History Film / OnDangerousGround

* DisabledLoveInterest: Mary is blind.

* AntiHero: Brute Jim Wilson.

* BlindMistake: Mary thinks Danny has come back in the house, but it’s actually Jim.
* BruiserWithASoftCenter: Jim softens when he meets Mary.
* BrutalHonesty: Jim’s partner thinks his isolation and hatred are ruining him, and he tells him so.

* CityNoir: The film doesn’t specify where Jim works, but Nicholas Ray did research for the film in Boston.
* CondescendingCompassion: Averted: Mary notes that there’s no pity in Jim's voice when he addresses her.

* ExtraExtraReadAllAboutIt: Jim gets underground information from a newspaper peddler.
* FallenHero: Jim was a big football star before becoming a violent cop.
* TheFifties: And all the post-WWII anger that goes with it.
* FilmNoir:

* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: Mary’s blonde.
* HappyEnding: Surprisingly so. See ExecutiveMeddling.

* HumansAreBastards: Jim’s main philosophy against the world.
* InsaneEqualsViolent: Danny suffers from some severe mental illness, and since this is an older film, he is also extremely dangerous.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Jim, it turns out.
* {{Jerkass}}: Walter. It’s reasonable that he’s upset for the murder of his daughter and wants to catch the killer, but he wants to do this by any means necessary. He wants to kill Danny with his own gun and ignore due process.
** Additionally, he doesn’t realize at first that Mary is blind, and so when he does find out, he's almost smacks her in the face just to make sure, but Jim stops him.
* KnightInSourArmour: Jim deflects every sort of human interaction.

* OhCrap: When Danny falls [[spoiler: down the cliff]].
* PoliceBrutality: Jim’s MO.
* ThePowerOfLove: Even the coldest of hearts can feel love.
* RousseauWasRight: The end of the film suggests this trope with Jim and Mary [[spoiler: falling into each other’s arms and kiss.]]

* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVsCynicism: On the cynical side for the beginning vignettes and more idealistic near the end.
* SourOutsideSadInside: Take the sour up to 11, and that’s Jim.
* SympathyForTheDevil: Jim steadily grows more sympathetic towards Danny solely because of Mary’s dependence on him.

* ViceCity: The unnamed city where Jim works.

* TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth: Mary is just too full of human kindness.

* HiddenDepths: Who thought an embittered cop, who isolates himself, could love deeply?

A [[PoliceBrutality violence-prone]] city cop, Jim Wilson (Creator/RobertRyan), has punched one too many crooks due to his hate for [[CityNoir all the lowlifes in the city]]. Jim brutalizing suspects on the flimsiest of reasons makes his superior send him upstate to cool off and help catch a murderer. The father of the victim, Walter Brent (Ward Bond), is on the chase to catch the man who killed his daughter and begrudgingly lets Jim help him.

* RousseauWasRight: The end of the film suggests this trope with Jim and Mary [[spoiler: falling into each other’s arms and kissing.]]

* DarkAndTroubledPast: 11 years on the force has shown nothing but decay and ugly human interaction to Jim, so he ends up believing all people are horrible.

** Additionally, he doesn’t realize at first that Mary is blind, and so when he does find out, he's about to hit her in the face just to make sure, but Jim stops him.

* LonersAreFreaks: Jim wants to be alone and likes to be alone from all the filth of the city. [[spoiler: But people need love!]]

* CityNoir: The film doesn’t specify where Jim works, but Nicholas Ray did resource for the beginning of the film in Boston.

* DarkAndTroubledPast: 11 years on the force has shown nothing but decay and ugly humans to Jim, so he ends up believing all people are like this.

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: The film begins with various vignettes about Jim’s daily routine: finding underage drinkers, fighting criminals, getting information out of various sources, not caring for the murder of an informant, and violently beating any criminal.

* HiddenDepths: Who thought an embittered cop who isolates himself can love?

** Additionally, he doesn’t realize at first that Mary is blind, and so when he does find out, he wants to hit her smack in the face just to make sure. Jim stops him.

* LonersAreFreaks: Jim wants to be alone and Jim likes to be alone from all the filth of the city. [[spoiler: But people need love!]]

* SympathyForTheDevil: The audience steadily grows more sympathetic for Danny solely for Mary’s well-being.

* WouldHitAGirl: Walter almost hits Mary to make sure she’s blind, but is stopped by WHATSHISNAME
* ViceCity: The unnamed city in where Jim works.

* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: Jim’s style of policing.

''On Dangerous Ground'' (1952) is a FilmNoir directed by Creator/NicholasRay, based off the book by Gerald Butler, ''Mad with Much Heart''. The musical score was composed by Creator/BernardHerrmann.

''On Dangerous Ground'' (1952) is a FilmNoir directed by Creator/NicholasRay, based off the book by Gerald Butler, ''Mad with Much Heart''. The musical score was composed by Bernard Herrmann.

!!On Dangerous Ground displays the following tropes:

On Dangerous Ground (1952) is a FilmNoir directed by Creator/NicholasRay, based off the book by Gerald Butler, “Mad with Much Heart.” The musical score was composed by Bernard Herrmann.

* SaveTheVillian: Jim promises Mary that he’ll try and save Danny and send him to an institution instead of jail. [[spoiler: He fails to do so.]]

* CondescendingCompassion: Averted: Mary notes that there’s no pity in WHATHISFACe’s voice when he addresses her.