This collection features three pugilistic film noir classics. FLESH AND FURY (1952) – Screen legend Tony Curtis (Some Like It Hot) sizzles in the knock-out boxing film noir Flesh and Fury from director Joseph Pevney (The Midnight Story). Gold-digging blonde Sonya Bartow (Jan Sterling, Ace in the Hole) and retired fight manager Pop Richardson (Wallace Ford, He Ran All the Way) take deaf-mute boxer Paul Callan (Curtis) under their wing. Now Paul is all but unstoppable…until reporter Ann Hollis (Mona Freeman, Angel Face) appears and falls for the handsome prizefighter. With a three-way bout under way for influence over Paul, he takes matters into his own hands, but learns the hard way that getting what he wants isn’t necessarily a happy ending. Flesh and Fury features rousing boxing sequences, gripping drama and an exceptional cast: Curtis excels in one of his first starring roles, and Sterling is sensational as the money-hungry bombshell. Featuring Harry Guardino (Madigan) as Lou Callan, Paul’s brother.
THE SQUARE JUNGLE (1955) – Tony Curtis (The Vikings) stars as a grocery clerk turned prizefighter in the riveting film noir The Square Jungle. Eddie Quaid (Curtis), in danger of losing his father to alcoholism and his girl Julie (Pat Crowley, There’s Always Tomorrow) through lack of career prospects, goes into boxing. His cop friend McBride (Paul Kelly, Crossfire) finances him; ex-con Bernie Browne (Ernest Borgnine, Marty) trains him. Three years later, he’s a challenger for the championship, and Julie re-enters his life. Can she win him back from a predatory blonde? And why does the prospect of Eddie’s winning worry Bernie more than his losing? Directed by Jerry Hopper (Naked Alibi) and featuring a fine supporting cast that includes Jim Backus (Bright Victory), David Janssen (Macho Callahan), John Marley (I Want to Live!), Leigh Snowden (Outside the Law) and real-life heavyweight champ Joe Louis.
WORLD IN MY CORNER (1956) – Screen great Audie Murphy (To Hell and Back) is a scrappy young fighter named Tommy Shea—“born in a dump, educated in an alley”—in the electrifying film noir World in My Corner. The up-and-coming boxer catches the eye of the wealthy Robert Mallinson (Jeff Morrow, Captain Lightfoot), who allows him to train at his Long Island estate. Shea soon falls for Mallinson’s daughter, Dorothy (Barbara Rush, Magnificent Obsession), but fears he doesn’t have the money to support her in proper style. To get this money, he decides to work for crooked promoter Harry Cram (Howard St. John, Strange Bedfellows), even though this means dropping his honest manager, Dave Bernstein (John McIntire, Johnny Stool Pigeon). As the big fight approaches, however, he begins to have second thoughts. Directed by Jesse Hibbs (Ride a Crooked Trail), World in My Corner is a bang-up drama with a hard-hitting performance by Murphy.
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Video Quality
Flesh and Fury, The Square Jungle and World In My Corner come to Blu-Ray with the three films each given their own disc. These films share many of the same qualities, so I will mostly be judging them as a group while pointing out noticeable differences when necessary. All three films have been given new 2K scans which allow the films to look the best they ever have on home entertainment. The quality mostly stays in the “really good” range with the occasional ebb and flow in either direction. Every film retains a fair amount of underlying print damage and other source anomalies to one degree or another, but nothing that you can not look past while viewing.
The black-and-white photography holds up decently across these films as they are given a chance to show off in high definition with natural grain intact. The grain field can run a bit inconsistent, often very thick or coarse, but at least it remains intact and not managed or scrubbed of its texture. Even when it is coming on heavy, it never truly appears swarmy or unnatural. There is a pleasing amount of detail present throughout with distinct textures on the outfits and in the environments and production design. The contrast is mostly steady, but you will still catch a minor level of density fluctuation in the print. Black levels could stand to be a bit deeper, but there are no substantial occurrences of black crush or compression artifacts across the three. Print damage is unavoidable, yet you can still tell these transfers have been cleaned up quite a bit. Underlying faint lines and small specks often complement softer shots, especially in the optical dissolves. While far from perfect, Kino Classics has delivered an admirable presentation for this trio of films.
Audio Quality
The Blu-Ray set comes with a decent DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track for each of these three films that presents them pretty well despite some age-related wear. This manifests with some faint hissing, humming and crackles that likely date back to the source elements. The three scores that are provided refrain from overpowering the dialogue and other important information, but they can sound a little weak or shrill at the highest peaks. Dialogue comes through clear without too much sounding muffled or dampened. It is balanced well with the worldly elements so no information gets lost in the mix. This is especially used to an interesting thematic effect in Flesh and Fury when trying to replicate the experience of our hearing impaired protagonist. Kino Classics has delivered a pretty good audio experience for these. There are optional English (SDH) subtitles included for all feature films.
Special Features
- Audio Commentary for Flesh and Fury: Film Historian/Filmmaker Daniel Kremer delivers a very thorough and informative commentary track in which he discusses where this film falls in the depiction of the hearing impaired, how this compares to a film such as Sound Of Metal, the performances in the film and the careers of the talent involved, the original title of the feature, how this fits within the genre and more.
- Audio Commentary for The Square Jungle: Film Historian Eddy Von Mueller delivers a sturdy and informative commentary track that is rich with great historical information about the production of the film, the talent involved, the relationship between film and television at the time, the thematic beats of the story, interesting trivia and much more.
- Audio Commentary for World In My Corner: Film Historian Eddy Von Mueller delivers another solid commentary track in which he discusses the history and popularity of fight films, the background of the production of the film, the history of the talent involved, the real-life boxers who appeared in the picture and more.
- Trailers: The two-minute trailer is provided for World In My Corner. There are also trailers provided for The Midnight Story, Some Like It Hot, Female On The Beach, Naked Alibi, The Web, The Vikings, To Hell and Back and Ride A Crooked Trail.
Final Thoughts
The Film Noir: The Dark Side Of Cinema X collection takes on the engaging subgenre of boxing films which proves to be a lot of fun. As with most sports movies, the drive of these narratives is not strictly about what is happening in the ring, but rather how it is impacting the lives of those when the match is done. The two Tony Curtis films make a bit more of an impression thanks to their leading man, but Audie Murphy does a fine job in World In My Corner. There are some dated narrative elements in Flesh and Fury especially, but when put into context of the time it was made you can overlook it a bit. In terms of sheer enjoyment, this is one of the better entries into this series recently. Kino Classics has released a Blu-Ray set featuring a solid A/V presentation and some nifty commentary tracks. If you are a fan of boxing films or the talent involved, you will have a great time. Recommended
Film Noir: The Dark Side Of Cinema X [Flesh and Fury/The Square Jungle/World In My Corner] is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: Kino Classics has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.