Jeopardy

3/30/19531h 9m

Theatrical Release (US)

~ She did it... because her fear was greater than her shame! ~

Overview:

A woman is kidnapped when she goes to get help for her husband who is trapped on a beach with the tide coming in to surely drown him.

Director:

John Sturges

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$0.00

Revenue:

$0.00

Key words:

race against time
mexico
escaped convict
film noir
young boy
fugitive
murderer
family vacation
family in peril
desert
rescue from drowning
police pursuit
secluded beach
valiant wife

Cast

Barbara Stanwyck

~ as ~

Helen Stilwin

Barry Sullivan

~ as ~

Doug Stilwin

Ralph Meeker

~ as ~

Lawson the Fugitive

Lee Aaker

~ as ~

Bobby Stilwin

Rico Alaniz

~ as ~

Officer at 1st Roadblock (uncredited)

Salvador Baguez

~ as ~

Officer at 1st Roadblock (uncredited)

Bob Castro

~ as ~

Police Machine Gunner (uncredited)

Carlos Conde

~ as ~

Tijuana Vendor (uncredited)

George L. Derrick

~ as ~

Gas Station Attendant (uncredited)

Paul Fierro

~ as ~

Mexican Lieutenant

View full cast & crew

Reviews (1)

John Chard
Written 7 year(s) ago
7
Peligro!

Jeopardy is directed by John Sturges and adapted to screenplay by Mel Dinelli from Maurice Zimm's radio play "A Question of Time". It stars Barbara Stanwyck, Barry Sullivan, Ralph Meeker and Lee Aaker. Music is by Dimitri Tiomkin and cinematography by Victor Milner.

Running just shy of 70 minutes, Jeopardy is a classic lesson in how to garner great suspense from a small cast and set-up. Beginning with jaunty music and the scene setting of a family of three off for a vacation, it's all Americana bliss, but it's not long before fate deals the family some bad cards and we land firmly in thriller territory. The dialogue is safe and assured, with the stars turning in rich characterisations as written, particularly a wonderfully oily Meeker as the villain of the piece. Though very much plein air as a production, a claustrophobic and fraught air grips the play and drags the viewer in wholesale, a sense of cruel luck, danger and ironies hold things in a noir realm. While a turn of events in the narrative is deftly played, the sub-text shattering to the point we don't need to see it to feel it.

Unfortunately some irritants stop it from hitting the top end of the scale. Daft ironies and highly improbable contrivances chip away at the pic's other strengths, one scene has the son (Aaker) trapped on a dilapidated pier, to which his dad calls out "stay right where you are", I mean really, what else was the lad going to do?! Some crude back projection work also dampens down some otherwise nice production touches (Calif locales just lovely), while the ending kinda dilutes a previous moral kicker. But irritants aside, this holds its head up high as a picture well worth investing time in. 7.5/10