winds up dead joins forces with a woman interested in intercepting the millions, Hasso.

Signe Hasso was an excellent actress who for some reason never rose above B movie leads or small parts in A films, and it's really a shame.

Throughout her 65-year career, she consistently handed in good performances. Everything about her was interesting - her look, her voice, and her characterizations. Hollywood possibly didn't know what to do with her.

I'm in agreement with the reviewer who said that when he watched Dangerous Partners he felt like he came in to the story in the middle and had some trouble figuring out who was who. I suspect that portion was mistakenly left on MGM's cutting room floor.

James Craig, a lawyer whose ethics are only as good as they have to be and Signe Hasso your typical mysterious woman survive a plane crash and Hasso picks EDmund Gwenn's pocket where she find 4 unsigned wills that leave government bonds to the bearer who would be Gwenn. Only these folks haven't died.....yet.

The two are out to investigate and they come up with another dastardly Nazi scheme. A nice bit of reverse casting making Gwenn the chief villain.

This one sure could have used Hitchcock to put it together right.

A plane crashes and of the survivors, a not so scrupulous woman (Signe Hasso) and her husband (Mr and Mrs Ballister) make the most, exploring the persons of others for something to salvage. They come across four wills bequeathing bonds worth a million each to one Albert Richard Kingby (Edmund Gwenn) . They also find that the wills can be set aside if the bonds are handed over to the bearer by revealing a passcode. As Kingby, in whose case they find these wills is unconscious, they steal the wills and set upon the quest to explore further. Meanwhile, the survivors are rescued and Kingby also starts his quest. The first of these "millioners" dies when he tries to evade Kingby and the circumstances take a twist introducing a smart lawyer (James Craig) who isn't averse to cutting corners, into the chase. What happens subsequently when the lawyer and the lady are thrown together in this adventure and who really is this Alber Richard Kingby forms the main plot. Probably as this is a war time movie, there is an unexpected change of heart for both Craig and Hasso when they come to know the source of the wealth.

Craig with his easy manners and acting plays the lead in this film noir and is ably supported by Hasso as the greedy woman. But Edmund Gwenn steals the show with his sauve presence.

"Dangerous Partners" has some very unusual casting, as Edmund Gwenn of all people plays a ruthless murderer!! Say it isn't so...the sweet guy who played Santa in "Miracle on 34th Street" a killer?!

The story begins just after a plane crash. Two rogues find a dead man with four wills in his possession....and the names of four different people on the wills...and each for $1,000,000! Without knowing more, the pair decide to track down these four people and find out if they can squeeze the money out of them.

Someone else is also looking for these four people....and Albert Kingby (Edmund Gwenn) is willing to do anything to get the $1.000,000 in bonds. He first kills the partner...leaving the lady (Signe Hasso). Then, he chases her and her new partner (James Craig) and you wonder WHO he is and WHY is he killing people to get the money. See the film and find out why.

While the relationship between Hasso and Craig is tough to believe in parts, the film still works very well because it's well written and there is a nice payoff at the end. Well worth seeing...tense and exciting throughout.

By the way, some reviews called this a 'B-movie'. While having secondary actors like Hasso and Craig in the leads might make you believe this, at 79 minutes it's much too long to be considered a B....a quickie film designed as a second feature and usually running 50-65 minutes.

A real curiosity piece is this little thriller mixing a pair of unethical thieves (James Craig, Signe Hasso) with some shady characters and adding a Nazi spy twist at the end. It's all very improbable but with something happening every moment it's hard to turn away.

James Craig was at his handsomest but, unfortunately, this kind of film needed someone like Bogart to bring it alive. But Signe Hasso makes up for his bland performance by giving her all to the role of a woman who resorts to all sorts of tricks in her efforts to get her hands on some hefty amounts of money, even if it means double-crossing her partner in crime. And Edmund Gwenn is surprisingly effective as a bad guy, so far removed from his usual kindly old self. Audrey Totter hasn't much to do but does it well. Mabel Paige reminds us what a good character actress she was in good supporting roles.

And watch for Stephen McNally in a small role as the pilot of a plane crash that starts the story rolling (billed as Horace McNally).

An MGM B-picture that reminds us how interesting some of these little programmers could be. Enough plot twists to keep you watching until the end.