FILM REVIEW - HOME TO DANGER (1951)

*Possible Spoilers*

A young girl called Barbara Cummings (Rona Anderson) arrives back in England on hearing of her estranged father's apparent suicide. She inherits his country house in Sussex and his share of a business which he ran in partnership with a man called Wainwright (Howard Lister). During a shooting party, an unknown man with a scarred face is found shot dead in the marshes. But, Willie (Stanley Baker), the family's handyman tells Barbara that he saw Wainwright talking with the murdered man in the grounds of the house that day. In addition, he also tells her that it was he who found her father's body and in his dying words he uttered to him "its in the office safe." With the aid of her crime writer boyfriend, Robert (Guy Rolfe), she turns detective and the pair enlist the help of a chirpy safe cracker (Denis Harkin) to break into the safe. They learn that the office is being used by a drug racket for storing dope and the safe contains a list of names that the consignments are to be dispatched to. It is now clear that Barbara's father was killed for discovering this. In an attempt to bring the murderer out into the open, Jimmy happens to know one of the people on the consignment list so he approaches this person and tells him that his drugs are ready to be collected. Robert, Barbara and Jimmy tail him through the dark London streets but the killer is aware of the set up and strangles the man. Back at the house, Robert and Barbara force Wainwright to confess that he was involved in the dope racket, which he does, but it transpires that there is a man higher up than him, a Mr Big, but he has never met this person before. However, Mr Big is frightened that they will be able to unmask him and Robert, Barbara and Wainwright end up fighting for their lives when the killer prowls the estate with the intention of murdering them.

This obscure little British quota-quickie crime thriller was directed by Terence Fisher before his career breakthrough came with the Hammer gothic chillers such as The Curse Of Frankenstein, Dracula and The Mummy. These were groundbreaking films that launched the British horror boom of the fifties and sixties but in the years prior to that, Fisher directed numerous features for the British quota-quickie market. Many of these films were not all that interesting although they were very typical of their type usually featuring an imported American star who was past his/her prime. Nevertheless, there were one or two exceptions in this phase of Fisher's career and Home To Danger stands as one of his better early films. The story is your average crime plot but Fisher creates more suspense and tension than one would normally expect of this kind of picture and he actually got to film Barbara's country estate on location as well as the shooting party sequence rather than having to rely on a dodgy, fake studio setting allowing the film more production value and aided by Reginald Wyer's b&w cinematography, there is a good feeling for place and a sense of doom and the mysterious hanging over the proceedings. The casting is also above average with Rona Anderson and Guy Rolfe offering bright and believable performances in the two lovers who unwittingly get caught up in murder and London's underworld whilst a young Sir Stanley Baker offers a touching performance as the addled handyman, Willie, who plays a big part in saving Barbara's life before sadly losing his own. The film does betray its poverty row, b-movie origins from time to time and the identity of the killer really isn't that difficult to work out. In addition, in the opening scenes where Barbara is met at the airport by Wainwright, they are being followed by the guy with the scarred face and the actor playing the part is wearing a trench coat and a Al Capone style hat. This to me shows a hopeless attempt to make a low budget crime b-pic look like the American crime movies and it does not work and many a British b-movie has done this among others besides importing a fading American movie star. Nevertheless, Home To Danger, is still an undeservedly neglected film as it indicates that Fisher was certainly an up and coming talent as he gave material like this better direction than it perhaps deserved. And with its moody atmosphere and tension that lurks throughout and with an interesting cast to boot, this is one b-picture that is above the tawdry standard that one usually associates with British b-movies.