The
Kino Lorber Dark Side of Cinema sets continue to be among my very favorite Blu-ray releases.
Set No. XII was just released, with two more coming this month and another this summer. This latest set contains UNDERTOW (1949), OUTSIDE THE WALL (1950), and HOLD BACK TOMORROW (1955).
I first saw UNDERTOW on DVD in
2018 and very much enjoyed it. I loved returning to it now, a half decade later, thanks to Kino Lorber's beautiful Blu-ray.
UNDERTOW is just the kind of Universal Pictures movie I like. The story may not be a classic, but it's an involving, short and sweet 71 minutes. The movie features a great cast, including Scott Brady, Peggy Dow, John Russell, Bruce Bennett,
Dorothy Hart, and, in one scene, one Roc Hudson, better known as Rock.
Brady plays a returning veteran with plans to develop a cabin resort in the Sierras with his late army buddy's father and kid brother. First, though, he needs to go to Chicago and convince mobster Big Jim to let him marry his niece (Hart).
Things quickly go awry, with Brady framed for Big Jim's murder. The only people he can turn to are a cop (Bennett) who's an old buddy and a sweet teacher (Dow) he'd chanced to meet in Reno.
UNDERTOW is simply a very pleasant way to spend 70 minutes with a number of likeable and interesting actors. I always enjoy the handsome young Brady, recently reviewed here in the previous Dark Side of Cinema set's
I WAS A SHOPLIFTER (1950).
This seems to be the year of Peggy Dow for me; she was outstanding in BRIGHT VICTORY (1951), and I also enjoyed seeing her in HARVEY (1950) last month at the TCM Classic Film Festival. She also stars in YOU NEVER CAN TELL (1951) which is slated for Blu-ray release by Kino Lorber at some point.
Hart is a striking personality, though she has relatively little to do in this film. Hart and Dow were both in relatively few films, and I hope to see all of them eventually! I've made great progress and in fact only have one Dow film left to see, REUNION IN RENO (1951). Hart made more films; I've seen a majority but still have a few titles to catch.
Bennett has a very nice, nuanced part as a man who wants to believe in his old friend while also dealing with pressure from his boss (Thomas Browne Henry) and the sheer fact that the frame-up is initially pretty convincing. I really like him in this.
UNDERTOW was directed by
William Castle, better known for his horror films. It was filmed in black and white by
Irving Glassberg and, per IMDb, the uncredited
Clifford Stine.
The Kino Lorber Blu-ray is from a new 2K master. It looks and sounds great.
Disc extras consist of three trailers for other movies available from Kino Lorber and a commentary track by Jason A. Ney and Tim Tierney, the son of Scott Brady. I'm particularly looking forward to listening to that.
Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray.
The Kino Lorber Dark Side of Cinema sets continue to be among my very favorite Blu-ray releases.
4 Comments:
It might be nice to find out if Peggy has anything to offer about the film studio co-stars.
I remember liking her at the time.
The films that Universal-International were making during this period, westerns, 'noirs' and straightforward crime thrillers were outstanding examples of how to make relatively short, entertaining films with good production values. UNDERTOW is an excellent example.
Always liked Scott Brady. Why? He was nice to my father. It was the very early 1950s and Dad was on vacation in southern California with some friends. They happened to be outside Universal Studios and Scott Brady happened to be walking out the gates. Dad, always a big time movie fan, recognized him and said hi. Brady stopped to talk to all of them, posed for pictures and even goofed off for my dad's home movie camera, waving and pretending to welcome them to the studio. Dad always said he could not have been nicer. So I always liked Scott Brady because of that.
Excellent movie seen it a few times and I always love it 😀
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