Life in Danger (1959) User Reviews

Decent curio

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 16 September 2016]

LIFE IN DANGER is a low budget British crime drama about a child murderer who busts out of an asylum and is at large in the local community. While the police and authorities begin a slow and largely ineffectual investigation, the local gun-toting landowners decide to take the law into their own hands and hunt for the escapee themselves.

The story boasts an excellent performance from a youthful Derren Nesbitt as the lead character, who hides out in a barn for much of the running time. Nesbitt has always exuded an edgy and dangerous persona and never more so than here. The rest of the cast aren't quite as memorable, but the writers use the story template to explore some interesting topics: trial and retribution; psychological disturbance; the mindset of a murderer; and vigilantism. It's fairly suspenseful stuff, enlivened by a great edge-of-the-seat climax.

Well made British B picture

[malcolmgsw · 7/10 · 20 July 2015]

The fact that there are only 2 other reviews testify to the fact that this is virtually unknown.Yet it is an exciting,thoughtful and well made film with an excellent cast.Derren Nesbitt is especially good particularly since in some ways he is playing against type.There seem to be so many threads and characters running through this film that it is difficult to realise that it runs just over an hour.One gets the feeling that Butcher's spent the absolute minimum on this film,though they still manage to get a reasonable standard of production out of it.The film made a welcome return to the TV screen with its recent showing on Talking Picture TV.

Obscure but very watchable British B movie.

[alexanderdavies-99382 · 7/10 · 11 April 2018]

Derren Nesbitt is the kind of actor who should have been given more leading roles as he does very well in "Life in Danger." He always tended to specialise in playing smiling villains or characters who had a rather quirky and secretive agenda. In this film, he tends to keep a low profile after being named as a someone who's on the run from a nearby prison. It is rather unfortunate that as Derren Nesbitt takes refuge in an English village, some murders take place......... but is he guilty? It isn't long before he needs to fend for himself against some of the locals. The supporting cast are very good and included are a gallery of familiar faces who give good value.

Who's life is in danger exactly?

[alexanderdavies-99382 · 7/10 · 13 September 2019]

From the opening scene of Derren Nesbitt running through those woods and after that alarm goes off, you could be easily forgiven for believing he's wanted for something. But things aren't quite what they seem. The film's title is slightly ambiguous. I enjoy this film as it deals with issues like bigotry and prejudiced attitudes. The local villagers react in different ways upon hearing of a patient escaping from the nearby mental hospital. The one played by Howard Marian Crawford is someone to be wary of, as he thinks all problems can be solved with a gun! He hardly needs any excuse to use a loaded weapon to justify his wanton hostility. Derren Nesbitt makes for good "leading man" material and should have had more leads during his career. The pace of the film is solid, the supporting cast is reliable and the plot works perfectly OK with a running time of under an hour. The climax is laced with tension as things come to a head between Nesbitt and the local residents. Worth seeing.

Whose?

[boblipton · 6/10 · 28 June 2020]

A murderer has escaped from the prison for the criminally insane. The doctor in charge hesitates to sound the alarm and rouse the county. At the same time, Derrin Nesbitt appears at the back door of a farmhouse and asks for some water. He's been walking all day. He's young, he's good-looking, and the daughter of the house, Julie Hopkins, takes a fancy to him.

It's a nicely done thriller, with some nice characterizations about it; particularly good is Peter Swanwick as the dithery doctor, whom the audience quickly comes to view with contempt.... until he insists that the police and the local squire, who has been stalking around with a rifle, ready to shoot some one, stand back, while he goes into the barn where they think the mad man is hiding: he may not be a fast thinker, but he is no coward.

In the end, the writing is too neat, the 'normal' people too hysterical, to offer a balanced view of the rights of the individual against public safety. Still, until the very end, it is a tense and worrying scenario.

Choose 'Life'

[FilmFlaneur · 7/10 · 8 October 2019]

Another Derren Nesbitt sleeper. Not so good as The Man In the Back Seat maybe, but this is still a reasonably taut British thriller which grows in stature as it goes along. Nesbitt plays the suspected maniac on the loose, eventually cornered in a hayloft after befriending children (shades of Whistle Down the Wind here) What makes this film interesting, besides Nesbitt's presence in a starring role, is the way in which the narrative plays with our genre expectations, eventually forming a critique of 'respectable' society rather than providing the predictable portrait of a loser on the run. Both Nesbitt and Julie Hopkins (in one of her few screen roles) do a good job, while the film does a subtle job of juxtaposing the world of the pub with the freedom represented by the barn. It is the gradual rediscovery of low budget efforts like these, directed by a small and often overlooked cadre of second or third-rankers, often with a cast of familiar faces, which puts the lie to the idea that for much of this time Britain was a land without cinema. Maybe it was just not the cinema that some critics were looking for, since this sort of unassuming film these days gives more immediate pleasure than some of the stuffy quality productions of the time, If this and its ilk were in French no doubt we would be hearing more about them.

'I wonder how many of them are ever cured.' 'My dear they're criminal lunatics...they're little better than brutes.'

[scorfield-51711 · 4/10 · 11 January 2024]

One of a handful of budget British movies directed by Terry Bishop, whose career was largely devoted to helming TV costume dramas in the Fifties on the likes of Robin Hood and Sir Francis Drake. The film was also co-written by Malcom Hulke, who was not only responsible for the storylines of 53 episodes of 'Doctor Who' between 1964 and 1974, but also was co-creator of the concept of the Time Lords.

