Helen and Doug Stilwin (Stanwyck and Sullivan) and their little boy, Bobby, have headed to Mexico for a 2-week camping trip.
After leaving the populated city of Ensenada, they travel South on a lonely, desolate road, hardly seeing a single car or person along the way. Their destination is an isolated beach, hundreds of miles down the coast. (Just an aside, I have to say that lonely, desolate roads and I absolutely do not mix. I have had some horrible panic attacks when my husband has decided that we needed to venture on those kinds of roads....so my fear of those situations really made this movie incredibly vivid to me.)
After reaching their destination, little Bobby, not knowing that the word "peligro" means "danger," begins exploring a very broken-down pier. When he gets his foot stuck between some boards, his dad goes to his rescue; just after Bobby has made it safely back to shore, though, one of the pier's rotting timbers breaks, causing that section of the pier to collapse, pinning Doug's lower leg beneath it.
Doug can't pull loose from the massive weight holding him down, and try as she might, Helen can't budge the timber either. With the tide beginning to come back in, and knowing that he has only about four hours before he will be drowned, Doug sends Helen back up the desolate road in search of help. With time running out, Helen finally comes upon someone who might be able to help her...only thing is, he is a dangerous criminal who really has zero interest in doing so.
Will this man change his mind and help Helen? Will they get to Doug in time? Those are the questions that play out in this riveting film.
Jeopardy is definitely an interesting, exciting film. Barbara Stanwyck, who is near the very top of my favorite actress list, is, as always, fabulous in her role. Ralph Meeker was really good as well, as was Barry Sullivan. I don't have much exposure to either of those men, but I thought they were both excellent in their roles. This movie is one which, had it been a trifle longer and developed just a bit more, I would easily give 4 stars. However, at 70 minutes, it's simply an extremely solid 3-star film.
Out on DVD as part of a Barbara Stanwyck double feature (with To Please a Lady), Jeopardy should be fairly easy to track down. Additionally, TCM airs it fairly regularly.
Happy viewing!!
