To the Public Danger (1948) User Reviews

Well worth a look, even if you don't like being preached at.

[jemkat · 7/10 · 31 October 2003]

This short film (only 43 mins) may possibly have been made as a public service exercise by Rank because it seems an unlikely piece of material to have been attempted as a commercial venture. But for what it is, a cautionary tale about the consequences of drunk driving, the lesson is acceptably presented in a surprisingly intense and well-directed little film which I even found to be quite suspenseful in places.

For such a short running time the characters are reasonably well fleshed out, and for the most part well played by the cast involved. Barry Letts in particular does a fine acting job throughout. Admittedly the part of Reggie is only a caricature at best, and although the roles played by Dermot Walsh (particularly in the last few minutes) and Susan Shaw verge on being overplayed this contributes to the intensity of the film as a whole. It is also good to see Patricia Hayes, an actress familiar to me through countless TV appearances back in the 60s and 70s, in one of her early screen roles.

For a British film of this time I also find this film to be quite fascinating in its depiction of class. The drunken yobbo here is not the working-class mug played by Barry Letts, who retains a degree of integrity throughout, but the upper class Captain (Dermot Walsh) who consistently makes it clear how little he thinks of his social inferiors. The sad part about this film for me is that I still recognise him, and the socially aspirant Susan Shaw character, however broadly drawn they are here, in people around me today.

Ganging up and getting drunk

[Igenlode Wordsmith · 7/10 · 22 December 2009]

It would be interesting to know how much of this survives from the original Patrick Hamilton play; by and large the film consists of an effective build-up of convincing psychological nastiness at the expense of honest-but-rather-limited Fred, who is apparently too thick to realise that flashy 'Captain' Cole is only interested in making off with Fred's girl. There is a point at which we start getting into what looks like Stephen King territory, with the drunken Cole and his confederates using the car to hunt down a fleeing Fred before he can betray their hit-and-run episode to the police.

There is also a great deal of acutely observed sociological detail, from the game of pub billiards to nostalgia for the days of free-spending GIs and their Cadillacs and Buicks. The class distinctions are neatly depicted, from upper-class twit Reggie to ambitious Nancy, trading on her looks, and the suspicious labourer with his poaching.

But coupled onto this, there is a rather clumsy explicit message. I very much doubt that the police scenes, with their stilted dialogue, featured in Hamilton's original drama, while Cole's final come-uppance (in which he suddenly becomes insanely drunk after quaffing the last drop from his hip-flask, after remaining implausibly sober in the face of at least five prior double whiskies) is poorly staged and performed. The film reads as if somebody had come across Hamilton's roadhouse psychodrama and decided to tack on a heavy moral about drunk-driving and the reporting of accidents: points which one would have thought were implied clearly enough in the main story without being hammered home in 'extras'. Knowing Hamilton, I would also expect the 'decent' character of Fred to come off worst and the self-serving ones to get away with it...

It is a pity that the ending is somewhat weak, because by and large "To the Public Danger" is a well-constructed depiction of psychological manipulation, and of the mounting nightmare of involvement that can develop from being persuaded into a single split-second wrong choice; in this case, not to stop at the scene of the accident. Worth watching despite the occasional clunking sequence.

A moralizing tale of drink driving

[hard_gen · 22 February 2000]

This is a little gem. It takes on a drinking journey. Quite a short film with a simple message about the ills of drink driving. The opening sequences see our friends arrive at a bar and spend a considerable time drinking, playing some bizarre game with something looking like a pool table with strange pot holes all over it and little mushroom shaped umbrellas. The car accidents and near misses are given full weight with clunky frame cuts and wonderfully fearful expressions in the reaction shots of the cast. Not to be taken too seriously, and definately worth a look.

The Highway to Hell!!

[kidboots · 8/10 · 19 August 2019]

Highbury Studios were built in 1937 but when they suffered bomb damage were acquired by the Rank Organization as a home for it's "Company of Youth" talent school. It quickly became a fully fledged studio once again - for Rank second features. One of the earliest and best was the 45 minute shocker "To the Public Danger" based on a Patrick Hamilton radio drama about the dangers of road houses and drunken driving. Terence Fisher, a film editor, did so well on his first directorial effort "Colonel Bogey" that he replaced the slated director E.V.H. Emmett on this one.

Two couples meet in a pub - a working class couple (Barry Letts and Susan Shaw) and upperclass pals, irresponsible Captain Coles (Dermot Walsh) and his tipsy friend Reggie. It's clear from the start that Coles is after Nancy and she is bored enough to encourage him. After a game of billiards and after plying the couple with drinks Coles suggest a ride but Fred sobers up pretty quickly and when Nancy, encouraged to take the wheel, runs down a cyclist Fred's main thought is to alert the police.

For 43 minutes it is very pacy with fleshed out characterizations. For once the finger is pointed not at the working class but at their "social betters" who are completely insensitive to anyone's feelings but their own. Dermot Walsh had started in A features but he made such an impression as Captain Cole that from then on his "quickie" fate was sealed - his very recognizable dark hair with a silver streak gave his appearances an edge other than the straight forward characters he often played. Susan Shaw, a graduate of Rank's Charm School but character parts her real forte - again, it was this movie that gave her a chance to shine as a sulky teen, also paving the way for her very vivid performance as a post war delinquent in "It Always Rains on Sunday".

