Living Dangerously

Living Dangerously is a near forgotten little piece from 1936 which succeeds quite easily in holding our interest for its rather short running time. Within the first ten minutes or so of watching the film it will not take you too long to work out why the protagonist did what he did, and there is comparatively little guess work required here.

At the beginning of the film wealthy and successful Dr. Norton (Otto Kruger), living in a luxurious New York Penthouse suite (although the film was made at Elstree Studios) shoots a mysterious visitor who has attempted to blackmail him. This happens shortly after he and his 'wife' Helen Pryor (Leonora Corbett) have thrown a lavish party. One of the guests, who just happens to be the District Attorney (Hartley Power), returns shortly afterwards and it doesn't take him long to work out that Dr. Norton is spinning him a yarn as to his real reason for killing the man. It was not self-defense - it was MURDER! The Attorney is quick to realize that the gunshot holes in Norton's coat were obviously made by himself and that the blackmailer's letter was typed on Norton's typewriter. Fortunately Mr. District Attorney is a friend and agrees to postpone his call to the police in order to hear the real reason why Dr. Norton took the life of another man 'in cold blood'.

In good old flashback sequences we learn that some years previously, Norton had a practice in London's prestigious Harley Street though there he was known under a different name. It is a rather odd set up as he actually lives on the premises with another Doctor, a man called Henry Pryor (Francis Lister) and the man's wife Helen. Pryor has been selling off drugs to the patients illegally and is 'having if off' with the secretary who, like himself, is a thoroughly 'bad egg'. Pryor's activities cause trouble when one of his patients overdoses and a policeman pays a call. Norton, by contrast a thoroughly a decent egg, covers for him but later tells the scoundrel he has a month to get out and their partnership is dissolved. Pryor is far from happy about this and also suspects that his wife is in love with Norton. He is quite right she is! However, both she and Dr. Norton are beyond reproach and no hanky panky has passed between them. In view of the fact Norton will not change his mind about his decision. Pryor takes him to court for unethical behavior and gets his mistress to perjure herself claiming she witnessed Norton and Helen 'in flagrante'. In a nicely done bit of courtroom drama they are forced to admit they do actually love each other. This leaves the jury no option but to find them guilty despite their innocence. The crooked Pryor still offers to do a deal but our hero will have none of it, upright fellow that he is. As a result, Norton is struck off and barred from practicing. As for Pryor, he goes to prison! Norton then declares his love for Helen and the lovers depart for America. You can't help but wondering what either of them saw in that bastard Pryor in the first place. Within no time our dear doctor has achieved great success in the U.S. Can you guess who the mysterious stranger was that Norton killed at the beginning? Just what course of action do you think the D.A. will take after hearing this?

American matinee idol Kruger came over to England to do this film and a pretty good job he did too. He is ably supported by the respectable looking Leonora Corbett (yes, she did play Elvira in a production of Noel Coward's Blythe Spirit), Francis Lister's sleazy character (out of period for a change) provides a good counterbalance to Kruger's. Hartley Power is a sympathetic District Attorney – incidentally, Power is best known for a similar performance in the British chiller Dead of Night. As was mentioned earlier, this is not much of a mystery but it is neatly played out nevertheless, and with a little extra help courtesy of Ludwig Van’s melodramatic music.

This ‘British Film Collection’ DVD release only offers the ‘Image Gallery’ as bonus.