The best thing about Dangerous Mission is the great location cinematography of Glacier National Park where it was filmed – and filmed in Technicolor and 3D

With such spectacular scenery on view there is no doubt that it must have boosted tourism in Montana considerably

Piper Laurie witnesses a mob killing in New York, but she’s afraid to testify and flees back home to Montana where she knows everybody and strangers can be spotted easily. She’s a guest at the tourist lodge owned by Betta St. John and her father Steve Darrell who’s also got some problems with the law but being an Indian he’s pretty good at staying outdoors and living off the land.

Two strangers take an interest in Piper Laurie both quite charming in their own ways, Victor Mature and Vincent Price.

William Bendix is also in the cast as the chief Forest Ranger in the park and he makes the most of his role and maybe he could have been given more to do in the film.

Another thing Dangerous Mission has to recommend it is a very good depiction of a landslide which wreaks havoc on a hillside house and later Victor Mature goes out and tames a downed power line. The final chase scene across the glacier is also well done.

It is well written and staged and Dangerous Mission is enjoyable.

Victor Mature was in a very successful part of his film career at this point – the superb ‘The Robe’ had been released but after this came ‘Demetrius and the Gladiators’ and ‘The Egyptian’

His run of films at that time :

The Robe released 18 September 1953

Veils of Bagdad – released 7 October 1953

Dangerous Mission released 6 March 1954

Demetrius and the Gladiators released 16 June 1954

The Egyptian released 24 August 1954

So in the space of less than a year these Victor Mature films hit the big Cinemascope screen – at least two of them with mega big Box Office returns

Interesting to note that a very young Betta St John appeared in both ‘The Robe’ and ‘Dangerous Mission’

She had been a stage actress and in the London West End production of ‘South Pacific’ in 1952 where she met and soon married one of the cast members Peter Grant – and they remained happily married for many years

Here she is below with her future husband on stage in South Pacific – no doubt singing ‘Happy Talk’

A very pretty girl