Circle Of Danger Four Star Blu Ray Review

Circle Of Danger (1951) directed by Jaques Tourneur is a British/American Co-Production starring the Welsh-born Oscar winner Ray Milland with Scottish roots as Clay Douglas who travels from America to find out information on the death of his brother who was killed during WW2 from the men he served under as part of a commando squad in Northern France which Clay thinks is odd because he was the only person to die during the raid.

While Clay is in the UK he goes across the country as part of his investigation to Wales, then onto Scotland to speak with the unit commanding officer Hamish McArran (Hugh Sinclair) then to London to find out more from the now Ballet Choreographer Sholto Lewis (Marius Goring) who by today’s audiences reads as being Gay but back then as being flamboyant and camp.

But during his quest the dashing American does find time for a potential romance with a young career-driven English writer Elspeth Graham who is inflicted with Hayfever at the worst of times (Patricia Roc) sadly when they try to arrange nights out circumstances throw their dates into chaos due to Clay’s timekeeping which is played for laughs; while the rest of the film is a mostly a murder mystery tale with elements of Film Noir from a director who worked across this genre and others including Action Adventure to Horror with his most famous movie being Night Of Demon (1957) which shares similar cinematic stylings with Circle Of Danger.

The script from writer Phillip McDonald who worked with Circle Of Dangers producer Joan Harrison on the adaption of Rebecca directed by Alfred Hitchcock is effective in creating a narrative that is smart, subtle and engaging that is told by an inventive filmmaker who knows how to tell its story through his skills to direct his actors, the camerawork from DP Oswald Morris that mostly shot on location in the UK and lighting techniques employed to create a natural look to the world that Circle Of Danger exists within.

At 123 Minutes Circle Of Danger is a movie that tells its tale without any narrative baggage; it’s a simple fish out of water film. The effective subtle filmmaking is most prominent in the film’s final act when Clay and McArran take off into the Scottish countryside for a shooting party it’s the only time where there is a hint of potential violence with the inciting incident of the brother’s murder taking place off-screen years ago and no bullets are fired by anyone involved with Clay getting the closure he needs to end his investigation that leads to a possible future with someone special.

This restored in 4K re-release from StudioCanal on their Vintage Classics Collection can be seen on Digital, DVD and Blu Ray which this review was watched on from the 5th February. The disc versions contain several extras such as an introduction from French Filmmaker/Academic Jean Baptiste Thoret, Still Gallery and the original trailer.

The extras that stand out on this release are the interviews with Imogen Sara Smith author of In Lonely Places: Film Noir Beyond The City who in her 28-minute chat analyses the film and those involved in the production alongside this is an 11-minute featurette with Author Christina Lane who wrote a book on the film’s producer Joan Harrison and from the 11-minute discussion we get a real sense of what a fascinating woman she was and could be seen as an influence to Circle Of Dangers Elspeth’s character.

Circle Of Danger is released on Digital, DVD & Blu Ray on February 5th from StudioCanal