A Life at Stake

1955

Drama / Film-Noir

4
IMDb Rating 5.8/10 10 1155 1.2K

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Plot summary

An out-of-work architect meets a married woman who has a business proposition for him. The architect begins to suspect the woman's interest in him is not just financial and may actually be deadly.

Director

Paul Guilfoyle Photo
Paul Guilfoyle

Top cast

Douglass Dumbrille Photo
Douglass Dumbrille as Gus Hillman
Angela Lansbury Photo
Angela Lansbury as Doris Hillman
Charles Maxwell Photo
Charles Maxwell as Police Lt. Hoff
Forbes Murray Photo
Forbes Murray as Businessman
720p.BluRay 1080p.BluRay
694.71 MB
1280*932
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 15 min
Seeds ...
1.26 GB
1472*1072
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 15 min
Seeds 1

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by liambean 7 / 10

Intereseing 50s Noir Film with Little Known Keith Andes

I'm not sure what happened to Keith Andes, he was a competent actor, had the looks (and chops for serious roles), had the perfect deep voice, and was just different enough to be noticeable. IMDB shows he had seventy roles, but they all seemed to be "B" pictures. He did have a leading role in "This man Dawson," as Dawson of course. At least this role ran for 39 episodes. He also played Dr. Peter Wayne in an Outer Limits episode called "Expanding Human" and as "Akuta" in a Star Trek (the original) episode called "The Apple."Basically, Andes plays Edward Shaw, an architect, whose business failed, leaving him responsible for tens of thousands of dollars in investments. His lawyer recommends a partnership and he goes to meet this potential partner; a very sexy Doris Hillman played by Angela Lansbury. Shaw decides to take the deal and is then told his life needs to be insured, just in case, for the business.There are quite a few double-entendres at the beginning, but the heat quickly cools when Shaw suspects the life insurance policy on his life might just be all the excuse Doris needs to bump him off. He finds out that her first husband died after he fell asleep while driving and drove off of a cliff.At the beginning we are sure Doris is behind this, but there's a twist, someone wants him dead, but it's not Doris. The end comes when our criminal couple end up falling off of the balcony of their Big Bear cabin which just happens to overlook a cliff.Heights play a prominent role in this picture.Another highlight was the Kaiser Darrin featured at the thirty-eight minute mark. This was a fiberglass production car, produced before the Chevrolet Corvette.
Reviewed by Spuzzlightyear 8 / 10

This job is killing me.

Interestingly thought out thriller here, with Angela Lansbury (one of my favorite 60's actresses) playing a seductress who may or may not be setting up her business partner to die just so she can collect on some life insurance they have put up for a business deal (don't ask, I'm not 100% sure of the logistics of it). Keith Andes, an actor who I've never heard of before, plays her would-be-victim. She of course plays up her sex to him, and Andes can't resist. Oh, and did I say Lansbury was married? Soon (well, actually, quite quickly) Andes wises up and tries to foil the plan, but Lansbury and husband have plan B's in place..This was quite a tricky little thriller. It almost looks and seems like it once was a play at one time, what with it's dormitory sets, but the acting sure signs through. Lansbury is fabulous as usual, and I have no idea what became of Keith Andes, because he certainly had the looks and the acting chops to go a long way.
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