Noir Archive Volume 2: 1954-1956 (9-Movie/3-disc Blu-ray Collection) [Avail. 7/16/19]
It’s time once again for film noir fans rejoice with 9 additional major studio film noirs, this time from the period 1954-1956: “Bait” (1954), “The Crooked Web” (1955), “The Night Holds Terror” (1955), “Footsteps in the Fog” (1955), “Cell 2455, Death Row” (1955), “5 Against the House” (1955), “New Orleans Uncensored”(1955), “Spin a Dark Web” (1955), “Rumble on the Docks” (1956)
Stalwart “noir” directors and casts highlight nine more hard to find features:
“Bait” (1954) dir/Hugo Haas cst/Cleo Moore, Hugo Haas, John Agar;
“The Crooked Web” (1955) dir/Nathan Juran cst/Frank Lovejoy, Mari Blanchard, Richard Denning;
“The Night Holds Terror” (1955) dir/Andrew Stone cst/Jack Kelly, Hildy Parks, Vince Edwards, John Cassavetes, David Cross;
“Footsteps in the Fog” (1955) dir/Arthur Lubin cst/Bill Travers, Ronald Squire, Finlay Currie, Belinda Lee;
“Cell 2455, Death Row” (1955) dir/Fred F. Sears cst/William Campbell, Robert Campbell, Marian Carr;
“5 Against the House” (1955) dir/Phil Karlson cst/Alvy Moore, William Conrad, Kerwin Mathews;
“New Orleans Uncensored” (1955) dir/William Castle cst/Arthur Franz, Beverly Garland, Helene Stanton;
“Spin a Dark Web” (1955) dir/Vernon Sewell cst/Faith Domergue, Lee Patterson, Rona Anderson, Martin Benson;
“Rumble on the Docks” (1956) dir/Fred F. Sears cst/Laurie Carrol, James Darren, Michael Granger
Approx. 750 minutes | B&W | 1.85:1 | Optional English subtitles
ActorsFrank Lovejoy, Arthur Franz, John Cassavetes, Kim Novak, Mari Blanchard, Jack Kelly, Vince Edwards, Hugo Haas, Beverly Garland, William Conrad, William Campbell, Richard Denning, James Darren, Guy Madison, Brian Keith, John Agar, Cleo Moore, Bill Travers, Faith Domergue, and more
Directed byHugo Haas, Phil Karlson, William Castle, Nathan Juran, Andrew Stone, Fred F. Sears, Vernon Sewell, Arthur Lubin
“Noir Archive Volume 2: 1954-1956 (9-Movie/3-disc Blu-ray Collection) [Avail. 7/16/19]”
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Forgotten Noir Vol. 5 – FBI Girl/Tough Assignment
F.B.I. GIRL – Fingerprints don’t lie–which is why a state governor with a hidden criminal past wants a file card with his prints stolen from FBI headquarters. Not so fast!: guardians of the law Cesar Romero and George Brent are there to make America secure! Raymond Burr at his sinister peak and an exciting helicopter-motorboat chase keep the action on high. 1952|74 min.|B&W|1.33:1|NR
TOUGH ASSIGNMENT – Newspaper reporter Don Barry gets on the trail of a gang of beef bootleggers who terrorize local butchers and force them to buy uninspected meats. Posing as an itinerant farm worker, he even begins assembling evidence that the crooks are also cattle rustlers! “Manages to hold the spectator in tense suspense throughout”—Harrison’s Reports. 1949|66 min.|B&W|1.33:1|NR
SPECIAL FEATURES: F.B.I. GIRL Commentary by Alan K. Rode; TOUGH ASSIGNMENT Commentary by Joel Blumberg; DON “Red” BARRY VIDEO BIOGRAPHY by Joel Blumberg; Photo Gallery and Advertising Gallery, Bios and Trailers.
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Hammer Noir Vol. 3 – The Gambler and the Lady/Heat Wave
THE GAMBLER AND THE LADY – In the days before Hammer Films became famous for their horrors, they produced this crime drama with Dane Clark as the American ex-con owner of an English nightclub, getting mixed up with gangsters, stock swindlers, a titled beauty (Naomi Chance)–and murder. Great location shots of Windsor Castle and the Ascot Race Course. 1952|72 min.|B&W|1.33:1|NR
HEAT WAVE (House Across the Lake) – For Hammer Films, director Ken Hughes adapted his novel “High Wray” with Alex Nicol as an author ensnared by a socialite (Hillary Brooke) with murderous plans for her ailing husband. When hubby is accidentally knocked unconscious during a fishing trip, and sexy Brooke begs Nicol to drop him in the drink, the temptation proves too strong. 1954|68 min.|B&W|1.33:1|NR
SPECIAL FEATURES: Comments on Hammer Noir, The Gambler and the Lady and Heat Wave by Richard M Roberts; Bios; Trailers; Photo Gallery
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Hammer Noir Vol. 7 – Unholy Four/Race for Life
THE UNHOLY FOUR: Someone knocked a man out and left him for dead during a fishing trip in Portugal. That someone is either his fetching wife, or two business partners all sporting guilty faces after his unexpected return. Two more murders and a frame-up befall the quartet before an inspector closes the case. 1954|80 min.|1.66:1 (widescreen)|NR
A RACE FOR LIFE: An idol of auto-racing fans attempts a comeback after serving in the Air Force. When his former rival lies dying in the hospital, he must decide whether to continue in the Grand Prix or make peace with his adversary. Featuring race car greats Stirling Moss, Reg Parnell, John Cooper, Alan Brown, Geoffrey Taylor and Leslie Marr. 1954|69 min|B&W|1.33:1|NR
SPECIAL FEATURES: Audio interview with producer Richard Gordon and Tom Weaver; Photo Gallery; Bios
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Forgotten Noir Vol. 8 – Mr. District Attorney (’47)/Ringside/Hi-Jacked
MR. DISTRICT ATTORNEY (1947) – From Phillips H. Lord’s popular NBC radio series comes an intriguing “legal film noir” filled with double-crosses and unusual twists–starting in the opening reel when a woman is slain in her apartment to an escaped killer, and the paper prints that the alive-and-well girlfriend (Marguerite Chapman) of a local crime boss was the victim. 1947|71min.|B&W|1.33:1|NR
RINGSIDE – Middleweight boxer works his way up to a title fight, and loses it and his eyesight when the champion seeing that his opponent is blind in one eye goes to work on the other one! His brother decides to avenge him by taking up boxing himself and…and eye for an eye? 1949|63 min.|B&W:1.33:1|NR
HI-JACKED – Parolee/truck driver Jim Davis now wants to stick to the straight-and-narrow, but finds himself riding a highway of terror when his truck is hijacked and police suspect him because of his past record. The hijackers will stop at nothing to frame him–and even frame his wife! — unless fugitive Davis can deliver them to justice himself. 1950|61 min.|B&W|1.33:1|NR
SPECIAL FEATURES: LORD OF THE RADIO Part 2 (Jean Lord Greenlaw interview, with Richard Roberts); MR. DISTRICT ATTORNEY Radio Program
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