Indicator’s Columbia Noir #4 continues the deep dive into Columbia’s vaults to bring us six more exquisitely packaged film noir titles. Actually, with this collection, only two of the films are what could be considered strictly noir. The rest of the tangentially noirish films offered are two espionage pictures, a straight-on gangster flick, and the first colour offering in this series that is a pseudo-psycho melodrama, not noir.
The two espionage ‘noirs’ are Walk a Crooked Mile (1948) and Walk East on Beacon! (1952)
Walk a Crooked Mile, directed by Gordon Douglas, has a semi-documentary feel. It’s an earnest portrayal of FBI agents and a Scotland Yard officer infiltrating a Nazi spy ring whilst also trying to stay one step ahead of Russian assassins.
Walk East on Beacon!, directed by Alfred Werker is another semi-documentary style portrayal of FBI agents out thwarting Soviet spies intent on stealing America’s atomic secrets.
Both films are competently directed and entertaining if not entirely memorable.
Chicago Syndicate (1955) directed by Fred F. Sears is a straight-on gangster flick and treads a similar path as the two espionage films. A mole in a gangster’s inner circle has to get the ‘secret book’ that will allow the FBI to bring down the syndicate. Again this is an enjoyable film with some good all-round performances in what is a tried and tested story.
A Bullet is Waiting (1954) directed by John Farrow and starring Jean Simmons is the odd one out in this collection as it’s about as noir as a summer’s day on the beach. A sheriff and his prisoner survive a plane crash and are taken in by a retired Oxford don and his daughter. Many protracted shootouts ensue. It’s a visually interesting film, but it’s more a western version of Shakespeare’s The Tempest and feels out of place in this collection.
Pushover (1954) is directed by Richard Quine and stars Fred MacMurray with Kim Novak in her first starring role is a solid noir thriller. MacMurray plays detective Paul Sheridan who, as is one of the rules of noir, is seduced by Lona McLane (Kim Novak) into agreeing to murder her lover for a share of a bank heist haul.
The Brothers Rico (1957), directed by Phil Karlson and starring quintessential noir stalwart Richard Conte, is another solid noir offering. It seems just as relevant now as it did sixty-four years ago. Essentially it’s a story of The Mob and how it began adopting an air of faux respectability by operating as a modern corporation. Loyalty is everything and ‘employees’ quit when they have a bullet in the back of their head. Think The Soprano’s but in the 1950s and without the profanity.
As with the previous collections, there are no shortages of extras. Each film includes a Three Stooges short that reflects the theme of the main feature. One of the most interesting features is Routine Job: A Story of Scotland Yard (1946) a short film following the day-to-day work of a Scotland Yard detective. Then there is a dramatised edition of The March of Time newsreel entitled Policeman’s Holiday(1949) about an American detective who assists Scotland Yard while in the UK. There are two more March of Time newsreels that provide a safe for public consumption view of the FBI thwarting spies. The Brothers Rico is introduced by Martin Scorsese, whose admiration for the film is palpable (unlike his feelings for Marvel), there are several documentaries looking at the careers of Jean Simmons, Kim Novak, as well as directors Phil Karlson and Richard Quine, and audio commentaries with the most notable being Kim Newman for A Bullet is Waiting.
Once again Indicator has produced a lavish box set that any collector’s shelf would welcome. The transfers of all six films are stunning which is something Indicator excel at. Despite the entertainment, each film has to offer it’s a shame that this collection is noir-lite compared to previous editions.
