Green For Danger (Criterion Collection) (1946)

FilmCritic.com 10 of 10
Gilliat and Guerney's script weaves in the requisite red herrings to throw Cockrill (and us) off at every turn. If it isn't Mr. Eden's shifty sexual politics, it's Dr. Barnes' iffy track record in the operating room, or the fact that the innocent-looking Nurse Woods (Megs Jenkins) has a Nazi stooge for a twin sister. Finally, though, it's the specter of the war that haunts Danger, namely the grief and guilt that survivors feel over the loss of loved ones. It's a poignant way to incorporate topical matters into what is otherwise an intelligently made but down-the-line mystery yarn. Gilliat's direction burnishes Danger to a fine polish, but it's Sim's adroit seriocomic performance that makes it the quintessential British murder mystery of the period. - Jay Antani
 
DVD Talk 9 of 10
Sidney Gilliat and, to a lesser degree, Frank Launder's Green for Danger (1946), from the novel by Christianna Brand, is nothing more or less than a superb little mystery-thriller set in a country hospital near the end of the war. It does what virtually all great mysteries do: it presents a complex but logically-conceived puzzle to be solved, leaving clues in plain sight in a story that plays fair with its audience, yet is so cleverly conceived few will guess its outcome before the big reveal. Gilliat's screenplay, written with Claude Guerney, sticks closely to its source in terms of its rich characters, which the fine cast memorably enact with great wit and believability...Green for Danger is a superb whodunit that mystery and classic British cinema fans won't want to miss, while Criterion's typically handsome DVD and supplements make the viewing experience all the more enjoyable. Highly recommended. - Stuart Galbraith, IV