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A family (Barry Sullivan, Barbara Stanwyck and Lee Aaker) vacationing in Baja California encounter a life and death situation when the father (Sullivan) becomes trapped under a collapsed beam that was holding up a portion of a dilapidated and dangerous pier on an isolated beach. The situation intensifies with the rising tide. Wife Barbara Stanwyck goes off in the car frantically searching for help and encounters fugitive from justice Ralph Meeker. A fast pace between the occurrences on the beach as Sullivan and son Aaker try to come to grips with what is becoming a deadly situation and Stanwyck's intensifying relationship with Meeker make this movie significantly better than average, especially Stanwyck's attempts to get Meeker to go to the beach and rescue Sullivan. Meeker is chased throughout the film by Mexican police. His character is more complex than it looks. Stanwyck and Meeker share tense scenes as the day darkens, the tide rises, and the police close in. Directed by John Sturges, scene for scene this is a tough movie made on a small budget.

JEOPARDY doesn't deserve the brickbats it's getting from other viewers who think of it as little more than a B-film, a quickie in the career of Barbara Stanwyck.

Nonsense. Stanwyck was still a terrific actress and uses all her skill to keep this a taut woman-in-peril kind of story that starts out innocently enough but then shifts into high gear the moment her husband is trapped under some rotten pilings from a pier.

Nor is the plot a foolish one. Clearly, it's the kind of incident that could easily have happened on an isolated beach in Mexico, with Stanwyck unable to find an English-speaking person to help her when she and her small son are unable to free Sullivan as the tide rises.

It just so happens the only person able to understand her predicament is an escaped convict running from a murder charge (Ralph Meeker). The moment Meeker appears he lifts the film into a new realm of suspense, so convincing is his portrayal of a Stanley Kowalski-type of character without anything but self-preservation (and sex) on his mind. Meeker never had a better showcase for his machismo appeal.

Because of production code rules, the film fails to make more of the sex angle including Stanwyck's decision to be more cooperative with the man who clearly might do her a favor if she does him one. By glossing over this angle and merely showing Meeker grab her in a couple of tight clinches, the film loses some of its impact when she returns with him to help her husband.

Nevertheless, it's a brisk, tightly constructed story around a simple theme and it works beautifully. John Sturges doesn't waste a moment of the film on any sub-plots but stays firmly fixed on the woman's dire predicament and all of the tension the viewer must feel watching Stanwyck's distress mount, knowing that her husband is in even more peril than she is.

It's a much better film than cited here--definitely worth a look.

"Jeopardy" is a fun, punchy noir that finds Barry Sullivan trapped underneath a collapsed pier while his wife, Barbara Stanwyck, goes off to get help before the tide comes in and drowns him. Because this movie must earn its noir credentials, she can't simply find help without some complications. No, first she has to run into escaped con Ralph Meeker, who takes her hostage and doesn't care much about her doomed hubby.

This movie is a lot of fun, with assured direction by John Sturges and a jaunty score by Dmitri Tiomkin that doesn't fit what's happening on screen most of the time but is still fun to listen to. Though Stanwyck and Sullivan are paired in this one, it's Stanwyck and Meeker who have all the chemistry. Good grief, the erotic undertones are off the charts in their scenes together. Meeker is just dripping with raw sexuality anyway, and nobody could smoke a cigarette more suggestively than Stanwyck. After all, she'd do anything to save her husband........anything.

Grade: A-

Leonard Maltin must've been watching some other movie. (Though I find his Guide to be quite a valuable resource, please disregard his comments on this one.) He states "starts off well then fizzles" when it's really the reverse - "starts off tepid then catches fire". The plot is about as simple as it gets. Happy Mom, Happy Dad and Happy Son take a vacation at an isolated beach, Dad incapacitated in accident, Mom runs off to get help, meets up with dangerous escaped convict. Mom tries to trick convict into helping while Dad waits and hangs on for dear life.

Good white-knuckler given an electric jolt by Ralph Meeker, appearing suddenly (the director, John Sturges, films it in a clever way that will make you gasp) around halfway through as the cunning, desperate criminal. Meeker is an unusually flippant, reckless actor (at least here and in the classic "Kiss Me Deadly") and he happily snatches the keys to the film's narrative and speeds off with the top down. His character has a habit of grinning childishly and saying "Pretty neat, huh?" when he's especially pleased with his misdeeds. There is a funny break in the action when they get a flat tire and he tersely instructs his hostage, Barbara Stanwyck, "Don't go away". She fires back "Where would I go?" (they're in the middle of nowhere) and he realizes sitcom-ishly "Yeah, that's right". The friction between them is a hoot.

There are flaws, somewhat ridiculous ones. There's one scene where the police, who have been chasing after Meeker for some time, stop Stanwyck's car and to evade detection Meeker rests his head on her shoulder like a loving husband supposedly would, and pretends to be asleep as she's being questioned. A. He looks conspicuously un-masculine in this pose and B. I think it's safe to say that any adult who appears to be asleep during an encounter with law enforcement would certainly arouse suspicion.

Still a sturdy thriller which builds to an exciting and edifying conclusion.

This was made when Barbara Stanwyck was not exactly at her prime form but she was still a major star and she still had to stay busy and pay her bills by appearing in uninspired material like this. Film starts out with Doug Stilwin (Barry Sullivan) taking his family to Mexico for a fishing trip and they head to a secluded beach area to camp. Their son Bobby (Lee Aaker) gets his shoe caught on an old pier and Doug gets him out. While getting off he falls and a piece of the pier lands on his leg and traps him. His wife Helen (Stanwyck) must take the car and find some rope because the tide is coming in! While on the road Helen meets Lawson (Ralph Meeker) who is an escaped convict and takes her hostage. She finally convinces him to take her back to the beach in exchange for sex (Not exactly implied) and to go with him. She agrees! Story sounds just like those "B" movie scripts that kicked around every studio at the time. But their is a few interesting things to notice here. Stanwyck and Meeker have more chemistry together then Sullivan has. Sullivan is so stiff and the only time that he seems to come to life is when he see's a lobster boat and he starts barking orders to Aaker and has him running around like an idiot waving a white cloth and putting more wood on the fire. But as you watch Helen in her scenes with Lawson she gives off just enough glint in her eye and uses subtle body English to make you think that she's secretly attracted to the bad boy Lawson. He's the total opposite of her husband. Meeker makes the most of his role and is always grinning like the big bad wolf. The script is strictly "B" level but the cast does their best and they do raise the material up a notch.

"Jeopardy" (MGM, 1953), directed by John Sturges, is not a movie about the behind-the-scenes look about the making of a popular TV game show, but a fast-paced suspense drama revamped from a radio play.

The story simply starts off with an all-American family, Helen Stilwin (Barbara Stanwyck), Doug, her husband, (Barry Sullivan), and their little boy, Bobby (Lee Aaker) of California taking a vacation by driving to Mexico. While there they park their car in a quiet but somewhat abandoned fishing village by the ocean where they decide to make their camp. Shortly afterwards, their adventurous son ventures on an old rotting pier, where he gets his foot caught. Father Doug goes out there and releases him by taking off his son's shoe. Moments later, Doug falls through the pier and ends up getting his own foot caught beneath a heavy pile on the beach at low tide. Unable to set his himself free, Helen leaves Bobby with his father to drive off and get help. Suspense builds after Helen picks up a stranger (Ralph Meeker) for assistance, only to soon learn that he is an escaped killer whose main interest is to elude from the police authorities. As she finds herself being held captive by this dangerous and heartless character with nothing to lose, the tide of water slowly builds that may soon be over Doug's head unless help comes.

What a neat thriller this is! Fast-paced and a real attention grabber that doesn't lose control of its audience. Stanwyck, as professional as always, starts off casually but changes into a fierce and desperate woman who becomes tormented after finding herself the victim of a desperate killer on the run, with her main interest is to get back to her husband in danger, and her little boy.

