Wed 15 Nov 2017
A Movie Review by Walter Albert: DANGEROUS TO KNOW (1938).
Posted by Steve under Crime Films , Reviews[4] Comments
DANGEROUS TO KNOW. Paramount, 1938. Shown at Cinevent. May 1994. Anna May Wong, Akim Tamiroff, Gail Patrick, Lloyd Nolan, Harvey Stephens, Anthony Quinn, Roscoe Karns, Porter Hall. Based on the novel On the Spot (1931) by Edgar Wallace. Director: Robert Florey.
A film that many viewers liked a lot was Dangerous to Know with the unlikely, but dynamite team of Anna May Wong and Akim Tamiroff. Even dependably good Lloyd Nolan took a back seat to the potent emoting, all the more effective because they both gave restrained performances in roles that could have been served as grade-A ham.
The film is based on an Edgar Wallace novel and play that starred Charles Laughton in the London production, and Wong played her role on Broadway and on the road in 1930-31. Tamiroff is Stephen Recka, a crime lord whose house is impeccably run by is mistress, Madame Lan Ying (Wong). (Hedda Hopper has a small role of a society matron who characterizes Wong as Recka’s “hostess,” with an inflection in her voice that leaves no douby about her opinion of Ying’s relationship to Recka.)
The high point of the film (and its climax) occurs as Recka plays the organ and Lan Ying hovers, apparently waiting for the opportunity to kill traitorous Recka. (Tamiroff plays the crime lord with just the right blend of cultivation and ruthless cruelty to give the character charm and draw some audience sympathy.)
November 15th, 2017 at 3:47 pm
Yet another of those classy little Paramount B’s from this period, well-put by the redoubtable Walter.
November 15th, 2017 at 4:45 pm
Steve, There’s a typo in the second paragraph where Tamirov becomes Ramirov … and I’m not sure I’ve spelled the rest of his name correctly.
November 15th, 2017 at 5:27 pm
Uh, oh. My spellchecker wasn’t up to that one. I’ll fix it now. Thanks, Randy!
November 15th, 2017 at 11:31 pm
Remarkable cast for any film.