Why do I feel like I'm watching a Bizarro World version of Mildred Pierce?

My most recent movie viewing was a short programmer from Warner Bros. called Danger Signal, which is available on DVD courtesy of the Warner Archive collection.

Zachary Scott plays Ronnie Mason, a man who at the beginning of the movie is seen fleeing the apartment of a Mr. and Mrs. Turner, with Mrs. Turner poisoned to death in her bed. He hurts his ankle jumping out the window, and on a bus to wherever, he steals another man's military insignia, this being a film released in 1945 with World War II coming to an end.

Meanwhile, in this wherever town, we meet Hilda Fenchurch (Faye Emerson), who works as a "public stenographer", which means she does typing and transcribing other people's lousy handwriting, especially medical researcher Dr. Lang (Bruce Bennett), who wants to aske Hilda out but can't quite work up the courage and always gets interrupted by something else anyway.

Obviously, these two people's stories are going to intersect, which happens when Ronnie winds up outside the Fenchurch home because all the hotels are full up. Hilda's mom has put up a "Room to Let" sign as they need the money, and Hilda is trying to take it down when Ronnie shows up. Ronnie worms his way into the house, and charms Hilda's mom.

Meanwhile, the Fenchurches have a daughter who's been away with some unmentioned illness, Anne (Mona Freeman) about to come home. Ronnie, passing himself off as a writer, has taken to charming Hilda, to the point of taking her out to the beach house of some friends and quasi-proposing to her. But then Ronnie meets Anne and starts putting the moves on Anne! Spare a thought for Hilda, as well as Anne's age-appropriate friend next door Bunkie (a very young Richard Erdman).

Ronnie's plan is to marry Anne for her inheritance, and kill Hilda and make it look like suicide. Hilda figures out that something is going on, and asks her psychiatrist friend Dr. Silla (Rosemary DeCamp) for help. It's enough to get Silla thinking about the case, but Hilda has something much worse planned for Ronnie....

Danger Signal made me think of Mildred Pierce for several reasons. Notably is the lead role played by Zachary Scott, who of course was Mildred's second husband in that movie; meanwhile, Bruce Bennett was Mildred's first husband. There's the conflict between Mildred and Veda, which is replaced here by a sisterly conflict, and the climax in a house which is not Mildred's primary residence (in Danger Signal it's Dr. Silla's house not far from the beach). But Danger Signal is strictly programmer material. This isn't to say that it's bad, just that it never rises above being a programmer and stuck with a Code-enforced ending.

Danger Signal is yet another of those movies that really ought to be on DVD as part of a box set, in which case it would be a nice addition to a bigger title or part of several films all being sold relatively inexpensively. As a standalone, it's a bit expensive. But if it comes up again on TCM any time soon, then it's definitely worth recording and saving for a rainy day. It's good for what it is, if not great.