Tonight's Movie: I Walk Alone (1947) - A Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review

I WALK ALONE (1947) is an enjoyable film noir just released on Blu-ray and DVD by Kino Lorber.

I WALK ALONE was produced by Hal B. Wallis for Paramount Pictures. It has a great cast: Burt Lancaster, Lizabeth Scott, Kirk Douglas, Wendell Corey, and Kristine Miller.

Lancaster plays Frankie Madison, newly released from prison after a 14-year stint for bootlegging during the Prohibition era. Before Frankie was arrested he and his partner Dink (Douglas) had agreed they were 50-50 partners even if one of them were to be arrested.

Frankie's brother Dave (Corey), who works for Dink as an accountant, picks up Frankie at the train station yet seems strangely reticent and reserved. It's soon clear why: Dink, who owns a fancy nightclub, has set up his businesses so that Frankie won't get more than a pittance, and Dave is the one who helped Dink with the paperwork and accounting.

Dink sets up his girlfriend, nightclub singer Kay (Scott), to have a fancy welcome home dinner with Frankie and pump him for information. Kay quickly warms up to Frankie which is just as well, as Dink plans to marry wealthy Alexis (Miller) -- but tries to convince Kay that he truly loves her and they'll continue their romance on the side!

Frankie tries to figure out how to claim his share of the business from under a mountain of paperwork; meanwhile Dink contends with the guilt-ridden Dave threatening to blow the whistle...

This is quite an enjoyable film, sort of a mashup of '30s gangster film and '40s noir; it's mainly set at night, and while at first it seems that Frankie might be led astray by Scott's femme fatale, things don't end as darkly as is often the case with film noir.

Lancaster, Scott, and Corey are solid, with Douglas -- an actor I don't particularly care for -- quite good as the slimy, sleazy Dink. He's amazingly self-centered and nervy, whether stealing from his old friend or setting up his ostensible girlfriend for a romantic evening with another man.

Stealing the movie is the underrated Miller as the predatory Alexis, who injects an electric spark into the film in each of her memorable scenes, whether she's coming on to Frankie or making out with her fiance, Dink; she also trades some delicious snark with Kay. Miller's Alexis disappears from the film far too early, after Dink hangs up from a phone conversation with his fiancee and mutters "Tramp!" Miller -- and Scott -- are polar opposites here from the roles they would play a couple years later in the noir classic TOO LATE FOR TEARS (1949).

I WALK ALONE may not be top-of-the-line noir, but it's entertaining and I enjoyed watching it for the first time. Kino Lorber's terrific-looking Blu-ray shows off the shadowy photography by Leo Tover to great effect.

I WALK ALONE was the first credited full-length sound film directed by Byron Haskin. Haskin, who had already worked for years as cinematographer and special effects man, also directed a handful of silent films.

The screenplay by Charles Schnee was based on an adaptation of a Theodore Reeves play by Robert Smith and John Bright. It was his first credited screenplay. Schnee's other credits include RED RIVER (1948), THEY LIVE BY NIGHT (1948), WESTWARD THE WOMEN (1951), and several other notable films.

The score of this 97-minute film was by Victor Young. Mike Mazurki, Marc Lawrence, George Rigaud, and Mickey Knox costar.

The Kino Lorber release has a commentary track by Troy Howarth. It also has five trailers of films featuring either Lancaster or Douglas which are available from Kino Lorber.

More great news from Kino Lorber: The company just announced that they will soon release Paramount's DESERT FURY (1947), which stars some of the same cast members of I WALK ALONE: Lancaster, Scott, Corey, and Miller.

Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray.