There’s a terrific little film nestled within Dangerous Crossing (1953), but unfortunately it never emerges. A modest thriller with Hitchcockian aspirations, this one taxis along the runway entertainingly without ever taking flight.
Ruth Bowman (Jeanne Crain) is over the moon, a newlywood about to embark on a transatlantic cruise with her dashing new husband John (Carl Betz). Shortly after they cross the threshold on their honeymoon suite, John ventures off to the pursar’s office — and never returns. Baffled, Ruth commences a frantic search, but not only can she find no trace of him, her distress becomes a point of concern for the ship’s crew, especially when they learn that she’s spent time under the care of a psychiatrist after a recent loss. Fortunately for Ruth, she catches the eye of solicitous ship’s doctor Paul Manning (Michael Rennie), who commits to helping her get to the bottom of the puzzling situation. But with the nature of reality slipping out from under her, Ruth isn’t sure she trusts him…or anyone else, for that matter. Is someone on the ship out to get her, or is she losing her mind?
Viewers will likely guess the answer long before Ruth does, and that is the chief drawback of Dangerous Crossing. Here and there, in moments, the film earns marks for clever intrigue and a low-key Twilight Zone ambience. But, while it does disguise certain details well, the over-arching plot momentum follows a fairly transparent trajectory, such that Ruth’s lovestruck, hapless response to each challenge tends to try the patience. Crain is lovely and capable, but the script does her no favors, while Rennie makes for a fairly sedate romantic foil. Were Alfred Hitchcock and Ernest Lehman inspired by poor Ruth’s plight when conceiving the comic confusion of Roger Thornhill in North by Northwest? Possibly, and if so, more power to Dangerous Crossing for the nifty structural legerdemain of its first act. Alas, given its dated gender dynamics, predictable shape, and underwhelming execution, there isn’t enough to recommend this beyond its status as a diverting B-movie curio.
