Circle of Danger

Sandwiched between two Technicolour swashbucklers comes this modest, understated and absorbing black and white whodunnit from the stylish Jacques Tourneur, now working freelance.

In the course of trying to discover how his younger brother died during a commando raid in occupied France, the Clay Douglas of dapper Ray Milland travels the length and breadth of the British Isles and comes across a varied assortment of characters who supply him with snippets of information. He thinks he has pinpointed his brother's killer but he is in for a surprise..........

The casting here is spot on and there is a marvellous turn by Marius Goring as a 'camp' choreographer named Sholto whilst Naunton Wayne, this time without Basil Radford, is superlative as a car salesman named, naturally enough, Reggie Sinclair. The female interest here is supplied by the enchanting Patricia Roc whose chemistry with Milland is palpable. The only piece of bizarre casting is that of Dora Bryan as a cabaret artiste who sings with an obviously dubbed American accent the splendidly suggestive 'I've got a buttonhole for my baby'!

The cast is lucky enough to have the dialogue to speak of Philip MacDonald whilst the cinematography and editing are by two of the finest in their respective fields, Oswald Morris and Alan Osbiston.

The scene that lingers longest in the memory is that in which Milland confronts Goring and Hugh Sinclair in a bleak Scottish landscape and finally learns the truth. Masterful direction here by Tourneur.

I was gripped by this piece from the outset and what I was fully expecting to be a grevious disappointment turned out to be a jubilant surprise.

In case anyone's interested the fabulous motor that Milland gets to drive is a 1920 Mercedes Benz. They certainly don't make cars, or indeed films, like that any more.

Ray Milland stars with Patricia Roc and Marius Goring in "Circle of Danger" from 1951.

Milland plays an American, Clay Douglas, who travels to England in the hopes of finding out what happened to his younger brother during World War II - his brother had gone to England when war broke out to get in on the action. Supposedly, he was killed in action, but during this particular offensive, he was the only one who died.

Clay tracks down the soldiers who are still alive, and as he does, his brother's death becomes more mysterious. There is a reluctance of people to talk. When he learns what he thinks is the truth, he's ready to take action.

Good movie with a nice performance by Patricia Roc as the love interest of one of the ex-soldiers, Hamish (Hugh Sinclair), whom Clay falls for. Excellent denoument. Recommended.

Although I had not intended this current noir marathon to be a tribute to any one particular actor, this will be my fourth Ray Milland movie in a row! Originally hailing from Wales, this sees the Hollywood star making a welcome return to his homeland (and its environs) – albeit playing an American! – for a rather unusual Hitchcockian post-war thriller. The story deals with a salvage captain leaving Florida to go all over the United Kingdom (Wales, Scotland and London) – the roundabout nature of the route anticipating the Hitchcock classic NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959) – to seek out the surviving members of a commando team who operated in France during WWII and unravel the mysterious events surrounding his younger brother's death.

This largely reticent and unhelpful bunch includes a wonderful turn by Marius Goring (who has now become a celebrated ballet choreographer), Hugh Sinclair (the former commando leader who is now a brooding baronet), Naunton Wayne (a clear nod toward Hitchcock right there, having acquired a reputation playing one of two cricket-crazy twits in THE LADY VANISHES [1938] – now a chatty, crooked car salesman) and Edward Rigby (playing a Welshman, thus obviously a miner!). Notable support, then, is provided by the lovely Patricia Roc (as Sinclair's intended, and whose 'meeting cute' with Milland precipitates a bumpy affair – again a' la NORTH BY NORTHWEST – but with the expected happy ending) as well as the ever-reliable Reginald Beckwith (from director Tourneur's later NIGHT OF THE DEMON [1957], as Goring's long-suffering partner).

Despite the rather glum aura of the proceedings, this is less a noir than a whodunnit and, as if to emphasize that very difference, we are regaled with celebrated cinematographer Oswald Morris (and equally notable camera operators Gilbert Taylor and Arthur Ibbetson)'s breathtaking ___location shooting – the downbeat revelation at the climax, taking place in an open field, is particularly masterfully handled – as opposed to the claustrophobic studio sets usually associated with the former genre. For the record, Milland himself had starred in Fritz Lang's superb wartime thriller MINISTRY OF FEAR (1944) boasting a famously inaccurate Hollywood rendition of London!

Another link to "The Master Of Suspense" is the presence of co-producer Joan Harrison (a longtime Hitchcock collaborator), even if the 'whistled tune' giveaway device immediately reminds one of Lang's child-murdering masterpiece M (1931)! In the end, one should be grateful Jacques Tourneur's first working trip to England here worked as well as it did – since, in six years' time, this would be followed by his last great (and one of his best-ever) film i.e. the afore-mentioned NIGHT OF THE DEMON.

This is a tricky post war drama, when an American comes to England to investigate how his brother really died in the war, being a single casualty at an incident. His family has Scottish roots, his name being Douglas, so there is a great deal of Scotland in this, and although it's all about the second world war, the entire drama takes place in Britain, especially Scotland. The last scene on the Scottish moors is extremely sharp in its concentration on an extreme moral dilemma that the soldiers of the relevant company found themselves in and had to resolve in a painful way. The script is brilliant and extremely interesting, as the investigation goes on probing deeper and deeper into a mystery that refuses to be unfolded, until Marius Goring intervenes and provides the releasing contribution. It's actually a chamber drama, it's all dialogue and discussions, and the romance seems beside the point, although it is well captured and plays some important part, especially by constantly encountering new crises. Ray Milland is always good, Hugh Sinclair plays a difficult part but is the right man for the job, while Patricia Roc contrasts well to the austerity of the drama by her beauty and obstinacy to Ray Milland's devious manoeuvres. It's an unusual film more made for thought and consideration than for enjoyment.

This British drama directed by Jacques Tourneur threw me for a loop: for over an hour the story written by Philip MacDonald meandered, resembling the traditional shaggy-dog story, a type of movie I detest. Postponing getting to the point, with loads of tangents instead of an involving adventure.

It is initially structured just like my favorite British movie, Mike Hodges' "Get Carter", which I attended several times in 1971 when it came out, so enthralled with its style and detail. Here we have Ray Milland with a tough-guy accent/vocal delivery, travelling to UK in search of the real story behind his younger brother's death as a commando in World War II. He doggedly pursues the facts, but is repeatedly stonewalled as he approaches and interviews the fellow surviving members of his brother's squad.

Meanwhile, a romance develops between him and Patricia Roc, girlfriend of a Scottish officer he questions, replete with a "meet-cute" scene in which Roc literally accidentally bowls Ray over (physically) when they meet for the first time. The motif of him repeatedly late or standing her up for dates while he goes on his important search for answers about his bro underscores the shaggy-dog aspect of the storytelling.

Finally, in the last reel or so the movie comes to a head, with the revelation of who killed bro and why, and in a rather moving and unexpected fashion, British civility and honor creates a nonviolent and most satisfying ending.

Quite offbeat in its treatment of the thriller genre, it's another example of Tourneur's skill.