Tonight's Movie: Crashout (1955) - A Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review

Today I wrapped up the Kino Lorber Dark Side of Cinema XVIII Collection with a viewing of CRASHOUT (1955).

CRASHOUT is a prison break movie; in fact, it's the second such film of that type I've watched in the last couple of weeks thanks to Kino Lorber. The preceding prison break film was BLACK TUESDAY (1954), from the Dark Side of Cinema XVII Collection, starring Edward G. Robinson.

Both these films are tough and violent, but I found BLACK TUESDAY more enjoyable to watch. CRASHOUT is well-done -- but wow, does it go to some dark places.

The film begins with the breakout itself, and those familiar with L.A. movie locations will recognize that the prisoners immediately find themselves in the middle of Iverson Ranch. The Iverson Ranch locations for this film, including the strikingly shaped "Turtle Rock," are chronicled by Dennis Liff at the Iverson Movie Ranch page.

The breakout gang is led by Van Morgan Duff (William Bendix), a man so nasty that one of his fellow jail breakers eventually refers to him as "the Devil." Duff is shot but it hardly seems to slow him down, and he has absolutely no gratitude toward the doctor who saves him. (It's not often that I feel sorry for Percy Helton in a film.)

The other men are played by Arthur Kennedy, William Talman, Marshall Thompson, Luther Adler, and Gene Evans. As time goes on, their number is whittled down -- most poignantly Thompson's character, who briefly glimpses a chance at a better life when talking to a sweet young girl (Gloria Talbott) on a train. The Thompson-Talbott sequence is haunting and memorable, and to my thinking it's the best part of the film.

Beverly Michaels of WICKED WOMAN (1953) is sympathetic as a woman whose farmhouse is invaded by the gang. She and Kennedy's character, in another life, might have been a compatible couple but...

The film has some very grim, violent moments, although Michaels' date (Adam Williams) throwing a lamp at one of the criminals is, in its way, rather satisfying given all that's gone before. The body count ramps up as the movie hurtles toward the end of its 89 minutes, leaving us with a somewhat ambiguous conclusion.

The cast also includes Melinda Markey (daughter of Joan Bennett), Bing Russell (father of Kurt), Morris Ankrum, Chris Olsen, Adele St. Maur, Edward Clark, and Tom Dugan.

The movie was directed by Lewis R. Foster (DAKOTA INCIDENT), who also cowrote the screenplay with Hal E. Chester and the uncredited Cy Enfield. It was filmed in black and white by Russell Metty.

The print is nice and crisp, with fine sound. Extras include a commentary track by Alan K. Rode, whose tracks are always outstanding, plus the trailer. There are two additional trailers for other films available from Kino Lorber.

CRASHOUT is well done and worth seeing; I simply found it a little harder to watch than BLACK TUESDAY. It caps a solid Dark Side of Cinema set which also includes the previously reviewed FINGERMAN (1955) and CITY OF SHADOWS (1955).

More Dark Side of Cinema collections are on the way!

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

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