Rent Green for Danger (1946)
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
At the height of the 1944 Doodlebug offensive, a local postman is brought to an emergency hospital near London. His wounds aren't severe but he mysteriously dies on the operating table. The theatre sister, one of six hospital staff in attendance, stumbles across evidence that the man was murdered...but she is stabbed to death before she can tell the police what she knows. Called in from Scotland Yard to investigate the crime, Inspector Cockrill (Alastair Sim) finds that each of the remaining suspects has an excellent motive for committing both murders. By staging a mock operation, with the five suspects in attendance, he reconstructs the circumstances of the postman's death and dramatically unmasks the killer... - Actors:
- Alastair Sim, Sally Gray, Trevor Howard, Leo Genn, Henry Edwards, Ronald Adam, Judy Campbell, Wendy Thompson, Rosamund John, Megs Jenkins, John Rae, Moore Marriott, Frank Ling, George Woodbridge, Hattie Jacques, Elizabeth Sydney, Ronald Ward
- Directors:
- Sidney Gilliat
- Producers:
- Sidney Gilliat, Frank Launder
- Voiced By:
- Hattie Jacques
- Writers:
- Christianna Brand, Sidney Gilliat, Claud Gurney
- Aka:
- The Mad Killer
- Studio:
- Network UK
- Genres:
- Classics, Drama, Thrillers
- Collections:
- Action & Adventure, Films to Watch If You Like..., Top 10 British Actresses of the 1940s, Top Film and TV Detectives: Guide to Screen Sleuth, Top Films, What to Watch Next If You Liked Scrooge
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 18/11/2019
- Run Time:
- 91 minutes
- Languages:
- English Dolby Digital 1.0, English LPCM Mono
- Subtitles:
- English
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Full Screen 1.33:1 / 4:3
- Colour:
- B & W
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- B
- Bonus:
- Image Gallery
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Reviews (2) of Green for Danger
One of the best British murder mysteries. - Green for Danger review by HP
The Blu-Ray looks noticeably better than the DVD.
Alastair Sim is superb, supported by a strong cast.
Droll Whodunnit. - Green for Danger review by Steve
Funny murder mystery set in a hospital in south-east England at the end of WWII, which features the unusual gimmick of doodlebugs constantly harassing the characters. When a patient dies during anaesthetic and the nurse who announces she knows who was responsible is stabbed to death, suspicion falls on the close knit theatre staff.
Everyone has a motive, and as often in whodunnits, it's fairly random who actually did the crime. The surgeon (Leo Genn) has had affairs with all the nurses, and now has his roving eye on sultry Sally Gray, the fiancée of the short tempered anaesthetist (Trevor Howard). Yes, the doctors are all men and the nurses are women.
The early scenes of comic intrigue get a huge boost on 37 minutes when Alastair Sim appears as the waspish and unorthodox Inspector from Scotland Yard. Sim gets an 'and presenting' credit, even though he had been in British films for over ten years. Still, it is his ungainly eccentricity that most makes the film such a pleasure.
There is lots of atmosphere in the pristine clinical areas, and the dubious figures in gowns and masks. Writer-director Sidney Gilliat keeps the finger of suspicion moving smoothly around the extremely well spoken medical staff. Though the mystery of the means of murder won't puzzle many for long, the abundant suspense makes this escapist fun.