"Jeopardy" is a psychological thriller with a very small cast. It has adventure, drama and crime set mostly in the wilds of Mexico's Baja Peninsula. The film just lists one shooting location - Pioneertown, California. But obviously, it was shot in other places as well. It has scenes along the Pacific shore, at the Mexico border crossing, and at what looks like the town of Ensenada, Mexico.
Barbara Stanwyck has the lead role as Helen Stilwin. She narrates some early segments of the film with voiceover. Her family is starting out on a two-week camping and fishing vacation. They are driving from their home in California to a place her husband had found years ago with a friend. It's not clear, but apparently, he had been scouting the area while serving in the military during WWII.
Barry Sullivan plays her husband, Doug. Child star actor Lee Aaker plays their son, Bobby. There's just one other main supporting role. Ralph Meeker plays Lawson, an escaped killer whom the Mexican police are pursuing.
All of the cast give excellent performances. Sullivan is especially good in the scenes when his leg is pinned under a collapsed dock piling. He sits on the shore while the incoming tide brings waves higher and higher that wash over him. And, Aaker is very good as a boy just seven or eight years old. He is very clever and smart for his age.
The story has some intense moments and an interesting ending. Some good black and white scenes show the starkness of the country and sparsity of people and other life. Stanwyck has some early poetic voiceover lines. But the screenplay has some oddities, including one blatant factual error.
In a voiceover, as she looks at a map of the Baja Peninsula, Helen says, "When you see a map, you see what isolation you're heading into. Tijuana, Ensenada up at one end, and then 400 miles to La Paz, the only other town at the other end." The actual distance from Tijuana to La Paz is 921 miles - nearly 2½ times as far. The full driving length of the Baja Peninsula is more than 1,050 miles from Tijuana to Cabo San Lucas. It's surprising that no one involved in the movie thought to check the actual distance from Tijuana to La Paz. It's obvious that the playwright didn't know.
Helen's voiceover continues, "In between, nothing but names. Oh, picturesque names. Mission Santo Tomas, Colonia Guerrero, El Rosario... but just names. Ancient settlements and missions no longer existing, ghost towns, ruins."
Yet, between Ensenada and El Rosario (150 miles south of Ensenada) today, there are some towns of good size. Among them are San Vicente, 2010 population of 4,400, 52 miles south of Ensenada. And 24 miles south of there (76 miles from Ensenada) is Punta Colonet, with 3,280 people and another nearby town of 470. And from there it's just 20 miles more (96 miles from Ensenada) to Camalú, a town of 8,600. And 24 miles further (120 from Ensenada) is Lázaro Cárdenas, with 16,300 population in 2010.
There are some smaller villages between these (San Quintin, Catavita, etc.), and more inhabited towns in the 21st century all the way to La Paz and Cabo San Lucas. The distance between towns stretches as one goes south - to 200 miles at one place - where Highway 1 crosses through the mountains. All of these places would have been much smaller in 1953, and some indeed may have been deserted or not yet existed. But, it's not likely that all - or even most of them were uninhabited.
Stanwyck has a questionable generalization in the opening scene voiceover where she talks about Americans driving for their summer vacations. She refers to "The big rolling freeways and the fantastic traffic patterns... There's a turnoff everywhere... and you can go straight ahead too, if you only know how." But, in 1953 there were very few expressways in America. Most were in California and a few were around some of the largest cities elsewhere - New York, Philadelphia and Chicago. The U. S. didn't start work on the Interstate system until 1956. So, in 1953, most Americans, in most places, drove most of the time on two-lane roads. Long distance travel was still most frequently by passenger trains, and airline travel that was growing fast.
Another big oddity in this film is the 45 pistol. Doug said it was his Army weapon. Did he steal it? He was probably an officer, since he had a sidearm. But no GI of any rank is allowed to keep his weapon when discharged from active duty. So, the movie should have made it clear that there was a unique situation in which Doug had been allowed to purchase his WWII weapon. Without that, any GI or veteran will think he stole the gun from the Army.
One more curiosity in the story is the escaped convict. How did he wind up in the middle of a large desolate expanse of country that has only one road into and out of it? Where did he come from? How did he get there? There are some other small strange things about this film, but not enough space to discuss them.
"Jeopardy" has a much slower pace than many movie fans will be used to in the early 21st century. Still, it should interest and entertain those who especially enjoy a "thinking" film. It's too bad the writer and director weren't thinking through all the goofs in the plot and script.
Here are a couple favorite lines from the movie.
