A Life at Stake

Moviecut—A Life at Stake

Boring with poor script, direction and acting. The storyline is not engaging. The main characters are both uninteresting and miscast. Lansbury is not a femme fatale and Andes is entirely unconvincing. He supposedly is a promising architect, but his daily activity and his physique resemble that of a prison inmate. There are some bizarre and unintentionally funny moments too, e.g the dance in the club with Lansbury's sister where in the middle of May he is dressed (inside the club!) with heavy coat and she with a strapless! I am a huge fan if the era, but this one will bore even the most enthusiastic

The main-character finds himself in a Hitchcockian situation when he suspects his female boss ( Angela Lansbury ) from wanting to kill him over insurance money. I didn't quite grasp how that works, it seems a bit far-fetched to me...Is he being paranoid? Or is there really a sinister plot to kill him over the dough? And what about the beautiful younger sister and her amazing story? The movie is as mediocre as a thriller can get, filled with illogical twists and weird choices from its characters. Angela Lansbury just doesn't convince as the seductress, but maybe that has to do with her current status as mystery solving-granny Jessica Fletcher. The main-character Keith Andes is decent enough. He's like any fifties ''hero''; a touch cynical, overly masculine and well-behaved.

Honest, I tried very hard to like this one. It came in a Film Noir DVD collection with several pictures I had never seen, or even heard of - this was one of those. The plot was fair-to-middling and Angela Lansbury was, in current phraseology, a hottie. I didn't know Keith Andes could act as well as he did in this one - I had seen him when I was younger in the '50's in some action pictures and he didn't make an impression. Pacing was not good and I found myself checking my watch several times - it was made on the cheap and it shows in several areas. Long story short, if you are confined to quarters or laid up in traction, this picture will kill 75 minutes for you. If you're looking for a real recommendation to see it, 'fraid not.

A struggling architect named Edward Shaw (Keith Andes) gets involved with a rich woman named Doris Hillman (Angela Lansbury) who is in real estate. As their business relationship deepens, Shaw is urged to take out a big life insurance policy. Soon after, he encounters some dangerous "accidents". A LIFE AT STAKE is a very engaging crime thriller. It's also a wonderful vehicle for Ms. Lansbury to show off her wicked side. Those only familiar with her TV work should watch this!...

A architect Edward Shaw thinks he may be the victim of a plot to murder him for the insurance money. It's a routine story with a bland leading man in Keith Andes and an overly melodramatic conclusion but it is helped along by a sizzling performance from Angela Lansbury as the femme fatale Doris Hillman and solid acting support from Douglass Dumbrille as the husband , Claudia Barrett as the sister and Jane Darwell as the landlady. It is shot in a noir kind of style, particularly the scene where Shaw walks the streets his paranoia growing, with inky shadows and splashes of light. Another good scene is where Shaw and Doris are having their first kissing bout but instead of talking sweet nothings they are gasping about insurance! A good film that is anchored by the marvellous Ms. Lansbury.

This one is a bit weird... first of all, who in the heck would build a cabin in the mountains with a back door that opens on the edge of a cliff? This door literally opens up and if you step off you are gone. Unrealistic and too convenient to me. That is my main problem with the film. The other problem is the film starts out slow - the first 20 minutes seems like 2 hours but it does pick up after that and does get somewhat interesting. Another problem I had is the 21 year old helping the poor guy figure out what to do - not to run away with the $1000 bill. That is a pretty lame way for this guy's problems to be solved. It's not a horrible film mind you, it's just not all that good either. I did watch this one until the end so it's kinda interesting. 5/10

Interestingly thought out thriller here, with Angela Lansbury (one of my favorite 60's actresses) playing a seductress who may or may not be setting up her business partner to die just so she can collect on some life insurance they have put up for a business deal (don't ask, I'm not 100% sure of the logistics of it). Keith Andes, an actor who I've never heard of before, plays her would-be-victim. She of course plays up her sex to him, and Andes can't resist. Oh, and did I say Lansbury was married? Soon (well, actually, quite quickly) Andes wises up and tries to foil the plan, but Lansbury and husband have plan B's in place.. This was quite a tricky little thriller. It almost looks and seems like it once was a play at one time, what with it's dormitory sets, but the acting sure signs through. Lansbury is fabulous as usual, and I have no idea what became of Keith Andes, because he certainly had the looks and the acting chops to go a long way.

"A Life At Stake" opens with a shirtless Keith Andes (playing a smart patsy)....I have to admit he has a great body. Soon afterwards, he meets Angela Lansbury (playing a conflicted femme fatale) lounging in her pool....Lansbury was 29 when she made this film and although not conventionally beautiful even back then, she is shockingly sexy here....she uses her whole body strategically. Their dialogue is surprisingly suggestive for a 1950s movie, for example leaving little doubt as to how Lansbury's character became such a successful real estate saleswoman ("Isn't there a big Naval base in San Diego?" - "HUGE"!). Their second meeting, in an apartment, is almost equally heated. The rest of the movie is a little more lukewarm, but it does have a dependably slimy Douglas Dumbrille, and a fitting - and ironic - ending. **1/2 out of 4.