Background To Danger (1943)

Turkey during World War II is a hotbed of intrigue. A bomb attempts to kill Kurt Furburg, German Ambassador to Turkey, a German attempt to blame the Soviets and end Turkish neutrality. Sydney Greenstreet calls the assassin on the carpet and makes plans to create another incident. George Raft is on a train, and meets beautiful Osa Massen. When he leaves to get her a pillow, Daniel Ocko peers into the train compartment. Massen asks Raft to smuggle her securities past customs, since as an American he will not be searched as thoroughly. He looks at the "securities," and they are photographs. As he registers at the hotel in Ankara, Massen calls him from her hotel in a sleezy part of town. As he enters the room, she calls his name and collapses. He hides, just as Peter Lorre enters the room. Raft flees the hotel, pursued by Lorre, and runs into Brenda Marshall, who is working with Lorre. Lorre hears him give the cabbie the name of his hotel.

The "police" arrive at his hotel just after he does. He hides the envelope under his table. They take him to headquarters, so they say, but it turns out to be a house the Germans are using. Greenstreet is there and grills him about envelops with the photos. He threatens torture. They take him to the cellar of the house and start to work him over, but Lorre comes in and frees him. They take him to their apartment and treat his wounds while Ocko searches his room. Lorre is a Soviet agent and tell Raft that Massen is working for him, but Raft is dubious because Greenstreet had told him the same thing.

Raft goes to a tobacco shop where Turhan Bey works. They take him to Willard Robertson, his contact. The photos were phoney plans for a Soviet invasion of Turkey. Robertson assigns Bey to help Raft. He goes back to Lorre's apartment, where he finds he has a German passport.  Ocko knocks him out, and Bey comes to his help. They take a train, but Raft has to jump off because someone recognizes his description from the paper. In Istanbul, Greenstreet gives the photos to a newspaper publisher for him to use to create the incident. Raft slips into Ocko's house and confronts Lorre. Ocko writes out a confession to the murder of Massen to get the police off his back and convince him of their sincerity. As Raft leaves, Bey arrives. At a restaurant, one of Greenstreet's men spots them. They have to fight their way out and go to the German consulate, where they pick up a hostage who takes them to Greenstreet's house. Ocko is there - dead - and Lorre and Marshall are prisoners. Greenstreet offers Raft a deal and asks him to kill Lorre as a test, but the gun is not loaded, and the "deal" was not genuine, anyway. Raft and Marshall escape, but Lorre is shot. They steal a car and head for the newspaper office to stop the "incident" from being published.  A high-speed chase ensues, with some good photography. The German car crashes, and they make it to the newspaper office. Raft smashes the plates which were ready for printing. Then he disarms Greenstreet and forces him to burn the photos.

Raft and Marshall leave together, because each has been assigned to Cairo.


Massen and Raft


Robertson