Very Recommended.

Morality play, preaching against alcohol and fast living.

[Neil-117 · 2/10 · 23 February 2000]

Local good-time gal and stuffy boyfriend fall in with a couple of rich daredevils out for a good time. The predictably unhappy developments portray the evils of alcohol, fast cars, fast women and generally straying from good old family values. This movie is more like a paid advertisement for the League of Temperance and Decency and has about as much dramatic depth. A quaint reminder of post-war attempts to turn the clock back to Victorian values, pretending that the old social order had not been changed forever by the turmoil of the war experience.

Remarkable 'B'-pic about drunk driving played as a fictional story.

[jamesraeburn2003 · 8/10 · 6 April 2023]

A young couple, Fred Lane (played by Barry Letts) and Nancy Bedford (played by Susan Shaw), are spending an evening together in a roadhouse. Fred is a decent, well meaning but rather dull person and it is clear that Nancy is bored with him and looking for excitement. Her desire looks set to be fulfilled when two men, the handsome and daring Captain Cole (played by Dermot Walsh) and his drunken, layabout friend Reggie (played by Roy Plomley) arrive. Cole is clearly attracted to Nancy and vice versa and things start off innocently enough when he invites her and Fred to play billiards with him whilst Reggie sits at the bar in a drunken sulk. Afterwards, Cole takes them for a drive in his Bentley and Nancy encourages him to show her how fast his motor can go. Emboldened by drink he does. He persuades Nancy to take the wheel whilst he lights a cigarette and, then, as the car flies around the corner, they hit what appears to be a man on a bicycle. Fred demands they turn around, go back and report the accident. Initially, Nancy feels the same way, but Cole is having none of it. They stop at another pub where Cole tries to persuade Fred not to call the police. However, Fred's conscience is too strong and when he goes to call them from a phone box outside, Nancy, afraid of the consequences, alerts Cole who strong arms him into the car. They drive off and Cole produces a hip flask filled with whisky to give to Reggie who is sat in the back of the car with Fred. Angry, Fred snatches it and throws it onto the floor. Nancy tells Fred that she no longer wants anything to do with him, belittles him and encourages Cole to beat him up, which he does. However, Fred manages to escape and the three of them search for him in the car with the increasingly drunk and dangerous Cole threatening to work him over properly this time. Meanwhile, Fred arouses a local postmistress who calls the police. Two officers pick up Fred and instruct him to show them where the supposed hit and run took place. But, on arrival, there is no sign. They see a house nearby with the lights on and decide to make enquiries there. A middle-aged couple answer the door and, since the husband is a poacher, he isn't keen to help. Then, one of the officers notices a damaged bicycle in the corner. It transpires that what Cole and Nancy had actually hit was the man's bicycle when it was propped up against a fence with a sack of potatoes hanging off the handle bars. Meanwhile, Cole, Nancy and Reggie are still driving around in the car. They think a police car is following them and Cole, having consumed a lot more whisky in the meantime, believes he is invincible and drives off at full throttle: "I can drive with one hand! I can drive with no hands!, he screams with hysterical, drunken laughter. Reggie is drunkenly egging him on, but now Nancy is truly terrified and begs him to stop. But it is too late and the three are killed in a horrific car crash.

One of the earliest features to be directed by Terence Fisher who, within a decade, would become the noted director of many of the classic Hammer horror films. This is, essentially, a 'B'-pic designed to warn us about the dangers of drunk driving told as a fictional story. Fans of Fisher's work cannot afford to miss this since it features a number of themes that the director would focus on in his greatest horror films. It plays as a good vs evil tale - albeit in a more conventional real life setting - in which Nancy abandons Fred, a good steady fellow, though rather boring, for a bad boy in the form of Captain Cole with whom she sees the possibility for excitement. Yet, in consequence, she drags herself and Fred into the gravest danger and pays the ultimate price for doing so as does Cole who shows absolutely no concern or remorse for the fact that he might have killed somebody (dragging others into it in the process) due to his wild, drunken escapades. Meanwhile, Fred, for doing the right thing, survives but is left devastated that all this mayhem and danger turned out to be over a sack of potatoes. Fisher's approach to direction here is taut and he succeeds admirably in conveying the story's underlying message to cinemagoers: don't drink drive. It must be said that it is somewhat amusing, as well as remarkable, that it has been put across in such an involved and serious way. A lesser director probably would have viewed it as a totally routine assignment and wouldn't have bothered. Performance work is good all round with Dermot Walsh standing out as the handsome but boisterous and evil Captain Cole. Barry Letts provides a complete contrast to Cole as the kindly, well meaning, if rather dull Fred while Susan Shaw convinces us that Nancy is the kind of girl who would ditch a good, steady type of guy for a wild man like Cole in search of thrills. There are other familiar faces to look out for in the cast, including Patricia Hayes as the postmistress and Sam Kydd as a policeman.