Blu Ray Review: Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema XXI

A new film noir set from Kino Lorber, this one containing three lesser known but truly significant films with top stars and directors.  It continues Kino’s consistently making available more elusive movies and offering a wide range of noir films to home collectors, expanding our knowledge and appreciation.  Each of the three films in this set will be discussed separately for this review.

SHORT CUT TO HELL (1957)

This film has long been an intriguing item because it is the only film directed by James Cagney.  Cagney had no interest in directing, and didn’t want to helm this movie, but did so as a favor to his friend, producer A.C. Lyles.  As a result, Cagney offers no discernible cinematic style as a director as he had as an actor.  It’s a competent update of the noir classic This Gun For Hire with Robert Ivers and Georgann Johnson starring.  Because these actors were not well known, they benefit from the fact that Cagney was very much  an actor’s director, focusing his attention on developing the performances in a setting with which he is very familiar. The Kino blu ray is a new HD master from a 4K scan and features an audio commentary from film historian/screenwriter Gary Gerani.

CLOAK AND DAGGER (1946)

A Fritz Lang noir starring Gary Cooper should certainly be much better known than it is.  It is a compelling drama in which Coop plays a nuclear scientist sent to Europe by the OSS to obtain knowledge and information. As he gets in deeper, the danger becomes more prominent. There are some good shocking twists along the way, and Gary Cooper offers a stern presence to anchor the narrative.  Lili Palmer stands out as a member of the Italian resistance. The Kino blu ray is a new HD master from a 4K scan and features an audio commentary from Heath Holland,  the host of  the Cereal at Midnight Podcast, and  Max Allan Collins, the author of Road to Perdition.

SHACK OUT ON 101 (1955)

Edward Dein directed and co-wrote (with his wife Mildred) this Allied Artists B-level noir featuring Terry Moore as a diner waitress lusted after by the cook (Lee Marvin) and distracted by a regular customer (Frank Lovejoy) who works at a nearby military plant.  The cook turns out to be a spy who is fielding nuclear information under the nose of the diner’s war vet owner (Keenan Wynn).  Great low budget 50s noir with stirring performances, Lee Marvin especially standing out.  The Kino blu ray is a new HD master from a 4K scan and features an audio commentary by professor and film scholar Jason A. Ney.

All of these films offer a lot of significant cinematic elements that cause them to stand out among the lesser known noir films from the post war era of American cinema.  This set is highly recommended.

The three-film set can be ordered at this link:  NOIRXX1