This collection features three film noir classics. A WOMAN’S VENGEANCE (1948) – Charles Boyer (When Tomorrow Comes), Ann Blyth (Thunder on the Hill) and Jessica Tandy (The Birds) star in A Woman’s Vengeance, a gripping noir mystery from acclaimed director Zoltán Korda (The Four Feathers). When his invalid wife Emily (Rachel Kempson, The Captive Heart) dies of a heart attack, it frees Henry Maurier (Boyer) to marry his young mistress (Blyth). Confiding her suspicions that Henry murdered her patient, Emily’s nurse (Mildred Natwick, Against All Flags) is encouraged by a neighbor (Tandy) to tell the police. Suddenly Henry finds himself wrongly convicted and awaiting his fate while the family doctor (Sir Cedric Hardwicke, The Lodger) races against time to find the real killer and save his life. Visionary author Aldous Huxley (Brave New World) adapted the screenplay from his own short story, “The Gioconda Smile.”
I WAS A SHOPLIFTER (1950) – Mona Freeman (Flesh and Fury) stars as the titular kleptomaniac in the sensational crime story, I Was a Shoplifter. Cop Jeff Andrews (Scott Brady, Undertow) agrees to go undercover to shadow the sticky-fingered Faye Burton (Freeman), a judge’s daughter who has been coerced into working for a professional shoplifting ring run by ruthless pawnbroker Ina Perdue (Andrea King, The World in His Arms). Jeff finds himself falling in love with Faye while working to crack the gang of thieves. Directed by Charles Lamont (Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man), shot by Irving Glassberg (Larceny) and featuring Tony Curtis (The Square Jungle), Charles Drake (Deported) and Rock Hudson (The Tarnished Angels), I Was a Shoplifter is a fast-paced film noir treat.
BEHIND THE HIGH WALL (1956) – Tom Tully (The Turning Point) and Sylvia Sidney (Sabotage) star in the riveting prison-break noir, Behind the High Wall. A group of convicts escape from the big house, killing a guard, kidnapping the warden, Frank Carmichael (Tully), and forcing a reluctant inmate, Johnny Hutchins (John Gavin, Midnight Lace), to accompany them. However, when a car crash kills everyone except for Frank and Johnny, the wicked warden steals $100,000 of the escapees’ loot, then accuses the innocent Johnny of the guard’s murder in order to cover up his own crime. Directed by Abner Biberman (The Price of Fear), Behind the High Wall is a crackerjack thriller that plays out to a harrowing conclusion, with fine supporting turns by Betty Lynn (TV’s The Andy Griffith Show), John Larch (Play Misty for Me) and Barney Phillips (Ruby Gentry).
For thoughts on Film Noir: The Dark Side Of Cinema XI, please check out our discussion on The Video Attic:
Video Quality
A Woman’s Vengeance, I Was A Shoplifter and Behind The High Wall 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. A Woman’s Vengeance fairs the best with its new 4K restoration courtesy of Universal from the Original Nitrate Negative. Next up, I Was A Shoplifter is slightly less impressive with a new 2K master. Behind The High Wall is not noted as being from a new master, but it does not look considerably worse than any other film. The quality amongst these three mostly stays in the “great” to “pretty good” range with the occasional ebb and flow in either direction. Every film shows off a bit of underlying print damage and other source anomalies to one degree or another, but nothing that you can not look past while viewing.
There is a favorable amount of detail present throughout with distinct textures on the outfits and in the environments and production design. The contrast is pretty steady with only a minor level of density fluctuation in the print. Black levels could admittedly stand to be a bit deeper, but there are no substantial occurrences of black crush or compression artifacts across the three. The black-and-white photography holds up decently across every film as they make the most of their high definition debut with natural grain intact.
The grain field can run a bit inconsistent, often very thick or coarse in the most egregious moments, but 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. Print damage does pop up, but there is no denying that the higher quality transfers hold up the best in this regard. Underlying faint lines and small specks often complement softer shots, especially in the optical dissolves. While a 4K restoration for all would have been nice, there is not much to complain about with what we got.
Audio Quality
The Blu-Ray set comes with a fine DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track for each of these three films that presents them well even with a bit of age-related wear. Dialogue comes through clearly without too much sounding muffled or trodden upon. It is balanced well with the environmental elements so information never gets lost in the mix. The only deficits come in the form of some faint hissing, humming and crackles that likely date back to the source elements. The three scores that accompany these films refrain from overpowering the dialogue and other important information, but they can sound a little weak or shrill at the highest peaks. Kino Classics has provided an enjoyable enough audio experience for these. There are optional English (SDH) subtitles included for all feature films.
Special Features
- Audio Commentary for A Woman’s Vengeance: Professor and Film Scholar Jason A. Ney delivers a very thorough and informative commentary track in which he discusses how the film handles the adaptation from the Aldous Huxley source material, the conflicts with Universal concerning the direction of the narrative, the performances in the film and the careers of the talent involved, the original title of the feature, the themes of the story, the film’s reception upon its release and more.
- Trailers: There is a two-and-a-half minute trailer provided for A Woman’s Vengeance and two-minute trailer for Behind The High Wall. There are also trailers provided for Thunder On The Hill, Back Street, Detective Story, Night Has A Thousand Eyes, Cry Of The City, The Turning Point and The Price Of Fear.
Final Thoughts
The Film Noir: The Dark Side Of Cinema XI collection provides three more entertaining crime dramas that offer a great escape into the past. The overarching theme of the set is a bit unclear, but you can make a case that these stories deal somewhat with the moral conflicts within manifesting in the real world. A Woman’s Vengeance is the best of the bunch for this reviewer thanks to its twisty narrative and great performance from Charles Boyer. The remaining two films pull their weight with engaging tales that never falter. Kino Classics has released a Blu-Ray set featuring a pretty good A/V presentation and one solid commentary track. If you are a film noir fan, this series continues to churn out some gems. Recommended
Film Noir: The Dark Side Of Cinema XI [A Woman’s Vengeance/I Was A Shoplifter/ Behind The High Wall] 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.