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Set in neutral Turkey circa WW2, this nearly-forgotten film is a fast-paced tale of espionage. Its great cast includes coin-flipping tough guy George Raft, the elegantly duplicitous duo of Lorre and Greenstreet, Brenda Marshall as a comely commie and Turhan Bey (The Mummy's Tomb) as a confidant of Raft.
Ankara is portrayed as the dangerous, exotic city it must have been in those tenuous years, with bombings and stealthy dealings in darkened alleys. All the world's powers had converged upon that strategic point, engaging in covert knifings and more overt misinformation. The Germans in this movie plan to leak out a map alleging that the Russians plan to invade, hopefully tilting Turkey to the Axis. Therefore the Nazis, Russians and Allies seek this map at all costs. Raft may be just a travelling salesman, or is he something more? Who can be trusted? Can Truth, Justice and the American Way prevail? Rock on, brother.
Raoul Walsh has never gotten the credit he deserved as director. He helmed some of the best suspensers in the first half of the 20th century: Thief of Baghdad (1924), High Sierra, Pursued and White Heat, to name a few. Here again he is up to the task of providing a crisp, actionful movie, with a brisk car chase spicing up the latter sections. (Not up to the latter-day stunt standards of Lethal Weapon 4, definitely, but well-done.)
The only thing realy lacking is an abundance of the razor-sharp dialogue some other 40's programmers possess, but if you like studio genre films from Hollywood's golden age (shot, as the box says, in glorious black and white) you will very likely enjoy this one, too.
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George Raft is a self described salesman travelling throughout Asia who gets tangled up in a Nazi plan to bring neutral Turkey into the war on their side. He encounters spy Osa Massen on a train. She's being followed, so she gives him an envelope containing forged plans to invade Turkey supposedly by the Russians so that Turkey will want to side with the Axis. When she turns up dead later in Ankara, he finds himself the centre of attention, with various spies and plotters like Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, and Brenda Marshall after the envelope. Raoul Walsh directs with his customary gusto, bringing lots of action to the twisting and turning spy story, culminating with a terrific chase scene. The film is well plotted, with surprises thrown in to keep the viewer guessing. Any film with Greenstreet and Lorre in it is usually worth watching, and they are as engaging as ever. The action helps to mask Raft's typically colourless performance (Bogart would have been great in this one). I love a good spy story, and this film did not disappoint me.Best Deals for Background to Danger (1943)
I've seen every movie Raft ever made, and I love him in this suits his personality, and his sometimes "woodenness" works very well here!!! The cast in this is great!!! Greenstreet... Lorre (love his "Where's my vodka?" whiny line!)...and Turhan Bey! a wonderful mysterious exotic handsome man who adds a lot to the overall feel of the drama. I've loaned this out to very serious movie critic friends totally thumbs up!!!!Honest reviews on Background to Danger (1943)
Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet appear in this espionage thriller, though in place of the might-be-expected Humphrey Bogart in the lead, it's George Raft. Raft plays an agent in Turkey who obtains secret papers from a Russian agent that reveal a German plot to incite Turkey against Russia and thus form an alliance with Germany. If it sounds confusing, it's only the beginning. Lorre is also a Russian spy who wants the papers, and although Raft tries to accommodate him, Lorre is shot by the Germans, though before it's over Raft catches the chief German spy (Greenstreet) and forces him to burn the plans against Turkey. The picture is faithful to the Eric Ambler novel it's based on, only with the Germans taking the place of the petroleum company in the book. Lorre is excellent as Zalenkoff, and takes most impressive acting honors here. The plot is a bit confusing at times, and we're constantly weary of double-crosses lurking everywhere. But Raoul Walsh's direction is tight and brimming, and the movie offers solid entertainment where it most matters: a clever script and decent acting. Worth a watch.Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Background to Danger (1943)
