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By
NICK ZEGARAC
Once again the good people
at Warner Bros. have outdone themselves on
delivering a box set of film noir classics with
few equals. Drawing on the RKO, Warner and MGM
libraries, we get five exceptionally engaging
examples of a stylistic genre that gave some of
Hollywood's most underrated talent a brief moment
in history to shine. The first film in this box
that definitely lives up to that assessment is
Born to Kill.
Robert Wise's "Born To Kill" (1947) is a brooding
film noir masterpiece that is sadly overlooked by
all but the film connoisseur these days. It stars
Lawrence Tierney (equally forgotten) as the aptly
named Sam Wilde. Seems that Sam killed a girl he
genuinely loved and her boyfriend in a fit of
murderous jealousy. What is particularly
disturbing about this brutal act is that it is
part of a pattern for Sam, who quickly latches on
to Helen Brent (Claire Trevor) even though she is
married. But the plot takes a generally disturbing
twist when Sam marries Brent's sister for the
power and prestige her money will afford him.
Director Wise keeps the thrills taut and tense and
the pace fast moving and ever changing. This is
one exceptionally underrated film
Fritz Lang's "Clash by Night" (1952) is a tempest
in a tea storm -- a uniquely understated melodrama
with twinges of noir peppered in for good measure.
The story concerns Mae Doyle D'Amatto (Barbra
Stanwyck) a one time party girl who was desperate
to escape her dead end town and become somebody in
the world. Unfortunately for Mae, she's now all
used up and on the skids. She returns to her home
town a forgotten has been, darkly cynical and
bitterly disappointed. Her brother Joe (Keith
Andes) is eager to help Mae get back on her feet,
but equally reticent about allowing her to
influence his sweetheart, Peggy (Marilyn Monroe).
At first it appears as though Mae has given up on
her reckless lifestyle when she meets and
eventually marries the congenial all around good
guy, Jerry (Paul Douglas). She even goes so far as
to have his baby. But beneath the reformed façade
is a restless vixen, set to trap Jerry's best
friend Earl Pfeiffer (Robert Ryan) and unravel
everyone's chances at domestic bliss. Lang's
direction is swift, sharp and hard-edged. The
cast, particularly Stanwyck, move with the stealth
and virility of a pensive jungle cat let loose
from its cage. The film is sublime -- if
underrated -- suspense.
Edward Dmytryk's "Crossfire" (1947) is a
disturbing glimpse into the bigoted underbelly of
American society. Based on "The Brick Foxhole"
Capt. Findlay (Robert Young) and army sergeant
Peter Keeley (Robert Mitchum) are determined to
prosecute someone for the crime of murdering
Joseph Samuels (Sam Levine) based upon his Jewish
heritage. In the book Joe is gay -- a plot
entanglement that Hollywood wasn't quite ready for
yet. Now, in their investigation the prime suspect
is Montgomery (Robert Ryan) an unscrupulous
character -- at least so we are initially led to
believe -- who would have relished the prospect of
killing someone based solely on religious
difference; if only he had the guts to stand in
behind his bravado. Violent and unstable,
Montgomery seems to fit the bill. Or does he? As a
film, Crossfire was a poverty row B -- movie that
was quickly elevated to 'A' list status when it
received an Oscar nomination for Best Picture. And
although director Dmytryk gets a lot of mileage
out of generating claustrophobic settings from
those old backlot weather-beaten facades there's
really a bit too much heavy handed 'bigotry is
bad' (like, no kidding) message muckraking for my
cinematic tastes. Caught between some generally
fine acting but some really terrible script
writing, Crossfire emerges as more a footnote to
the days of HUAC and the red scare than a
certified noir film classic.
Richard Fleischer's "The Narrow Margin" (1952) is
a fairly potent if overly short (at 71 minutes)
noir classic. It stars Marie Windsor as Mrs.
Frankie Neill. Seems Frankie is a mobster with a
penchant for murder and other unscrupulous crimes
that have become too numerous and unbearable to
ignore any further. Relying on police sergeant
Walter Brown (Charles McGraw), Mrs. Neill enters a
witness protection program to avoid being killed.
However, while awaiting trial she becomes the
subject of elimination for a group of hit men
loyal to her husband. After a harrowing escape
Brown and Neill find themselves on a train with
danger stalking them at every turn. There only
hope -- survive being assassinated until the train
comes to a stop. Tightly scripted the film is
pensively entertaining with a sense of immediacy
rarely caught on camera. There is a genuine
chemistry that develops between Neill and Brown, a
great chase sequence and climactic showdown that
have to rate fairly high on the list of great film
noir action sequences. In 1990 director Peter
Hyams chose to remake the story as, simply, Narrow
Margin with Gene Hackman and Ann Archer. And
although Hyam's work is one of those rare
occasions that ranks on par with the original --
is there any point to having a remake when the
original film has been done so well?
I, for one, don't think Max Nossecks' "Dillinger"
(1945) belongs in this film noir box set. Though
it is a pensive thriller with an exceptionally
solid cast, the film plays as much more of a
detective/gangster flick and not a classic film
noir. It stars Lawrence Tierney as the title
character and charts Dillinger's rise from petty
criminal to marauding crime wave with a genuine
sense of admirable gusto. As voyeurs, we get to
move through a string of garish bank robberies and
a sensational prison break out that really puts
most other like-minded film fare to shame. Specs
Green (Edmund Lowe) and Helen Rogers (Ann
Jeffreys) are the moll and brains behind
Dillinger's muscle. What the film achieves
throughout is a very frame and grim understanding
of the acumens that make up a desperado and
ultimately challenge his warped sense of logic in
creating a situation that can only end in
self-destructive insanity.
Warner Home Video delivers genuinely solid
transfers on all five of the above mentioned
films. The best of these are The Narrow Margin and
Born To Kill. Clash by Night is a close third. On
these titles then, the grayscale has been very
nicely rendered with deep solid blacks, very clean
whites, ample contrast and considerable fine
details evident throughout. Film grain is present
but not obtrusive, as are age-related artifacts.
On Dillinger and Crossfire there is considerable
more film grain and artifacts, which at times
suggest an image that is lesser than it might have
been with just some minor digital clean up
applied. Also, on Crossfire in particular, the
contrast levels appear weak, rendering the print
in tonal variations of gray, rather than true
black and white. The audio on all movies in this
box set is mono but very nicely cleaned up. None
of the tracks will disappoint. Audio commentaries
on The Narrow Margin, Crossfire and Clash by Night
are extremely engaging and fact filled.
Dillinger's is more of a history lesson than a
film commentary. Born to Kill was something of a
disappointment in that there are large gaps where
apparently nothing was left to be said. Theatrical
trailers and shorts are also included and welcome.
This is a great film set for any classic buff or
collector. |
