Quick! Name a film starring an award-winning actress as a blind woman whose home is invaded by scary men in the aftermath of a murder.
The answer is “On Dangerous Ground” (1951), starring Ida Lupino.
It’s also “Wait Until Dark” (1967), starring Audrey Hepburn.
Both films — which are now out on Blu-ray from Warner Archive Collection — are classics in their own way. Nicholas Ray‘s “On Dangerous Ground” is an atypical noir with a nuanced performance by Robert Ryan as an embittered cop. Terence Young‘s “Wait Until Dark” is a thriller based on a Broadway hit with an unforgettable performance by Alan Arkin as a sociopathic killer.
“On Dangerous Ground” opens as three New York City detectives — Santos (Anthony Ross), Daly (Charles Kemper) and Wilson (Ryan) — are in their homes prior to going out on night patrol. In a stroke of black humor, Santos and Daly’s wives help their men strap on their guns. Wilson, the lone wolf, is choking down a meal while studying mug shots — not a great way to relax at home.
Santos and Daly notice Wilson is growing more sullen, more liable to put the hurt on a suspect or informant. Daly knows why: “All we ever see is crooks, murderers, winos, stoolies, dames. All with an angle. You get so you think everybody’s like that.”
Meanwhile, Capt. Brawley (Ed Begley) puts pressure on the precinct to find two suspects in a cop killing that occurred 14 days earlier. “I know you’re trying,” he says. “Try harder.”
Ida Lupino and Robert Ryan in “On Dangerous Ground” (1951).
That’s just what Wilson does. But, as the saying goes, no good deed goes unpunished.
He follows up on a tip and gleans information from a reluctant informant via, shall we say, extreme interrogation. This information leads to the capture of the suspects. But the injured informant’s lawyer is threatening a lawsuit, while Wilson is proving even more liable to use his fists on the job.
Brawley — the guy who pushed for results in the first place — decides Wilson needs a timeout from the big city. He sends Wilson to the snowy climes of upstate New York, to help with the investigation of a murdered girl.
This is the moment “On Dangerous Ground” becomes another movie. Up here, Wilson is a fish out of water whose city ways won’t wash. His biggest problem now is an ostensive good guy. Brent (Ward Bond) –father of the murdered girl — is on a one-man hunt for the killer. Brent is never without his rifle, and makes it clear that he intends to use it. Wilson quickly decides the best course is to follow Brent and prevent another killing.
The trail leads to a remote house in the mountains, where the men find Mary (Lupino), a blind woman who claims to be alone. Brent is unconvinced. But Wilson — now in the unfamiliar role of the cool, measured one — regards Mary with patience and caution, and gets more from her than any Skid Row stoolie could possibly provide.
“Wait Until Dark” is 50-year-old big-studio entertainment, and as such, sometimes it can be a bit corny. Henry Mancini‘s score often tells us how to feel; the plinky, repeating, out-of-tune piano riff says “Bad things are going to happen” with the subtlety of a tuba.
But the movie holds up. Hepburn plays Susy, a Manhattanite struggling to acclimate to blindness caused by a car accident. Her photographer husband, Sam (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.), has foolishly agreed to carry a doll through customs for an attractive fellow traveler named Lisa (Samantha Jones).
Sam is called away for a photo assignment in Asbury Park — consistently transcribed as “Ashbury Park” in the Blu-ray subtitles — leaving Susy alone for the day.
Audrey Hepburn and Richard Crenna in “Wait Until Dark” (1969).
Meanwhile, two grifters — Mike (Richard Crenna) and Carlino (Jack Weston) — convene at Susy’s basement apartment by prior arrangement with Lisa, their partner in any number of scams. There, the men encounter Roat (Arkin), who looks like a Goth beatnik in jet-black specs, hair and clothes, and who carries a switchblade with a carved ivory handle he calls Geraldine.
Roat wants that doll — one guess why — and ensnares Mike and Carlino in a plot to search Susy’s apartment while she is present. (She can’t see, right? Yeah, certain plot points are a bit far-fetched.) Complicating Roat’s scheme is the presence of Gloria (Julie Herrod, repeating her Broadway role), a neighbor’s nerdy, sometimes bratty young daughter who occasionally helps Susy with light housework and grocery shopping.
Hepburn is charming. Weston, usually a funny guy, is still funny in a tragic role. Crenna is his usual immaculate self. But Arkin’s sadistic Roat is the character who will still haunt you when the darkness falls.
“On Dangerous Ground” and “Wait Until Dark” are available manufactured on demand. Order at wbshop.com.
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