Warner Bros. Pictures present "BACKGROUND TO DANGER" (1943) (80 mins/B&W) (Dolby digitally remastered) --Starring George Raft, Brenda Marshall, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, Osa Massen & Kurt Katch ... Directed by Raoul Walsh, released in July 3, 1943, our story line takes place at Ankara in neutral Turkey : World War Two. A town of intrigue and of provocateurs. The Germans are planning to leak maps apparently proving that the Russians are about to invade the country. American Joe Barton is in the know and in the middle, along with Zaloshoff and his sister who may or may not be Russians. What is clear though is that odious Colonel Robinson is a full-blown Nazi --Slam bang WWII story with a terrific car chase to cap a fast moving tale.Under Raoul Walsh (Director), Eric Ambler (novel "Background to Danger"), W.R. Burnett (Screenwriter), Jerry Wald (Producer), Jack L. Warner (Executive Producer), Frederick Hollander (Original Score), Tony Gaudio (Cinematographer), Jack Killifer (Editor) the cast includes George Raft (Joe Barton), Brenda Marshall (Tamara Zaleshoff), Sydney Greenstreet (Colonel Robinson), Peter Lorre (Nikolai Zaleshoff), Osa Massen (Ana Remzi), Turhan Bey (Hassan), Willard Robertson ('Mac' McNamara), Kurt Katch (Mailler) Film noir has sources not only in cinema but other artistic mediums as well...the low-key lighting schemes commonly linked with the classic mode are in the tradition of chiaroscuro and tenebrism, techniques using high contrasts of light and dark developed by 15thand 16th-century painters associated with Mannerism and the Baroque...film noir's aesthetics are deeply influenced by German Expressionism, a cinematic movement of the 1910s and 1920s closely related to contemporaneous developments in theater, photography, painting, scultpture, and architecture...opportunities offered by the booming Hollywood film industry and, later, the threat of growing Nazi power led to the emigration of many important film artists working in Germany who had either been directly involved in the Expressionist movement or studied with its practitioners...Directors such as Fritz Lang, Robert Siodmak, and Michael Curtiz brought dramatic lighting techniques and a psychologically expressive approach to mise-en-scène with them to Hollywood, where they would make some of the most famous of classic noirs. Lang's 1931 masterwork, the German M, is among the first major crime films of the sound era to join a characteristically noirish visual style with a noir-type plot, one in which the protagonist is a criminal (as are his most successful pursuers). M was also the occasion for the first star performance by Peter Lorre, who would go on to act in several formative American noirs of the classic era ... featuring top performances from the '40s and '50s with outstanding drama and screenplays, along with a wonderful cast and supporting actors to bring it all together ... another winner from the vaults of almost forgotten film noir gems
SPECIAL FEATURES BIOS:
1. George Raft (aka: George Ranft)
Date of birth: 26 September 1895 New York City, New York
Date of death: 24 November 1980 Los Angeles, California
2. Brenda Marshall (aka: Ardis Ankerson Gaines)
Date of birth: 29 September 1915 Island of Negros, Philippines
Date of death: 30 July 1992 Palm Springs, California
3. Sydney Greenstreet
Date of birth: 27 December 1879 Sandwich, Kent, England, UK
Date of death: 18 January 1954 Hollywood, California
4. Peter Lorre (aka: László Löwenstein)
Date of birth: 26 June 1904 Rózsahegy, Austria-Hungary [now Ruzomberok, Slovakia]
Date of death: 23 March 1964 Los Angeles, California
5. Turhan Bey (aka: Turhan Gilbert Selahattin Sahultavy)
Date of birth: 30 March 1922 Vienna, Austria
Date of death: Still Living
6. Raoul Walsh (aka: Albert Edward Walsh) (Director)
Date of birth: 11 March 1887 New York, New York
Date of death: 31 December 1980 Simi Valley, California
Hats off and thanks to Les Adams (collector/guideslines for character identification), Chuck Anderson (Webmaster: The Old Corral/B-Westerns.Com), Boyd Magers (Western Clippings), Bobby J. Copeland (author of "Trail Talk"), Rhonda Lemons (Empire Publishing Inc), Bob Nareau (author of "The Real Bob Steele") and Trevor Scott (Down Under Com) as they have rekindled my interest once again for Film Noir, B-Westerns and Serials --looking forward to more high quality releases from the vintage serial era of the '20s, '30s & '40s and B-Westerns ... order your copy now from Amazon where there are plenty of copies available on VHS, stay tuned once again for top notch action mixed with deadly adventure --if you enjoyed this title, why not check out VCI Entertainment where they are experts in releasing B-Westerns and Serials --all my heroes have been cowboys!
Total Time: 80 min on VHS ~ Warner Bros. Video ~ (9/01/1998)
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