Life in Danger

Life in Danger
Theatrical release poster
Directed byTerry Bishop
Written byMalcolm Hulke
Eric Paice
Produced byJack Parsons
StarringDerren Nesbitt
Julie Hopkins
Edited byJohn Trumper
Music byWilliam Davies
Production
company
Parroch Films
Distributed byButcher's Film Service
Release date
  • 7 September 1959 (1959-09-07)
Running time
62 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Life in Danger is a 1959 British second feature[1] film directed by Terry Bishop and starring Derren Nesbitt and Julie Hopkins.[2]

Plot

Hazel Ashley, an emotionally unstable adolescent, meets a casual labourer and befriends him. At the same time, news comes that Miller, a convicted child murderer, has just escaped from a nearby lunatic asylum.

Hazel goes missing, and when local villagers led by Major Peters search for her, they find her in a barn with the labourer, whom they assume is the escaped killer. Peters shoots and wounds him. When the police arrive they report that Miller has previously surrendered himself.

Cast

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "This attempt at the familiar but always tricky subject of an average community shocked into violence by a threat to its ordinary existence – in this case an escaped criminal lunatic – has a tense opening and two mainly effective leading performances. Unfortunately realism soon takes second place to conventional thrills and a facile climax, and the supporting cast is for the most part unconvincing."[3]

Chibnall and McFarlane in The British 'B' Film call the film a "neat, unpretentious thriller".[1]: 220 

References

  1. ^ a b Chibnall, Steve; McFarlane, Brian (2009). The British 'B' Film. London: BFI/Bloomsbury. p. 106. ISBN 978-1-8445-7319-6.
  2. ^ "Life in Danger". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  3. ^ "Life in Danger". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 26 (300): 124. 1 January 1959 – via ProQuest.