Synopsis
Turner Classic Movies and Universal Studios Home Entertainment present Women in Danger: 1950s Thrillers. Four glamorous leading ladies of the studio era are featured in a quartet of suspenseful melodramas that showcase them as endangered heroines. Presented for the first time on DVD, these four films have been re-mastered and present these iconic actresses in dramatic star vehicles that confirm Universal as a specialist in the thriller genre. WOMAN IN HIDING (1950) Newlywed DeborahChandler (Ida Lupino) discovers on her honeymoon that her husband (Stephen McNally) may have murdered her father for business reasons and now wants to kill her. Photographed by Academy Award-winning cameraman William H. Daniels (The Naked City, 1948) for veteran director Michael Gordon (Portrait in Black, 1960), Woman in Hiding marks the first pairing of Lupino and co-star Howard Duff, who would marry in 1951 and appear in four more features together including While the City Sleeps (1956). FEMALE ON THE BEACH (1955) Lynn Markham (Joan Crawford), a recent widow, moves into a beach house where the former owner fell to her death from the balcony. What seemed like an accident turns to suspicion of murder as Lynn findsherself drawn into a torrid affair with a handsome beachcomber (Jeff Chandler) who may be harboring a sinister secret. Directed by Joseph Pevney, FEMALE ON THE BEACH is a stylish showcase for Crawfords intense performance and features Jan Sterling, Cecil Kellaway and Natalie Schafer in key supporting roles. THE UNGUARDED MOMENT (1956) In a rare dramatic role, Esther Williams stars as a high school teacher stalked by a peeping tom who might be the same homicidal sex fiend wanted by wanted by the police. Based on a story by Rosalind Russell and Larry Marcus, The Unguarded Moment is a moody melodrama that co-stars John Saxon in one of his first major roles and George Nader as the investigating detective. THE PRICE OF FEAR (1956) Elegant, exotic beauty Merle Oberon plays against type in the unpredictable mystery thriller The Price of Fear. A woman guilty of a hit and run accident frames another man for the crime but is soon implicated in a far worse situation with a gangster who uses blackmail to lure her into a murder plot. Featuring a supporting cast that includes Lex Barker, Gia Scala and Warren Stevens, this classic thriller will leave you guessing until the end.