FILM NOIR THE DARK SIDE OF CINEMA XX Collection
Runtime 4 hours and 38 minutes
Available on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber, here

by Rosalie Kicks, Old Sport & Editor in Chief

In celebration of Noirvember, MovieJawn is showcasing many notable motion pictures within the genre (read our Noirvember coverage here). Each week we invite you to join us down the dark alley to explore a different theme within noir. To help honor this wonderful time of year we have partnered with Erik J. Kreffel of print publication, Noir Crazy who has graciously created artwork specifically for MovieJawn (as shown here). Here’s a peek between the blinds of one of the latest disc offerings from Kino Lorber. For under thirty-five bucks, one can get lost in the shadows of not one, not two, but three noir pictures with The Dark Side of The Cinema XX collection.

Appointment With Danger (1951)
Written by Richard Breen and Warren Duff
Directed by Lewis Allen
Starring Alan Ladd, Phyllis Calvert and Paul Stewart
Runtime 1 hour and 30 minutes

Back of the box synopsis:
Ladd is back as the U.S. Mail’s Ace Agent who smashes the biggest mail robbery plan in history! Screen legend Alan Ladd (Chicago Deadline) is Postal Inspector Al Goddard, assigned to investigate the murder of a fellow officer. The only witness to the crime is Sister Augustine (Phyllis Calvert, Time Out of Mind), who identifies the photograph of one of the assailants. This leads Goddard to a seedy hotel where he learns that the assailant is a member of a gang headed by Earl Boettiger (Paul Stewart, Kiss Me Deadly), and he soon discovers that the gang is planning a million-dollar mail robbery. This taut and thrilling film noir also features Jan Sterling (Female on the Beach) and future Dragnet stars, Jack Webb and Harry Morgan, as Stewart’s henchmen. Directed by noir master Lewis Allen (So Evil My Love).

Features that make it special…

• 2020 HD Master from a 4K Scan compliments of Paramount Pictures

• Audio Commentary by Heath Holland, Host of Cereal at Midnight podcast with Max Allan Collins, the Author of Road to Perdition

• Theatrical trailer

Why you need to add it to your video library…

“You don’t order up $20 thousand dollars like a ham sandwich.”

If you want to take a trip down memory lane to a time and place when the United States Post Office was an establishment that was not only respected but cherished, then Appointment With Danger is for you. In the opening sequence, I somewhat got choked up in the way the narrator was describing the importance of Postal Workers and their service of delivering the mail. I am a total snail mail (aka letter writing) lover. It feels special to me to be able to send correspondence to a faraway land by simply biking it a few blocks up the street to my postmaster. Now, don’t worry, this movie is not just an advertisement for the postal service, it is a gritty noir that is chock-full of great dialogue, performances, and wild moments that will no doubt leave their mark. Within this particular noir set, this was one of two films starring Alan Ladd and Appointment With Danger was initially seen as his vehicle to stardom. Unfortunately, due to various snags and production delays, the movie did not turn out as expected. It not only changed its title several times by the time it hit the can, but it also swapped directors. Initially announced to helm was William Keighley (The Adventures of Robin Hood), who would be replaced by Lewis Allen before the production began.

I have only viewed two other Lewis Allen pictures, one of which is The Uninvited (1944), an absolutely stellar ghost story and one of my favorite motion pictures ever put to celluloid. Although I favor that picture in terms of story over Appointment with Danger, I still found something to behold here and that was the cinematography. The hallmarks of noir are on full display from cinematographer, John F. Seitz (Double Indeminity, The Lost Weekend, and Sunset Boulevard) such as the stark lighting, deep, shadowy composition, and intriguing compositions. The transfer presented on the Blu-ray from Kino Lorber is the perfect way to view Seitz’s masterful work. Honestly, one can’t go wrong with a nun plot either. In doing a little further digging on the film, I learned that one of the uncredited nuns is Kathleen Freeman, who would famously go on to play Sister Mary Stigmata (aka The Penguin) in the 1980 picture, The Blues Brothers. If you give Appointment With Danger a spin, see if you can spot her.

