Faye is in Danger

Ronnie Marsh (Zachary Scott) is a fast talking, fascinating man, who manages to convince Hilda Fenchurch (Faye Emerson) to rent him a room in the home she shares with her mother (Mary Servoss). Ronnie recently beat a hasty retreat from another town, where he was almost found with the dead body of Alice Turner. Ronnie rapidly decides that Hilda and her home offer a nice way for him to live comfortably, and he successfully woos her. But he changes his mind about his target when Hilda's younger sister Anne (Mona Freeman) returns home - Anne, you see has a substantial inheritance. Watch for the Danger Signal (1945)!
 
With Zachary Scott (who interestingly is not given top billing) in this film, you are in for a wild ride. He's perfect as an amoral seducer who is also probably a murderer. He has just the right amount of appeal that you understand why Hilda would fall for him, as well as the ability to make the audience cringe as you realize what an absolute heel he is.  Mr. Scott has an odd smile, and he has a way of turning it from endearing to menacing at the drop of a hat. The audience keeps watching because you're never sure what he will do next.

This film was released the same year as Mildred Pierce, in which Mr. Scott plays another remarkable scoundrel.  Though the characters have been compared to each other (Zachary Scott: Hollywood's Sophisticated Cad by Ronald L. Davis), these really are very different roles. You never fear Monty Beragon - he's lazy and, relatively speaking, harmless. Ronnie, on the other hand is a snake - he hypnotizes his victims, and then bites. 

Faye Emerson is equally appealing as Hilda. You have to like her if you are to appreciate the film - you need to worry about her, and wonder just what she is capable of doing to preserve her family. She's fascinated by Ronnie from their first meeting; her poise and obvious intelligence help to convince the audience of Ronnie's power over women. It's one thing when her mother and sister succumb to his charms. It's quite another when Hilda falls.

Ms. Emerson moved to California as a small child; in 1941, she landed a Warner Brother's contract after appearing in local stage productions.  She had small parts in a number of a movies, like Air Force (1943) and Destination Toyko (1943), but B movies - like Lady Gangster (1942) - were her forte. Her first marriage disintegrated primarily because of her career; in  1943, she met Elliot Roosevelt, the son of the President. They married during the filming of this movie (which was one of a number of delays caused by their relationship), but the marriage only lasted until 1950. During the marriage, she left her Warner Brothers' contract, planning to spend the time with her husband. When she decided to return to work, she went first to Broadway (appearing in The Play's the Thing (1948) - she would ultimately appear in 5 Broadway plays) and to television, where she hosted The Faye Emerson Show. She would later work with her third husband, Skitch Henderson and become a regular on game shows and talk shows (Women Pioneers in Television: Biographies of Fifteen Industry Leaders by Cary O'Dell). Ms. Emerson retired in 1963; she died in 1983 at the age of 65.

Ann Blyth was originally slated for the role of Anne, but a back injury caused her to drop out (AFI catalog). Mona Freedman does a good job in a thankless role; Anne makes a good contrast to Hilda - she's silly, feckless, and uncaring. It's hard to like or care about Anne - she has little regard for the rest of her family and seems to get pleasure out of hurting her sister. In contrast, Rosemary DeCamp is excellent and convincing as psychiatrist Dr. Jane Silla - the voice of reason and experience in the film. The character is a tip of the hat to the novel’s author, Phyllis Bottome, who was a student of psychologist Alfred Adler (Eddie Muller intro). Ms. DeCamp would later state this was her favorite film role (TCM article).

Dick (Richard) Erdman, who has a small amount of screen time as Anne's would-be love interest, Bunkie, died last year at the of 93, after a career in films and television that lasted from 1944 until 2017.  Bruce Bennett (Dr. Andrew Lang) is banal as Hilda's boss - a research physician working in botulism. Appearing opposite Zachary Scott again (he was Bert Pierce in Mildred Pierce), Mr. Bennett fades into the background - he's not really a dynamic personality, and placed in contrast to Mr. Scott, well, there simply is no comparison.

Thomas M. Pryor's (TMP) review in the New York Times was lukewarm, however, the film showed a profit at the box office.   There's only one problem - it's the ending, which takes a very bizarre turn that can make you feel a like you have a slight case of whiplash. Regardless, you will spend the film engaged with the characters and the story.  We'll leave you with the trailer: