New on Blu-ray: FILM NOIR - THE DARK SIDE OF CINEMA XII - Undertow (1949), Outside the Law (1950), Hold Back Tomorrow (1955)

BUY FROM AMAZON

Product Description: This collection features three film noir classics.

UNDERTOW (1949) – Best known for fright fare such as House on Haunted Hill, The Tingler and Let’s Kill Uncle, cult director William Castle turns his lens on guns and gangsters for the film noir gem Undertow. Scott Brady (I Was a Shoplifter) stars as Tony Reagan, a gambler just out of wartime military service. No longer interested in wagers and speculations, Reagan wants only to open up a mountain vacation lodge. Before this can take place, however, he is framed for murder and forced to go on the run from both the police and the unknown killers. Dorothy Hart (Larceny) and Peggy Dow (Shakedown) play the love interests in this serpentine tale of mob-and-moll double-crosses, with John Russell (Yellow Sky), Bruce Bennett (Mildred Pierce) and future star Rock Hudson (The Tarnished Angels) in his second film appearance.

OUTSIDE THE WALL (1950) – Richard Basehart (He Walked by Night) stars as Larry Nelson, paroled from prison after serving nearly half of his thirty-year sentence. Larry is determined to not fall into the clutches of the law again and takes a quiet job at a country sanitarium. There he meets and falls for a gold-digging nurse, Charlotte Maynard (Marilyn Maxwell, Race Street), and he knows the only way to enter her web is to make a lot of fast money. So when Larry learns that the sanitarium is a front for a robbery syndicate, he soon finds himself a clay pigeon for the gang. Meanwhile, sweet-and-wholesome nurse Ann Taylor (Dorothy Hart, Undertow) does her best to help Larry out of the unpleasant situation. Also starring Swedish sensation Signe Hasso (The House on 92nd Street), Outside the Wall is a classic noir story of an ex-con’s struggle to go straight.

HOLD BACK TOMORROW (1955) – What Strange Law Answered His Last Request...to Bring THIS Beautiful Woman to His Cell? Hollywood great John Agar (Sands of Iwo Jima, Shield for Murder) stars as Joe, a death row inmate with one final request before his impending hanging: to spend the night with a woman. The police bring him a down-on-her-luck former “waitress” named Dora, played by femme fatale extraordinaire Cleo Moore (On Dangerous Ground, The Other Woman). At first these two tormented souls meet with disdain, but soon gain each other’s respect. After a night of raw and unexpected passion, Joe informs Dora that, with her love, he will not be afraid to die. The nihilistic noir two-hander Hold Back Tomorrow comes written, produced and directed by Czech star and cult auteur, Hugo Haas (The Girl on the Bridge, Bait).

"The Entertainment Factor is supported by its audience. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission."

Find out more about this DVD/Blu-ray release after the jump.

New on Blu-ray: OUTSIDE THE LAW / HORS LA LOI (2010) - Oscar Nomination Best Foreign Language Film of the Year

BUY FROM AMAZON

Product Description: From award winning writer-director Rachid Bouchareb (Days of Glory) comes the story of three brothers who fight for Algeria’s independence from France after World War II. After losing their family home in Algeria, three brothers are scattered across the globe. Messaoud joins the French army fighting in Indochina; Abdelkader becomes a leader of the Algerian independence movement; Said moves to Paris to make his fortune in the shady clubs and boxing halls of Pigalle. Gradually, their interconnecting destinies reunite them in the French capital, where freedom is a battle to be fought and won.

"The Entertainment Factor is supported by its audience. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission."

Find out more about this DVD/Blu-ray release after the jump.

New on Blu-ray: FILM NOIR - THE DARK SIDE OF CINEMA V (Because of You / Outside the Law / The Midnight Story)

BUY FROM AMAZON

Product Description: This collection features three film noir classics. BECAUSE OF YOU (1952) – Loretta Young (The Stranger, The Farmer’s Daughter) and Jeff Chandler (Red Ball Express, Man in the Shadow) star in the noir romance Because of You. Blonde bombshell Christine Carroll (Young) finds out too late that her fiancé Mike Monroe (Alex Nicol, The Sleeping City) is a gangster—and she’s his unwitting accessory. Emerging from prison with dark hair and an interest in nursing, she becomes a nurse’s aide in a war hospital and soon marries a battle-fatigued patient, Steve Kimberly (Chandler). The happy couple have a daughter, Kim, but Christine’s secret past threatens to tear her family apart when Mike reappears, forcing Christine to help him escape across the Mexican border. Joseph Pevney, the director of Six Bridges to Cross and Female on the Beach, helmed this saga of love and sacrifice, shot by the great cinematographer Russell Metty (Touch of Evil). The title song was Tony Bennett’s first number-one hit and became one of his many signature songs.

OUTSIDE THE LAW (1956) – Ray Danton (The Night Runner), Leigh Snowden (The Square Jungle) and Grant Williams (The Incredible Shrinking Man) star in the riveting film noir Outside the Law. Ex-con Johnny Salvo (Danton) is given the chance to redeem himself, and revenge the murder of an old Army buddy, by going undercover and helping the authorities break up a ring of international counterfeiters who will stop at nothing, including murder, to protect their operation. But first, Johnny must earn the respect of his Treasury-man father (Onslow Stevens, O.S.S.) and the trust of his buddy’s widow (Snowden). Prolific filmmaker Jack Arnold, the director of It Came from Outer Space, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Man in the Shadow, No Name on the Bullet and The Mouse That Roared, helmed this action-packed crime drama that features cinematography by noir specialist Irving Glassberg (Larceny, The Price of Fear).

THE MIDNIGHT STORY (1957) – Screen great Tony Curtis (The Vikings, The Great Impostor) gives a powerful performance in the superb ’50s film noir The Midnight Story. When beloved priest Father Tomasino is murdered in a San Francisco alleyway, traffic cop Joe Martini (Curtis) vows to catch the killer. Ordered off the case by homicide detective Kilrain (Ted de Corsia, The Killing), Martini turns in his badge and investigates alone. He follows a hunch that Italian restaurant owner Sylvio (Gilbert Roland, Thunder Bay) could be involved and decides to hide his previous life as a cop in order to become friendly with his suspect’s family. But as Martini starts to unravel the truth behind Father Tomasino’s murder, he falls in love with the suspect’s cousin (Marisa Pavan, The Rose Tattoo), and his world is torn apart by old and new loyalties. Joseph Pevney, the director of The Strange Door and Foxfire, helmed this compelling psychological crime drama that boasts gorgeous CinemaScope cinematography by the great Russell Metty (Spartacus).

"The Entertainment Factor is supported by its audience. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission."

Find out more about this DVD/Blu-ray release after the jump.