"Background to Danger" is the third of nine movies that Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre made together. It's the least of the nine. Yet, it still commands a high rating, mostly due to their presence. George Raft and Brenda Marshall have top billing in this Warner Brothers film, but Greenstreet and Lorre are the gold that sells the film. This came right on the heels of their two smash hits with Humphrey Bogart – "The Maltese Falcon" of 1941 and "Casablanca" of 1942. This is a good film about wartime espionage and skullduggery, set in Turkey in early World War II. It's a good plot with intrigue, and the historical aspects are interesting. The quality of the film is good. Considering that this was made during the war Warner Brothers added authenticity by shooting the train and railroad station scenes in France and Turkey. The plot is about feuding between countries in neutral Turkey, to get it to align with one side or the other. The Soviets represent the Allies, and the Germans the Axis. This is mostly about German efforts to get Turkey to side with it. The Nazi methods, of course, are by hook or crook. Again, Greenstreet and Lorre are the main attractions of this film, as Colonel Robinson and Nikolas Zaleshoff, respectively. George Raft is okay in his role, but his deadpan, straight face and voice doesn't have as much life as the role should have. That persona was OK for his crime flicks but not much else. Raft and his career make an interesting anomaly of Hollywood. He was a leading man of the 1930s and 1940s who played many roles but starred mostly in crime and gangster films. He was offered some in this genre and many other dramatic roles that he turned down. Those, in turn, went to other actors who benefited with hit films in their careers. In time, Raft became identified as an underworld type. So, by the late 20th century, Raft films were hardly ever aired on TV, and few were made into DVD. Those that were usually had one or more other stars with some demand. Raft was all but forgotten while those actors who took the roles he rejected are remembered today. This is a decent enough film that most people should enjoy. It's good enough to include in any serious war film library. One line that gets me had become a throwaway in the types of films Raft made most often. When Tamara Zaleshoff (played by Brenda Marshall) drops him (Joe Barton) off at his hotel, she says, "Be careful." And Raft's reply has become the corn of those comic book type films. He says, "Don't worry about me. I can take care of myself."Here are some favorite lines from this film. For more lines see the Quotes section under this IMDb Web page of the movie.Colonel Robinson, "Our problem is a simple one. We must create an incident. Any kind of an incident that will convince Turkey Russia is about to attack her. How we accomplish this does not matter."Colonel Robinson, "We Nazis do not relish failure." Colonel Robinson, "In international diplomacy, the shortest distance between two points is never a straight line. We must use the back door to Turkey. Somewhere on the road to Ankara, we will make use of our friends. Friends who can be bought for the occasion."

Joe Barton (George Raft) is traveling to neutral Turkey during WWII. En route, a woman gives him money to hold...as she says she's being followed. He agrees to help...which is a very bad thing. This is because he then finds himself pulled into the world of spies and intrigue...and German and possibly Russian agents are chasing him all about the country trying to beat him up or even kill him. They think he still has the money and is somehow involved in some plot involving a fake story about the Soviet Army invading Turkey! So, much of the film is spent running about the country dodging one problem after another. It sure does suck to be Joe Barton!In some ways, this is like the more famous "Casablanca". It co- stars Sidney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre but it's also set in an exotic city filled with folks of many nationalities and it all centers on an American who finds himself in the middle of everything. But, in other ways, it reminds me a lot of "The Maltese Falcon"--with lots of folks bashing each other over the head, killing each other and no clear indication as to what motivates some of these folks. Overall, this is an enjoyable film but one that isn't particularly outstanding. Some of it is because Raft, as usual, was pretty low energy and uninteresting. Some of it is because the film mostly consisted of lots of escapes and a lot of talking. Not bad...but lacking something to make it great.

This film shares several things with Casablanca. It has several members from that cast with some changes. It deals with Nazi's & intrigue though this time in Angora, Turkey instead of Morroco. Peter Lorre manages to get shot in both movies. Backgound To Danger is actually based upon a novel by the same name. Both movies came off Warner Brothers war propaganda assembly line. The differences are striking though. Even though this one has a higher power Director, Raoul Walsh, & a higher power writer, William Faulkner, involved in the film, it just simply is not as good. George Raft just isn't Bogart and Ingrid Bergman is no where to be found. Interesting it is the very next film after Casablanca for Greenstreet. This movie is entertaining, & it has a good cast. For some reason the script is where this falls short. Casablanca, just seems to be better on all counts.

I liked this film although there were certainly many better for the time. It is the usual war time movie without being too much like the rest.How can you go wrong watching Sidney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre together? Greenstreet is simply magnetic, and I was stunned to find out he debuted in films with Casablanca only a year before.I kept thinking during the movie how much better it would have been with someone else besides Raft in the title role, he is pretty wooden. I am not sure where his performance ranks with his other roles. I hope they were better but doubt that they were. I don't watch many of them normally.Brenda Marshall provides window dressing mostly and the ending smacks of a cheap knockoff attempt, but the rest wasn't too bad.