Life in Danger
Life in Danger is a 1959 British thriller directed by Terry Bishop. The film stars Derren Nesbitt and Julie Hopkins and was written by Malcolm Hulke and Eric Paice. The story follows Hazel Ashley, an emotionally unstable teenager who befriends a casual labourer. At the same time, a convicted child murderer named Miller has escaped from a nearby lunatic asylum. Hazel goes missing, and a village search led by Major Peters finds her in a barn with the labourer, whom Peters shoots. When the police arrive, they report that Miller had already surrendered himself.
The film received mixed reviews. The Monthly Film Bulletin praised the tense opening and the two leading performances but said realism gives way to conventional thrills and the supporting cast is often unconvincing. Picturegoer called it a rustic melodrama about a worker mistaken for an escaped lunatic, noting a touch of sex adds bite. The Radio Times Guide to Films gave it 2 out of 5 stars, calling it a passable low-budget drama and highlighting the mounting fear of an innocent man facing fading alibis. British Sound Films described it as an average, halting drama well performed by the young leads. Chibnall and McFarlane, writing about British B films, later called it a neat, unpretentious thriller.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 06:06 (CET).