Blu Ray Review: Alias Nick Beal (1949)

Continuing their excellent track record in releasing some of Paramount Pictures' most interesting films, Kino Lorber’s Studio Classics division has now made available Alias Nick Beal (1949) on blu ray.

Director John Farrow’s creepily atmospheric post-war noir is a Faustian tale in which an honest politician (Thomas Mitchell) can’t seem to get past the corrupt influence of the very criminal element he wants to destroy. The power of the underworld’s leader (Fred Clark) is too strong. Enter smooth-talking Nick Beal (Ray Milland) who arranges that he prosper in the political world, sending a woman (Audrey Totter) to be his companion and keep an eye on him. Achieving success, the politician realizes he has sold is soul, and must use a minister and his wife to find his way out.

An exceptional film with a powerful cast that also includes such diverse, and welcome, veterans as Nestor Paiva, Darryl Hickman, King Donovan, and Henry O’Neill, the most powerful aspects come from Milland’s and Mitchell's performances and the visual presentation.

Ray Milland is at somewhere near his career best, smoothly charming his way into the honest politican’s world. The politician has reached a point where he’s desperate enough to listen to Nick Beal, succumbing fairly quickly even while attempting to be pragmatic. Farrow bathes their initial encounter in darkness, giving it an eerie quality that is most effective. He continues this visual presentation for most of the film's scenes.

Thomas Mitchell’s honesty and innocence giving way to a comfortable acceptance of activities he knows are wrong, is a nice tour-de-force for the actor. His desperation causes his mind to convince him that the wrongdoing he engages in is for the greater good. His initial confusion building to fear and desperation, are beautifully played. Despite appearances in such landmark classics as Gone With The Wind and It’s a Wonderful Life, actor Mitchell is truly at his best here.

Because it deals at some level with spirituality, there is a horror element to this noir mystery, with a relaxed compelling rhythm to the narrative backed by taut music. And there isn’t a wasted second; Alias Nick Beal remains engrossing from beginning to end.

Kino Lorber’s blu ray for Alias Nick Beal includes an audio commentary by foremost film noir expert Eddie Muller that is engaging and enlightening.

This blu ray is most highly recommended and can be purchased at this link: ALIAS NICK BEAL