DVD - Film Noir Classic Collection, Vol. 4

Crime Wave
Stars Sterling Hayden, Gene Nelson, Phyllis Kirk, Ted de Corsia, Charles Bronson
Directors: André De Toth
Theatrical Release Date: March 6, 1954
Synopsis: Three San Quentin escapees (Penny, Hastings and Morgan) kill a cop in a gas-station holdup. Wounded, Morgan flees through black-shadowed streets to the handiest refuge: with former cellmate Steve Lacey, who's paroled, with a new life and lovely wife, and can't afford to be caught associating with old cronies. But homicide detective Sims wants to use Steve to help him catch Penny and Hastings, who in turn extort his help in a bank job. Is there no way out for Steve?

They Live by Night
Stars Cathy O'Donnell, Farley Granger, Howard Da Silva, Jay C. Flippen, Helen Craig
Directors: Nicholas Ray
Theatrical Release Date: October 26, 1949
Synopsis: In the '30s, three prisoners flee from a state prison farm in Mississippi. Among them is 23-years-young Bowie, who spent the last seven years in prison and now hopes to be able to prove his innocence or retire to a home in the mountains and live in peace together with his new love, Kitty. But his criminal companions persuade him to participate in several heists, and soon the police believe him to be their leader and go after "Bowie the Kid" harder than ever.

Decoy
Stars Jean Gillie, Edward Norris, Robert Armstrong, Herbert Rudley, Sheldon Leonard
Directors: Jack Bernhard
Theatrical Release Date: September 14, 1946
Synopsis: Gangster Frank Olins (Robert Armstrong) is to die in the gas chamber much to the dismay of his girlfriend Margot Shelby (Jean Gillie) as he is carrying the secret of the location of $400,000 with him. Margot seduces gangster Jim Vincent (Edward Norris) to get him to engineer the removal of Olins' body from the prison immediately after he dies in the gas chamber. She takes prison doctor Craig (Herbert Rudley) away from his nurse/girl friend (Marjorie Woodworth) and gets him to administer an antidote for cyanide gas poisoning. During the removal of Olins' body, the hearse driver is killed by Tommy (Phil Van Zandt). The revived Olins gives Margot half of a map showing the money location and Vincent, in a fit of jealousy, kills Olins and takes the other half. Because the doctor's plates on his car will get them through the police roadblocks, Vincent and Margot take him with them on the money hunt.

The Big Steal
Stars Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, William Bendix, Patric Knowles, Ramon Novarro
Directors: Don Siegel
Synopsis: Jane and Duke (alias Capt. Blake) accidently meet in Vera Cruz while chasing flim-flam man Fiske. Soon the local Inspector General (El Gato) is involved. Fiske races across Mexico, pursued by Jane and Duke, trailed by the real Capt. Blake. The crafty Inspector General is waiting for them in Tihuacan but they all give him the slip, just in time for the climactic finale. Very tight script and pacing.

Act of Violence
Stars Van Heflin, Robert Ryan, Janet Leigh, Mary Astor, Phyllis Thaxter
Directors: Fred Zinnemann
Theatrical Release Date: December 21, 1948
Synopsis: War veteran Frank Enley seems to be a happily married small-town citizen until he realises Joe Parkson is in town. It seems Parkson is out for revenge because of something that happened in a German POW camp, and when a frightened Enley suddenly leaves for a convention in L.A., Parkson is close behind.

Where Danger Lives
Stars Robert Mitchum, Faith Domergue, Claude Rains, Maureen O'Sullivan, Charles Kemper
Directors: John Farrow
Theatrical Release Date: July 14, 1950
Synopsis: One night at the hospital, young doctor Jeff Cameron meets Margo, who's brought in after a suicide attempt. He quickly falls for her and they become romanticly involved, but it turns out that Margo is married. At a confrontation, Margo's husband accidentally gets killed and Jeff and Margo flee. Heading for Mexico, they try to outrun the law.

Mystery Street
Stars Ricardo Montalban, Sally Forrest, Bruce Bennett, Elsa Lanchester, Marshall Thompson
Directors: John Sturges
Theatrical Release Date: July 27, 1950
Synopsis: Vivian, a B-girl working at "The Grass Skirt," is being brushed off by her rich, married boyfriend. To confront him, she hijacks drunken customer Henry Shanway and his car from Boston to Cape Cod, where she strands Henry...and is never seen again. Months later, a skeleton is found (sans clothes or clues) on a lonely Cape Cod beach. Using the macabre expertise of Harvard forensic specialist Dr. McAdoo, Lt. Pete Morales must work back from bones to the victim's identity, history, and killer. Will he succeed in time to save an innocent suspect?

Side Street
Stars Farley Granger, Cathy O'Donnell, James Craig, Paul Kelly, Jean Hagen
Directors: Anthony Mann
Theatrical Release Date: March 23, 1950
Synopsis: Joe Norson, a poor letter carrier with a sweet, pregnant wife, yields to momentary temptation and steals $30,000 belonging to a pair of ruthless blackmailers who won't stop at murder. After a few days of soul-searching, Joe offers to return the money, only to find that the "friend" he left it with has absconded. Now every move Joe makes plunges him deeper into trouble, as he's pursued and pursuing through the shadowy, sinister side of New York.

Tension
Stars Richard Basehart, Audrey Totter, Cyd Charisse, Barry Sullivan, Lloyd Gough
Directors: John Berry
Synopsis: A mousy drugstore manager turns killer after his conniving wife leaves him for another man. He devises a complex plan, which involves assuming a new identity, to make it look like someone else murdered her new boyfriend. Things take an unexpected turn when someone else commits the murder first and he becomes the prime suspect.

Illegal
Stars Edward G. Robinson, Nina Foch, Hugh Marlowe, Robert Ellenstein, DeForest Kelley
Directors: Lewis Allen
Synopsis: D.A. Ambitious D.A. Victor Scott zealously prosecutes Ed Clary for a woman's murder. But as Clary walks "the last mile" to the electric chair, Scott receives evidence that exonerates the condemned man. Realizing that he's made a terrible mistake he tries to stop the execution but is too late. Humbled by his grievous misjudgement, Scott resigns as a prosecutor. Entering private practice, he employs the same cunning that made his reputation and draws the attention of mob kingpin, Frank Garland. The mobster succeeds in bribing Scott into representing one of his stooges on a murder rap and Scott, in a grand display of courtroom theatrics, wins the case. But soon Scott finds himself embroiled in dirty mob politics. The situation becomes intolerable when his former protege in the D.A.'s office is charged with a murder that seems to implicate her as an informant to the Garland mob. Can Victor defend the woman he secretly loves and also keep his life?

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