Dangerous Crossing' has its flaws. The melodrama does get a little much in the latter stages and Crain's character as others have said is pretty one-dimensional and could have done with more subtlety in the writing. The story, supporting this parade of no-talent, is even less appealing. Mercilessly padded out with circular, repetitious and boringly inconsequential dialogue, "Dangerous Cargo" is a chore to sit through. A British b-pic heist thriller from ACT Productions, a company founded by the film technicians union with the aim of countering unemployment in the industry and it specialised in low budget programmers such as this. It went out on the Gaumont-British circuit supporting the Rita Hayworth picture, Miss Sadie Thompson in 1954. Trivia buffs will like to know that the storyline was provided by none other than Percy Hoskins who was chief crime reporter for the Daily Express newspaper. An interesting and amusing interview transcript with Vernon Sewell held by www.historyproject.org.uk can be read there in full but here is an extract relevant to this film . Newlyweds Jeanne Crain and Carl Betz board an ocean liner for a honeymoon cruise to Europe. He then promptly vanishes. Crain, reacting with swooning spells and hysterical outbursts, comes under the doting care of ship's doctor Michael Rennie, who's forever "prescribing" her things like shuffleboard or Champagne. (His cheekbones, meanwhile, threaten to pop right through his skin.)

In 2007 Stirling sailed Alert, the first boat he built from scratch, to Iceland – his Arctic debut. That year, only the birth of his son prevented further probings north. Stirling has returned to the Arctic every summer since. ‘I allow my husband to go away every summer, all summer,’ says Sara Stirling, Will’s wife and mother of his two children, Alfie and Grace. Sara is in charge of victualling the Northwest Passage voyage, and will join them near Greenland. Stirling introduces me to his ‘office’, a Portakabin that feels like an Arctic refuge, filled with fleeced-up Stirling & Son employees warming themselves with tea. One of Integrity’s crew, Col. Kevin ‘Kev’ Oliver, a mountain leader officer in the Royal Marines, turns up looking every inch the trim, chiselled genuine article. His 33 years in the forces include tours in several global hotspots, and in 2009, Oliver and fellow marine Major Tony Lancashire attempted the Northwest Passage in a 17ft open boat, sailing west to east. Also worth seeking are the horse-racing drama "The Great Dan Patch" (1949) and the crime noir "711 Ocean Drive" (1950)starring Edmond O'Brien. The story is intriguing and suspenseful generally, the mystery not routine or implausible. Rennie is admirably restrained and sympathetic and Crain does more than credibly and is fully committed in a difficult role of this nature to pull off. The rest of the cast are solid.This low budget mystery thriller is intriguing right from the start and becomes incredibly tense following the unexplained disappearance of one of its main characters. The atmosphere steadily becomes more threatening and the presence of a number of rather suspicious-looking individuals soon fuels a profound sense of paranoia that continues to grow until the story's denouement finally provides some important explanations for what's transpired. While 'Dangerous Crossing' didn't strike me as a great film and could have been better than it was, especially considering that its potential was hardly small in the first place, a lot works in its favour and far outweighs the not so good. And if asked as to whether to recommend 'Dangerous Crossing', my answer would be a solid if not quite enthusiastic yes. There are a lot better films of this type and there are also worse, if this is the sort of film that appeals to you there should be plenty to like even if it doesn't reach masterpiece level. In 1950, the film "So Long at the Fair" debuted. It was the film about a brother and sister who went to the Paris Exhibition--only to have the brother disappear. Even more odd, no one seems to have remembered seeing him and soon the authorities seem to think she is losing her mind. Only three years later, a very, very similar film is released and "Dangerous Crossing" is essentially the same film but with a very different ending. I know that a few other similar films have been released--so clearly "Dangerous Crossing" won't get points for originality.

Also found the ending somewhat abrupt, although to me it actually wasn't a predictable one. Although the use of the foghorn is creepy and leaves one feeling unsettled, it could have been used less and not emphasised as much as it was. Navigating ice, orcas, Bear Grylls and the occasional French film star is one thing; tiptoeing around the eggshells of political and bureaucratic sensitivities is another. Wary of amateur adventurers, the Canadian authorities insist on a laundry list of qualifications, competencies and permits. When we met, Stirling was trying to obtain a gun permit for Alaska. ‘As a matter of courtesy, I have also written to all the Inuit elders about our voyage.’ The Canadian government supports Inuit settlements partly to reinforce claims of sovereignty. ‘Living alongside the Inuit are “qablunas” [Inuit for white men],’ says Oliver. ‘Most qablunas are either in government service or running away from something. The typical answer to the question, “How did you end up here?” is, “I got divorced three times and the money is good.”’ Men in particular need to challenge themselves to feel alive,’ continues Sara. ‘The Arctic gives them that. They can’t resist that feeling of an incredible environment greater than anything else. They can never conquer it, but it conquers them.’ Sara turns to me and, with a hint of portent, says, ‘Will wants us to take Integrity into the Arctic and become iced-in for the winter.’Monthly Film Bulletin said "Average mystery film which makes use of the latest develoments in popular science to find a new way of disposing of the villains." [5]

After Amundsen, the St Roch, a Royal Canadian Mounted Police schooner, achieved the first west-east transit in 1940-42; the first yacht was Williwaw, a 45ft steel vessel skippered by Dutch explorer Willy de Roos, in 1970; the first passenger cruise ship was successful in August 2016. However, according to Oliver, ‘By 2013, only about 100 boats had succeeded.’ Meanwhile, Stirling’s boat-building business was growing. ‘Stirling & Son has 12 employees,’ he says. ‘A welder, engineer, finisher, two apprentices – we fund our own apprenticeship scheme – and the rest are shipwrights. It is entirely commercial. We new-build and restore wooden and steel vessels from dinghy up to 200 tonnes.’ Kine Weekly wrote: "Windswept crime melodrama set mainly on the briny.... A slap-up climax makes it watertight. Good British 'programmer'". [4] Beneath his affable, friendly, unassuming manner, Stirling is a driven and determined idealist with a curious innocence that can seem eccentric. After Eton, he read languages at Edinburgh but left after two years. In 1999 he cycled to Morocco then in 2000 sailed the Atlantic. An attempt at crossing France by canoe failed when a canal ran dry. ‘I wanted to be an explorer but wasn’t brave enough,’ he says. There is always something else to worry about,’ says Stirling. ‘Fog, ice and bad weather are the main worries, especially ice. The real danger is ice floes driven by wind and tides. At one tonne per cubic metre, you don’t want ice hitting you.’Omar Epps, the film's star, spoke a bit more positively about his experience in Ghana. He said that he was able to spend a good deal of time with Ofosu in preparing for the role. Epps also said that he had learned to speak a little bit of Twi. [3]