This collection features three film noir classics. City of Shadows (1955) – Their Business Was “Legitimate”—Because the Law Couldn’t Touch Them! Iconic screen tough Victor McLaglen (The Informer, Klondike Annie) is Big Tim Channing, a small-time racketeer who makes a living supplying old, out-of-date slot machines to businesses. He strikes up a prosperous partnership with newsboy Dan Mason when the precocious kid shows him how to corner the slot-machine racket and, at the same time, put his crooked competitors out of the running. But when Dan grows up and graduates from law school, it thrusts old Tim into a compromising position. From William Witney, director of the legendary serials Daredevils of the Red Circle and Adventures of Captain Marvel, and co-starring John Baer (We’re No Angels), Kathleen Crowley (Curse of the Undead) and Anthony Caruso (Never Steal Anything Small).
Crashout (1955) – It Blasts the Screen with Violence! Six ruthless convicts break out of prison and frantically try to avoid an extensive manhunt. Arthur Kennedy (Bright Victory) co-stars with a legendary lineup of Hollywood heavies: William Bendix (The Web), Luther Adler (D.O.A.), William Talman (Big House, U.S.A.), Gene Evans (Fixed Bayonets!) and Marshall Thompson (It! The Terror from Beyond Space). Once the coast is clear, they set out on a long and dangerous journey by foot, train and car to retrieve bank loot. After barely surviving two deadly incidents, the gang seeks refuge in a farmhouse as the action reaches a fever pitch. Ironically, the men start to realize that it’s not the law that they need to worry about. A hardboiled, edge-of-your-seat noir produced by Ida Lupino’s Filmakers Releasing Organization for director Lewis R. Foster (Those Redheads from Seattle). Cinematography by the masterly Russell Metty (Touch of Evil).
Finger Man (1955) – I Put the Finger on Public Enemy Number One! Frank Lovejoy (The Hitch-Hiker, House of Wax) stars as ex-con Casey Martin, who is caught red-handed while heisting a truck shipment. When he discovers that his sister has now become a desperate drug addict after working for gruff bootlegger Dutch Becker (Forrest Tucker, Sands of Iwo Jima), Martin accepts the deal that the T-men offer him and goes to work undercover to nail Dutch and his gang. Peggy Castle (99 River Street) plays Gladys Baker, the gangster’s associate who falls for the finger man. Timothy Carey (The Killing) plays Lou Terpe, the finger man’s former cellmate and a particularly sadistic member of Dutch’s crew. A crime-busting noir yarn spun by director Harold D. Schuster (Loophole).
For thoughts on Film Noir: The Dark Side Of Cinema XVIII, please check out our discussion on The Video Attic:
[youtube https://youtu.be/66A22AvMBjM?si=Sma3ZBidT26mm0Mp&t=2123]
Video Quality
City of Shadows, Crashout, and Finger Man arrive on Blu-Ray with the three films each given their own disc. These films share a generous amount of similarities, so I will mostly be judging them as a group while pointing out noticeable differences when necessary. All three films are said to have been given new HD masters by Paramount Pictures. While City of Shadows and Crashout have a designation of having new 2022 masters, Finger Man does not have any such language on its case. By and large, these transfers provide a pleasant viewing experience despite room for improvement. The quality of these three remains admirable even with a few inconsistencies from picture to picture. Each film reveals a noticeable amount of underlying print damage, but this series continues to provide a nice level of care.
The most obvious downturns in quality come from optical transitions and typically any title credit sequence. Finger Man appears the slightest bit weaker than the other two films, but this may be our mind tricking us with the lack of remaster designation as mentioned above. These sources have been maintained to good effect even with the minor specks and scratches. Black levels could be slightly firmer, but none of them allow for overwhelming black crush or compression artifacts. The stability among the three is good with only a fleeting amount of flickering and density fluctuation in the print. There is a fine amount of detail present throughout with forthright textures within the environments, outfits, and production design. The natural film grain remains intact as it resolves favorably and naturally with only minor moments of inconsistent grain. Even when things get a bit gritty, nothing ever appears egregiously splotchy or unnatural. The black-and-white photography shines on the format. Kino Classics keeps things rolling with this one.
Audio Quality
The Blu-Ray set comes with DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio tracks for each of these three films which are imperfect but hold up well. The deficiencies are mainly concerned with the faint humming and crackles that presumably date back to the conditions of the source elements. The three scores that accompany these films never clip any important information, but they can sound a bit weak at the highest notes. Dialogue comes through without sounding muffled or thin. Stylized exchanges intermingle with the environmental elements so information is crisply defined in the mix. These tracks do what they can within their limitations. There are optional English SDH subtitles included for all feature films.
Special Features
- Audio Commentary for City of Shadows: Film Historian/Screenwriter Gary Gerani provides a very knowledgeable commentary track in which he discusses the production history of the picture, where this fits in the history of crime pictures, the work of filmmaker William Witney, how this differs from similar stories in the genre, the careers of the talent involved, the legacy of the film and more.
- Audio Commentary for Crashout: Author/Film Historian Alan K. Rode provides a lovely commentary track in which he discusses the production history, 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 Finger Man: Professor and Film Scholar Jason A. Ney provides a worthwhile commentary track in which he discusses the production history of the picture, other titles that were considered for the film, the tragic background of the performers, its place as Christmas noir, and more.
- Trailers: There are trailers provided for Crashout (2:01) and Chicago Deadline (2:14). There are also trailers provided for Step Down To Terror, Appointment with a Shadow, Showdown, Behind The High Wall, Detective Story, Singapore, and Thunder on the Hill.
Final Thoughts
The Film Noir: The Dark Side Of Cinema XVIII collection is a terrific collection of gritty tales from the genre that explore deception in its various forms. There are not as many A-list names as some of the previous installments, but the features are first-rate. We did not spot any major weaknesses among these three stories, and as a bonus you even get a Christmas noir in Finger Man to add to your holiday festivities. Kino Classics has released a Blu-Ray set featuring a nice A/V presentation and a helpful array of commentary tracks. This set holds its own among other entries in the series. Recommended
Film Noir: The Dark Side Of Cinema XVIII [City of Shadows/Crashout/Finger Man] 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.
