To the Public Danger

Produced byJohn CroydonStarringCinematographyEdited byGraeme HamiltonMusic byDoreen CarwithenDistributed byGeneral Film Distributors43 minutesCountryUnited KingdomLanguageEnglish

To the Public Danger is a 1948 British drama short film directed by Terence Fisher and produced by John Croydon. It stars Dermot Walsh, Susan Shaw, Barry Letts, and Frederick Piper.^[1]

The film was made at Highbury Studios as a second feature for release by the Rank Organisation.^[2] Like other Highbury productions, it offered acting opportunities for several of Rank's young contract stars. The film's sets were designed by Don Russell, although a number of the scenes were shot on location.

The screenplay, written by T.J. Morrison and Arthur Reid, was based on a 1939 radio play by Patrick Hamilton, who had been encouraged to write the story as part of a government road safety campaign. Hamilton had himself been knocked down by a drunk driver. The story was updated slightly, and represents the post-war malaise with the use of noirish sequences.^[3] After making the film Fisher graduated to directing several more expensive productions for Gainsborough Pictures.

While having a quiet drink together in a road house, a young working-class couple Fred and Nancy fall into the company of two raffish motorists including the self-confident Captain Cole. After a game of billiards and a number of drinks, they drive out on the road. While speeding along in the dark they hit what they think to be a man on a bicycle.

Although Fred wants to stop, Captain Cole insists on driving on. Nancy takes Cole's side and begins taunting Fred, who eventually manages to escape and raise the alarm. A police investigation reveals that nobody had been injured in the collision with the bike, which had belonged to a poacher who didn't report the accident. In the meantime, Cole, Nancy and the other passenger have suffered a crash of their own while drunken speeding, killing all three of them.

• Dermot Walsh as Captain Cole
• Susan Shaw as Nancy Bedford
• Barry Letts as Fred Lane
• Roy Plomley as Reggie
• Betty Ann Davies as barmaid
• Sydney Bromley as bar patron
• John Lorrell as police sergeant
• Sam Kydd as police driver
• Patricia Hayes as postmistress
• Frederick Piper as labourer
• Patience Rentoul as labourer's wife
• Cliff Weir as pub landlord
• Arthur Mullard as man standing near bar
• Barbara Murray as bit role
• Philip Saville as man in pub watching billiards game
• Constance Smith as girl in pub watching billiards game

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "This is a story with a twist to it which points a sad moral, but which as a film has little to distinguish it."^[4]

• Chibnall, Steve & McFarlane, Brian. The British 'B' Film. Palgrave MacMillan, 2009.
• Hutchings, Peter. Terence Fisher. Manchester University Press, 2001.

• To the Public Danger at IMDb
• To the Public Danger then-and-now location photographs at ReelStreets