A quality film by Nicolas Ray(director of Rebel Without a Cause) with or without directorial assistance from Ida Lupino and perhaps even Robert Ryan. Ryan plays a New York cop frustrated with the scum he deals with every day and has dealt with for eleven years. He starts to get caught up in all of these negative aspects(not much positive in his line of work to be real honest)and takes it out on the criminals by beating them. His police chief(Ed Begley)gives him a couple warnings and sends him upstate to help out on a rural murder case of a young girl. When he gets there, he teams up with the crazy, rifle-toting father(Ward Bond giving perhaps too zealous a performance) of the girl in a chase for the killer ending up on a small, out-of-the-way farmhouse where a blind woman(Ida Lupino) lives with her mentally challenged brother Danny. Ryan and the blind woman begin to form some bond. Ray does a very good job creating the depth of characters in this film. He also is good at creating tension in the chase scene and between characters. Ryan is solid in the lead, but it is Lupino's performance which really enhances the film's credibility. The other performers are all pretty decent with Sumner Williams a standout in the brief yet complex role of Danny. I liked the film for the most part and enjoyed its film noir elements, but I did have some problems with a couple of things. The ending was just way to short and felt as if something along the lines of true resolution was needed. The other thing was that there is no way on this Earth that this film was filmed in New York or an attempt to make it looked like it was filmed in upstate New York was even tried. It is obviously filmed out West as the snow-covered mountains lack trees and a barren quality drenches the whole setting. These can be overlooked, but they did detract a bit from total enjoyment. The beginning sequences in New York were; however, very effective. Thematically the qualities of loneliness are examined with both Lupino and Ryan - both searching for some real meaningful purpose in lives that they really find no enjoyment in.
Review of On Dangerous Ground
