A Life at Stake is a suspenseful film noir about an out-of-luck architect who becomes entangled in a deadly plot when he’s seduced by a femme fatale offering a lucrative business deal. As their relationship deepens, he begins to suspect that her interest lies less in architecture and more in life insurance—with him as the insured. The film is a tense psychological thriller driven by themes of greed, lust, and betrayal.
Genre: Film Noir, Crime, Thriller
Director: Paul Guilfoyle
Paul Guilfoyle was primarily known as a character actor, appearing in numerous films from the 1930s through the 1950s. He directed only a few films, with A Life at Stake being his most notable directorial effort. Though his directing career was brief, he brought a solid understanding of character-driven drama from his extensive acting background, resulting in a lean and focused noir thriller.
Star Cast
- Angela Lansbury as Doris Hillman
- Keith Andes as Edward Shaw
- Douglass Dumbrille as Gus Hillman
- Claudia Barrett as Madge Neilan
- Jane Darwell as Mrs. Blinn
The film was received as a modest but solid noir effort. Audiences were intrigued by Angela Lansbury’s sultry and manipulative role, which was a departure from the more wholesome characters she often portrayed earlier in her career. While it didn’t make a major splash at the box office, A Life at Stake found favor among noir enthusiasts and was later rediscovered by fans of mid-century crime cinema.
Fun Facts
- Angela Lansbury took on the role of the femme fatale at a time when she was eager to break out of her early typecasting as sweet or noble women.
- The film was produced independently and distributed by the relatively small United Artists, which gave it a lower profile than major studio noirs of the same period.
- The story revolves around life insurance and real estate—typical noir territory where money and desire intersect with danger.
- The film’s title plays on both the literal insurance angle and the protagonist’s slowly dawning realization that his life may truly be at stake.
- While not as well-known as larger noirs, the film’s tight pacing and paranoid tension have earned it a spot in many cult noir collections.
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