Warner Brothers continues its outstanding Film Noir series by including 10 films, on five double feature disks, that includes films from Warners, RKO, MGM and even an extremely rare and hard to find Monogram film. Most of these films are not what one would classify as essential A noir films like Out of the Past, Double Indemnity, the original D.O.A., The Maltese Falcon or The Big Sleep but there are a number of them that are in the high B+ range. Until now, many of these films hadn’t even had a VHS release.
The male was typically a burned out detective/cop, disillusioned WWII veteran or unsuspecting everyman caught up in a web of lies and deception that he has no control over. These situations were usually set in motion by the protagonist’s insatiable sexual attraction to an alluring, mysterious, gorgeous woman that spelled danger and possibly death for the male protagonist. These women were referred to as femme fatales. They were almost always untrustworthy, greedy, sexually promiscuous and ruthlessly willing to do whatever it took to achieve their goals even if it meant murder.
Director Fred Zinnemann, who would go on to direct Marlon Brando’s screen debut The Men (1950), High Noon (1952) and won Best Director Oscars for From Here To Eternity (1953) and A Man for All Seasons (1967), gives the film a classic noirish look with his use of hard shadows and light. Watch for how he starts out Enley’s character in the bright sun/daylight to convey his sunny, perfect life then contrasts his mental disintegration and guilty conscience by intensifying the dark, drab look of the film, particularly when the film shifts to Los Angeles. Watch for a classic, haunting scene in a dimly lit L.A. street tunnel where Enley is literally being chased by ghosts and cries out to Parkson.
Morales eventually traces the girl back to Henry Shanway (Marshall Thompson) who has foolishly tried to conceal his involvement with the girl the night of the murder which of course leads to him being charged with the crime. While all this transpires, the nosey busybody Mrs. Smerling (Elsa Lanchester), the landlady of the murdered girl, is doing some back room maneuvering when she discovers who the killer is before anyone else.
There is nothing that will blow you away here. Mystery Street is a fairly standard murder mystery yet it holds up well. There are some noir elements in it, i.e. just about everyone except Montalban and Bennett, have something to hide and lie about. It is fascinating to watch Bennett’s character, using his forensics background to literally construct a human from a skeleton. The title however could’ve been better and the cover art, which shows Montalban and actress Sally Forrest as sweethearts couldn’t be more wrong. She plays Grace Shanway, wife of the accused Henry Shanway, and spends the majority of the film loathing Montalban.
Gat gets wounded in the process and stumbles to the doorstep of ex-con Steve Lacey (Gene Nelson) and his pretty wife Ellen (Phyllis Kirk). They are forced to become complicit in the gang’s next deal, which involves knocking off a bank in Glendale. All the while, Sterling Hayden’s tough, relentless cop Det. Sims is obsessed with bringing the gang down and putting Lacey, whom he believes has gone back to a life of crime, back behind bars.
Of particular note would be the brief but VERY memorable and delicious screen debut of one blonde bombshell Jayne Mansfield. She’s only in a few brief scenes as one of Dekker’s bimbos who happens to play a mean piano. Her resemblance to Anna Nicole Smith is eerie and her delivery of her few lines are equally disconcerting. But let’s be real, she wasn’t cast for her acting chops. She was cast because she had two sizeable assets that could make a blind man see and a gorgeous face.
Not that they are bad at it, it’s just that it takes the forefront of the film, therefore you never really quite buy the suspense until the very end. Even still, you know how the film will end right from the start. But with such great actors as Mitchum and Greer doing their thing and seemingly having great fun, you can still find a guilty enjoyment in the film. Mitchum at this point could play his traditional laconic, anti-hero persona in his sleep and still be fascinating to watch.
When she runs off with the boyfriend Barney Deager (Lloyd Gough) an enraged and physically outmatched Warren devises a brilliant murder scheme to get rid of Deager. This involves creating a separate identity as Paul Southern and moving into a new apartment where he meets the delicious photographer Mary (Cyd Charisse) whom he falls for. This causes Warren to have a change of heart regarding his vengeance, which leads to an interesting plot twist that finds Warren having to stay one step ahead of the law while trying to conceal his concocted other identity.
He successfully blends several of the noir themes including the disillusionment and difficulties of returning WWII vets that involved broken dreams, dead end jobs, an ungrateful public and untrustworthy spouses which blends in with the femme fatale aspect. Basehart’s Warren Quimby is a believable character that you instantly sympathize with and root for. His transformation from a man of limited confidence and distrust due to Claire to one of confidence and faith due to Mary is fascinating to watch.
Noir icon Audrey Totter, had starred in several noir classics as the trampy “bad girl” such as Lady in the Lake (1947), The Unsuspected (1947), Alias Nick Beal and The Set-Up, both released in 1949. As the vain, sexual Claire, Totter is instantly loathsome as she plays any man who can possibly help her. With her voluptuous figure on full display, it’s easy to see how she could toy with men at will. The equally gorgeous Cyd Charisse does what she can as the “good girl” Mary and provides a warm contrast to the evil Claire. For some reason as the film goes on, Mary gets prettier and prettier while Claire becomes more and more repulsive.
They Live by Night, released in 1948, was actually held up for 2 years by Howard Hughes after he took over RKO. Along with masterful, heartbreaking performances by Granger and O’Donnell, this film marked the directing debut of Nicholas Ray. This would be one of the first post-war films depicting alienated youths which Ray would perfect seven years later with James Dean providing the immortal template for troubled, disaffected youths in Rebel Without a Cause. The film also was a clear inspiration for Arthur Penn and Warren Beatty when they made Bonnie and Clyde. There are several shots in They Live by Night that you can notice Penn borrowing from.
