CIRCLE OF DANGER (1951)

Frustrating.  Intriguing story and superb execution from director Jacques Tourneur, with exceptional U.K. location lensing from Oswald Morris in only his fourth D.P. credit*, can’t overcome missteps in character development and casting.  Ray Milland stars as an American who travels to England hoping to discover the truth behind his kid brother’s death in WWII.  Could it have been ‘friendly fire?’  Hunting up survivors from his brother’s British unit for questioning, his pursuit single-minded to the point of rudeness, Milland slips by on charm, apologies & generous gratuities, but definitely gives off an “Ugly American’ vibe as he grills former officers & servicemen.  Even the girl he’d like to steal from one of the men he meets finds she’s repeatedly stood up by Milland when he gets lost in his investigating.  Three times!  And when the truth finally does comes out, you might not like the answer.  Tough-minded stuff for the period, the story functions on George Bernard Shaw’s dictum of ‘two countries divided by a common language.’  But something goes missing in Welsh-born Milland’s Mid-Atlantic speech patterns & cultivated style.  The part needs the flat vowels and stubborn small-town naivete of a James Stewart or the misplaced confidence & Big City moxie of a wiseguy like Richard Widmark to bring out the sense of Ugly American entitlement that could supply the proper dramatic motivation.*

DOUBLE-BILL/LINK: The girl in the pic, Patricia Roc had a rare Hollywood role in Tourneur’s exceptional Western CANYON PASSAGE/’46 with Dana Andrews, Brian Donlevy & Susan Hayworth.  OR: Milland tracks down WWII mystery in the Hollywood soundstage England of Fritz Lang’s THE MINISTRY OF FEAR/’44.  https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2016/02/ministry-of-fear-1944.html

ATTENTION MUST BE PAID/LINK: *Attention WAS paid . . . to cinematographer Oswald Morris who quickly shot up the ranks after this came out.  Especially as John Huston’s lenser of choice from next year’s MOULIN ROUGE/’52 to THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING in ‘75.   https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2011/03/moulin-rouge-1952.html

SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY: *Was Philip MacDonald’s original screenplay softened to accommodate Stateside audiences?