Where Danger Lives

I'm a noir fan but I never even heard of this picture until I bought the DVD noir collection it came in. As a result I wasn't expecting much and so I wasn't disappointed. It is a pretty pedestrian film which borders on tedious too often, and is more of a psychological melodrama rather than a straightforward film noir.

I always liked Robert Mitchum but he's trapped in a thankless part here - It's very unlike him to be buffaloed by a pretty skirt and his persona never lent itself to roles as cerebral as a doctor. He was, of course, a man of action and seems out of his element in this picture. I don't agree with those reviewers who hammered Faith Domergue - I thought she played her part well and I can't think of anyone who could have milked it any better than she did. A little more of Claude Rains could have helped matters but he got killed off in his only scene early on.

No telling what this movie was when first released - a weak 'A' or a better-than-average 'B'- but, as is, it's a passable effort by a director who has some pretty good films to his credit. I liked "Alias Nick Beal" and "The Big Clock", speaking for myself. It's just that this one could have been so much better.

All in all, it's worth a look but is not an important film or a noteworthy entry in Mitchums' career.

This peculiar excursion is skillfully shot by Nick Musuraca in the dark black and white nature of the genre in its era, and is capably helmed by John Farrow, who fruitfully captures these delirious visions. It's by and large a character study of an accomplished man blinded by lust, whose life disintegrates as it falls behind him. Mitchum is the guiltless man who is entrapped, but doesn't understand he's innocent until quite late. Too late? Only the will to live in spite of being so far out of his comfort zone and his senses can save him from this interesting spin on the framed-for-murder predisposition of the formula.

Mitchum, as was his modus operandi, once again put on airs of sleepy-eyed detachment and barrel-chested reserve, but in this case, he is interesting and sympathetic, realistically showing how a smart guy and such an experienced doctor could be in such a weak position. He genuinely and believably connects to the emotional and sensory reality of his bewildered character, whose feelings and senses are constantly in flux. Likewise, director John Farrow effectively taps the outlandish, hallucinatory traits in this customary noir plot: Mitchum spends the last half of the film barreling down the dirt roads of southern California with a concussion, fainting cyclically and awakening enclosed by some of the murkiest landscape the U.S. has to present.

Yes, Mitchum is cast against type as a stable professional, but actually, I think Faith Domergue is equally if not more accountable for the lack of artifice in Mitchum's performance than he is. From moment to moment, and this is most definitely a movie that lives in the present, she genuinely affects him. They're not just saying lines at one another, overlapping their words and movements with some programmed, bottled manner. The sultry, manic, hard-bitten, shifty-eyed edge is real. What's more, Claude Rains as always is superb, in a small role but a pretty important one, where his every motion looks to be controlled over a maniacal wrath all set to gush out, best illustrated by his malicious grin while meeting his wife's lover. And the film's a pleasingly bizarre screwball streak further sets it apart as a unique entry in the film noir canon.

I really liked this movie. Faith Domergue is perfect as the scheming psychotic femme fatale. Claude Rains is excellent as her suave, slimy husband. And Robert Mitchum once again demonstrates his star quality as Domergue's dazed and confused lover, tumbling downstairs in his own stunt and staggering like a flesh-eating zombie toward the inevitable denouement at the Mexican border.

The movie starts slowly with Mitchum strutting his stuff as a doctor in a hospital. Then things get deliciously complicated when he falls for a beautiful, edgy, and manipulative patient (Domergue), who pulls him into her vicious web of intrigue and deception. There is a convincing fight scene with Rains, which leaves Mitchum seriously concussed and at the mercy of Domergue, who persuades him to flee with her to Mexico. Of course, you know they will never get there and the rest of the film follows them as they make their way through the various obstacles.

The Warner Classic Collection print was pristine with superb cinematography, lingering close-ups of the stars, and generally top-notch production. There are a lot of nice plot twists and I look forward to watching it again.

Where Danger Lives was supposed to launch Faith Domergue's career as yet another of Howard Hughes's discoveries. Beauty she had with a good dose of slink eyed attractiveness that stood her in good stead in her role in this film. In support Hughes gave her RKO's number one leading man, Robert Mitchum and a good cast in support.

Mitchum plays a doctor here who falls big time for Domergue the minute she gives him a come all glance. Problem is that she's slightly married to Claude Rains a rich older guy who's kind of used to her philandering, but not thrown in front of his face. Which is what she does with Mitchum and when Mitchum struggles with Rains he thinks that he's killed Rains. So Bob and Faith go on the run.

A respected doctor and society woman you wouldn't think are good candidates to be fugitives. But they do all right for themselves up to a point despite many people looking to take advantage of them. My favorite is Tol Avery as one bottom feeding used car salesman with a most annoying laugh.

They also do all right considering Domergue is not playing with a full deck, I think a whole suit of thirteen is missing from her 52. Add to that Mitchum has an untreated concussion which also slows them up a bit.

Where Danger Lives is a decent noir film from the studio that made noir a fashionable genre. Too bad Claude Rains had to be killed right away, any film is made better with his presence. Director John Farrow's wife Maureen O'Sullivan has a brief part as a good girl Mitchum deserts for Domergue. Of course if Faith gives you the come on few could resist.

According to the Lee Server biography of Robert Mitchum, the fall down a flight of stairs you see Mitchum do was really him and not a stuntman. Normally studios protect the high profile derrières of their stars, but when you've John Farrow directing who may have been the biggest directorial swine in Hollywood it's different. Farrow would challenge Mitchum's masculinity and that wasn't something Bob would back down from. But one take was definitely it.

Where Danger Lives is a nice one from Mitchum's RKO salad days.

Robert Mitchum is such a sensible, caring and well-adjusted doctor in the beginning of WHERE DANGER LIVES that it seems incomprehensible that he would stumble into the trap that Faith Domergue sets for him. After getting involved romantically and telling him that she's afraid of her domineering father, he finds out that her "father" (Claude Rains) is really her husband--just the first of a web of lies and deception waiting for him. And this, despite the husband's strong warning.

As improbable as the story is, it has a certain fascination due to the film noir quality of the story-telling with Mitchum and Domergue on the run after the husband's death. Much of the flavor comes from Mitchum's strong performance. He manages to make his character fully believable despite the script shortcomings. Faith Domergue is photogenic but sullen and frozen-faced in her role of the psychotic heroine. Her performance has all the real-life dimension of a mannequin without the little nuances that would have made her a believably disturbed woman. As it is, Domergue offers nothing more than a superficial portrait.

Claude Rains has one scene of menace that he plays magnificently but has no more than a brief cameo role. Maureen O'Sullivan could have phoned in her role. She graces the brief role of a nurse in love with Mitchum, but the role has absolutely no significance in the plot and merely allows her to appear in one of her husband's films. (Hubby is John Farrow, father of Mia).

If you like film noir, this will do nicely although it's hardly one of the best of the genre. The real drawback is Miss Domergue who is unable to give more than a blank stare to most of her more emotional moments. Without Mitchum, there would be no conviction to any of the proceedings. For Mitchum fans, this is a good one.