They Live By Night is certainly one of the more romantic of film noirs which the film wastes no time pointing out. The opening shot is that of the two lovers kissing in a trippy, dream-like haze while the words “This boy…and this girl…were never properly introduced to the world we live in.”
Bowie Bowers (Granger) escapes prison along with two older convicts T-Dub (Jay C. Flippen) and the haunting, one-eyed Chickamaw (Howard DaSilva). Bowie is wounded during the escape and is hidden at old man Mobley’s until he recovers. He’s nursed back to health by Mobley’s innocent, inexperienced daughter Keechie (O’Donnell). It is there that they begin a tentative friendship, which slowly blossoms into romance. However, Bowie goes along with his criminal partners on another bank heist where he is wrongly marked as the ringleader. Bowie has to run but he can’t leave without Keechie.
They begin a life on the run with few moments of peace. They marry and find a cabin to lay low for a while. It is only a matter of time though before T-Dub and Chickamaw track Bowie down and force him to do another heist with them. Bowie is resistant but his former partners won’t take no for an answer and he learns that Keechie is pregnant.
Unlike most noirs, there is no femme fatale here. In fact, the only “good” people are Bowie, despite being a criminal, and Keechie. Both are young and inexperienced yet have been hardened by their surroundings. Bowie has spent most of his childhood in prison and Keechie has become hardened and cold due to her living with an alcoholic father her entire life. Both are virgins and even remark that they are not familiar with kissing. It is precisely this type of raw innocence that makes this film the most emotional of the set.
After Bowie returns from a heist with a watch for Keechie, they are like young children experiencing the joys of live and love for the first time. While the central story revolves around the relationship, Ray shows how the peripheral “grown-ups” are the ones that are responsible for the couple’s eventual downfall. Keechie’s father rats them out to the police. Bowie’s partners won’t leave him alone. A corrupt marriage parlor owner gladly takes their money and even sells them a car with a $500 finder’s fee for himself.
A bitter accomplice of Bowie’s, Mattie Mansfield (Helen Craig), betrays the couple at their weakest moment. Perhaps the most telling line comes from a policeman near the end where he remarks that they are responsible for Bowie’s life of crime and Ray subtly uses this as an indictment of a prison system that was unable to reform a young child which Bowie would have been when he first went in. The layers of social context here are revelatory and it’s easy to see how Ray would take them to the ultimate, iconic level in Rebel.
The conclusion is noirishly predictable yet despite the tragedy, there is a strange almost spiritual type of hope for the future. That alone makes They Live by Night one of the standouts of this box set. There is a commentary by Farley Granger and Eddie Muller, the 6 minute featurette They Live by Night: The Twisted Road, but no trailer.
The other end of the Granger/O’ Donnell double bill is Side Street, released in 1950. This time, Granger and O´Donnell are married from the beginning. WWII vet Joe Norson (Granger) works a menial job as a letter carrier after he has lost a gas station that he invested in. His young wife Ellen (O´Donnell) lives with him at his family´s home in relative poverty. This gnaws away at Joe who dreams of providing the good things in life for his wife.
Ellen is about to give birth to their first child yet because of their poor financial status, will have to deliver the child in a county hospital. This is unacceptable to Joe, who decides to steal $200 from a shady lawyer’s office on his route. The $200 actually turns out to be $30,000 and this sets off a chain reaction of events that spirals Joe’s life out of control.
Very much like another noir picture released in 1950 that deals with the innocent “borrowing” of money, Quicksand with Mickey Rooney and Peter Lorre, Side Street is very much about the average American “Joe” which just happens to be Granger’s name. Out of touch with society after returning from the war and on a streak of bad luck, he figures there is no harm in “borrowing” a little money. This is precisely what sets off the nightmare that he finds himself getting immersed in as the film progresses. When Joe tries to return the money, he sets off another chain of events that finds him a murder suspect and desperately trying to find the murderous fugitive Garsell (James Craig) that can prove his innocence.
You wouldn’t be wrong in saying that films like this are trying to hit you over the head with a certain type of morality; that being “crime doesn’t pay.” Because of that, you know where the film will head. Granger does his best with Joe but he seems too stupid in many of his actions to be truly sympathetic. He’s not a bad man and is supposed to be representative of a certain faction of post-war Americans. They all couldn’t have been this brain dead though. O’Donnell, unfortunately, doesn’t have nearly as good as role here as she did in They Live by Night and is relegated to being in the dark as to what her husband is doing and preying for his safe return. Watch Jean Hagen steal the film near the end as a boozy, heartbroken lounge singer that will haunt you.
One of the saving graces of the film is director Anthony Mann, who helmed the noir classic Border Incident (1949) and was infamously fired by star Kirk Douglas during the filming of Spartacus to be replaced by Stanley Kubrick, and cinematographer Joseph Ruttenberg’s work. Shot on location in New York City, Side Street has an excellent nourish look and feel to it. From the opening panoramic shot of the city to darkly lit shots of rooftops, smoke billowing from towers and the Brooklyn Bridge, you can FEEL and SMELL the grit of the city.
Side Street isn’t a bad film. Coming on the heels of They Live by Night, however, it is no competition. You do find yourself with an interest in Joe’s fate, even if it’s because you don’t want Ellen to suffer anymore than she already has. The film does get particularly vicious and violent at the end, which culminates with a spectacularly filmed car chase through the streets of the city.
The extras include Richard Schickel providing the commentary for the film, a trailer and the 6 minute featurette Side Street: Where Temptation Lurks.
Once again Warner Brothers has delivered another masterful set of classic films from the vault that hadn’t seen light in decades. With the exception of the missing footage in Decoy not showing up, this is what a box set should be and is a must buy for any film lover.
Film Noir Classic Collection, Vol. 4 is now available at Amazon . As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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