classicsoncall Review of Where Danger Lives

Where Danger Lives (1950)

"You've lied to me once. Maybe you lied a hundred times!"

[7/10 · 11 May 2024]

I thought there was something curious about Frederic Lannington (Claude Rains) dying after that brief scuffle with Doctor Jeff Cameron (Robert Mitchum). So it came as no surprise when the cops stated that he died from suffocation, a result of Lannington's wife using the old sofa cushion technique. Cameron probably should have pegged his future wife as a nutcase right from the get-go, but when you come right down to it, Margo Lannington (Faith Domergue) didn't offer a whole lot of clues to her mental state during the early going, although his instincts should have kept him going right out the door of the Lannington home once he found out the truth of their marriage. I have to agree with a handful of other reviewers who question Mitchum's casting here as the poor schmuck who got taken in by Margo's scheme. Maybe it was getting whacked by that fireplace iron that finally did the trick, although he did get real cozy with the femme fatale from their very first clandestine date. Having Mitchum's character make his way through the story with a concussion was probably a good idea, or else how would you explain his lack of judgment. For a lovers-on-the-lam story, this one is somewhat decent, but you have to overlook the inconsistencies in Jeff Cameron's character. However, Mitchum did a good enough job in this flick to recommend him for 1952's "Angel Face", another noir thriller in which, quite coincidentally, his character married another lunatic, only this time, before she even got out of her hospital bed! If that sounds weird, you'll just have to see it for yourself.