FeistyUpper If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Phonearl Good start, but then it gets ruined

Voxitype Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

TheLittleSongbird Love murder mysteries, have always been fascinated by them since reading my first Agatha Christie novel ('And Then There Were None') aged twelve, and with such a great cast on paper 'Green for Danger' had the potential to be a real treat.Potential that is more than lived up to, if falling slightly short of being surpassed. Not quite a masterpiece of murder and mystery, but for a comedy-mystery thriller it's very near to it and makes one sad that one doesn't see films like this now on the most part. It is a little on the slow side to begin with, picking up the pace from the revelation at the dance that leads to a second murder and especially when Alastair Sim appears midway. The motive for the first murder (the one for the second is easier to follow) comes from nowhere and is rather confusing for anybody, like me, who didn't remember anything like that being mentioned previously, also found it explained in too hasty a way.However, 'Green for Danger' has an attention-grabbing opening line and the opening narration is the perfect way to draw the viewer in and set things up. It also ends with a very clever and amusing final line, and apart from the underwhelming motive the final twist is one of the most unexpected and most genius personally experienced in any film, was not expecting the murderer's real identity or the outcome.There are some great scenes in between. Especially good was the suspenseful build up to the second murder, the suitably eerie photography and lighting helped, and the nail-biting tension created in the second murder itself, Inspector Cockrill's introduction and a tense rescue.While 'Green for Danger' was very engaging for much of its length, much of the film flew by and made the most of the short running time, it particularly comes to life when Alastair Sim arrives on the scene and things get even better. It has been said that Sim steals the film and couldn't agree more. This is quintessential Sim and he is magnificent with his wry, witty line delivery, expressive eyes that tell so much, great energy and deliberately and deliciously contradictory body language (rarely does tremendous energy equal laziness and be so funny).Rest of the cast also fare well. Trevor Howard plays it straight effectively and he plays an uneasy character with naturalness. Sally Gray is beguiling and charming and Judy Campbell, Rosamund John and Megs Jenkins also make a strong impression. Particularly impressive is Leo Genn, his ambiguity, bringing out very subtle shades of the heroic and the villainous, was perfect for a character that one is never sure whether to trust or not and it really deepened the mystery.'Green for Danger's' mystery is a thoroughly engaging one, with a delicious dark wit and nail-biting tension in some scenes. It's complicated, with a lot of information being given mainly through dialogue, but rarely overly-so. The script has some wonderfully funny lines with Sim and is very thought-provoking elsewhere.It's a great-looking film too, the photography and lighting are very stylish and rich in atmosphere. Standing out in particular is the build up to the second murder and the murder itself, which was terrifying even when one knows that it's going to happen. Sydney Gilliat directs beautifully, while William Alwyn's score is hauntingly ominous and jaunty.Overall, a great film and a near-classic that is primarily to be seen for Sim. 9/10 Bethany Cox

edwagreen Even the presence of master thespians Leo Genn and Trevor Howard can't solve this 1946 film,which was nothing more than a rather cheap take-off on Alfred Hitchcock's types of films.Mayhem seems to break out at a remote British hospital when a patient dies suddenly and a nurse who realized this was murder soon follows him.Everyone concerned are counted as suspects. The ending is ridiculous with carbon dioxide the culprit, used by the killer instead of oxygen. The real murderer is briefly psychoanalyzed. That's what's needed for this film.Alastair Dim is sent in to investigate this madness. By film's end, he has erred and submits his resignation, which he hopes shall be accepted. This film's makers should have submitted theirs as well.

gcraft This film is filled with little absurdities and improbable plot elements, the most salient being the willingness of Nurse Linley at the end to submit to an operation when she knows that she is in mortal danger.But 'Green for Danger' is tremendously entertaining and goes a long way to rehabilitating the tired whodunit genre so familiar to aficionados of 30s movies. Alastair Sim is a bit mannered, but his teasing and irony spice up many a scene. The atmosphere is threatening and engrossing: dark shadows, V-1 bombs flying overhead, the knowledge that there is a murderer in our midst, and above all the disquieting ambiance of the operating room -- helpless patients wheeled about on gurneys, bright lights, lots of masked people hovering over the patient, the focus on the dials and canister used in the anesthesiology of the period. Not to mention the attractive (Sally Gray) and capable (Trevor Howard) cast.The result is that the viewer cares about what happens and is greatly amused keeping up with the clues and speculating about the guilty party. In my opinion a lot more fun than the 30s Hollywood product. Strongly recommended.

T Y This movie is unusually dull for the initial 40 lackluster minutes until Alistair Sim shows up. When he does, its in a setpiece with a perfectly choreographed bit of slapstick that seems to signal a more imaginative, engaged type of film-making than we've been looking at. But despite a few ravishing moments of camera-work in the movie, still more convention confirms that that was all you get! It's potential dissipates as it plunges through narrower and narrower scales until all that's left is comparing it to other mysteries. It's a bit naff when a b&w movie mentions the color green, pounding you over the head with the title clue. There is craft here, but nothing to transform it into art. A viewer may find intrigue in how a region downstream interprets a Hollywood genre; in this case "noir" filtered through the British investigator tradition.The quaint rural England milieu and sets will stick in your mind. But the movie never becomes the above average film that it's production design hints at, and one wonders why the extra effort was made. Its regional setting reminded me of P&P's A Canterbury Tale. Perhaps it's the very unflappability of the English that makes this exercise so unengaging. Characters can barely be bothered to feel threatened or excited. The psychology is paper deep.