kidboots Talk about type cast - Zachary Scott must have had feelings of deja vu when he read the script of "Danger Signal". It was only his fourth film but he could already play the part of an ice cold psychopath in his sleep!! With a sprinkling of "Shadow of a Doubt" and a liberal dash of "Mildred Pierce", Scott was cast as Ronnie Mason, a killer of wealthy women, who romances serious Hilda Fenchurch (Faye Emerson), then after he has wormed his way into her family's affections, finds her lively kid sister more to his liking - especially when he realises that she has just inherited $25,000 from a kindly aunt. The interesting thing is that Ronnie's murderous past never becomes known to the family, only the audience knows just what he is capable of. Behind that charming mask lies a chilling killer and half way through the movie, when he asks Hilda to compose a suicide note, (he is a short story writer and wants a woman's opinion!!) the suspense builds as only the audience knows what he really wants the note for.The tacked on happy ending lessened the impact of what was a tight little noir. All the ends were tidied up to show that everyone had moved on with their lives - it was not needed. The exact thing happened in the next film Robert Florey directed, a classic horror film, "The Beast With Five Fingers" - a comic scene at the movie's end really lightened the mood - but not in a good way. Robert Florey was quite an under-rated director who had diverse interests. He had directed some experimental movies in the twenties. After a few prestigious films ("The Cocoanuts", "Murders in the Rue Morgue") he slid into Bs although quite a few were noteworthy ("Preview Murder Mystery", "Hollywood Boulevard").Just to make Zachary Scott feel at home, Bruce Bennett, who had played Mildred Pierce's forgiving husband, popped up as Dr. Lang, Hilda's shy suitor. Mona Freeman, another of the cast at the beginning of her career, was excellent as Anne, Hilda's younger sister. One goof - at the very start, Ronnie jumps out of a window and hurts his leg. He then, with the help of a stolen return soldier's pin, explains away the injury as a souvenir he picked up in the South Pacific - half way through the movie he is walking normally but nobody questions him.Highly Recommended.

RanchoTuVu Zachary Scott plays a womanizing writer who, as the film is opening, is removing a wedding ring from the finger of a woman who is lying in a bed in a hotel room. That she doesn't wake up tells you something. The story is fairly involved with minimal intrusion by law enforcement. It plays itself out between Scott and the woman he thinks will be his next push-over, an LA stenographer played by Faye Emmerson. While the audience is expecting the worst from Scott, it's Emmerson whose character eventually goes beyond what one would expect of it. Scott's traipsing around LA and looking for a room to rent is fairly riveting and when he sees Emmerson trying to take down the "Room For Rent" sign from her nice middle class two story wood house, the story is set. Suave ruthless womanizer meets lonely stenographer who lives with her mother and easily (maybe too easily) wins them both over. And later comes the arrival of the younger and prettier sister (Mona Freeman), which pretty much sets the stage and opens a lot of possibilities. Scott himself is at his ruthless best.

keylight-4 This is a great little movie, full of interesting characters and situations. While not in the same class as some of the better-known movies of its time, it is still extremely watchable and memorable. The scene where Zachary Scott, sitting on a bus, casually steals the airman pin from the lapel of a coat thrown over the seat next to him, is terrific. It defines his character beautifully -- a guy who's so low, he'll purloin something of inestimable value to a war veteran, to use as a prop in his various charades. He lies easily as the situation calls for, and captivates the women in the Fenchurch household with his irresistible charm and that killer smile.I couldn't help wondering if this movie was made to capitalize on the success of Mildred Pierce. Scott and Bruce Bennett were teamed again, and Faye Emerson bears some resemblance to Joan Crawford, with her facial bone structure and large eyes. Also, the Mona Freeman character is not unlike the odious Veda in Mildred Pierce.I agree with a previous comment that the ending to the movie was too pat, with the convenient tumble over a cliff for "Ronnie Mason", Zachary Scott's character. Also, in one of the final scenes, we see bratty Mona Freeman reunited with the boyfriend she had previously scorned in favor of the older, smoother Zachary Scott. I think the script should've called for her to be chastened for her behavior and for her cruelty toward her sister, instead of treating it as just a typical adolescent episode. But these are minor flaws in an otherwise enjoyable and well-made movie.

David (Handlinghandel) Robert Florey and James Wong Howe gave this a frightening, Expressionistic look. Scenes are shot at weird angles -- especially scenes involving figurative and literal lady-killer Zachary Scott. His sociopathic behavior presages another superb, medium-budget movie, "The Stepfather," by more than two decades.The entire cast is excellent, though (though no fault of her own) it's hard to think of Joyce Compton as anyone but the singer in "The Awful Truth.") Scott, Bennett, Emerson, DeCamp (especially, and though playing an older woman looking gorgeous) -- they couldn't have been topped.Setting a creepy lodger-in-the-house-of women story against a background of psychiatrists is a risky trick that pays off beautifully. Nothing corny at all.beautifully. Nothing corny at all.The resolution is a little pat, unfortunately. Not Emerson's getting together with Bennett. That makes sense. But Scott is dispatched too quickly. I seem him more as a Mr. Ripley character, who could have escaped everything -- the botulism, the murder rap, the jealous sisters -- and disappeared into the great world beyond this story. That would not have impeded the essentially happy ending of the secretary and her boss finally getting together.