Product Details

• Actors: George Raft, Brenda Marshall, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, Osa Massen
• Directors: Raoul Walsh
• Writers: Daniel Fuchs, Eric Ambler, W.R. Burnett, William Faulkner
• Producers: Jack L. Warner, Jerry Wald
• Format: Black & White, NTSC
• Language: English, French, German, Turkish
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: MGM (Warner)
• VHS Release Date: September 1, 1998
• Run Time: 80 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6302717671
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #154,631 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

A.U.S. agent posing as an American machinery salesman in Turkey, finds himself enmeshed in a maze of plots and counter-plots to draw neutral Turkey into the war on the Nazi side. In the action department, the spy yarn boasts a great deal of hiding in murky Turkish dark alleys and clipping the enemy from behind, all topped off by a terrific, tire-screeching car chase.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Come for the cast; stay for the story., June 19, 2001

By 

Doghouse King "eddie_denman" (Omaha, NE United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Background to Danger [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Set in neutral Turkey circa WW2, this nearly-forgotten film is a fast-paced tale of espionage. Its great cast includes coin-flipping tough guy George Raft, the elegantly duplicitous duo of Lorre and Greenstreet, Brenda Marshall as a comely commie and Turhan Bey (The Mummy's Tomb) as a confidant of Raft.

Ankara is portrayed as the dangerous, exotic city it must have been in those tenuous years, with bombings and stealthy dealings in darkened alleys. All the world's powers had converged upon that strategic point, engaging in covert knifings and more overt misinformation. The Germans in this movie plan to leak out a map alleging that the Russians plan to invade, hopefully tilting Turkey to the Axis. Therefore the Nazis, Russians and Allies seek this map at all costs. Raft may be just a travelling salesman, or is he something more? Who can be trusted? Can Truth, Justice and the American Way prevail? Rock on, brother.

Raoul Walsh has never gotten the credit he deserved as director. He helmed some of the best suspensers in the first half of the 20th century: Thief of Baghdad (1924), High Sierra, Pursued and White Heat, to name a few. Here again he is up to the task of providing a crisp, actionful movie, with a brisk car chase spicing up the latter sections. (Not up to the latter-day stunt standards of Lethal Weapon 4, definitely, but well-done.)

The only thing realy lacking is an abundance of the razor-sharp dialogue some other 40's programmers possess, but if you like studio genre films from Hollywood's golden age (shot, as the box says, in glorious black and white) you will very likely enjoy this one, too.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Who To Believe?, January 1, 2003

By 

James L. - See all my reviews

This review is from: Background to Danger [VHS] (VHS Tape)

George Raft is a self described salesman travelling throughout Asia who gets tangled up in a Nazi plan to bring neutral Turkey into the war on their side. He encounters spy Osa Massen on a train. She's being followed, so she gives him an envelope containing forged plans to invade Turkey supposedly by the Russians so that Turkey will want to side with the Axis. When she turns up dead later in Ankara, he finds himself the centre of attention, with various spies and plotters like Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, and Brenda Marshall after the envelope. Raoul Walsh directs with his customary gusto, bringing lots of action to the twisting and turning spy story, culminating with a terrific chase scene. The film is well plotted, with surprises thrown in to keep the viewer guessing. Any film with Greenstreet and Lorre in it is usually worth watching, and they are as engaging as ever. The action helps to mask Raft's typically colourless performance (Bogart would have been great in this one). I love a good spy story, and this film did not disappoint me.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good espionage thriller, June 22, 2006

By 

Bomojaz (South Central PA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Background to Danger [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet appear in this espionage thriller, though in place of the might-be-expected Humphrey Bogart in the lead, it's George Raft. Raft plays an agent in Turkey who obtains secret papers from a Russian agent that reveal a German plot to incite Turkey against Russia and thus form an alliance with Germany. If it sounds confusing, it's only the beginning. Lorre is also a Russian spy who wants the papers, and although Raft tries to accommodate him, Lorre is shot by the Germans, though before it's over Raft catches the chief German spy (Greenstreet) and forces him to burn the plans against Turkey. The picture is faithful to the Eric Ambler novel it's based on, only with the Germans taking the place of the petroleum company in the book. Lorre is excellent as Zalenkoff, and takes most impressive acting honors here. The plot is a bit confusing at times, and we're constantly weary of double-crosses lurking everywhere. But Raoul Walsh's direction is tight and brimming, and the movie offers solid entertainment where it most matters: a clever script and decent acting. Worth a watch.