Tonight's Movie: Man Afraid (1957) - A Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review

Today I dipped into the newest Dark Side of Cinema Blu-ray collection from Kino Lorber -- Volume XV! -- and watched MAN AFRAID (1957).

MAN AFRAID stars George Nader (THE UNGUARDED MOMENT) as David Collins, a minister.

One evening Collins and his wife Lisa (Phyllis Thaxter) discover a burglar (Bob Herron) in the bedroom of their little boy Michael (Tim Hovey).

As the parents attempt to pull the man away from Michael, the burglar attacks Lisa and seriously injures her eyes; in desperation David hurls a snow globe at the young man, which unexpectedly proves to be a fatal blow.

Despite the circumstances David feels some guilt at having killed the man; he's also concerned about his wife's injuries, which necessitate bandages over her eyes while she recovers. But his real problems begin when the burglar's father (Eduard Franz) stalks and terrorizes the entire Collins family.

I thought this was an interesting little movie; with last night's film THE NIGHT RUNNER (1957) being an exception, I've really enjoyed discovering most of the previously unknown titles in the Dark Side of Cinema sets.

MAN AFRAID may not be a great film -- other than CinemaScope filming by Russell Metty, it's about on the level of a TV drama -- but I found it an engrossing 84 minutes.

The movie engages with some interesting issues, such as the trauma of going through an unimaginable incident, including having caused a death -- all the more shocking for a man of the cloth to have experienced out of the blue.

I did feel at times as though the stoic David needed to stop worrying quite so much about the dead man's father and focus more on his wife's recovery and his son's trauma, but his imperfect reactions to the situation also make him human.

David's initial exasperation over what he believes are his son's tall tales about a strange man scaring him read partly as a man who doesn't need one more thing on his plate to worry about. That said, I was also glad when David finds evidence fairly early on that his son is telling the truth.

Similarly, the police lieutenant (Harold J. Stone) David talks with makes good points about why he doesn't have enough evidence to arrest the stalker, but his demeanor is notably unsympathetic. But haven't we all dealt with someone who might be correct but doesn't do a good job expressing himself in more understanding terms? Again, it's a good little sketch of a fully rounded character.

All in all it's a worthwhile movie which includes some good use of Santa Monica locations.

Supporting cast members Reta Shaw and Martin Milner both do a nice job and give the movie a little something "extra." Also be on the lookout for a young Troy Donahue as a reporter in the police station!

MAN AFRAID was directed by Harry Keller. The score was by Henry Mancini.

The Blu-ray print is a new HD master from a 2K scan of 35mm fine grain. It looks very nice, typical of the widescreen '50s black and white Universal Studios films released in these sets. Sound levels were a bit on the low side but consistent; I just had to set my TV's volume higher than normal.

Disc extras consist of a commentary track by David Del Valle and David DeCoteau; the trailer, newly mastered in 2K; and a gallery of four additional trailers for other films available on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber.

All three films in this set were released in 1957; the other titles are THE GIRL IN THE KREMLIN (1957) and THE TATTERED DRESS (1957). I saw the latter film years ago and look forward to revisiting it in a good print!

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

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