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Dangerous Mission

DANGEROUS MISSION

Dangerous Mission

Movie

Year: 1954

Director: Louis King

US Premiere: 6 March 1954

Copyright 1954 RKO Radio Pictures Inc.

Plot Summary

A young girl, played by Piper Laurie, witnesses a gang murder in New York, and runs away to Montana's Glacier National Park, pursued by the gang. She takes a job at the resort hotel, and the arrival of two mysterious men leads to confusion as to which is there to silence her.

Cast

The Cast of Dangerous Mission

Victor Mature - Matt Hallett
Piper Laurie - Louise Graham
William Bendix - Chief Ranger Joe Parker
Vincent Price - Paul Adams
Betta St. John - Mary Tiller
Harry Cheshire - Mr. Elster
Steve Darrell - Katoonai Tiller
Walter Reed - Ranger Dobson
Marlo Dwyer - Mrs. Elster
Dennis Weaver - Pruitt, Ranger Clerk
Trevor Bardette - Kicking Bear, Indian Chief at Schoolhouse
Helen Brown - Miss Thorndyke
Charles Cane - Charlie Barrett
John Carlyle - Bellhop
Robert Carraker - Traskins (Lead Fireman)
Jack Chefe - Party Caterer
James Conaty - Party guest/Dance extra
Jerardo De Cordovier - Native American Man in Hotel Foyer
Kem Dibbs - Johnny Yonkers
Ann Dore - Woman Serving in Shop
Bill Dyer - Party Waiter
Roy Engel - Hume, Fisherman who finds Adams' car
Bess Flowers - Tall Party Guest
Fritz Ford - Hawthorne
Wymer Gard - Cobb
Frank Griffin - Tedd, Desk Clerk
Chester Hayes - Native American Man in Hotel Foyer
Grace Hayle - Mrs. Alvord
George Hoagland - Male Party Guest
Chester Jones - Porter
Kenner G. Kemp - Hotel extra
Mike Lally - Fletcher, Firefighter
Virginia Linden - Mrs. Brown
Chester Marshall - Bellhop
Harry Mayo - Man at Hotel
Bert Moorhouse - Battaglia, the murder victim
Craig Moreland - Firefighter
Richard Newton - Boone, Reporter at Hotel
Monty O'Grady - Male Party Guest
Foster Phinney - Man at Party
James Porter - Ranger
Steve Rowland - Parking attendant
Sammy Shack - Firefighter
George Sherwood - Mr. Jones
Maureen Stephenson - Mrs. Jones
Bert Stevens - Hotel extra/Indian ceremony extra
Russell Thorson - Downriver Radio Operator
Ralph Volkie - Firefighter
Bill White Jr. - Hotel Clerk
Frank Wilcox - Jeremiah Kern, Yonker's Lawyer

Stunts

Fred Carson - Stunt Double for Victor Mature
Fritz Ford

Production Crew

Producer - Irwin Allen
Director - Louis King
Screenplay - Horace McCoy, W.R. Burnett, Charles Bennett
Story - Horace McCoy and James Edmiston
Director of Photography - William Snyder, A.S.C.
Technicolor Color Consultant - Monroe W. Burbank
Photographic Effects - Harold Wellman, A.S.C.
Art Directors - Albert S. D'Agostino, Walter Keller
Sound - Frank McWhorter, Clem Portman
Assistant Director - James W. Lane
Music - Roy Webb
Musical Director - C. Bakaleinikoff
Editorial Supervision - Frederic Knudtson, A.C.E.
Film Editor - Gene Palmer
Set Decorations - Darrell Silvera, John Sturtevant
Costumes - Michael Woulfe
Makeup Artist - Mel Berns
Hair Stylist - Larry Germain
Stunt co-ordinator - Fred Carson

Trivia

Glacier Park Hotel in Irwin Allen's Dangerous Mission

  • Dangerous Mission was originally called Rangers of the North. An early title for the movie was Glacier Park.
  • Robert Mitchum was originally considered for Victure Mature's role.
  • It was an early 3D movie with the glaciers of Montana providing spectacular scenery for three dimensional footage.
  • The cast includes Ann Dore (woman at party) who played the female giant in the Land of the Giants pilot The Crash.
  • Also, keep an eye open for a young Dennis Weaver, better known as Marshal Sam McCloud in the 1970's series McCloud.
  • Predominantly filmed in the Glacier National Park in Montana.
  • The hotel featured in the movie is the Glacier Park Hotel, now called the Glacier Park Lodge.
  • This was the first Irwin Allen movie that cinematographer Harold E. Wellman worked on and he would work again with Allen in the late 1970s on a number of his disaster movies including The Swarm.
  • Man serving drinks to Yonkers and his lawyer is called George, but we don't see his face.
  • Matt's room number at the hotel is 216 (is this Irwin Allen's birthday in reverse?)
  • Jack Chefe makes a career of catering in Irwin Allen's movies as he also played a chef in Double Dynamite and a waiter in A Girl in Every Port.
  • Fritz Ford was a Hollywood stunt man.

Alternative Titles

France: Mission Périlleuse
Germany: Blut im Schnee
Italy: Agente Federale X3
Japan: 雪原の追跡
Spain: Nieves Traidoras

Collectibles

Spanish import DVD

Spanish import DVD at Amazon.com (#ad)

Online Streaming

Stream Dangerous Mission 1954 on Amazon Prime (#ad)

NEWS

PIPER LAURIE

Piper Laurie in Irwin Allen's 1954 movie Dangerous Mission

Piper Laurie, star of Irwin Allen's thriller Dangerous Mission in 1954 passed away on 14th October 2023 at the age of 91 after a long and very successful acting career. She starred alongside Victor Mature, Vincent Price, and William Bendix in Dangerous Mission. Piper was nominated for an Oscar three times between 1962 and 1987.

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Entertainment Weekly: Kyle MacLachlan remembers Twin Peaks costar Piper Laurie