''5 Steps to Danger'' is a 1957 American

film noir Film noir (; ) is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of American ' ...

crime film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

directed, produced, and co–written by

Henry S. Kesler Henry S. Kesler (April 24, 1907 – May 15, 1997) was an American assistant director, second unit director, and director on over 240 films and television programs. A grandson of Joseph F. Smith, Kesler was an active member of the Church of Jesus C ...

. It stars

Ruth Roman Ruth Roman (born Norma Roman; December 22, 1922 – September 9, 1999) was an American actress of film, stage, and television. After playing stage roles on the east coast, Roman relocated to Hollywood to pursue a career in films. She appeare ...

and Sterling Hayden, with a cast that also included

Werner Klemperer Werner Klemperer (March 22, 1920 – December 6, 2000) was an American actor. He was known for playing Colonel Wilhelm Klink on the CBS television sitcom ''Hogan's Heroes'', for which he twice won the award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in ...

, Richard Gaines, Charles Davis,

Jeanne Cooper Wilma Jeanne Cooper (October 25, 1928 – May 8, 2013) was an American actress, best known for her role as Katherine Chancellor on the CBS soap opera ''The Young and the Restless'' (1973–2013). At the time of her death, she was eighth on the ...

, and Peter Hansen. ''5 Steps to Danger'' was based on the novel ''

The Steel Mirror ''The Steel Mirror'' is a spy novel by Donald Hamilton. Plot summary The plot is set in the post-World War II years, with a background of heroism and treachery in Nazi-controlled Europe and paranoia over communism. John Emmett managed to avoid f ...

'' by

Donald Hamilton Donald Bengtsson Hamilton (March 24, 1916 – November 20, 2006) was an American writer of novels, short stories, and non-fiction about the outdoors. His novels consist mostly of paperback originals, principally spy fiction, but also crime ...

Plot

John Emmett, an American everyman, is on a fishing and hunting trip when his car breaks down. He is offered a ride by a stranger, Ann Nicholson, who is driving to Santa Fe and asks him to take turns behind the wheel. During a stopover a woman identifying herself as a nurse takes John aside in a diner and says she has been following them because Ann is an escaped mental patient of a Dr. Frederick Simmons. And although he is not sure what to believe, John begins to doubt Ann when two policemen attempt to arrest them, claiming to be investigating a murder in Los Angeles. John and Ann slip away. He demands the truth, whereupon Ann says she is an ex-German citizen who stumbled upon a government plot and is in possession of valuable scientific transcripts embedded on a small cosmetic mirror. In order to prevent Simmons from having Ann committed to a mental institution against her will, John asks Ann to marry him, while also declaring his love for her. They wed in a small town and then continue their journey to find the scientist who wrote the transcripts. The chase ends in a confrontation between Simmons, who is actually a Soviet spy, and his accomplices versus FBI and CIA agents, who verify Ann's story. Ann and John enjoy their honeymoon on the fishing trip John had originally planned.

Cast

as Ann Nicholson * Sterling Hayden as John Emmett *

as Dr. Simmons * Richard Gaines as Dean Brant * Charles Davis as Kirk *

as Helen Bethke * Peter Hansen as Karl Plesser * Karl Ludwig Lindt as Kissel (as Karl Lindt) * John Mitchum as Deputy * John Frederick as Sheriff (as John Merrick)

Reception

Critical response

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' wrote that the film was "a rather lax and familiar melodrama about Communist espionage in this country, offers two real jolts. The climax, and this may be an unfair revelation, has a known subversive given some leeway inside a vital guided missile plant. Secondly, the place seems about as inaccessible as a drive-in restaurant. ..The responsibility, or irresponsibility, must be shouldered by Henry S. Kesler, who handled the screenwriting, the directing and producing, and none of it very well."

Release

''5 Steps to Danger'' was released in theatres on January 30, 1957.

References

Sources

External links

* {{Edward Small 1957 films Film noir Cold War spy films 1950s English-language films American road movies American anti-communist propaganda films American crime thriller films 1950s crime thriller films American black-and-white films Films scored by Paul Sawtell 1950s American films