Cry Danger *** (1951, Dick Powell, Rhonda Fleming, Richard Erdman, William Conrad, Regis Toomey, Jean Porter) – Classic Movie Review 6,565

Director Robert Parrish’s suspenseful 1951 film noir crime thriller Cry Danger stars Dick Powell as paroled convict Rocky Mulloy, who tries to prove that he was innocent of the robbery he was framed and sentenced to jail for.

He sets off hunting down the bad guys (Rhonda Fleming as the duplicitous sex siren Nancy, William Conrad as the vicious mobster Castro) who are really responsible, with the help of a handicapped marine, Delong (Richard Erdman).

Powell’s practised, hard-boiled performance spearheads this well-cast, fast-moving, tough-toned revenge thriller, in which all the elements are expertly corralled by director Parrish in his début.

Fleming and Conrad are enjoyably flamboyant as the bad guys, while Jean Porter stands out as Delong’s girlfriend Darlene. Also in the cast are Regis Toomey, Jay Adler, Joan Banks, Hy Averback, Gloria Saunders, Renny McEvoy, Lou Lubin, and Benny Burt.

Cry Danger is directed by Robert Parrish and Dick Powell (uncredited), runs 79 minutes, is made by Olympic Productions, is released by RKO Radio Pictures, is written by William Bowers, based on a story by Jerome Cady, shot in black and white by Joseph F Biroc, produced by Sam Wiessenthal and W R Frank, scored by Emil Newman and Paul Dunlap, and designed by Richard Day.

Release date: February 3, 1951 (US).

It was shot in just 22 days in the Bunker Hill section of Los Angeles by former child star and film editor Parrish, making his debut as a director, before going on to a lengthy, successful career.

However, actress Jean Porter said Cry Danger was ‘directed by Dick Powell, and he wasn’t given director credit. Dick gave Robert Parrish the director’s credit, but Dick did all the directing.’

The film was restored by the UCLA Film & Television Archive and released in 2011.

The cast are Dick Powell as Rocky Mulloy, Rhonda Fleming as Nancy Morgan, Richard Erdman as Delong, William Conrad as Louie Castro, Regis Toomey as Detective Lt. Gus Cobb, Jean Porter as Darlene LaVonne, Jay Adler as Trailer Park Manager Williams, Joan Banks as Alice Fletcher, Hy Averback as bookie Harry,  Gloria Saunders, Renny McEvoy, Lou Lubin and Benny Burt.

RIP Jean Porter.

RIP Jean Porter (8 December 1922 – 13 January 2018).

RIP Rhonda Fleming.

RIP Rhonda Fleming (born Marilyn Louis, August 10, 1923 – October 14, 2020).

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 6,565

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