Helen Stilwin: "Well, it's duty free. I'm saving money for you." Doug Stilwin: "Every time you save me money, you cost me money."
Bobby: "Aw, mom. You always talk about civilization." Helen, "Don't knock it, son."
Barbara Stanwyck has the lead role as Helen Stilwin. She narrates some early segments of the film with voiceover. Her family is starting out on a two-week camping and fishing vacation. They are driving from their home in California to a place her husband had found years ago with a friend. It's not clear, but apparently, he had been scouting the area while serving in the military during WWII.
Barry Sullivan plays her husband, Doug. Child star actor Lee Aaker plays their son, Bobby. There's just one other main supporting role. Ralph Meeker plays Lawson, an escaped killer whom the Mexican police are pursuing.
All of the cast give excellent performances. Sullivan is especially good in the scenes when his leg is pinned under a collapsed dock piling. He sits on the shore while the incoming tide brings waves higher and higher that wash over him. And, Aaker is very good as a boy just seven or eight years old. He is very clever and smart for his age.
The story has some intense moments and an interesting ending. Some good black and white scenes show the starkness of the country and sparsity of people and other life. Stanwyck has some early poetic voiceover lines. But the screenplay has some oddities, including one blatant factual error.
In a voiceover, as she looks at a map of the Baja Peninsula, Helen says, "When you see a map, you see what isolation you're heading into. Tijuana, Ensenada up at one end, and then 400 miles to La Paz, the only other town at the other end." The actual distance from Tijuana to La Paz is 921 miles - nearly 2½ times as far. The full driving length of the Baja Peninsula is more than 1,050 miles from Tijuana to Cabo San Lucas. It's surprising that no one involved in the movie thought to check the actual distance from Tijuana to La Paz. It's obvious that the playwright didn't know.
Helen's voiceover continues, "In between, nothing but names. Oh, picturesque names. Mission Santo Tomas, Colonia Guerrero, El Rosario... but just names. Ancient settlements and missions no longer existing, ghost towns, ruins."
Yet, between Ensenada and El Rosario (150 miles south of Ensenada) today, there are some towns of good size. Among them are San Vicente, 2010 population of 4,400, 52 miles south of Ensenada. And 24 miles south of there (76 miles from Ensenada) is Punta Colonet, with 3,280 people and another nearby town of 470. And from there it's just 20 miles more (96 miles from Ensenada) to Camalú, a town of 8,600. And 24 miles further (120 from Ensenada) is Lázaro Cárdenas, with 16,300 population in 2010.
There are some smaller villages between these (San Quintin, Catavita, etc.), and more inhabited towns in the 21st century all the way to La Paz and Cabo San Lucas. The distance between towns stretches as one goes south - to 200 miles at one place - where Highway 1 crosses through the mountains. All of these places would have been much smaller in 1953, and some indeed may have been deserted or not yet existed. But, it's not likely that all - or even most of them were uninhabited.
Stanwyck has a questionable generalization in the opening scene voiceover where she talks about Americans driving for their summer vacations. She refers to "The big rolling freeways and the fantastic traffic patterns... There's a turnoff everywhere... and you can go straight ahead too, if you only know how." But, in 1953 there were very few expressways in America. Most were in California and a few were around some of the largest cities elsewhere - New York, Philadelphia and Chicago. The U. S. didn't start work on the Interstate system until 1956. So, in 1953, most Americans, in most places, drove most of the time on two-lane roads. Long distance travel was still most frequently by passenger trains, and airline travel that was growing fast.
Another big oddity in this film is the 45 pistol. Doug said it was his Army weapon. Did he steal it? He was probably an officer, since he had a sidearm. But no GI of any rank is allowed to keep his weapon when discharged from active duty. So, the movie should have made it clear that there was a unique situation in which Doug had been allowed to purchase his WWII weapon. Without that, any GI or veteran will think he stole the gun from the Army.
One more curiosity in the story is the escaped convict. How did he wind up in the middle of a large desolate expanse of country that has only one road into and out of it? Where did he come from? How did he get there? There are some other small strange things about this film, but not enough space to discuss them.
"Jeopardy" has a much slower pace than many movie fans will be used to in the early 21st century. Still, it should interest and entertain those who especially enjoy a "thinking" film. It's too bad the writer and director weren't thinking through all the goofs in the plot and script.
Here are a couple favorite lines from the movie.
Helen Stilwin: "Well, it's duty free. I'm saving money for you." Doug Stilwin: "Every time you save me money, you cost me money."
Bobby: "Aw, mom. You always talk about civilization." Helen, "Don't knock it, son."