This collection features three film noir classics. MAN AFRAID (1957) – Noir greats George Nader (Six Bridges to Cross, Appointment with a Shadow) and director Harry Keller (The Unguarded Moment, The Female Animal) come together for Man Afraid, a heart-stopping CinemaScope noir about a preacher ensnared in fear. When Reverend David Collins (Nader) and his wife Lisa (Phyllis Thaxter, Act of Violence) catch a burglar in their son’s room, the ensuing struggle ends with an injury to Lisa’s eyes and David unintentionally killing the thief. The Collins struggle with the resulting publicity, David’s own conscience, Lisa’s temporary blindness…and the burglar’s vengeful father (Eduard Franz, Cyborg 2087) who begins to stalk their son Michael (Tim Hovey, Queen Bee). The tense revenge-noir Man Afraid features a score by the great Henry Mancini (Touch of Evil).

THE GIRL IN THE KREMLIN (1957) – Moscow, 1953. Four terrified women prisoners are brought before Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, who picks the beautiful Dasha and proceeds to punish her by shaving off her long, black hair. Moments later, a plastic surgeon leads Stalin into an operating room and transforms his face into something new. So begins the story of the world’s greatest conspiracy: The Girl in the Kremlin, a harrowing Cold War noir starring Lex Barker (The Price of Fear, The Girl in Black Stockings) and Zsa Zsa Gabor (Touch of Evil, Picture Mommy Dead). When Stalin alters his appearance, fakes his own death and vanishes, ex-O.S.S. agent Steve Anderson (Barker) and Lithuanian refugee Lili Grisenko (Gabor) lead the manhunt across Europe. Directed by Russell Birdwell (The Come On) and featuring Maurice Manson (The Creature Walks Among Us) in a chilling performance.

THE TATTERED DRESS (1957) – In this CinemaScope film noir from director Jack Arnold (The Incredible Shrinking Man, Man in the Shadow), top lawyer James Blane (Jeff Chandler, Red Ball Express, Female on the Beach) is a man known to do anything it takes to win a case. But when Blane defends a socialite on trial for the murder of a bartender who made a pass at his wife, a scheming sheriff (Jack Carson, The Tarnished Angels) frames Blane for bribing a juror (Gail Russell, Calcutta, Night Has a Thousand Eyes) and exposes the hidden evil simmering beneath the surface of their quiet desert town. The Tattered Dress boasts powerful performances by its never-better cast, which includes Jeanne Crain (Man Without a Star), Elaine Stewart (Night Passage), George Tobias (Rawhide), Edward Andrews (The Unguarded Moment) and Phillip Reed (Klondike Annie).

For thoughts on Film Noir: The Dark Side Of Cinema XV, please check out our discussion on The Video Attic:

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Video Quality

Man Afraid, The Girl In The Kremlin and The Tattered Dress come to Blu-Ray with the three films each given their own disc. These films share a lot 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 a new master from a 2K scan of the 35mm Fine Grain which provides a wonderful viewing experience. The quality amongst these three remains reliably high even with some minor downturns here and there. The films show off a minor bit of underlying print damage, but most audiences should be excited by the care put into the set.

The black-and-white photography is visually pleasing across every film as they shine in their high definition debut. Black levels can vary a bit from title to title, but none of them experience much in the way of black crush or compression artifacts. The contrast is firm with only a fleeting amount of flickering and density fluctuation in the print. There is a great amount of detail present throughout with clear textures within the environments, clothing and production design. The natural film grain aids in this as it resolves naturally with only small moments of variable grain. Even when things get a bit more thick, nothing ever appears blotchy or unnatural. Specks and scratches occasionally show up, but these sources have been given a decent clean-up. Kino Classics continues to do good work with these sets.

Audio Quality

The Blu-Ray set comes with DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio tracks for each of these three films which shows some signs of age but delivers a decent listening experience. The deficiencies can be noticed a bit in the faint humming and crackles that more than likely date back to the source elements. Dialogue radiates clearly without sounding muffled or thin. Exchanges play well with the environmental elements so information is easily delineated in the mix. The three scores that accompany these films never overwhelm the dialogue or other important information, but they can sound a little weak or shrill at the highest peaks. Given the age of these features, you cannot complain much about these soundscapes. There are optional English (SDH) subtitles included for all feature films.

Special Features

Audio Commentary for Man Afraid: Film Historian David Del Valle and Filmmaker David DeCoteau deliver a commentary track in which they discuss the production history of the picture, how the personal lives of the talent affected the dynamics on set, the careers of the talent involved, the legacy of the film and more. If you want old school Hollywood gossip, this is an essential listen.

Audio Commentary for The Girl In The Kremlin: Film Historians Emma Westwood and Paul Anthony Nelson provide a swell commentary track in which they discuss the many flaws and shortcomings of the feature, the tone of the feature, how this fits into the era in which it was released, the backgrounds of those in front of and behind the camera, the legacy of the film and more.

Audio Commentary for The Tattered Dress: Professor and Film Scholar Jason A. Ney provides a very knowledgeable commentary track in which he discusses the production history of the picture, the larger social aspects behind certain elements, the work of filmmaker Jack Arnold, the depiction of alcoholism, the careers of the talent involved, the legacy of the film and more.

TV Spots: There are two-minutes worth of TV spots provided for The Girl In The Kremlin.

Trailers: There are trailers provided for Man Afraid (2:10) and The Tattered Dress (2:15). There are also trailers provided for The Unguarded Moment, Appointment With A Shadow, The Female Animal, Step Down To Terror, The Girl In Black Stockings, The Price of Fear, The Midnight Story, Female On The Beach, Man In The Shadow, Because of You, Night Has A Thousand Eyes, Calcutta and Outside The Law.

Final Thoughts

The Film Noir: The Dark Side Of Cinema XV collection is another worthy entry within this long-running series. There is an obvious weak spot in The Girl In The Kremlin, but even it provides a “what is going on?” quality that can be fun when you are not looking for legitimate greatness. Man Afraid starts the set off on a thrilling note, and The Tattered Dress bookends it just as confidently. The overall journey is a really entertaining one, and film noir fans should have a blast if they pick this installment up. Kino Classics has released a Blu-Ray set featuring a quite good A/V presentation and an array of informative commentary tracks. This set makes a compelling case for keeping this series rolling. Recommended

Film Noir: The Dark Side Of Cinema XV [Man Afraid/The Girl In The Kremlin/The Tattered Dress] 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.