''Disaster'' is a 1948 American

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

William H. Pine Pine-Thomas Productions was a prolific B-picture unit of Paramount Pictures from 1940–1957, producing 81 films. Co-producers William H. Pine (February 15, 1896 – April 29, 1955) and William C. Thomas (August 11, 1903 – April 2, 1984) were kno ...

and written by Thomas Ahearn. The film stars

Richard Denning Richard Denning (March 27, 1914 – October 11, 1998) was an American actor who starred in science fiction films of the 1950s, including ''Unknown Island'' (1948), ''Creature from the Black Lagoon'' (1954), '' Target Earth'' (1954), ''Day the ...

Trudy Marshall Gertrude Madeline "Trudy" Marshall (February 14, 1920 – May 23, 2004) was an American actress and model. Early life Marshall was born in Brooklyn, New York, the daughter of Madeline (née Brennan) and Frederick Marshall. She studied drama ...

Damian O'Flynn Damian O'Flynn (January 29, 1907 – August 8, 1982) was an Irish-American actor of film and television originally from Boston, Massachusetts. Biography O'Flynn made his screen debut in ''Marked Woman'' (1937), after which he was a freelance pl ...

, Will Wright,

James Millican James Millican (February 17, 1911 – November 24, 1955) was an American actor with over 200 film appearances mostly in western movies. Millican was the son of Fred S. Millican, a circus owner, and Dorothy Millican. Millican was a clos ...

and Jack Lambert. The film was released on December 3, 1948, by

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

Plot

Murder suspect James Reid is pursued by Los Angeles police detective Dearborn to a construction site. After avoiding capture, James is hired under an alias by construction boss Pop Hansford, whose daughter Jerry helps run the business. James's skill at construction impresses the bosses, who ask worker Sam Payne to take the new man under his wing. Payne soon becomes jealous over Jerry's obvious romantic attraction to James. Pop decides to fire James after a scaffolding accident nearly causes Payne's death, but he lends him money and reveals that Detective Dearborn had come around asking questions. James explains how he was falsely accused of his previous construction boss's murder after witnessing a welder, Frosty Davenport, flee the crime scene. Pop places an ad for a welder, hoping Frosty might apply for the job, which he does. An on-site accident leaves Pop pinned beneath a girder. James is able to save him, as well as to force a confession from Frosty and clear his name with the police.

Cast

as James Reid / Bill Wyatt *

as Jerry Hansford *

as Detective Dearborn * Will Wright as Pop Hansford *

as Sam Payne * Jack Lambert as Frosty Davenport *

Jonathan Hale Jonathan Hale (born Jonathan Hatley; March 21, 1891 – February 28, 1966) was a Canadian-born film and television actor. Life and career Hale was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Before his acting career, Hale worked in the Diplomatic Co ...

as Police Commissioner Jerome

References

External links

*
Review of film
at ''Variety'' 1948 films American drama films 1948 drama films Paramount Pictures films American black-and-white films Films directed by William H. Pine 1940s English-language films 1940s American films {{1940s-US-film-stub