1953 film noir mystery film by Joseph M. Newman
Dangerous Crossing is a 1953 American mystery film starring Jeanne Crain and Michael Rennie and directed by Joseph M. Newman. Based on the 1943 play Cabin B-13 by John Dickson Carr,[1] the story revolves around newlyweds who become physically separated while on their honeymoon on an ocean liner.
Plot
On an ocean liner sailing from New York, John Bowman lifts his bride Ruth over the threshold of cabin B16, where Anna Quinn, a stewardess busy with finishing touches, greets them and withdraws. Ruth and John have had a whirlwind courtship of just 4 weeks while Ruth has been unsettled by her father’s recent death. John suggests Ruth go on deck to enjoy the ship’s departure while he takes 15 minutes to see the purser to deposit money for safekeeping. As Ruth waves to the crowd in excitement, fellow passenger Kay Prentiss asks Ruth who is seeing her off. Ruth replies that she is waving to no one in particular, as she is traveling with her husband. After John fails to meet her for over an hour, she learns from the purser that he has not been there.
Returning to her cabin, she finds it locked and the attending steward insists that cabin B16 has not been booked for this trip. She is registered solo under her maiden name, Ruth Stanton, in cabin B18, where her luggage is found, but not her husband’s. Insisting on seeing cabin B16, Ruth finds no sign of having been there before. She has no ticket or passport, which are in John’s possession. Since they were married only the day before, she is not wearing a wedding ring and her luggage still bear tags with her maiden name.
Under stress, she faints, and the ship's physician, Dr. Manning, embarks on a search for the facts. The stewardess who greeted them insists she never saw Ruth or her husband. While boarding John had fallen back in the crowd going up the gangplank, briefly separated from her, and the second officer who greeted her says she was unaccompanied. She can think of no one else who has seen her husband.
The captain asks whether her husband may have left the ship and orders the ship searched—but to no avail. Kay Prentiss tells the doctor that Ruth had admitted waving to nobody at the ship’s departure. Eventually, the crew suspect Ruth is delusional, and Dr. Manning treats her sympathetically but with skepticism.
That night, John phones Ruth with a cryptic warning that they are in danger and to trust no one; he then hangs up. Dr. Manning gets her to open up about the recent death of her father, a wealthy steel executive. When Ruth’s company’s managing director, doctor and servants responded to inquiry that they are unaware of a John Bowman and she is unmarried, the doctor suggests to Ruth that her wedding was wishful thinking. She explains that John wanted a quick, quiet ceremony. Her uncle might scheme to get her large inheritance that includes her father’s company; thus, she kept the marriage secret. That evening, John phones again, asking Ruth to meet him on deck. While there, he runs into the fog when he hears others approach. Ruth chases him but ends up in the ship's crowded ballroom, where she goes into hysterics. The captain demands she be locked in her cabin.
Dr. Manning attends to the ship’s third mate, Jack Barlowe, who has been confined to his cabin with illness since the ship’s departure. Known only to his accomplice Anna Quinn, Barlowe is the missing John Bowman, who has faked illness to conceal himself in his quarters. To inherit her fortune as her husband, he has schemed to make Ruth seem insane to fake her suicide. When Barlowe learns Ruth has been locked up, he tells Anna to facilitate her escape. Anna “accidentally” leaves the door unlocked as she checks in on Ruth. Ruth slips out to keep her assignation with John. John tries to throw Ruth overboard—to look like the unstable Ruth committed to suicide—but is stopped by Dr. Manning. In the ensuing struggle, John falls over the side.
The captain returns Ruth’s passport and marriage certificate—found in Barlowe’s cabin—apologizing to Ruth for challenging both her veracity and sanity. Anna Quinn has confessed to the plot. Ruth and Dr. Manning have developed a relationship; he will be there to help her get over her ordeal.
Cast
Production
The radio play Cabin B-13 was very popular when broadcast in 1943 and had been adapted for TV in 1948.[2]
Film rights were bought by 20th Century Fox, which started production in 1952 under the name Ship Story. Corinne Calvet and Gary Merrill were the original leads. Joseph M. Newman was originally meant to direct a film called The Raid but it was having casting issues and the director was under contract to the studio, so they transferred him to Ship Story.[3]
Eventually the lead roles were assigned to Fox contract stars Jeanne Crain and Michael Rennie. Filming started January 1953.[4]
Joseph Newman later recalled it was "a very low budget picture. At that time Twentieth Century Fox wanted to cut down on costs. But I think it was a good mystery. Crain and Rennie were both delightful people and pleasant to work with."[5]
Reception
The film critic for The New York Times gave a lukewarm contemporary review, writing
Although it maintains an eerie quality and suspense through the first half of its footage, Dangerous Crossing, which arrived at the Globe yesterday, is only a mildly engrossing adventure ... While sound effects, background music and shipboard sets lend a peculiar fascination to the melodrama, the acting of the cast adds little tautness to the proceedings. As the beleaguered heiress Jeanne Crain is beautiful but not entirely convincing in the role ... Dangerous Crossing, in effect, is intriguing only part of the way.... Thereafter, it is a commonplace trip.[6]
References
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