Hammer Film Noir Collector’s Set 2: 4-7 [DVD] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

A mixed bag – might be better trying the discs separately, 17 May 2009

By 

Richard Bowden “The Film Flaneur” (UK) –

  

This is the second, bumper survey of a group of British films which have until now, remained largely unknown. Taking advantage of arrangements favoured by the UK’s Eady levy (a state film subsidy established after the war) in 1950, American producer Robert Lippert formed a business alliance with Hammer studios. Under the agreement, Lippert would provide American acting talent – frequently shop-worn stars or just supporting actors who fancied a profitable trip out of the country – while Hammer would supply the rest of the cast and the production facilities. Together they would split the profits. Famous for his concern with the bottom line, Lippert produced over 140 films between 1946 and 1955, characteristically genre pieces such as I Shot Jesse James or Rocketship XM. For the British deal, most of the films were noir-ish thrillers. None were entirely of the first rank, but of the selection so far released under the collection title Hammer Film Noir, they remain never less than entertaining.

Hammer’s principal reputation today rests upon its series of colour horrors. In The Curse Of Frankenstein (1957), and Dracula (1958), part of the interest lay in how the British studio reworked and re-imagined familiar fictional characters and their respective mythologies. With the earlier noirs there’s similar interest and Terence Fisher, one of the directorial mainstays of the gothic cycle, also helmed some of the thrillers. But the transformation was not so distinctive here, and the clipped accents of some of the supporting actors and occasional drawing-room setting sit oddly with notions of fatalism, persecution and moral corruption. But there’s still fascination at seeing an American genre transported to British locations and watching well known British acting talent alongside the Hollywood imports.

Box two of Hammer Film Noir begins with Terror Street (aka: 36 Hours, 1953), directed by Montgomery Tully and starring noir icon, Dan Duryea. In fact, the American is the best thing in this film, at its strongest in the first half. He plays Major Rogers, a flyer smuggled into the country to discover what his wife has been up to during his absence away on duty. Shortly after he catches up with her, she is dead, leaving the stunned Rogers waking up next to her body with just a few hours to prove his innocence. Duryea’s opening scenes, mostly played solo as he explores his wife’s apartment piecing together her new relationships, are the essence of noir – an alienated man, lost in an environment where moral certitudes are missing. Unfortunately the script by Steve Miller (responsible for earlier classics such as Dead Reckoning, and Lady In The Lake) grows less interesting as it proceeds, and the final complexities are forced and unconvincing. Along the way, Duryea brings life to his relationship with Jenny (Ann Gudrin), equally as good as the unfussy woman who believes his story. Kenneth Griffith also makes impact as the weasely Slosson – a character which, on a different continent, would no doubt been of attraction to Elisha Cook Jr.

On the same disc is Wings Of Danger (1952), Terence Fisher’s first contribution to this box. Zachary Scott does a professional enough job as a pilot who faces disaster through suffering unpredictable blackouts. To add to his woes, when his girlfriend’s brother appears lost in a cargo plane accident, he falls into a police investigation over blackmail, counterfeiting and smuggling. Robert Beatty and Kay Kendall support in a solid tale never less than watchable, even if not ultimately memorable. Light tramlines from the source print are evident at some points – unusual for a set with generally good picture quality. Kendall seems out of place as a minor femme fatale, too nice to communicate the double-crossing her character demands. Scott’s most important noir roles previously were probably Ulmer’s Ruthless and Mildred Pierce; here the actor is not helped by fairly anonymous art direction and by a story never really bringing out his internal conflicts.

Dane Clark appeared twice in the first box, but makes his most successful entry here with Paid To Kill (aka: Five Days, 1954) as a man in a jam, with a plan, and a dame. Possessing a characteristic persecuted look, Clark is eminently suited to the role of businessman James Nevill who – fearing that a big deal has gone sour – pays a friend to kill him, to secure insurance money for his unsuspecting wife. Nevill abruptly needs to change his murderous instructions when matters change for the better, but cannot find his unreliable friend. He finds the repeated attempts on his life – whoever it is making them – too close for comfort. Says a business acquaintance of Nevill’s business style that: “it’s okay for cutthroat and adventure – but not for the City of London.” Such a contrast exists elsewhere in a film containing one or two jarring, humorous scenes, featuring Charles Hawtrey (a non-speaking part)…

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A point of fact., 3 May 2011

By 

Edward Sammons –

  

I do not have this set so cannot give a review and thus my rating is meaningless and should be ignored. I merely write to point out that the trumpet playing in “Face the Music” was by ace Brtish trumpter, Kenny Baker not Kenny Ball!Hammer Film Noir Collector’s Set 2: 4-7 [DVD] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

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