Where Danger Lives is directed by John Farrow and written by Charles Bennett. It stars Robert Mitchum, Faith Domergue, Claude Rains and Maureen O'Sullivan. Music is by Roy Webb and cinematography by Nicholas Musuraca. Upon tending to attempted suicide victim Margo Lannington (Domergue), Dr. Jeff Cameron (Mitchum) falls in love with her and quickly finds his life spiralling out of control. Classic noir fable here, which begs the question on why is it not better known? More so when you consider it stars noir icon and legend Robert Mitchum? OK! Big Mitch never once convinces as a life saving doctor, but for a sad sap heavy eyed portrayal who you gonna call? Why Mitch of course. Thus the pic actually gets away with this odd bit of character casting, as it does the average performance from the otherwise lovely Domergue. Domergue was being pushed forward as Howard Hughes' latest siren of the screen, she would never attain great status, but she would grace many a "B" picture and become a cult fan favourite. Dr. Cameron has it all, a great job and a pretty nurse (O'Sullivan) who loves him very much, but one peer into the puppy dog eyes of Margo Lannington and he's in hook, line and sinker. Film essentially turns into a lovers on the lam story as the two lovers head for the border after leaving the scene of a crime. As the journey progresses and gets ever more perilous, Margo begins to show erratic behaviour, while Jeff is struggling badly with a concussion that grows evermore acute. They meet an assortment of odd or unsavoury characters, a low life car dealer, weasel pawn broker, shyster club owner, the latter of which is currently airing a rather bizarre cabaret show. They stop over in a noirville town where it's "Whisker Week", a backwater place where you are required to traditionally sport face fuzz on this particular week. Not only that but Margo and Jeff, minus whiskers and in confused states, end up being coerced into a bonkers marriage ceremony. It's all deliciously off kilter, the characterisations and situations marrying up deftly with Margo and Jeff's mental disintegration. Farrow adds his own directorial flourishes to the edgy mix, and Musuraca's photography is consistently gorgeous. All told it's as safe as noir houses for those of such noirish peccadilloes. 7.5/10

When a young woman comes into the hospital following a suicide attempt, young (and rather foolish) Doctor Jeff Cameron takes an interest in her (perhaps he likes women who feel like they have nothing to live for?) and follows up, seeing her a few times. One evening when Margo is due to travel away with her father, Jeff drunkenly plucks up the courage to go and see her and her dad with a rose and some sweet words. Unfortunately what he finds is that Margo does not live with her father but rather with her older husband. Millionaire Lannington treats Jeff with a playful contempt of a man used to his young, beautiful wife acting out but the meeting goes badly and, although Jeff's drunken state makes memory hazy, it seems a simple scuffle saw Lannington fall and bang his head, killing him. With Margo pulling him all the way, the pair decide to leave the body to be discovered in 4 days and use that time to flee the country together.This film has a central problem and it is one that it never really gets over and this is that it isn't built on very much. Firstly the passion Jeff feels for Margo is never explained and never given but a few seconds to really settle in and convince. As soon as we are expected to believe this relationship, we jump into the characters being on the run from murder in a way that relies on Jeff being drunk and beyond his sense for a very long period of time. The film does make good use of mistakes and assumptions (the cops at the airport for example) to make the characters more desperate than they need to be, but it is still asking a lot to go along with as the characters are not totally convincing. This continues right through to the very end because we are clearly never meant to turn against Jeff (which is why he gets a happy ending) and Margo gives him a spiteful deathbed confession. Her motivations for doing so make sense in one hand but personally I would have preferred her twisted character to have reached from the grave and taken Jeff with her out of spite, specifically by making her last words a clarification that Jeff did the killing and dragged her along for the ride. A dark ending but it would have lifted the film more than the pat thing it ends with, which just seemed like a copout to me.It doesn't help that Robert Mitchum is miscast. Perhaps he was not known as a tough guy at the time, but this is who he is and he cannot convince in a character that is weaker and taken over by Margo, a less imposing presence was required – someone less starry or more able, and this is not him. Of course the material doesn't help him but generally he doesn't sell this character. Domergue is faced with the same material but does a bit better as she is given a better role and she gradually play her hand during the film, starting out glamorous and showing impatience before leading into spite. They do have good moments but their flight doesn't always convince and the various obstacles occasionally feel forced and contrived (arrested for no facial hair!?).Where Danger Lives is decent enough as a story to follow along with, it moves forward with OK pace, but it is built on weakness that it never shakes off and it shows its colors in its final few minutes when, instead of embracing the darkness, it gives its main character an easy way out and provides the viewer with an ending that is as safe as it is disappointing.

Robert Mitchum is a doctor called Jeff Cameron who falls for his patient.Faith Domergue plays the woman, Margo, who's been brought in after a suicide attempt.Soon he finds out she's married to a man she previously called her father.Frederick Lannington, played by Claude Rains, is a sadistic man.He ends up dead after he gets into a fight with the drunken Jeff.But did he do it? She decides they run away together, all the way to Mexico.Where Danger Lives (1950) is a good film noir directed by John Farrow.The leading stars do a great job.Maureen O'Sullivan is terrific as Julie Dawn.This film noir has enough suspense to keep you interested.It brings some extra quality to the film with Mitchum's character having a brain concussion. It almost hurts to watch the man's battle.

Film-noir wasn't all about amazing masterpieces by Orson Welles, John Huston and Alfred Hitchcock. The genre is full of b-class stories from which the most remembered ones are by Edgar G. Ulmer and Joseph H. Lewis. Robert Mithcum was a big star of these b-class noir films, but he wasn't a bad actor at all. He made on impressive performance in a very good film-noir, which wasn't even close to a b-class movie, Out of the Past (1947) by Jacques Tourneur. Mitchum is also remembered for Angel Face (1952) also a film-noir. Moral complexity, outlaws, dangerous women and desperate men were the trademarks of the genre, which can all be found is this commercial - mostly made for entertainment - film by John Farrow, who directed a few other film-noirs as well such as Calcutta (1947), The Big Clock (1948), Night Has A Thousand Eyes (1948) and His Kind of Woman (1951).The direction by Farrow is at times very conventional and he accidentally makes unintentional comedy in a few scenes. The story gets going when Jeff Cameron, a doctor (an unusual role for Mitchum) sees a suicide patient at his department. The following day he gets a suspicious note from the woman and is asked to meet her at an apartment. Eventually Jeff falls in love with the woman and gets framed for a murder. The rest of the film shows the running away of Jeff and her lover.Running away from the law was also a very common subject for film-noir. Anthony Mann's Desperate (1947) and Alfred Hitchcock's Spellbound (1945) probably being the most remembered ones. Running away always meant something more than just the concrete escape. In Hitchcock's Spellbound John is running away from the police, but also from his subconsciousness. In Where Danger Lives Jeff (Mitchum) is running away from the law and the difficulty of stable life.To my mind Where Danger Lives was a very well made film-noir. It is a very interesting film for all of those interested in film-noir and history of cinema, but it is also a treat for those who enjoy an entertaining thriller every now and then. Even that Mitchum's performance isn't the best one could find it has its own greatness - something similar that Vincent Price has. An entertaining common film-noir.