SUDDEN DANGER

Bill Elliott with Beverly Garland in background mirror

SUDDEN DANGER (1955). Director: Hubert Cornfield.

Wallace Curtis (Tom Drake of Date with Disaster), who has been blind since an accident, comes home to discover his mother dead from gas. A note suggests that she wants her son to use the insurance money (from a suicide?) for an operation. Detective Lt. Andy Doyle (Bill Elliott) is suspicious of Curtis, especially when he learns that he supposedly argued with his mother about her paying for his operation, lied about the fact that she caused the accident, and discovering that the suicide note was created on his girlfriend, Phyllis' (Beverly Garland), typewriter. As Curtis wonders if the operation will be a success, Doyle seemingly builds a case against him.

Minerva Urecal and Tom Drake

This is the second and one of the best of former western star Bill Elliott's cop movies, with a good suspenseful script, a good score (Marlin Skiles), sharp cinematography by Ellsworth Fredericks, and solid performances from everyone -- Elliott is professional if not a great actor. Drake makes a sympathetic figure but he doesn't give away his guilt or innocence, and Garland [Twice-Told Tales] is as expressive and credible as ever. Minerva Urecal scores as Curtis' harridan of a landlady, and Dayton Lummis and Helene Stanton [New Orleans Uncensored] are fine as a business executive and his much-younger squeeze, a model. Ellsworth Fredericks also photographed Invasion of the Body Snatchers the following year. 

Verdict: Surprisingly effective little B mystery. ***.