I would be inclined more to give On Dangerous Ground a higher rating, or just think of it as a great film, even as I find there are certain things in the second half that doesn't quite click as well as in other parts. Two pieces of brilliance go by way of co-writer/director Nicholas Ray, however- casting Robert Ryan as the stoic-faced Jim Wilson, and getting Bernard Herrmann for the musical compositions. Ryan here has a great performance almost by not doing anything spectacular, by just having this very hard-boiled look to him in the early scenes in the urban, film-noir landscapes, and then as it very subtly peels away as he gets a touch of the 'heart' he's been lacking back home. As the sort of masculine-centered core of the film, Ryan is quite good. Herrmann's score, meanwhile, in what he referred to as his favorite of his many many scores, delivers up emotion through the strings in the dramatic bits and the tougher stuff when need be. He, too, is on top of his game here.
What's interesting about what didn't quite work, at least for myself, in On Dangerous Ground was a little more in due to the screenplay and to the performance from Ida Lupino. For a director who often has a script as one of the best parts of what he's doing, the writing here starts off fantastically in the city, then as it goes further on in the snowy, rural setting, the melodrama-side starts to loose some of its shape. It's not that the more rough, gritty style of the first part of the film doesn't correspond well enough with the later scenes; in fact some of these chase scenes and shots of Ryan going through the snow after his 'suspect' are well done from Ray's end. But part of the acceptance of the change that occurs in the character of Jim Wilson has to be as believable as Lupuno's performance can allow, and she is good in her blind-girl-who's-totally-compassionate up to a point. For example, I did get a lot of emotional contact when Ray shot her in close-ups. But overall there just seemed to be some spots in not just her portrayal of the material, but also in the performance of her character's brother (not right in the head, perhaps, but is his work interesting, not really).
I would definitely recommend On Dangerous Ground for the crowd of film-noir lovers, and those getting into Nicholas Ray's work (as this will finally be on DVD soon enough). Yet if certain parts of the story's fabric and sentimentality might not click as well as it should to you, you're not alone. At the least, there's a heap-load of entertainment to be had with the scenes following the cops on their nights across the city streets, like a superlative short film amid a tragic tale of losing and finding yourself. 7.5/10
What's interesting about what didn't quite work, at least for myself, in On Dangerous Ground was a little more in due to the screenplay and to the performance from Ida Lupino. For a director who often has a script as one of the best parts of what he's doing, the writing here starts off fantastically in the city, then as it goes further on in the snowy, rural setting, the melodrama-side starts to loose some of its shape. It's not that the more rough, gritty style of the first part of the film doesn't correspond well enough with the later scenes; in fact some of these chase scenes and shots of Ryan going through the snow after his 'suspect' are well done from Ray's end. But part of the acceptance of the change that occurs in the character of Jim Wilson has to be as believable as Lupuno's performance can allow, and she is good in her blind-girl-who's-totally-compassionate up to a point. For example, I did get a lot of emotional contact when Ray shot her in close-ups. But overall there just seemed to be some spots in not just her portrayal of the material, but also in the performance of her character's brother (not right in the head, perhaps, but is his work interesting, not really).
I would definitely recommend On Dangerous Ground for the crowd of film-noir lovers, and those getting into Nicholas Ray's work (as this will finally be on DVD soon enough). Yet if certain parts of the story's fabric and sentimentality might not click as well as it should to you, you're not alone. At the least, there's a heap-load of entertainment to be had with the scenes following the cops on their nights across the city streets, like a superlative short film amid a tragic tale of losing and finding yourself. 7.5/10