During his early years in Hollywood, Dick Powell was pigeonholed into roles that were very, very similar. Because of his lovely voice and handsome face, he starred in one musical after another for Warner Brothers. While these films were pretty agreeable to watch, they were light-weight--with little depth and posing little challenge to Powell. He ached to do something more and around the end of WWII he got it--a great string of tough film noir movies. Now these were the antithesis of his earlier films and my assumption is that he got this chance because his boyish good looks were disappearing as he reached middle age. And, as far as I'm concerned, this was definitely for the better. With such tough films as "Cornered", "Johnny O'Clock" and "Murder My Sweet" he proved he could play a guy every bit as tough and cynical as the best of them!
"Cry Danger" begins with Powell being released from prison. Apparently, he'd spent five years there for a crime he didn't commit--and the only reason he was released is because an opportunist (Richard Erdman) perjured himself to provide him with an alibi. But he DIDN'T commit the robbery and he's determined to get to the bottom of it. The trail leads to a real crumb (William Conrad) and some snappy scenes between them. I'd say more, but don't want to divulge the film's nice twists.
All in all, the film worked for three major reasons--Powell's snappy acting, Conrad's performance as a slime-ball and wonderful dialog. While this is not exactly a great example of film noir, it's near-great--and well worth your time.
interesting twist with 'Harry'
"Cry Danger" begins with Powell being released from prison. Apparently, he'd spent five years there for a crime he didn't commit--and the only reason he was released is because an opportunist (Richard Erdman) perjured himself to provide him with an alibi. But he DIDN'T commit the robbery and he's determined to get to the bottom of it. The trail leads to a real crumb (William Conrad) and some snappy scenes between them. I'd say more, but don't want to divulge the film's nice twists.
All in all, the film worked for three major reasons--Powell's snappy acting, Conrad's performance as a slime-ball and wonderful dialog. While this is not exactly a great example of film noir, it's near-great--and well worth your time.
interesting twist with 'Harry'