Appointment with Danger
| Appointment with Danger | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Lewis Allen |
| Produced by | Robert Fellows |
| Screenplay by |
Richard L. Breen Warren Duff |
| Starring |
Alan Ladd Phyllis Calvert |
| Music by | Victor Young |
| Cinematography | John F. Seitz |
| Edited by | LeRoy Stone |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
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Release date
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April 1950 (UK)
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Running time
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89 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $1,450,000 (US rentals) |
Appointment with Danger is a 1951 American crime film noir directed by Lewis Allen and written by Richard L. Breen and Warren Duff. The drama features Alan Ladd, Phyllis Calvert, Paul Stewart, among others.
Al Goddard (Alan Ladd), a U.S. Postal Inspector of the United States Postal Inspection Service, is assigned to locate and arrest two men who've allegedly murdered another U.S. Postal Inspector.
Goddard must first find a witness, an attractive young nun named Sister Augustine (Phyllis Calvert). He later poses as a corrupt inspector, and gains the confidence of the killers' honcho Boettiger (Paul Stewart), who has worked out a plan to steal one million dollars that is being transported by the U.S. Postal Service.
Once they discover the deception, the villains take Goddard and Sister Augustine prisoner. This leads to a shoot-out in an industrial district.
The film was announced in July 1948 as Postal Inspector. It was always envisioned as a vehicle for Alan Ladd.Ardel Wray and Robert L. Richards wrote the script and the film was meant to follow Chicago Deadline. However production was pushed back to allow Ladd to make Captain Carey, U.S.A.. The movie's title was changed to Dead Letter.William Keighley was originally announced as director, but then he was replaced by Lewis Allen.
Phyllis Calvert was signed in April 1949. Filming started on 16 June. The title was changed again to United States Mail.
The film features both Jack Webb and Harry Morgan as villains. Both would later work on the Dragnet television show as fictional police detectives for the Los Angeles Police Department. One of the co-writers of the script, Richard L. Breen had previously worked with Webb on the radio series Pat Novak for Hire, and would write at least three scripts for Dragnet, including the 1954 theatrical film and the 1966 TV-movie pilot for the revival series in which Morgan joined the cast as Detective Bill Gannon.
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Wikipedia