kidboots Talk about type cast - Zachary Scott must have had feelings of deja vu when he read the script of "Danger Signal". It was only his fourth film but he could already play the part of an ice cold psychopath in his sleep!! With a sprinkling of "Shadow of a Doubt" and a liberal dash of "Mildred Pierce", Scott was cast as Ronnie Mason, a killer of wealthy women, who romances serious Hilda Fenchurch (Faye Emerson), then after he has wormed his way into her family's affections, finds her lively kid sister more to his liking - especially when he realises that she has just inherited $25,000 from a kindly aunt. The interesting thing is that Ronnie's murderous past never becomes known to the family, only the audience knows just what he is capable of. Behind that charming mask lies a chilling killer and half way through the movie, when he asks Hilda to compose a suicide note, (he is a short story writer and wants a woman's opinion!!) the suspense builds as only the audience knows what he really wants the note for.The tacked on happy ending lessened the impact of what was a tight little noir. All the ends were tidied up to show that everyone had moved on with their lives - it was not needed. The exact thing happened in the next film Robert Florey directed, a classic horror film, "The Beast With Five Fingers" - a comic scene at the movie's end really lightened the mood - but not in a good way. Robert Florey was quite an under-rated director who had diverse interests. He had directed some experimental movies in the twenties. After a few prestigious films ("The Cocoanuts", "Murders in the Rue Morgue") he slid into Bs although quite a few were noteworthy ("Preview Murder Mystery", "Hollywood Boulevard").Just to make Zachary Scott feel at home, Bruce Bennett, who had played Mildred Pierce's forgiving husband, popped up as Dr. Lang, Hilda's shy suitor. Mona Freeman, another of the cast at the beginning of her career, was excellent as Anne, Hilda's younger sister. One goof - at the very start, Ronnie jumps out of a window and hurts his leg. He then, with the help of a stolen return soldier's pin, explains away the injury as a souvenir he picked up in the South Pacific - half way through the movie he is walking normally but nobody questions him.Highly Recommended.

reader4 I don't feel like writing a whole review on this, but I can't believe the high rating this worse-than-average movie gets here.It just unfolds. There are no plot twists, nothing the least bit unpredictable. Until the end, that is, I guess.SPOILERS Then, suddenly, out of nowhere, some guy shows up and chases the anti-hero. I had no idea who he was. I had to go back and replay the movie from the beginning and found that he last appeared 14 minutes into the film, almost 75 minutes before his sudden, unannounced, unexplained reappearance. I had completely forgotten his existence by then!Then the guy falls a whole 10 feet to his death! And all this happens in like 2 minutes with no development whatsoever! I was going to give this a 5/10 before the ending came along. END SPOILERSThe only thing that makes this movie worth watching is Faye Emerson. She is not bad looking, although a bit odd, and her acting is excellent!

Robert J. Maxwell In the 19th century there was a whole established school of the psychology of personality called physiognomy. We don't hear much about it anymore. Physiognomy was a method of deducing personality traits from appearance alone. Pointy ears meant a bad temper. Heavy eyelids meant a reserved character. Physical features were to physiognomists what bumps on the head were to phrenologists.Sorry. I only mention this because no physiognomist would believe a word of what Zachary Scott said. The poor guy was tall and had a smooth voice but he resembles some kind of underwater creature with his goggle eyes and that mustached brushed backwards like the whiskers on a carp.He puts that semi-handsome but eely presence to good use in "Danger Signal," a short and well-done B drama in which Scott goes about murdering women for their money and then blowing town.In the opening scene we watch him coolly knotting his tie over the dead body of his latest conquest, removing the golden ring he gave her, and stuffing her money into his suitcase before exiting through the window as the landlady pounds on the locked door of the hotel room. We don't know anything else about him and yet we know all we need to know. He's a murderous, psychopathic bottom feeder.If we had any doubts -- could this obvious set-up be a trap for the viewer? -- they're laid to rest in the next scene. Scott is on a train headed for Los Angeles. A man settles in behind him and throws his jacket over the top of the seat. The lapels flop down into Scott's view. Scott dispassionately notices the "ruptured duck" pin on the lapel, a sign of recent discharge from the armed forces, removes it, and drops it into his own pocket. From now on he will pose as a short story writer, which he is, but will falsely claim that he has just been medically discharged after having been wounded in the South Pacific.His fluidity, his reasoning, his charm work wonders. He seduces Faye Emerson, a pretty but colorless office drone, slips her the golden ring ("from my grandmother") and promises to marry her when his ship comes in. It's not clear exactly what he wants from her since she doesn't seem to have a large stash around.But when Emerson's yummy younger sister, Mona Freeman, moves back into the house and reveals that she's about to inherit a good deal of pelf, he seduces Freeman and begins to ignore Emerson. Now -- he may be a bright guy, in the way that psychopaths are bright, but it's a very bad idea to try dumping a thirtyish spinster with whom you've raised the question of marriage. It leads to Scott's undoing.I missed the last twenty minutes or so, and can't comment on the ending, but what I saw was a respectable black-and-white drama shot on a modest budget, competently direct, and nicely photographed -- good enough, that is to say, that I'd like to watch it again from beginning to end.

keylight-4 This is a great little movie, full of interesting characters and situations. While not in the same class as some of the better-known movies of its time, it is still extremely watchable and memorable. The scene where Zachary Scott, sitting on a bus, casually steals the airman pin from the lapel of a coat thrown over the seat next to him, is terrific. It defines his character beautifully -- a guy who's so low, he'll purloin something of inestimable value to a war veteran, to use as a prop in his various charades. He lies easily as the situation calls for, and captivates the women in the Fenchurch household with his irresistible charm and that killer smile.I couldn't help wondering if this movie was made to capitalize on the success of Mildred Pierce. Scott and Bruce Bennett were teamed again, and Faye Emerson bears some resemblance to Joan Crawford, with her facial bone structure and large eyes. Also, the Mona Freeman character is not unlike the odious Veda in Mildred Pierce.I agree with a previous comment that the ending to the movie was too pat, with the convenient tumble over a cliff for "Ronnie Mason", Zachary Scott's character. Also, in one of the final scenes, we see bratty Mona Freeman reunited with the boyfriend she had previously scorned in favor of the older, smoother Zachary Scott. I think the script should've called for her to be chastened for her behavior and for her cruelty toward her sister, instead of treating it as just a typical adolescent episode. But these are minor flaws in an otherwise enjoyable and well-made movie.