"Jeopardy," which is shown on Turner Classic Movies, is, according to host Robert Osborne, a movie based on a 22 minute radio play, "A Question of Time," extended to a tight 68 minute film. Not as well known as other thrillers of the day, especially those directed by Alfred Hitchcock, but this one is worth a look. Highly recommended for nail biters wanting to save money on manicures. (***)

Jeopardy is a B movie, and it's sad to see the wonderful Barbara Stanwyck reduced to doing it. It is, however, not without merit. Stanwyck plays a wife and mother trying to get help for her trapped husband, Barry Sullivan. She runs afoul of Ralph Meeker en route. Now, here's the thing. He refuses to help her husband unless she has sex with him. As you can imagine, this being the 1950s, this is in the subtext and so far down that if you're not paying attention, you miss the implication.

This makes Jeopardy a cut above your standard B, especially because of the presence of Stanwyck. She's certainly desperate to save her husband, but the film raises some interesting questions. Meeker was more rough and tumble than her husband - was she perhaps attracted to him? Definitely worth seeing.

Am a big fan of the thriller genre, one of my favourite genres even if there are a fair share of ones that are not so good, and melodrama has worked extremely well many times (melodramas starring for two examples Bette Davis and Joan Crawford at their best being especially good) despite traps. John Sturges was a more than capable director, with 'The Great Escape' and 'The Magnificent Seven' being great films, and Barbara Stanwyck is considered a legend for good reason.

Both Sturges and Stanwyck are served very well in 'Jeopardy'. As is Ralph Meeker. Barry Sullivan not so much. 'Jeopardy' is a case of the material being very solid on the most part but of it not being quite up to the same level as the talent involved, the cast and Sturges did deserve a little better than what they got but mostly they are served very well as said and are far from wasted. While far from a must see, 'Jeopardy' is still well worth watching.

'Jeopardy's' credibility does go out of the window somewhat in the second half, with Meeker's character turning out to not be as intelligent as he first seemed for instance. The ending is exciting but also felt a bit rushed and on the silly side.

Sullivan is a bit too stiff in a bland role, excepting some nice chemistry with Lee Aaker (giving a performance that proves that he was more than just cute and not much else, he proves himself to be quite beyond his years resourceful).

On the other hand, there is a lot to like here. Stanwyck's performance is subtle yet increasingly gutsy and Meeker gives one the absolute creeps without overdoing it, even when more toned down than they could have been the dynamic between them has a lot of tension still. Sturges directs with tautness and the script is tightly structured and intelligently written.

The story has flaws in the second half, but often crackles with excitement and is genuinely suspenseful when necessary. The photography is wonderfully atmospheric and some of the noir-ish visuals are quite unsettlingly nightmarish. Dmitri Tiomkin's music score adds a lot and is haunting without being too over-scored.

Concluding, good but not great (the latter of which it could easily have been). 7/10

Barbara Stanwyck's opening voice-over narration promises a post-war celebration of the open road. It's hardly that, as Mom (Stanwyck), Dad (Barry Sullivan) and young son (Lee Aaker) motor down to Baja California. A condemned pier at a deserted beach collapses, pinning Dad; the tide is coming in. On her way to summon help, Mom picks up with a homicidal fugitive (Ralph Meeker, probably best known as Mike Hammer in Robert Aldrich's apocalypic 1955 noir, Kiss Me Deadly). He grows more menacing as the water rises.... There's really not much to this movie, with its principal cast of four characters, but it's watchable. The strangest thing about it is probably the curious change of heart on the part of one -- or more? -- of the characters at the end.

Jeopardy (1953)

*** (out of 4)

John Sturges directed this intense thriller about a wife (Barbara Stanwyck) and husband (Barry Sullivan) who take their son on a vacation to Mexico so that they can go fishing but an accident happens and the husband gets his leg caught under a log. With the tide coming in, the wife has to try and get help before it's too late but she gets kidnapped by an escaped murderer (Ralph Meeker). This film seems to get mixed reviews and while it's not classic Sturges I still felt there was enough suspense packed in the 67-minute running time to make the film highly enjoyable. I've never found Stanwyck to be sexy so that takes away from some of her roles for me but she's terrific when playing it tough and that's the case here. She's really good in the tough role and Meeker is the perfect snake to go against her. Sullivan is also very good in his moments with his son played by Lee Aaker. There are a few flaws throughout the film and the ending is pretty weak but there's still plenty to enjoy here. The score by Dimitri Tiomkin also adds to the suspense.

