Dangerous Crossing
by Joseph M. Newman
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DVD details
Actor: Carl Betz, Jeanne Crain, Mary Anderson, Max Showalter, Michael RennieDirector: Joseph M. Newman
Brand: Fox
Writer: John Dickson Carr
Writer: Leo Townsend
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 1.0; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 1.0
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 75 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-03-11
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: 20th Century Fox
DVD Reviews of Dangerous Crossing
DVD Review: A neat little 'B' noir, despite leading lady's histrionics
Summary: 4 Stars
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
Click on the DVD special features and you'll learn a few interesting things about 'Dangerous Crossing'. First off, it only took 19 days to film; and it cost about $500,000 which was less than half of what Twentieth Century Fox was paying for their 'A' blockbusters such as 'Titanic', which also was released around the same time in 1953. Speaking of 'Titanic', a good number of the sets from that film were used in 'Crossing' along with a pool set from 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes', another 'A' feature, also released in 1953. By using the sets from those other more expensive films, this was a big reason why the producers of 'Dangerous Crossing' were able to have the film made on the cheap as well as shoot it on such a short schedule.
'Dangerous Crossing' is a taut, little mystery with an ocean cruise as its setting. Jeanne Crain plays Ruth Stanton Bowman who just got married a day before and is off on her honeymoon with John Bowman (played by Carl Betz, known for his stint on TV's 'Donna Reed Show' a few years later). Once the couple boards the ship and settles into their cabin, the story takes a real spooky twist, reminiscent of a Twilight Zone episode. John disappears and the crew has no record of him being on the passenger manifest. Ruth starts to panic and the ship's captain orders the ship's physician, Paul Manning (played by the erudite Michael Rennie), to basically keep tabs on her. It appears that Ruth is off her rocker but the captain goes by the book and orders a search of the ship with negative results.
The tension in the plot keeps rising as Ruth receives a mysterious call from John who warns her that both of them are in great danger and he'll have to contact her later. The call makes Ruth even more frantic as she basically begins running around the ship conducting her own investigation. At a certain point, Ruth realizes that if she continues to act hysterically and fails to contain her anger, the doctor will be forced by the captain to confine her to her quarters. So she begins pretending that her story about coming on board with her husband, is simply a figment of her imagination (an idea suggested to her by Dr. Manning).
Ruth's paranoia is exacerbated when she encounters various fellow passengers and crew members all who seem quite menacing in her eyes. One passenger in particular sends her into a tailspin and that's this older German gentleman who walks with a limp and carries a cane. Of course he's just there (like most of the other crew and passengers) to throw the audience off the scent.
After Dr. Manning shows Ruth a telegram from the Bureau of Investigation on the mainland that her personal physician and housekeeper know nothing about her getting married, Ruth confesses that she kept the marriage a secret. It seems she had a reason to fear someone might be after her and her new husband: right before her father died, he left her the family business--cutting out the father's half-brother who threatened the father in the event that he planned to disinherit him.
Ruth experiences her 'dark moment the soul' when she encounters John on the deck and he runs away from her. In an excellent scene, she runs into the dining room and in a fit of paranoia, faints after she believes the crew members are all coming after her. The ship's captain immediately confines her to her quarters and her fears of being branded a lunatic have come true. Soon we learn that she hasn't been crazy after all. In the climactic scene, one of the ship's officers (who has been feigning illness and has been on sick leave) turns out to have impersonated Ruth's husband. Since Ruth has been confined to quarters and the ship will dock the next day, 'Bowman' attempts to strangle Ruth and throw her overboard, to make it look like she committed suicide. Manning intercepts Ruth's would-be killer and he ends up getting caught in a rope and falls overboard.
Up until the ending, 'Dangerous Crossing' is a highly entertaining mystery which keeps the audience continually guessing as to the outcome. The outcome however has one main problem. If 'Bowman' had been successful, he couldn't have claimed Ruth's inheritance since it would have shed light on his whole plot to kill her. It appears that 'Bowman' was really working with Ruth's father's half-brother who probably had paid 'Bowman' to do Ruth in. So it would have been much better if 'Bowman' mentioned this to Ruth as he's about to strangle her--he could have said something to the effect, 'Remember that uncle of yours--well, he and I had a little deal. Now, I hope you finally get it."
Most of the performances in 'Dangerous Crossing' are quite good but I did feel Jeanne Crain could have kept some of those histrionics under wrap. I'm referring especially to all those fainting spells every time she ends up receiving some kind of bad news. Also I found Dr. Manning to be remarkably patient (as well as Captain Peters) in dealing with the oftentimes hysterical Ruth. I know the staff of a cruise ship must be patient and courteous to the passengers, but would crew members today be as patient with someone like Ruth, who had a continual problem in controlling her anger?
'Dangerous Crossing' is a surprisingly well-made 'B' film noir. Particularly impressive is the cinematography in which a multitude of close-ups are utilized to a most efficacious effect.
Description of Dangerous Crossing
DANGEROUS CROSSING - DVD MovieA relaxing cruise turns into a terrifying journey in Joseph M. Newman's Dangerous Crossing. Part of the Fox Film Noir series, Newman's classy B-movie plays more like a psychological thriller with some particularly atmospheric visuals (heavy on the studio-generated fog). As her honeymoon begins, newlywed Ruth Bowman (Jeanne Craine, Pinky) explores the ship while husband John (Carl Betz, The Donna Reed Show) runs an errand. On deck, a friendly divorcée warns Ruth, "You mustn't let him out of your sight--husbands can get lost so easily." (The familiar-looking sets were recycled from 1953's Titanic and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.) Hours later, John hasn't returned, and no one has seen him. Ruth?s inquiries uncover an empty room, a missing passport, and her spouse?s absence from the passenger list. All signs point to delusion. Ruth's plight brings her to the attention of Dr. Paul Manning (the elegant Michael Rennie, The Day the Earth Stood Still), who offers to help in any way he can. Though Ruth confesses to a brief bout with depression, there?s nothing else in her background to indicate instability, but that disclosure leads Manning to the real cause of her distress. Based on John Dickson Carr's 1943 radio play Cabin B-13 and shot in 19 days, Newman (This Island Earth) conjures up as much intrigue as Alfred Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes. The excellent extras include comprehensive commentary from Fox historian Aubrey Solomon, a short featurette (Peril at Sea: Charting a Dangerous Crossing), several stills galleries, and the original theatrical trailer. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
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