Jeopardy (1953)

Classic movie lovers and fans of fantastic Barbara Stanwyck would find this one hard to dislike. It's a nicely filmed and compact little melodrama that was recently aired on TCM. The storyline unfolds seemingly almost in real time, at a breakneck pace that's able to achieve a good deal of suspense.Stanwyck and hubby Sullivan are roughing it in Mexico with their small son, and run into extreme difficulties. Through a series of bad decisions, Sullivan soon has his leg caught underneath the pylons of a dilapidated pier as the tide comes in, and frantic wife Stanwyck sets out to get help, but instead encounters unsavory criminal Ralph Meeker.Exploitative and salacious in it's themes, "Jeopardy" has Stanwyck attempting to make a dirty deal with Meeker to rescue her trapped husband. Contrived as the plot may be, with the "ticking time bomb" element of the roaring tide that threatens Sullivan, what's here should please fans of Stanwyck and Meeker both. Although it may, in the final analysis, be one of her lesser efforts, Stanwyck displays a real commitment to the material. One physical scene displays the showbiz trooper that she was, as she desperately sprints through a deserted filling station (in heels) in an extended take that was certainly over a minute long. Remarkable how fit and slim this great actress was!There are some unintentional humorous bits involving the young son, and a pot of hot coffee, but most of the action is centered around Stanwyck and her dilemma. And the intimidating Ralph Meeker really is impressive, as both an object of scorn and forbidden desire reminiscent of Brando in that same year's "The Wild One." The locations used are quite effective and convincingly dangerous, and actually play a large role in developing the suspense. And the ending certainly is thought-provoking.This is no masterpiece but "Jeopardy" delivers seventy minutes of pure "old school" entertainment.*** out of *****

Awesomely improbable and foolish potboiler that at least has some redeeming, crisp location photography, but it's too unbelievable to generate much in the way of tension. I was kinda hoping that Stanwyck wouldn't make it back in time because, really, she was saddled with the wet, in more ways than one, husband,and she had an idiot child as well..why NOT run off with Meeker? But the nagging question remains..what sort of wood was that pier support made of if a rotten piece of it pulled off didn't float? Stanwyck, always impeccably professional, does the best she could with the material but it's threadbare.

I found this movie to be suspenseful almost from the get-go. When Miss Stanwyck starts her narration it's only a few minutes until you realize that trouble is coming. The deserted area, the lock on the deserted gas station door, everything sets you up to wait for it...here it comes. At first you think it will be about the little boy, but all too soon you start holding your breath watching the tide coming in. I found this movie to be really stressful, even though I had watched it before and was prepared for the denouement. Now a movie that can keep you in suspense even when you have seen it before deserves some sort of special rating, maybe a white knuckles award?

"Jeopardy" nominally starred Barbara Stanwyck, Barry Sullivan and Ralph Meeker. ButI felt the real star of this picture was the 1950 Ford convertible seen in every exciting scene in this picture. The car really took a beating.I suspect they used 5 or 6 different vehicles because the car was really abused at the hands of Ralph Meeker in certain scenes.Maybe director John Sturges was trying draw a comparison between Meeker's treatment of the car and how he treated Barbara Stanwyck.At the very least "Jeopardy" was one of the best commercials Ford ever had.