With a movie-tagline like - "She did it - Because her fear was greater than her shame." - Along with a movie-quote like "I'll do anything to save my husband - Anything!" - You can be sure that when it comes to the words "it" & "anything" they were clearly referring to one thing, and only one thing, alone. (nudge. nudge. wink. wink.)

With this above-average, "race-against-time" Thriller from 1953, I have to admit that, at first, I didn't think I'd like it all that much, especially since it starred one of my least favourite actresses from that era, Barbara Stanwyck.

But once they actually got to the real meat-n-potatoes of the story, Jeopardy actually cooked (at a fairly steady boil) and held my interest for the entire latter half of its brisk 69-minute running time.

Yes. I agree that the youthful and virile-looking Ralph Meeker certainly made for a very convincing and brutally aggressive, escaped convict. Yet, by the same token, it was the likable performance by 10-year-old Lee Aaker, as Bobby Stilwin, who I felt shone just as brightly as Meeker's star.

As a young boy eagerly trying to help his father (who was clearly in dire straits), Aaker obviously had a very firm understanding of his character and never once over-played his part as "the cute, little kid".

As an added bonus, Jeopardy certainly contained lots of very well-shot scenery along the Baja California peninsula.

Besides Jeopardy's story starting out like something of a typical, Disney, family-time picture, my only real beef about this film's plot-line has to do with the Lawson character showing up at such an isolated location as that of the most southerly tip of this 775-mile-long jut of untamed land in Mexico. If you ask me, no escaped convict (in his right mind) would ever make himself such a sitting duck by venturing out to a place where he could so easily be cornered and hunted down by the law.

While on a fishing trip in Mexico, a family man with wife and child gets his foot caught underneath a broken timber from a collapsed jetty; his wife goes for help (after busting the car-jack) and manages to get herself kidnapped by an escaped murderer on the lam! Barbara Stanwyck always prided herself on being a resourceful and reliable screen actress, so the ninny-spouse she plays here doesn't sit too well (husband Barry Sullivan tells her to keep a calm head, but by the next scene she's driving frantically all over the road). "Jeopardy", written by Mel Dinelli from a story by Maurice Zimm, is the kind of quickie 1950s back-end attraction used for double features; it has interesting locations and good cinematography, but was most likely an inexpensive way to use contract talent on a tight schedule. The actors are far better than the material, particularly Sullivan playing the most hapless husband in memory. **1/2 from ****

Jeopardy is a tense, satisying thriller, a cut above a B but not really a major production. It qualifies as almost an experimental film, as the studio that produced it, Metro, was desperately looking for new kinds of films, stars and directors to compete with the then new medium of television. The director, John Sturges, was an up-and-comer whose best years lay ahead. He had just recently begun directing A level films, and had already proved himself a most capable craftsman. Stars Barbara Stanwyck, Barry Sullivan and Ralph Meeker, were at very different phases of their careers. Stanwyck's glory years were behind her, and yet she could still carry a film, as she proves here. Barry Sullivan, as her husband, was one of a dozen or so leading men who got started in films in the forties who never quite achieved the success many had hoped for him. He was a fine, low-key actor, poised, but in an upper middle rather than upper class way, which made him excellent in professional roles. As the escaped convict who is the only person around who can save Sullivan's life (he is trapped under a pier, and the tide is rising), Ralph Meeker is more energetic than usual. This excellent actor had the misfortune of having come to films after Brando and Clift. He was in his way as good an actor as either of them, but he lacked charisma. His bargaining with Stanwyck, which comes down to his demanding sex in exchange for saving her husband (by implication only, as this is 1953), makes for an intriguing premise which, had this been a different kind of film, could all raised all sorts of interesting questions about Stanwyck's character. Meeker is indeed a more exciting character than Sullivan; and in her scenes with him Stanwyck is livelier than she is with her husband and son. But as this is a formula picture, not a Strindberg play, the possibility that Stanwyck might want want to have a fling,--leaving aside the question of her husband's predicament,--remains unexplored. In this sense the incoming tide doesn't quite have the effect one might have wished, though the movie remains tense and highly entertaining thanks to excellent acting, fine location photography, nearly all of it outdoors, and excellent direction by the woefully underrated Mr. Sturges.

