Dangerous Partners
Brief Synopsis
A young couple's accident could make them rich, if they can evade a Nazi spy ring.
Cast & Crew
Read More
Edward L. Cahn
Director
James Craig
Jeff Caign
Signe Hasso
Carola Ballister
Edmund Gwenn
Albert Richard Kingby
Audrey Totter
Lili Roegan
Mabel Paige
Marie Drumman
Film Details
Genre
Suspense/Mystery
Adventure
Crime
Release Date
Oct
1945
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp.
Distribution Company
Loew's Inc.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the novel Paper Chase by Oliver Weld Bayer (New York, 1943).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 14m
Sound
Mono (Western Electric Sound System)
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
7,099ft
(8 reels)
Synopsis
Amid the wreckage of a commercial airplane crash, two survivors, larcenous adventurers Carola Ballister and her husband Clyde, steal a metal briefcase that is handcuffed to a dying passenger. Inside the briefcase the Ballisters find four wills signed by four different people, each bequeathing $1,000,000 in securities to a man named Albert Richard Kingby. Their curiosity piqued, the Ballisters decide to visit each of the four signatories, beginning with Miles Kempen in Cleveland. The Ballisters arrive at Kempen's home only to find police lieutenant Duffy waiting for them with news of Kempen's death. When Kempen's attorney, Jeff Caign arrives, the Ballisters learn that Kempen died just before signing a new will that would have made blues singer Lili Roegan his new beneficiary. Although Kempen's death is listed as an accident, Caign suggests that Kingby, eager to collect his $1,000,000, may have murdered him. The Ballisters and Caign, working separately, find Kingby and follow him onto a train. While Clyde follows Kingby to his compartment, Carola and Caign see Kingby get off the train at the next stop. Carola then finds her husband murdered in Kingby's compartment. Caign initially threatens to turn Carola over to the conductor, but Carola, sensing Caign's corruptibility, quickly makes him her new partner. Together, Caign and Carola, posing as the Kingbys, visit the signatory of the second will, music teacher Rowland Budlow. After Carola and Caign prove that they are the Kingbys by reciting secret code words that were found with the will, Budlow hands over his $1,000,000 share in the inheritance racket. No sooner do Carolyn and Caign leave than the real Kingby arrives at Budlow's office demanding the money. Kingby goes after Carola and Caign and catches up with them at the home of the signatory of the third will, Marie Drumman. There Kingby devises a plan to get Caign and Carolyn to lead him to the location where they hid the bonds by letting Caign flee. Kingby and his men follow Caign and Carola to New York City, where the two, now romantically involved, retrieve their hidden bonds and go to a restaurant. There they read a newspaper story reporting that Kingby is the head of a group of Nazis who have entered the United States to furnish war criminals with hiding places and who are planning the Third World War. After persuading Carola that it is their duty to turn over the money to the authorities, Caign puts the bonds in an envelope addressed to the police and leaves it at his table at the restaurant. Moments later, Kingby's men enter and abduct Caign and Carola. Kingby tortures Carola to get her to divulge the location of the bonds, but she and Caign both refuse to talk. The police arrive in time to save the couple, and Kingby is shot in the ensuing gun battle. With the bonds in the hands of the police, Caign and Carola put their life of crime behind them in the name of patriotism and seal their love with a kiss.
Director
Edward L. Cahn
Director
Cast
James Craig
Jeff Caign
Signe Hasso
Carola Ballister
Edmund Gwenn
Albert Richard Kingby
Audrey Totter
Lili Roegan
Mabel Paige
Marie Drumman
John Warburton
Clyde Ballister
Henry O'neill
Duffy
Grant Withers
Jonathan
Felix Bressart
Professor [Roland] Budlow
Warner Anderson
Miles Kempen
Horace Mcnally
Co-pilot
John Eldredge
Farrel
Thomas Louden
Charles, a valet
George Davis
Waiter
Harry Hayden
Doctor
Edward Gargan
Sergeant
Katharine Booth
Miss Day
George H. Reed
Porter
Matt Willis
Ezra
Wally Cassell
Youngest brother
John Carlyle
Fourth brother
Chester Clute
The stranger
Eddie Dunn
Counterman
Charles Wagenheim
Small man
Clancy Cooper
Ben Albee
Teddy Infuhr
Small boy
Douglas Madore
Violin boy
Jack Luden
Clerk
Sam Finn
Clerk
Tom Dillon
Captain of police
Robert Malcolm
Detective
John Valentine
Police doctor
Georgia Stark
Whistling woman
Sondra Rodgers
Crew
Edward Baravalle
Music mixer
Earl Brent
Composer
Kay Carter
Associate
Mark Davis
Matte paintings, Camera
Arthur L. Field
Producer
Karl Freund
Director of Photography
Cedric Gibbons
Art Director
A. Arnold Gillespie
Transparency projection shots
Edmund L. Hartmann
Adaptation
Hubert Hobson
Art Director
T. B. Hoffman
Music mixer
Charles Hunt
Unit Manager
Irene
Costume Supervisor
Harriet Lee
Singing voice double for Audrey Totter
Frank B. Mackenzie
Unit mixer
M. J. Maclaughlin
Music mixer
Warren Newcombe
Matte paintings
Mclean Nisbet
Associate (Sets)
Marion Parsonnet
Screenwriter
Douglas Shearer
Recording Director
Robert W. Shirley
Re-rec and Effects mixer
Julian Silberstein
Assistant Director
Harkness Smith
2nd Camera
David Snell
Music Score
Newell Sparks
Re-rec and Effects mixer
William Steinkamp
Re-rec and Effects mixer
Michael Steinore
Re-rec and Effects mixer
Ferris Webster
Film Editor
John A. Williams
Re-rec and Effects mixer
Edwin B. Willis
Set Decoration
Film Details
Genre
Suspense/Mystery
Adventure
Crime
Release Date
Oct
1945
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp.
Distribution Company
Loew's Inc.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the novel Paper Chase by Oliver Weld Bayer (New York, 1943).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 14m
Sound
Mono (Western Electric Sound System)
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
7,099ft
(8 reels)
Articles
Dangerous Partners
A young couple's accident could make them rich, if they can evade a Nazi spy ring.
Dangerous Partners
A young couple's accident could make them rich, if they can evade a Nazi spy ring.
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Eleanor Rosenfeld Bayer and Lee Grossberg Bayer, the authors of Paper Chase, the novel on which this film is based, published under the joint pseudonym of Oliver Weld Bayer. The Bayers' novel was published serially in Liberty magazine between 16 January and March 6, 1943. According to contemporary M-G-M News news items, Paper Chase was purchased by M-G-M in 1942, while it was still in galley proof form. At that time, Arthur Field was assigned to produce the film and Edmund L. Hartmann, who is credited on screen as adaptor, was assigned to write the screenplay. A September 1943 Hollywood Reporter news item noted that Mary Astor was set for the feminine lead. Six months later, Hollywood Reporter named Marlene Dietrich as the possible female lead opposite "screen newcomer" Douglas Morrow. None of these actors appear in the film, however.
