This Woman Is Dangerous

This Woman Is Dangerous

Original theatrical poster
Directed by Felix E. Feist
Produced by Robert Sisk
Written by Story:
Bernard Girard
Screenplay:
Geoffrey Homes
George Worthing Yates
Starring Joan Crawford
Dennis Morgan
David Brian
Music by David Buttolph
Cinematography Ted McCord
Edited by James C. Moore
Distributed by Warner Bros.
Release dates
  • February 28, 1952 (1952-02-28) (U.S.)
Running time
 100 minutes
Country United States
Language English

This Woman Is Dangerous is a 1952 American film noir crime-drama by Warner Bros. starring Joan Crawford, David Brian, and Dennis Morgan in a story about a gun moll's romances with two different men. The screenplay by Geoffrey Homes and George Worthing Yates was based on a story by Bernard Girard. The film was directed by Felix E. Feist and produced by Robert Sisk. Soon after the film was released, Crawford left Warner Bros. studio.

In 1973, during the "Legendary Ladies" show at Town Hall, when asked, "Which one of your films do you regret making?" Joan Crawford told the audience that she considered This Woman Is Dangerous her worst film.

Plot

Beth Austin (Joan Crawford) is the leader of a hold-up gang and the mistress of its most cold-blooded killer Matt Jackson (David Brian). In New Orleans, the group robs a casino by impersonating police officers. After taking in a haul of $90,000 ($791,000 in 2013 dollars),[1] she tells Matt that she has suffered from failing eyesight and needs to travel to an eye clinic in Indiana to have an advanced operation. While initially mad that she is leaving the group, he promises to lie low until she returns.

At the hospital, Beth and her eye surgeon, Ben Halleck (Dennis Morgan), fall in love. Meanwhile, Jackson becomes suspicious of his mistress's lengthy recovery period and sends a private investigator to snoop about. Beth breaks off her relationship with the doctor, hoping to dissuade Jackson from committing any harm against him. Jackson travels to the hospital planning to wipe out the man who has displaced him in Beth's affections, but the FBI shoots and kills Matt. Beth is promised leniency, and looks forward to a life with the doctor after a short prison sentence.

Cast

Production

Because the script of a gangster who saw the light had become trite by the 1950s, some sources suggest that studio head Jack L. Warner offered Crawford the role hoping the expensive star would turn it down so he could put her on suspension. That could also be the reason he offered the eye surgeon's role to Dennis Morgan, whose box-office appeal had diminished since World War II. To Warner's surprise, both stars accepted the film. Crawford later instructed her agents to negotiate an end to her contract at Warner Bros. and she went on to make the independently produced hit film noir Sudden Fear.[2]

Reception

Bosley Crowther in the New York Times called the movie "junk", and Otis Guernsey, Jr. of the New York Herald Tribune described the film as "a long, windy, tiresome story."[3]

DVD release

This Woman Is Dangerous was released on Region 1 DVD on March 23, 2009 from the online Warner Bros. Archive Collection.

Radio adaptation

This Woman Is Dangerous was presented on Lux Radio Theatre March 16, 1953. The one-hour adaptation starred Virginia Mayo, with Morgan reprising his role from the film.[4]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm BLS Inflation Calculator
  2. ↑ "This Woman is Dangerous". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved January 28, 2014.
  3. ↑ Quirk, Lawrence J.. The Films of Joan Crawford. The Citadel Press, 1968.
  4. ↑ Kirby, Walter (March 15, 1953). "Better Radio Programs for the Week". The Decatur Daily Review. p. 46. Retrieved June 25, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
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