Dead Men are Dangerous

Dead Men are Dangerous is a 1939 British noir crime film directed by Harold French and starring Robert Newton, Betty Lynne, John Warwick, and Peter Gawthorne. It was released in the U.S. as Dangerous Masquerade.[2] Its plot concerns an unsuccessful writer who is wrongly accused of a murder.[3]

Dead Men are Dangerous
Directed byHarold French
Screenplay by
Based onnovel Hidden by H.C. Armstrong[1]
Produced byWarwick Ward
Starring
CinematographyErnest Palmer
Edited byE. Richards
Music byJohn Reynders (uncredited)
Production
company
Distributed byPathé Pictures International (UK), StudioCanal (UK)
Release date
  • February 1939 (1939-02) (UK)
Running time
69 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Plot

Penniless and debt ridden writer Aylmer Franklyn (Robert Newton) happens upon a dead man lying under the branch of a tree, apparently killed during a violent storm. Swapping clothes and identities with the corpse seems like a way out of his troubles, and Franklyn even attends his own inquest; but little does he know the man had a criminal history and he soon finds the police on his trail.

Cast

Critical reception

In a contemporary review, The Leicester Daily Mercury found "Fast moving action, a goodly sequence of thrills, and some splendid acting by Robert Newton, characterises Dead Men are Dangerous, a film with a clever plot and a strong taste of the mysterious";[4] while more recently, Vintage 45 wrote, "No great acting to speak of and no real depth to the story but it’s fun to watch it all unfold. Don’t expect anything exceptional and you’ll probably like it."[5]

References
  1. Gifford, Denis (1 April 2016). British Film Catalogue: Two Volume Set – The Fiction Film/The Non-Fiction Film. Routledge. ISBN 9781317740636 – via Google Books.
  2. "Reel Streets". www.reelstreets.com.
  3. "Dead Men Are Dangerous (1939)". Archived from the original on 13 January 2009.
  4. "Dead Men Are Dangerous 1939". Charles Mortimer.
  5. "Dead Men Are Dangerous (Dangerous Masquerade) (1939)". 21 June 2012.


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