Circle of Danger

The Film Noir Odyssey / The Joan Harrison Odyssey

Writer: Philip Macdonald

Director: Jacques Tourneur

Cast: Ray Milland, Patricia Roc, Marius Goring, Hugh Sinclair

Cinematography: Oswald Morris with Gilbert Taylor

Music: Robert Farnon

Studio: RKO Pictures

Release: May 21, 1951

“Circle of Danger” is the most interesting of mystery noir films in that it seems completely uninterested in the mystery driving the story. Instead, it seems obsessed with exploring many different humans who may or may not know anything about the reason our hero is going on this journey. The movie shouldn’t work… and yet, somehow, it does.

Ray Milland stars as an American (?!) named Clay, who has been working for four years to make enough money to travel to England and investigate the death of his younger brother. The young man was felled during WWII with a bullet to the head… but it turns out the bullet did not come from a Nazi gun, but a British one. Was it the superior officer Hamish (Hugh Sinclair)? Or fellow officer Sholto (Marius Goring)? Also in play is Hamish’s kinda sorta girlfriend Elspeth (Patricia Roc), who immediately takes a liking to Clay.

The only noir that I can think of that “Circle of Danger” compares to is another British one: Carol Reed’s excellent “Odd Man Out,” in which James Mason played an injured man wandering from person to person in a snowstorm as he slowly bleeds to death. That film was not interested in Mason’s character as much as those he encountered, and the same could be said for Clay in this film. Milland is perfectly suited for a role like this – charming and magnetic enough to lead the film, but he knows when to yield the stage to someone else.

Producer Joan Harrison loves to hire novelists to write her screenplays, and here writer Philip Macdonald (“The Body Snatcher”) excels at crafting impactful characters with just a few lines. Many of his books like “The Rasp” are noted for their structure, but his later books like “Nightmare” showed just how deeply he could dive into character work.

Most notable here is Sholto, who is the guy you’ll be talking about after the film ends. He’s gay, and the first thing Clay does upon meeting him is express surprise that he was *gasp* in the army. Homophobic, but it was a different time blah blah. Macdonald has a field day playing with how much Sholto knows or doesn’t know, and it’s a testament to the character (and Goring’s performance) that Macdonald allows the climax to be a conversation between him and Clay instead of a protracted action sequence. And what a conversation it is, quietly emotionally shattering and somehow way more exciting than any shootout could have been.

The romantic subplot between Clay and Elspeth is the least interesting subplot in the film and honestly feels a little like a tacked-on development – the fact that she is cross with Clay for pursuing his brother’s murderer instead of going on a date with her feels pretty silly. Luckily, Milland and Roc have ample chemistry with one another, despite the age difference, so watching the scenes is kind of cute… even if you want to roll your eyes half the time.

Milland is very good with what amounts to a thankless role, and it’s a shame that the director frames the moments after he learns the truth about his brother in a medium shot where we can’t really read his emotions. Roc is also stuck in a likewise thankless role but does the best she can. Goring is absolutely outstanding and commands the screen every moment he inhabits it. Sinclair excels in one of the best sequences, where Hamish tries to remain friendly with Clay while avoiding giving Clay the information he wants at all costs.

The director is the legendary Jacques Tourneur, who redefined the horror movie with producer Val Lewton in the ‘40s with movies like “Cat People” and “I Walked With a Zombie.” He also directed perhaps the only perfect film noir with “Out of the Past.” In the interior scenes, he seems content to get out of the way of his performers, which is the smart move. His exterior scenes, especially those in Scotland, are all sorts of astonishing. Oswald Morris gets primary credit for the Cinematography, with Gilbert Taylor getting additional credit. Both men are legends, with Morris responsible for “Fiddler on the Roof” and Taylor lensing “Dr. Strangelove.”

“Circle of Danger” is film noir, but doesn’t feel that way. It feels much more like a quiet character piece than a thriller, despite being quite thrilling in places. I like it when a movie like this takes such wild storytelling chances, and the fact that it succeeds is just a bonus.

Speaking of taking chances, this brings us to the end of our mini-Odyssey on Joan Harrison. It’s odd, because I have loved her lesser-known films like this and “They Won’t Believe Me” much more than her more recognized films like “Phantom Lady” and “Ride the Pink Horse.” This would be Harrison’s last film – she would soon reunite with director Alfred Hitchcock to produce his iconic anthology series “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” before moving on to other hit shows. I feel her stamp on these films just as much as any director or screenwriter, and that’s a testament to her talents – her contributions to this genre are invaluable.

Score: ****