Dick Powell is seen entering the Los Amigos Bar in night scene while later in the film it is used for a shootout. The bar was on the corner of Third and Olive, at the top of Angels Flight and one block from The Grand Hotel.
Cry Danger exemplifies noir filmmaking of the early 1950s. With a small budget the film was shot in and around Bunker Hill in 21 days.
The Grand Hotel featured prominently in the film. The hotel was on the corner of Third and Grand with a delicatessen below. The hotel entrance is at the top of the stairs on the second floor.
These photos were taken in 1955 and you will notice the traffic signals at the intersection.
This is a view of the intersection looking east with the Grand and delicatessen on the left. The upper station of Angels Flight
is visible at the far end of the block on Olive St.
Full view of the Grand Hotel where interiors were used.
At right a dapper William Conrad emerges from a police station. This was actually the Central Division Patrol station located at First and Hill Streets as seen in the photos below. This was the oldest police station in use at the time and was demolished four years after the film was made.
Powell and Richard Erdman drive up Hill Place to the Clover Trailer Park. The area is north of City Hall and was not part of the Bunker Hill redevelopment. The seedy trailer court was real and is an example of what was available for noir directors in the early 1950s. Notice in the background behind the trailer court is the ever present gas works. The photos below were taken in 2008. The house still stands but the trailer court is now a vacant lot.
Powell lounges at the trailer court as Jay Adler looks on. The Chinatown area of Los Angeles can be seen behind him.
In this clip Dick Powell arrives in his Rambler
and walks to the Grand Hotel. Notice there
were no signals on the corner in 1951.
Despite the extensive use of locations, director Robert Parrish used filmed backgrounds for some close ups. This was most likely done to avoid background noise for dialog scenes, eliminating the need for sound crew and equipment at some locations.
The corner of Third and Olive was a popular location for directors of film noir.
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