Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema XXIV [Union Station / Jennifer / The Crooked Circle] (Blu-ray)

This collection features three thrilling film noir classics. UNION STATION (1950) – In this tense and gritty crime thriller in the tradition of The Naked City, screen great William Holden (Stalag 17) plays a railroad police chief in a race against time, trying to bring down a gang of kidnappers who are holding a blind heiress for a $100,000 ransom with Chicago’s Union Station terminal as the payoff location. The film crackles with melodrama and danger as the police chase the gang leader (Lyle Bettger, No Man of Her Own) from his hideout to the station’s underground tunnel for a bold and gripping climax. Nancy Olson (Sunset Boulevard), Barry Fitzgerald (The Quiet Man) and Jan Sterling (Appointment with Danger) also star in Union Station, directed by noir ace Rudolph Maté (D.O.A.) and adapted by Sydney Boehm (Black Tuesday) from the novel Nightmare in Manhattan by Thomas Walsh. JENNIFER (1953) – Film icon Ida Lupino (Beware, My Lovely) stars as Agnes Langley, who gets a job, through Jim Hollis (Howard Duff, Woman in Hiding), as caretaker of an old and vacated Southern California mansion. The owner’s cousin, Jennifer, was the last occupant and has mysteriously disappeared. Agnes soon begins to believe that Jennifer was murdered and that Jim, with whom she has fallen in love, is responsible. This eerie noir-mystery laced with gothic romance is highlighted by the atmospheric cinematography of James Wong Howe (The Rose Tattoo) and the introduction of the jazz standard “Angel Eyes,” composed and performed by Matt Dennis. THE CROOKED CIRCLE (1957) – In this smashing film noir, young Tommy Kelly (John Smith, Wichita) dives headfirst into the world of prizefighting, much to the chagrin of his ex-boxer brother who is well-aware of the criminal underbelly of the sport. An honest trainer (Robert Armstrong, King Kong) handles the promising Tommy at first, until corrupt forces conspire around him and push him toward betrayal. The young pugilist finds himself being squeezed on all sides to throw a fight until he punches back to expose the thuggish crime racket. Directed in widescreen by Republic Pictures’ jack-of-all-trades Joseph Kane (Dakota) and co-starring Fay Spain, Steve Brodie and Don Kelly.