This Man Is Dangerous

BFI Most Wanted: the hunt for Britain's missing films

Directed by Lawrence Huntington, 1941

Intriguing-sounding thriller starring a young James Mason as a private detective.

Lena Morne (Barbara James) is rescued by Mick Cardby (James Mason) and his detective-inspector father (Gordon McLeod).

Credits

Director Production Company Producer Screenplay Photography	Lawrence Huntington Rialto Productions John Argyle John Argyle Bryan Langley
Cast: James Mason (Mick Cardby), Mary Clare (matron), Margaret Vyner (Mollie Bennett), Frederick Valk (Dr Moger), Gordon McLeod (Inspector Cardby), Barbara Everest (Mrs Cardby), G.H. Mulcaster (Lord Morne), Barbara James (Lena Morne), Eric Clavering (Al Meeson), Brefni O'Rorke (Dr Crosbie), Michael Rennie (inspector)
82 mins, 7,430 feet, sound, black & white.

Why are we so keen to find it?

Just look at that cast, for a start - Michael Rennie in an early role and just one missing film starring James Mason is surely one too many. Here he stars as detective Mick Cardby, the popular hero of a series of novels by English mystery writer David Hume (real name John Victor Turner). This Man is Dangerous (based on the 1934 novel They Called Him Death) was the third Hume adaptation, all featuring Cardby or his detective father. For the record, the other films were Crime Unlimited (d. Ralph Ince, 1935) and Too Dangerous to Live (d. Anthony Hankey / Leslie Norman, 1939).

And how could anyone not be intrigued by a film whose 'Points of Appeal', as succinctly summed up by Kine Weekly were "[an] exciting plot, fast action, good thrills, popular romantic and comedy asides, vigorous teamwork, hectic climax, good title, and first-rate selling angles"?

What's it about?

From the 1945 re-issue press kit:

"Mick Cardby, a resourceful young man, leads an adventurous but precarious life as a private detective. His father, Detective-Inspector Cardby of Scotland Yard, would prefer to see his son in the Police Force. Mick, whose nose is always on the trail of something or other, interests himself in a murder which his father has been assigned to solve. A policeman has been killed while on duty in Hyde Park, and this discovery brings Mick Cardby into touch with the very distracted Lord Morne whose daughter Lena has been kidnapped by a gang of blackmailers. Mick is offered £1,000 by Lord Morne if he can get Lena back alive from the gang. The young sleuth enlists the aid of Molly, his pretty secretary, and together they track down the criminals to a disreputable nursing home in the country. But the gang succeed in escaping, taking Lena with them to a large mansion in North Wales. Undaunted by his first unsuccessful attempt and anxious to quickly contact the blackmailers again, Cardby, disguised as Morne, meets a member of the gang at a lonely cross-road. His disguise, however, is discovered and he is eventually overpowered and taken to a disused cargo ship. By torturing him the gang try to make Carby tell them where Lord Morne is in hiding, for as Morne's life was threatened Mick had suggested a useful hide-out. Unable to obtain the information they throw Mick down the rat-infested hold and set fire to the ship. Mick, however, saves himself and a member of the gang who has apparently been ditched by his companions. From this man Carby learns of the gang's whereabouts at the lonely house in which Lena Morne is prisoner. As Mick makes his way through the dense shrubbery in the grounds he is spotted by the blackmailers, and here follows one of the most exciting climaxes seen in a film thriller for many a day. Suffice it to say Cardby is saved in the nick of time by his father and Lord Morne gets back his daughter."

Last seen?

There were certainly several television airings on ITV (in 1970, 1973 and as recently as 1987) but DVD or video releases have remained elusive. More importantly, the whereabouts of the original negatives and prints is a mystery. The National Film and Television Archive took possession of the nitrate negatives in 1962 but alas they were returned to distributors Pathé without a copy being made and their current whereabouts are unknown.

What else do we know about it?

This Man is Dangerous is surely an enticing enough title, but for its re-release in 1945, distributors Pathé Pictures Limited spiced it up even more with the irresistible name The Patient Vanishes, the same title it played under in the United States. That the title appears to have little to do with what we know of the film's plot seems unimportant.

Does anything survive?

A script and a medium-sized press book are held in the BFI's Special Collections. BFI Stills, Posters and Designs holds some stills.

Reviews

Contemporary reviews were mostly positive. On the film's US release, the Motion Picture Herald was unsure about the ability of American audiences to understand the British accents, but hailed it as "a thrilling melodrama" and noted that "there is plenty of action to keep audiences interested."

The Monthly Film Bulletin was more generous: "An admirable cast under the very capable direction of Lawrence Huntington keep the suspense at boiling-point until the end. James Mason as Mick Cardby, Mary Clare as the evil pseudo-matron of the nursing home, and Gordon McLeod as Detective-Inspector Cardby are to be congratulated on their performances."

Kine Weekly meanwhile, was impressed by the film's pace: "There are plenty of loopholes in the plot... but it is not so much the story as its robust physical and technical interpretation that is responsible for hearty thriller entertainment. It gets away to a flying start and never calls a halt in its hectic gyrations round the suspicious nursing home until crime is paid for in full, youth is vindicated and romance triumphs."

Kevin Lyons, Filmographic Unit, BFI National Library

You can find more about British films of the early 1940s, including entries on surviving films and video clips for users in UK schools, colleges, universities and public libraries, at BFI Screenonline. You can also view similar titles at the BFI Mediatheques.