I’ve watched and reviewed a lot of these film noir sets from Kino Lorber. I come to them with eyes wide open, knowing full well that these films bundled up in three-disc sets are not going to be the cream of the crop. Twenty-six sets into this series, I’m really just hoping we haven’t reached the dregs. I’m delighted to say that they are still going strong. Frankly, I’m surprised that all three films included in this set are as good as they are.
Buy Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema XXVI Blu-rayWe begin with Dr. Broadway, the directorial debut of Anthony Mann. It already has the hallmarks of his later, greater works filled with moral complexity while still being a fabulous entertainment. MacDonald Carey plays Dr. Timothy Kane, called “Dr. Broadway” because his office is located in the theater district. He is a good doctor and an honest man, which is why he has the admiration and anger of a local mobster. He fixed the gangster up after he was shot during a gang war, then promptly ratted him out to the police. Age and illness have mellowed the gangster out, so when he gets out of prison, instead of seeking revenge against Kane, he asks for his help. He’s got an estranged daughter he’d like to leave some money to, and since she wants nothing to do with him, he’d like Kane to find a way to give it to her. When other mobsters learn of this, they try to find ways to get the money from Kane.
Meanwhile, Connie Madigan (Jean Phillips), an aspiring starlet, gets tangled up with the doctor by faking a suicide attempt in order to advertise a local nightclub (that’s probably best watched instead of explained). There will be some entanglements with the cops, a murder or two, and a bit of romance to be had before the credits roll.
Mann keeps things moving at a steady pace, the script fills each moment with humor or thrills, and with a run time of only 68 minutes, it doesn’t get close to overstaying its welcome.
Smooth as Silk is my least favorite film in this set, but it is still quite a bit of fun. And complicated. And the most noirish. Paula Marlowe (Virginia Grey) is an up-and-coming actress who’s just dying to get the lead role in producer Stephen Elliott’s (John Littell) new play. She talks her lawyer boyfriend, Mark Fenton (Kent Taylor), into defending Elliott’s alcoholic playboy nephew in a case of drunk driving manslaughter. If Fenton is successful, then Elliot will put Paula into the lead role.
The kid gets off, but the girl does not get the role. She then seduces the playboy, but then pawns him off on her sister (newly arrived in town) in order to get with the producer. Then there is a murder and some blackmail…and…well, I told you it gets complicated. A little too complicated, if I’m being honest. It became hard to follow, and though I just watched it yesterday, I had to look up a synopsis on Wikipedia to remember the details. But the actors are good in that B-movie way, as are the production values. What it lacks in comprehensibility it makes up for in pure entertainment value.
The Great Gatsby is generally considered to be a great American novel, if not The Great American Novel. It is read by nearly every American high schooler and has been relentlessly studied by students, critics, and scholars alike. It has been adapted into numerous plays and films. I’ve never once encountered a single one of these being called hard-boiled or film noirish. Yet here we are.
In this version, Alan Ladd plays Jay Gatsby, the rich playboy who has amassed a great fortune through bootlegging and has now purchased himself a huge mansion on Long Island and devotes himself to throwing lavish parties. All of this in hopes of catching the attention of Daisy Buchanan (Betty Field), a girl he’s still in love with. They had a grand love affair before the war and were engaged to be married. But while he was away fighting in Europe, she met and married Tom Buchanan (Barry Sullivan), who comes from an incredibly wealthy family. Gatsby figures it is the money and social standing that made her choose Tom over him, and now that he’s rich, he’s trying to create his own social standing and win her back.
I suspect most people have at least a passing knowledge of this story, so I’ll not go in deeper with the plot, except to say that, of course, complications ensue. It has been a long time since I’ve read the book, and I’ve not seen any of the other cinematic adaptations, so I can’t say whether this is a good adaptation. My wife did read the novel recently, and she says it is a fair adaptation of the plot, though the structure of the book is much different.
I can say that this is a good movie. Ladd is wonderful as Gatsby. He carries a world-weariness while pretending to have a laissez-faire attitude (all the while filled with deep anxiety over trying to win Daisy back) to perfection.
I still can’t in any way call this a “film noir.” It does contain some evocative black and white photography, and there is a death and some shady dealing around that death, but to call it a “noir” is pushing things a bit too much. But it is still worth watching, and I am more than pleased it is included in this set.
Extras for this set include:
Brand New HD Masters (Dr. Broadway / The Great Gatsby) – From 4K Scans
NEW Audio Commentary for DR. BROADWAY by Filmmaker Allan Arkush and Film Historian/Filmmaker Daniel Kremer
NEW Audio Commentary for DR. BROADWAY by Film Historian Jeremy Arnold
NEW Audio Commentary for SMOOTH AS SILK by Author/Film Historian Alan K. Rode
NEW Audio Commentary by Author/Film Historian Paul Talbot
David Ladd Interview with Alan K. Rode: Ladd Discusses His Father’s Career and The Great Gatsby
Theatrical Trailers (Smooth as Silk / The Great Gatsby)
Optional English Subtitles
I feel like every time I write one of these reviews I conclude by saying how glad I am that Kino Lorber keeps putting them out. This remains a truism. I watch a lot of film noir so I am more than a little familiar with the genre, yet these sets continue to surprise me.