Classic movie lovers and fans of fantastic Barbara Stanwyck would find this one hard to dislike. It's a nicely filmed and compact little melodrama that was recently aired on TCM. The storyline unfolds seemingly almost in real time, at a breakneck pace that's able to achieve a good deal of suspense.

Stanwyck and hubby Sullivan are roughing it in Mexico with their small son, and run into extreme difficulties. Through a series of bad decisions, Sullivan soon has his leg caught underneath the pylons of a dilapidated pier as the tide comes in, and frantic wife Stanwyck sets out to get help, but instead encounters unsavory criminal Ralph Meeker.

Exploitative and salacious in it's themes, "Jeopardy" has Stanwyck attempting to make a dirty deal with Meeker to rescue her trapped husband. Contrived as the plot may be, with the "ticking time bomb" element of the roaring tide that threatens Sullivan, what's here should please fans of Stanwyck and Meeker both. Although it may, in the final analysis, be one of her lesser efforts, Stanwyck displays a real commitment to the material. One physical scene displays the showbiz trooper that she was, as she desperately sprints through a deserted filling station (in heels) in an extended take that was certainly over a minute long. Remarkable how fit and slim this great actress was!

There are some unintentional humorous bits involving the young son, and a pot of hot coffee, but most of the action is centered around Stanwyck and her dilemma. And the intimidating Ralph Meeker really is impressive, as both an object of scorn and forbidden desire reminiscent of Brando in that same year's "The Wild One." The locations used are quite effective and convincingly dangerous, and actually play a large role in developing the suspense. And the ending certainly is thought-provoking.

This is no masterpiece but "Jeopardy" delivers seventy minutes of pure "old school" entertainment.

*** out of *****

I found this movie to be suspenseful almost from the get-go. When Miss Stanwyck starts her narration it's only a few minutes until you realize that trouble is coming. The deserted area, the lock on the deserted gas station door, everything sets you up to wait for it...here it comes. At first you think it will be about the little boy, but all too soon you start holding your breath watching the tide coming in. I found this movie to be really stressful, even though I had watched it before and was prepared for the denouement. Now a movie that can keep you in suspense even when you have seen it before deserves some sort of special rating, maybe a white knuckles award?

The lesson to be learned from Jeopardy is that when you are going to a foreign country at least learn a few useful phrases of the native language. If Barry Sullivan and Barbara Stanwyck had learned a few rudimentary phrases of Spanish before going on vacation to Mexico they might have saved a whole lot of time and trouble. Especially to learn AYUDAME, (Help Me).

Barbara was finding it hard to get good material at this point because Jeopardy is barely more than a competent made for TV film. She and Sullivan and their son Lee Aaker are traveling to Mexico in Baja California to get in some good fishing. But Sullivan falls off an abandoned pier and gets his leg caught in pilings. After some attempts to lift the thing, Stanwyck goes for help.

But not speaking any Spanish she's out of luck. The first guy she runs into who speaks English is American Ralph Meeker who is an escaped prisoner on the run. Meeker's got other ideas including some ideas for Stanwyck.

Jeopardy was clearly B picture material, it might have made a decent enough TV film later on, but is so beneath the talents of all the players involved. It was also directed by John Sturges who certainly knew his action films, but was hardly a director for a film with a female star lead.

Maybe Barbara should have said Ayudame upon receipt of the script.