Confidently directed by Jacques Tourneur and ably portrayed by a fine cast, "Circle of Danger" is a relatively unknown film that is worth finding if you can (maybe through CD purchase or on TV). You won't regret looking it up.

Ray Milland is the perfect choice as an American who efforts to discover exactly what happened to his brother in WWII. Not an easy task to discover details about a death during a commando raid, obviously a chaotic and deliberately secret event by nature. Although the American's motivations remain a bit fuzzy to everyone, he is doggedly determined. The result is an ending resolution that I found to be rewarding and finely done.

The radiant Patricia Roc portrays a young woman who tries to balance career and emotional involvements with as much wisdom as possible in view of fast-moving and evolving events. Marius Goring ("The Red Shoes") expertly essays a complex character with style and aplomb. Former movie "Saint" Hugh Sinclair is solid as a rock and excellent in his portrayal of a truly selfless aristocrat. All of the characters in this film are conveyed with some depth, surprisingly so for a modestly made sort of movie.

1950 Britain is really featured throughout the film and nostalgically captured in black and white which seems somehow appropriate for the date and era.

They just don't make them like this anymore- so you will feel lucky to have found "Circle of Danger".

An American World War II veteran Clay Douglas (Ray Milland) comes to Scotland in order to conduct an investigation concerning death of his brother during a special mission in France during the war, the mission where he was the only casualty what appears to be very strange to Clay. Travelling through Scotland, one by one he meets former war mates of his brother and tries to inquire them as about circumstances surrounding his death. But everyone pretends to know nothing or very little about what happened back then, the fact that makes Clay Douglas more and more sure that it's in fact one of them, his former colleges, is guilty of his death. The question is: which one of them?

Circle of Danger marked Jacques Tourneur's return to Europe, namely Great Britain where he went in order to make this movie. Though the Circle of Danger doesn't belong to the Film-Noir genre it might be considered the bleak shadow of Jacques Tourneur's Film-Noir classic Out of the Past. Parallels can be drown especially in terms of the story, which in both cases concerns the main character's past, only in Out of the Past Robert Mitchum's character Jeff Bailey tries to forget it, to hide from it, which ultimately proves to be impossible and results in tragic ending, while in Circle of Danger Ray Milland's character Clay Douglas decides to travel back in time and uncover its mysteries related the unclear circumstances of his brother's death in world War II. Only in Circle of Danger everything is much more `primitive', much more simplistic in terms of the story and character's development and their interactions as well as in lacking of that great wittiness of dialogs which is one of the main masterpiece ingredients of the Out of the Past, and finally the film's ending, a time where a question might arise in our minds: Is it was worthy the time we invested in seeing it? 6/10

Ray Milland (born in Neath, Glamorgan, Wales) keeps his transatlantic accent playing an American searching for the reason for his brother's death during a commando raid attached to the British army in 1940 (before America entered the war) in Brittany, France.Ray leaves his diving team searching for precious metal off the coast of Tampa, Florida, takes his share of the profits to date and travels to the UK in his aforementioned quest.Along the way he meets up with the few surviving members of the commando team travelling to Covent Garden, London; Teddington Lock on the Thames; Hammersmith west London; and up into the Scottish Highlands where he meets Patricia Roc a children's book authoress and illustrator.Her character seems to blow hot and cold with Ray but at least she does not have to compete for Ray's attention with Margaret Lockwood (who was busy filming elsewhere).Also there, is Hamish (Hugh Sinclar) who was the commanding officer in the raid and who loves Patricia Roc's character (although she only likes him).Ray even buys a used car off wide boy Naunton Wayne (who for once is without his screen companion Basil Radford) in return for information - at least it saves Ray having to "cadge" lifts.

Marius Goring plays a sinister character who since the war end has gone into producing ballet (and I am sure he got the role after playing the composer in Powell & Pressburger's acclaimed " The Red Shoes" (1948).The director, Jacques Tourneur is most notable in my collection for "Out of the Past"(1947) and "Experiment Perilous" (1944) and here directs an exciting "whodunnit" which takes Ray back & forth as he gradually unravels the truth.As another reviewer has stated we get to see some good locational shots which makes a change from hidebound studio interiors.Another curious thing is there is no noticeable mood music in the film.The final scene is unexpected and you are led down several blind alleys first.Enjoyable, I rated it 7/10.