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6 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
A trip to Scotland to uncover the past, 12 May 2003
7/10
Author: Ilya Mauter

An American World War II veteran Clay Douglas (Ray Milland) comes to Scotland in order to conduct an investigation concerning death of his brother during a special mission in France during the war, the mission where he was the only casualty what appears to be very strange to Clay. Travelling through Scotland, one by one he meets former war mates of his brother and tries to inquire them as about circumstances surrounding his death. But everyone pretends to know nothing or very little about what happened back then, the fact that makes Clay Douglas more and more sure that it's in fact one of them, his former colleges, is guilty of his death. The question is: which one of them?

Circle of Danger marked Jacques Tourneur's return to Europe, namely Great Britain where he went in order to make this movie. Though the Circle of Danger doesn't belong to the Film-Noir genre it might be considered the bleak shadow of Jacques Tourneur's Film-Noir classic Out of the Past. Parallels can be drown especially in terms of the story, which in both cases concerns the main character's past, only in Out of the Past Robert Mitchum's character Jeff Bailey tries to forget it, to hide from it, which ultimately proves to be impossible and results in tragic ending, while in Circle of Danger Ray Milland's character Clay Douglas decides to travel back in time and uncover its mysteries related the unclear circumstances of his brother's death in world War II. Only in Circle of Danger everything is much more `primitive', much more simplistic in terms of the story and character's development and their interactions as well as in lacking of that great wittiness of dialogs which is one of the main masterpiece ingredients of the Out of the Past, and finally the film's ending, a time where a question might arise in our minds: Is it was worthy the time we invested in seeing it? 6/10

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3 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
Inside a small circle of soldiers., 28 August 2007
6/10
Author: dbdumonteil

Son of a French famous director (Maurice),but an American citizen since 1919 when his father came to Hollywood,Jack (Jacques) Tourneur began his career in the land of Victor Hugo with funny comedies such as "Toto".But he is best remembered for his thrillers ("out of the past"),his adventures films ("the flame and the arrow") and his fantasy and horror movies ("cat people" ,"curse of the demon",my J.T. favourites.

"Circle of danger" belongs to the "thriller" category although it's rather a whodunit detective story ;as it takes place in England ,it is closer to Agatha Christie's puzzles than to American film noir .A man (Ray Milland ) investigates his brother's death.In WW2,he joined the English army and was killed in a raid .But the bullet that went through his head was not German.

Jack Tourneur has a very special way of filming the places .It is obvious in "Curse of the demon" .Here too the places seem more important than the characters : the mines,the nice cottage in Scotland,the dancing school,the theater ,and above all,the sensational use of the Scottish country in the final sequence.He makes harmless elements very strange nay scary: the awful choir,the ballet,the commander's mom....

There is a slight sag in the texture and tension in the second part when Tourneur focuses on the female character played by decorative Patricia Roc.Besides,when Clay talks about his kid brother,it's not enough to make acquaintance with a character who does not appear in the movie,and it is important,when you know the ending of the film.

By the last thirty minutes,the movie becomes exciting again.The whistling tune is a very good trick,worthy of Alfred Hitchcock.And the final scene cannot be praised too highly:a very good suspense.

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1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
Ray Milland on a Quest for the Truth, 7 December 2008
7/10
Author: robert-temple-1 from United Kingdom

Jacques Tourneur directed this postwar British mystery film very well, and the cinematography by Ossie Morris and camera operating by Arthur Ibbetson were superior, and added to the film's atmosphere considerably. Ray Milland is the lead actor, playing an American who visits England and wants to find out how and why his younger brother had died during the War. The brother (not seen in the film) had joined up as a British commando in 1940 and was mysteriously killed on a commando raid 'with not a German in sight'. Was he murdered by a comrade? Milland sets about visiting in turn all of the 12 men of the commando unit, only to discover that many of them are dead and one died only two weeks before his arrival in England after suggesting that the brother had been a murder victim. One of the surviving men is an East End wide boy played by Naunton Wayne, who is usually a bumbling gent but on this occasion is a convincing used car salesman. His girl friend 'Bubbles' who even does a singing number is played by the ever-effervescent Dora Bryan. A deeply sinister performance is contributed by Marius Goring, as a gay ballet dancer who knows how to handle a gun and whose role in the story only becomes clear at the end. Patricia Roc is the love interest, who alternates between being bouncy and adorable and being the most horrible spoilt brat who pouts if kept waiting for a few minutes and accuses Milland of not being dressed properly when he is in a mere suit and tie (she snottily points out that he has 'ruined her evening' because he hasn't had time to change into black tie). She really needed several good spankings, but does not get one, unfortunately. Milland is very effective in this mysterious tale, exerting extraordinary self-control in the face of extreme provocation from the uncommunicative and rude former comrades of his brother. There are some fine shots of the Scottish highlands as Milland pursues the truth north of the border, where the whistling of a folk tune called 'White Heather' takes on significance in terms of identifying the killer. This is a fine film without pretensions, where the intrigue is unravelled like a thread and leads Milland to strange discoveries about what really happened.

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