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Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Dangerous Mission (1954)

After witnessing a murder in New York, a young woman (Piper Laurie) flees to Montana to hide. But the murderer (Kem Dibbs) and his lawyer (Frank Wilcox) hire a killer to find her and silence her before she talks. This short (75 minutes) film is passable, mindless entertainment highlighted by the gorgeous Technicolor scenery of Glacier National Park in Montana shot by William Snyder (CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON). The film's big finale however combines both actual outdoor footage of the glaciers along with a glacier set on a sound stage and the juxtaposition is obvious and jarring. Originally shot in 3D, the film doesn't appear to take advantage of the format. The pedestrian screenplay is by Horace McCoy, author of one of the great American novels THEY SHOOT HORSES DON'T THEY?, of all people! Victor Mature does his usual slumming as an ex-Marine turned cop pursuing the lovely Piper Laurie in more ways than one, Vincent Price is suitably oleaginous, the comely Betta St. John (THE ROBE) is an Indian maiden and William Bendix is the suspicious forest ranger.

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