Captain Carey, U.S.A. (1950)
Written by Robert Thoeren
Directed by Mitchell Leisen
Starring Alan Ladd, Wanda Hendrix and Francis Lederer
Runtime 1 hour and 23 minutes

Back of the box synopsis:
Screen legend Alan Ladd (Lucky Jordan) plays the title role in this outstanding noir tale of a former OSS operative who returns to Italy after the war to avenge the death of resistance worker Giulia (Wanda Hendrix, Sierra)—only to find out that his “deceased” lover is not only still alive, but also now the wife of a powerful Italian baron (Francis Lederer, Midnight). Carey decides to stick around, hoping to flush out the traitor who had caused the wartime deaths of several of his OSS colleagues and resistance fighters. Enhanced by the musical number “Mona Lisa,” which won an Academy Award (Best Original Song, 1950) and later became an all-time classic. Directed by Hollywood great Mitchell Leisen (No Man of Her Own).

Features that make it special…

• 2022 HD Master from a 4K Scan compliments of Paramount Pictures

• Audio Commentary by Film Historian and Screenwriter Gary Gerani

• Theatrical trailer

Why you need to add it to your video library…

As mentioned above, this was the second feature starring Alan Ladd, and also another motion picture shot about John F. Seitz. It is interesting to note that this picture was supposed to star Ray Milland with Lewis Allen in the directing chair, but inevitably went to Mitchell Leisen and Ladd to star coming out two years prior to his Appointment With Danger. I have seen a few Leisen pictures in the past, but the one that stands out to me most is his 1934 film, Death Takes a Holiday. I am a sucker for afterlife stories, and Fredric March gives a superb performance as the grim reaper.

In terms of Captain Carey, U.S.A., I have to admit that war pictures are not really my bag. This sentiment runs so deep that I watched this motion picture last in my consumption of the three disc set. Fortunately, I was pleasantly surprised that this tale was more of a revenge picture rather than being steeped in combat or military action. Captain Carey goes to unimaginable lengths to ensure that his fallen comrades find justice, and that the traitor that was amongst them pays their due. With an eighty-three minute runtime, this picture sure packs a punch and is exquisitely presented.

Make Haste to Live (1954)
Written by Warren Duff (screenplay)
Directed by William A. Seiter
Starring Dorothy McGuire, Stephen McNally and Mary Murphy
Runtime 1 hour and 30 minutes

Back of the box synopsis:
Only a gangster killer knew the secret of her past! In this taut noir melodrama, Crystal (Dorothy McGuire, The Spiral Staircase) has unknowingly married a murderer. She knew Steve (Stephen McNally, The Raging Tide) was handsome and charming. But by the time she discovered he was a cold-blooded killer, it was too late: he had already become her husband. So she ran like never before, and built herself a new life together with her daughter. And years later, when she learns that Steve had been jailed for murder, Crystal thought she was safe. But when Steve is released from prison, he has a deadly reunion in mind. With Mary Murphy (The Wild One) and Edgar Buchanan (Human Desire), Make Haste to Live was the final feature film by veteran director William A. Seiter (Hot Saturday).

Features that make it special…

• 2019 HD Master from a 4K Scan compliments of Paramount Pictures

• Audio Commentary by Film Historian Samm Deighan

• Theatrical trailer

Why you need to add it to your video library…

This is one of those pictures that, if you catch me on a particular day, I might be raving about it. With that said, when I watched it on November 11, I was not in the mood for its tomfoolery. There were certain things it did right though, take for example Crystal Benson (Dorothy McGuire) leaving her daughter a tell-all via a dictaphone regarding how her entire life was a farce and that she had essentially been lying to her since the day she was brought into this world. That was quite fun. There is also a fantastical death scene that literally had me reeling on the sofa from uncontrollable laughter. All in all though, the plot truly strings you along and by the end goes as flat as a pancake.

In conducting a bit of an investigation on the picture, I discovered Make Haste to Live would be William Seiter’s last directorial effort. I included a photographic rendering of him here in my article as I did find, even if Make Haste to Live was not the greatest, one can’t say the same for his mustache… it is exquisite. This film in particular marked the fifth film of his that I have viewed and it is far from my favorite. That spot is for zany musical comedy, One Touch of Venus starring Robert Walker and Ava Gardner in which a statue of Venus (Gardner) comes to life in a department store after the window dresser, Eddie Hatch (Walker) kisses it. I could go on, but instead you could listen to me yammer on about it on my podcast, Cinematic Crypt in episode 017 here.

Make Haste to Live is most likely not a film I will be returning to, but if you are like me, a Hitchcock completist, I do recommend you add this to your list, as it was shot by cinematographer John L. Russell who was responsible for the famed 1960 horror picture, Psycho. All in all though, you really can’t go wrong with this trio of noirs. Last time I checked Kino Lorber’s site, it was a mere $25 bones, that is a little more than $8 bucks per flick. I am sure there are worse ways you can spend your dough, like on a mediocre ham sammich for example.