Pluskylang Great Film overall

Catangro After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

Fatma Suarez The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Zandra The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

classicsoncall The only thing missing here is Charlie Chan showing up at the end to tell the viewer what just happened. Actually it's not all that complicated, but you do have to pay attention because there's a bit of sleight of hand with character Roy Collins (Robert Gist), who's using the alias of Max Gibney doing a money hand-off to an attorney named Dawson (David Wolfe), who winds up having nothing to do with the murder mystery. Not exactly a maguffin, but a distraction nonetheless.The early going can be a little confusing so don't get up for a cup of coffee. Eventually it's revealed that former cop turned bail bondsman Vince Kane (George Raft) once had a thing for sultry Lucy Brackett (Ella Raines), and now finds himself in a vise between his partner Joe Farley (Pat O'Brien), police lieutenant Nick Ferrone (Jim Backus), and night club owner Jerry McKay (Roland Winters). Might as well mention Lucy's husband just got nailed for securities fraud and a two year old murder rap of another cop. Claude Brackett (Bill Williams) took the easy way out getting himself knocked off by one of the guys who framed him; it's Kane's job to try and figure it all out.Ella Raines has the perfect femme fatale persona going for her in this little noir mystery but somebody goofed with her hair, looking like she just came in out of the rain. Jim Backus offers up a much harder edge to his character than one might be used to seeing, and gets tough with Kane for putting up the extra bond money for Brackett, suspecting a collusion angle with Lucy. After everything gets sorted out in the frantic finale I was left with a single but giant question mark - why would Vince hand his gun over to McKay on the way to pick up Collins/Gibney?

seymourblack-1 A murder investigation, an enigmatic woman and a man who's obsessed with her, are three typical film noir components that are featured in this movie. A lot less typical however, is the fact that the story's main protagonist is a bail bondsman who gets caught up in a mystery that's linked to a robbery, a couple of murders and a character with more than one identity. During the course of his investigation, he has to take some significant risks and as someone who's only been in the bail bonding business for a relatively short time, discovers that his new profession is considerably more dangerous than he could ever have imagined.After arresting a man called Claude Brackett (Bill Williams) who he'd been pursuing for some time, LAPD Detective Lieutenant Nick Ferrone (Jim Backus) asks his old friend and ex-cop Vince Kane (George Raft) to go with him to search the man's apartment. Kane, who's now the junior partner in a bail bonding brokerage, is surprised when he becomes aware of a familiar fragrance in one of the rooms and sees some items of ladies' clothing and footwear that he also recognises. Before he leaves, he places one of his business cards in a conspicuous position.Shortly after, Kane is visited in his office by Brackett's wife Lucy (Ella Raines) and her lawyer who want his help to raise the $25,000 that's being demanded to get Brackett released on bail. Brackett's bail had been set at a high level because, as well as being suspected of being involved in a securities robbery, it's also possible that he killed a policeman who died at the crime scene. Lucy is one of Kane's old flames who disappeared from his life without any explanation and left him devastated. She says her husband's innocent but, as she's only able to raise $4,000 is seems unlikely that Kane can help. However, when another lawyer called Matthew Dawson (David Wolfe) calls by his office the next day and offers to put up an additional sum of $12,000, Kane agrees to help out. Senior partner Joe Farley (Pat O'Brien) is angry about Kane's decision to risk so much of the business' money to get Brackett released from police custody but things soon get worse when Brackett is found murdered and Kane feels compelled to investigate the circumstances that led to his violent death.A tension that's created by Kane and Lucy's past relationship and the fact that Kane obviously still has strong feelings for her, runs right through the movie and is intensified by Lucy's confusing actions and body language. This makes Kane distrust her assertions that she doesn't still love her husband and makes him dubious about her explanations of what was taking place in her life when they originally met. Ella Raines' skill in being this mysterious in so natural a way is impressive and makes Lucy more interesting than she would otherwise have been.Kane's success in identifying the villains at the heart of the mystery (through his conversation with a cigarette girl) and the actions that he takes to bring their activities to an end are carried out quite efficiently with some extra excitement being generated by the action scenes at the end of the movie. George Raft is convincing as a tough guy and does a good job overall.This movie has a strong cast, good momentum throughout and an especially good performance by Ella Raines. Its weakest point, however, is its dialogue which isn't as sharp or as witty as this type of crime drama requires.

Panamint The cast is excellent, George Raft is very focused and on the mark, giving a good star performance. The basic idea of the film is good, involving the bail-bond business and all of its inherent potential for mischief, with cops, ex-cops, criminals, etc. But you just wonder if maybe Ted Tetzlaff the director might have been in over his head, or maybe lost interest in this production. The direction is generally poor, with the movement of actors being staged with seeming indifference at times.Ella Raines is not showcased by the producers or director in a star manner and her acting is just not very good in this one. She seems a bit sluggish at times. Ms. Raines having done a brilliant job on a number of classic movies, you really wonder what is going on with her here. I know she lived a long life and graciously accepted some interviews; it would be interesting to know if she ever mentioned the causes of her flat efforts in this.Its too bad because Raft shows up in all the scenes, sharp and ready to go. He just isn't given much to work with.Unfortunately "A Dangerous Profession" is pretty much a time waster but is competent in every respect except for the lackluster direction, and the puzzling results by Ella Raines.

bkoganbing Although George Raft and Pat O'Brien share star billing in A Dangerous Profession, the film's action is mainly carried by Raft with O'Brien strictly in support. The two of them play bail bondsman, partners in a bail bond firm. But Raft has a professional and romantic past that get in the way here.Ella Raines with whom Raft had a fling while she was separated from husband Bill Williams comes to Raft for help with bail. Williams comes from a rich background, but his daddy squandered the family fortune and he's not up to a lifestyle change. Williams gets himself in with some crooks doing a little white collar crime and finds himself hung with a murder rap of the investigating detective.The plot starts out like a poor man's Casablanca with Raft like Bogart coming to the aid of his former love's husband whom he didn't know anything about. O'Brien who's not thinking with his hormones doesn't want the firm involved, but Raft insists. Later on Williams turns up dead himself and then Raft's old profession of police detective kicks in despite O'Brien warning him of an inherent conflict of interest.I wish we had seen a little more of Pat O'Brien, but A Dangerous Profession is a competently made noir film. Ella Raines does well as a combination of Lauren Bacall and Lizabeth Scott in her role as the woman that everyone can't resist. Jim Backus plays Raft's former partner as a cop and he's showing some versatility here that will surprise those who only know him as the inept Mr. Magoo and the rich Thurston Howell IV. One of the competently made noir films that Raft was doing in the later part of the Forties. His films would go considerably downhill shortly.