Green for Danger (United Artists) (1946)

&hes«euth with the slouch Five Have Motives For Double Murder In ‘Green for Danger’ Five suspects—all with excel¬ lent motives and all with excel¬ lent opportunities—for the mur¬ der of a patient and a nurse in a hospital set the story for the new Eagle Lion Films release, “Green for Danger,” scheduled to begin a .-day engagement on . . at the.Thea¬ tre. Coproduced by Sidney Gilliat and Wank Launder, the duo who brought “The Lady Vanishes,” “Night Train” and “The Adven¬ turess” to the' screen, the exciting new mystery film is being hailed as an unparalleled adventure in screen suspense. “Green for Dan¬ ger” presents Alastair Sim as In¬ spector Cockrill of Scotland Yard, the wise, witty—and wily—repre¬ sentative of the law, described as the year's most refreshing per¬ sonality. Sudden, Strange Death fcs Sim arrives at the hospital fol¬ lowing the sudden and mysterious death of a patient on the operat¬ ing table. Before she can reveal some vital information, the head nurse is stabbed to death. Sim learns that all those assisting at the operation during which the patient died had excellent oppor¬ tunities to commit the murder. Following an attempted killing of another nurse, Sim becomes aware of the jealousies and in¬ trigues within the small group and stages a mock operation at which he dramatically unmasks the killer. Co-starring with Sim are Sally Gray and Rosamund John as sus¬ pect nurses and Trevor Howard and Leo Genn as doctors with mo¬ tives for both murders. Howard with Old Vic ‘%fter ‘Green’ Film Trevor Howard, currently co- starring in. “Green for Danger,” the Eagle Lion Films release at the . Theatre, has been signed to appear with the Old Vic theatre company in London next season. Howard has previously been seen in “The Ad¬ venturess” and “Brief Encounter.” Sim’s Portrayal in ‘Danger’ Is Year’s Most Refreshing “The year’s most refreshing screen personality” are the words advance reviewers are using to describe Alas¬ tair Sim’s role of Inspector Cockrill in “Green for Danger,” the new Eagle Lion Films release scheduled to begin a -day engagement on Theatre. Playing comic roles in films seems a far cry from the way Sim planned his life would be. Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on October 9, Sim was educated at the James Gillespie School and at Edinburgh University. The son of a judge, Sim’s first job was as an analyti¬ cal chemist but gave this up to be¬ come a professor of phonetics at New College, Edinburgh Univer¬ sity. Formed Theatrical Society From this interest in speech, he formed a number of students into a theatrical society and put on a series of plays in poetry in Eng¬ land. Inspired by a notice written by a famed playright, the late John Drinkwater, Sim decided to become a professional actor. After several small roles in London stage plays, he joined the Old Vic and played Shakespeare for two seasons. After a series of villain¬ ous roles, Sim turned to comedy because that was his natural in¬ clination and also because by the time he was 25 he was almost completely bald. Sim’s films include “Riverside Murder,” “Gangway,” “This Man Is News,” “This Man in Paris,” “Climbing High” and the Inspec¬ tor Hornleigh motion pictures. Is Publicity Shy He plays chess, likes to watch football and admires Degas’ paint¬ ings. He fights shy of publicity and is witty, courteous and punc¬ tual. In “Green for Danger,” hailed as an unparalleled adventure in screen suspense, Sim as Inspector Cockrill of Scotland Yard becomes embroiled in two murders that take place in a hospital. Suspects are Sally Gray, Trevor Howard, Rosamund John and Leo Genn and in a thrilling re-enactment of the last murder, Sim dramatically unmasks the killer. Sidney Gilliat and Frank Launder produced 'Green for Danger.” at the Sly Sleuth Mat ID Still IPL-111-P8A INSPECTOR COCKRILL OF SCOT¬ LAND YARD, played by Alastair Sim, is called in to solve a series of mys¬ terious murders in Eagle Lion's new sus¬ pense film, "Green for Danger," which is coming this . to the . Theatre. New Film Personality Debuts in ‘Danger’ Introducing the year’s most refreshing screen personality — Alastair Sim as Inspector Cock¬ rill of Scotland Yard, “Green for Danger,” an Eagle Lion Films re¬ lease, starts a .-day engage¬ ment . at the . . Theatre. Produced by Sid¬ ney Gilliat and Frank Launder, “Green for Danger” also stars Sally Gray, Trevor Howard and Rosamund John. The supporting cast is headed by Leo Genn, Megs Jenkins, Judy Campbell and Moore Marriott. Advance reviews hail the picture, involving two mur¬ ders in a hospital, as an unparal¬ leled adventure in screen sus¬ pense. • Christianna Brand Writes Best Seller To While Away Time Christianna Brand, best-selling novelist, wrote her latest book, “Green for Danger,” in order to have something to do! Miss Brand is married to a surgeon who was assigned to a military hospital during the war. Occasionally she would be al¬ lowed into the operating theatre to watch him at work and she became friendly with the hospital staff. In conversation one day, the anesthetist, without knowing it, suggested to the novelist how a murder might be committed dur¬ ing an operation. For days she toyed with the idea of writing a thriller about such a crime but she could not think of a motive— until one day an inebriated old man told her of an experience in a bomb shelter. The old man’s