A LIFE AT STAKE
US, 1955, 78 minutes, Black and white.
Angela Lansbury, Keith Andes, Douglass Dumbrille, Claudia Barrett, Jane Darwell.
Directed by Paul Guilfoyle.
A Life at Stake is a rather late entry into the film noir tradition that emerged during the mid 1940s.
Keith Andes, good-looking but they very uninspiring presence on screen in this film, is a builder who has been betrayed by his partner and is now in debt. He lives a rather seedy life – but there is Jane Darwell, Oscar-winner for How Green was My Valley as his landlady – and her last film was to be Mary Poppins as the Bird Lady.
The builder is invited by a lawyer to meet a rich couple, here businessman lending money, Douglass Dumbrille who was a constant presence in so many films of the 1930s and 1940s. His young wife is played by Angela Lansbury at age 29, having the opportunity to be glamorous and seductive as well as the scheming femme fatale.
The builder is taken in by the femme fatale, falling in love and, too late, she falling in love with him after working with her husband in a plot to kill the builder and get the insurance money which they have set up – something which they have done before.
The final confrontation, shots fired, the builder wounded – but having met the femme fatale’s younger sister who has helped the builder against her sister, he may have a future.
The film was directed by Paul Guilfoyle, a prominent character actor in the 1930s and 40s who moved to directing, especially for television from the 1950s.
1. A mid-50s film noir?
2. The black-and-white photography, seedy apartments, rich mansions and pools, Californian countryside, roads and canyons? The police? The musical score?
3. Introduction to Edward, down and out, his past history, business partner and losses, his thousand dollar note in the frame, wanting to start again? His grim personality? At the boarding house, the support of his landlady?
4. The visit from the lawyer, the proposal, to meet Gustav and Doris? Getting the new suit? To the mansion, Doris at the pool, glamorous and seductive? His falling for her? The business proposition, her background in real estate, her age and opportunities, her marriage?
5. The background of the scam, the past victims, drugs, driving, their deaths? Gustav as sinister, seemingly friendly, the discussions about the deal, the money loan, the insurance, the guarantees? Doris and her continually supporting him?
6. Madge, the younger sister, brash, attracted to Edward, her talk, contradicting Doris’s information? Her finding the crumpled document? Wanting to support Edward, confronting Doris, getting her to go to Las Vegas with Edward?
7. Edward, attracted to Doris, and an affair? The faulty brakes, his suspicions, driving, the crash, his being drugged? His going to the police, their not believing him – yet following up? And the contact from Madge?
8. The meeting, Edward and his suspicions, the possibility for breaking the contract, Gustav and his scheme and pointing out that the visit was actually a rendezvous, unable to cancel the contract?
9. Doris, ambiguous, the two telegrams, the plan to kill Edward, her change of heart? Gustav, the gun, the struggle with Doris, her shooting him? Edward wounded?
10. The resolution of the story, Edward and Madge, his skill in building houses, further career?
