Background to Danger
| Background to Danger | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Raoul Walsh |
| Produced by | Jerry Wald |
| Written by | W.R. Burnett |
| Based on |
Uncommon Danger 1937 novel by Eric Ambler |
| Starring |
George Raft Brenda Marshall Sydney Greenstreet Peter Lorre |
| Music by | Frederick Hollander |
| Cinematography | Tony Gaudio |
| Edited by | Jack Killifer |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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80 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $1.3 million (US rentals) |
Background to Danger is a 1943 World War II spy film starring George Raft and featuring Brenda Marshall, Sydney Greenstreet, and Peter Lorre.
Based on the novel Uncommon Danger by Eric Ambler and set in politically neutral Turkey (an atmospheric studio version), the screenplay was credited to W.R. Burnett, although William Faulkner and Daniel Fuchs also contributed. The movie was directed by Raoul Walsh.
The film was designed to capitalize on the runaway success of Casablanca, which had also featured Lorre and Greenstreet. The Russian operative positively portrayed by Brenda Marshall shows an exaggerated degree of cooperation, and the film has a slight pro-Soviet bias akin to Warners' Mission to Moscow from the same year.
In 1942, Nazi Germany attempts to bring neutral Turkey into the war on its side by staging an assassination attempt on Franz von Papen, its own ambassador to the country. Much to the annoyance of Colonel Robinson (Sydney Greenstreet), von Papen survives and the Russians that his agent provocateur was trying to frame have solid alibis, forcing him to turn to another scheme to inflame Turkey's traditional rivalry with Russia.
Meanwhile, American machinery salesman Joe Barton (George Raft) boards the Baghdad-Istanbul Express train at Aleppo and is attracted to another passenger, Ana Remzi (Osa Massen). She is worried about being searched by customs agents once they reach the Turkish border; she asks Joe to hold on to an envelope containing some securities, all that remains of her inheritance. Joe obliges, but when he later examines the envelope, he finds maps of Turkey with writing on them.
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Wikipedia