story suggested the very motive she was looking for and she set herself down to write “Green for Danger.” Now brought to the screen by co-producers Sidney Gilliat and Frank Launder, “Green for Dan¬ ger,” an Eagle Lion Films re¬ lease, opens . at the . Theatre and co- stars Sally Gray, Trevor Howard, Rosamund John and introduces Alastair Sim as Inspector Cock¬ rill of Scotland Yard. ‘Green for Danger’ Is Third Picture For Launder-Gilliat “Green for Danger,” the Eagle Lion Films release scheduled to open ... at the . Theatre, is the third picture to be produced by Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat. Launder and Gilliat, authors of the screenplays for “The Lady Vanishes” and “Night Train,” produced their first independent picture in 1945—“Notorious Gen¬ tleman” with Rex Harrison. Their 1946 production was “The Adven¬ turess,” which won for Deborah Kerr her co-starring role with Clark Gable in “The Hucksters.” Launder directed “The Adventur¬ ess” and Gilliat was responsible for “Green For Danger.” Described as an unparalleled adventure in screen suspense, “Green for Danger” bears the typical and unusual Launder- Gilliat touch. Based on Chris¬ tianna Brand’s murder mystery novel, the picture stars Sally Gray, Trevor Howard, Rosamund John and Alastair Sim as Inspec¬ tor Cockrill. Three Technical Advisers Insure ‘Danger’ Realism To insure complete authenticity for the hospital background of “Green for Danger,” the Eagle Lion Films release opening . .at the . Thea¬ tre, director Sidney Gilliat made a close study of hospital pro¬ cedure and of an operating thea¬ tre. An actual operating nurse su¬ pervised the making of all scenes which took place in the operating room and the laying out and use of instruments and equipment. At other times during the production a surgeon and a medical student kept a professional eye on the proceedings. Starring in “Green for Dan¬ ger,” hailed as an unparalleled adventure in screen suspense, are Sally Gray, Trevor Howard, Rosa¬ mund John and Alastair Sim as Inspector Cockrill, described as the year’s most refreshing screen personality. THE STORY (Not for Publication) to 1 ^ OSTMAN HIGGINS is rushed to the hospital for an emergency operation, f During the operation, performed by Dr. Eden, a lady's man (Leo Genn), and attended by Dr. Barnes, anesthetist (Trevor Howard), Nurses Linley, Barnes' fiancee (Sally Gray), Sanson (Rosamund John), Woods (Megs Jenkins) and Bates (Judy Campbell), Higgins starts sinking under the anesthetic. Dr. Barnes cuts off the flow of anesthetic and frantically feeds Higgins oxygen to no avail. Higgins dies on the table. Hospital authorities make clear their distrust and suspicion of Barnes, one of whose patients had died previously under similar circumstances. Nurse Bates says she has proof that Higgins was murdered but before she can turn over her evidence to the police, she is stabbed to death. Scotland Yard Inspector Cockrill (Alastair Sim) is assigned to the case. He discovers that Nurses Sanson and Woods have been going off on mysterious errf^ds and that they have both lied about where they spent certain hours vit&r'to their alibis. He also learns that Nurse Linley has quarreled with Barnes and that she and Eden are romantically involved. Cockrill wonders if Nurse Bates had discovered the attachment and that therefore either Nurse Linley or Eden may have wanted her out of the way. Nurse Linley is cleared in Cockrill's mind when she is found almost dead from asphyxiation by illuminating gas. Cockrill decides to set a trap. He informs the others that Nurse Linley must be operated upon the following morning and that all the others must be present to perform the same duties they did during Higgins' operation. He indicates that refusal to attend will attach suspicion to the person who objects. As the operation starts, Cockrill watches all closely. Nurse Linley begins to sink under the anesthetic and Cockrill wrenches the knobs from Barnes' hands and cjuickly shuts off all the oxygen. He rips the sheets from the nurse, who is revealed as not enough badly hurt to require any operation. Announcing that he knows how Higgins was killed, Cockrill scrapes off a fleck of green paint which had been applied to make the poisonous nitrous oxide tank look like the oxygen tank. Nurse Sanson breaks down and Cockrill reveals that she is a psychopathic killer who developed an insane hatred for Higgins ever since his rescue squad failed to save her mother after she had been buried alive during a buzz bomb attack. She killed Nurse Bates to keep her from revealing her as the murderer. Nurse Sanson rushes into another room. Eden, who has been watching while he surreptitiously filled a hypodermic syringe, rushes after her. But before Eden can give her an injection, Cockrill knocks the syringe from Eden's hand. Nurse Sanson sinks to the floor, dead. Contemptuously, Eden shows Cockrill that the hypodermic contained the antidote to the poison which Nurse Sanson had taken and that in his fears that Eden was about to kill the nurse, Cockrill had destroyed the only chance of saving her life. As Dr. Barnes and Nurse Linley realize that their lives can now resume their normal patterns, Inspector Cockrill plans to return to London after having dictated a report to his superiors, the last line of which reads, "And so I submit my resignation, in the hope that you will see fit NOT to accept it" '