The plot centres upon a warning tale of the dangers of vigilantism as the residents of a quiet, rural English town become consumed by panic and fear when the local asylum's alarm is sounded signifying an inmate on the loose. Self-proclaimed head of the vigilantes is local war hero, Major Peters, played by character and voice actor, Howard Marion-Crawford, who himself served as a navigator in the RAF. It becomes clear from the outset that he considers the inmates a threat, declaring 'What do you do with a mad dog?' The Major has returned from London with his new schoolteacher girlfriend and reveals to her that that two years earlier a previous escapee had been on the loose for three days, and without any care for the safety of the locals, the asylum had failed to sound the alarm for two hours after discovering him gone. Having witnessed the young Darren Nesbit fleeing through the trees in the opening s, it also becomes apparent from the Major's explanation that the asylum alarm which sounded at the end of the opening credits was merely a weekly test that serves as a constant reminder to the local residents of their dangerous neighbours. The fact that the audience are then witness to the reticence of the asylum to sound the alarm for real whilst they attempt to locate a missing inmate raises the tension another notch.

Thus, the premise is set for what could have been a much more gripping thriller, and yet, ultimately this is a rather uninspiring feature, made worse by the completely misleading tagline of 'Terror rules as a mad killer-on-the-loose rips a town apart.' Part of the problem lies in the relatively poor supporting cast and the low-budget feel, making this appear more of an extended TV dramatisation. This despite the strength of Nesbit's lead performance as the handsome, nervy, and socially awkward character who appears at the doorway of the Ashley farm seeking liquid nourishment. Himself the product of TV costume dramas, Nesbit performs admirably well in his first leading role, coming a full decade before his most memorable performance in 'Where Eagles Dare'. The other cast member to shine here is Julie Hopkins, in her only notable role in a very short theatrical career, as the young, pouty and rebellious Hazel Ashley, who naively befriends our fugitive. Directing him to a nearby hayloft when asked for a place to rest, she and her little brother, discovered playing out there with his pet mice, are at risk of upsetting, and thereby becoming victims of this edgy, volatile newcomer. The tension mounts as newspaper headlines declare the insane inmate on the run is guilty of seven murders, while as the paranoia spreads, Mr and Mrs Ashley become ever greater concerned as to the whereabouts of their missing children.

Ultimately, the direction and tight budget fail to ignite what potential drama lay within the storyline. Consequently, the decent twist in the tale of mistaken identity, which the script has layered so well given the occasional tidbits of information seemingly linking together Nesbit's character with the escapee, such as their hatred of the sound of the siren and their work experience as farm labourers, lacks the dramatic effect it might have had.

Cracking British B-Movie - why is this so little known ??

[Wilbur-10 · 8/10 · 10 December 2002]

Virtually unknown British film which deals with an escaped prisoner from an asylum and the paranoia this causes in the local community.

Parkways is the institution which dominates the area - a siren is sounded when there is a possible escapee and stops everybody in their tracks, causing instant panic. The story introduces the small-town characters, who have become short-sighted and mistrustful because of the presence of the asylum. One typical character, the Major, talks about hunting game in Burma, and how escaped lunatics should be dealt with in similar fashion.

Having set the scene, the narrative unfolds with a young man drifting through town, the day after an escape from Parkways. He befriends a young boy and a teenage girl and the stage is set for confrontation, with the audience unsure who their sympathies should be with.

This really is a solid effort and makes one realise that Britain has its own sub-culture of commendable B-Movies from the '50s and '60s. Director Terry Bishop's next film was the even-more impressive 'Cover Girl Killer' (1959), which seems to be equally unheard of.

Derren Nesbitt is good in the lead role - looking like a young cross between Paul Newman and Rutger Hauer - and the film is well above-average, with an intelligent, tight storyline. Explores similar themes to 'The Ox-Bow Incident' (1943).

Excellent B Movie

[ronnaylor · 9/10 · 26 July 2016]

Derren Nesbitt leads an extremely capable cast in this rarely seen B movie. Indeed, Nesbitt's performance is consistently first-rate throughout the film. The limited number of settings (a country lane, an office, a old English pub and a farm) may be quite basic, but these allow the well-crafted plot to shine through. Indeed, the story-line is surprisingly strong, building a tension which makes the movie's hour long running time pass remarkably quickly.

The underpinning theme of the movie is that a child murderer has escaped from an asylum. The actions and reactions of the inhabitants of the neighbouring village are really well-explored by director Terry Bishop.

Released under the Parroch Films banner and distributed by Butcher's Films in 1959, Renown digitally remastered the movie in 2009. It's revival on the Talking Pictures channel is really welcome.

One Sunday Afternoon

[richardchatten · 8/10 · 19 July 2020]

A terse, compelling rural drama, probably inspired by the Straffen case that shocked Britain a few years earlier; plus forties dramas about small-town xenophobia like 'The Ox-Bow Incident' and 'Panique' (Howard Marion Crawford as Major Peters strongly recalling Harry Shannon as Major Tetley in the former).

A young Derren Nesbitt demonstrates that once long ago he could touchingly play waifs as well as bullies.

Just nine reviews in twenty years for this excellent film

[plan99 · 9/10 · 24 March 2022]

Not often seen going by the very low number of reviews so far but it's well worth watching. Derrin Nesbit always puts in a great performance and has been under appreciated for decades. Very well filmed and acted with no one going over the top, even the younger actors and actresses were very good. This could have gone a number of ways at the end and some of the possible alternatives would have been acceptable.