BACKGROUND TO DANGER (1943) ** Just in case you thought the Hollywood methodology of ripping off films in production in other studios was a new one...this was made the same year as Casablanca. Like the other film this one takes place during an event called World War II, which was apparently something of interest to producers of the day. Instead of Morocco it takes place in...uh, Turkey. Casablanca, Ankara. George Raft wanders around doing his best Bogart, and dressing exactly like him. As a good detective, I didn't fall for that oil rig salesman bit for one second, he spends a great deal of time getting knocked out and running away. The rest of his time he spends looking at chicks and saying that they aren't "bad looking." The Russian agents look suspiciously like Frank Zappa and Lee Harvey Oswald, except for the chick who is supposed to be hot, and to her justification looks little like either of them. The Germans are just like the bad guys in a Hardy Boys mystery-the head dude tells on himself then leaves the hero to get offed by some incompetent stooge, setting up the car chase. The foggy airport climax concludes with Raft and the hot Russian babe headed off to Cairo to "cement" good relations between the two countries. Hey, that's kind of like Bogey and that Claude Rains cop in that other movie!
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