On the heels of their terrific French Noir releases,
Kino Lorber Studio Classics is now releasing Brit Noir Collections.
The first set was released a month ago, with Volume II due this coming week and Volume III a month after that, in late July.
Volume IV is said to be "coming soon."
Based on watching CAGE OF GOLD (1950), the first film in Collection I, I'm going to have a wonderful summer watching my way through these sets.
I'll mention at the outset that this film is particularly heavy with twists and turns, some of which will be discussed below, so anyone wishing to see the story unfold "cold" may want to return to this review after watching.
Jean Simmons stars as Judith, an artist whose quiet life in postwar London -- which includes dating an earnest young doctor, Alan (James Donald) -- is disrupted by the return of Bill (David Farrar) into her life.
Judith had had a crush on Bill during the war, and he quickly sweeps her off her feet. She ends her relationship with Alan to pursue romance with Bill, and when she discovers she's pregnant, she's overjoyed when Bill says they will marry immediately. She truly loves him and, of course, is also relieved not to be facing unwed pregnancy.
On their wedding night Bill reveals plans to invest in a business, anticipating that Judith's father will lend him the money. Judith explains that her father, who now lives in Canada, could never come up with even a portion of what Bill needs.
Bill is disappointed but says it's not a problem, he'll just have to come up with another career idea, but when Judith wakes up the next morning, Bill has cleared out, even taking the beautiful watch he gave her as a wedding gift.
While Bill races back to Paris and his old girlfriend Marie (Madeleine Lebeau,
CASABLANCA), Judith goes to Alan for help. He pledges to support her through her pregnancy, and when Bill is listed as dead in a plane crash, Alan and Judith marry and raise little Nicky (Anthony Britton).
Some time passes, and when Nicky is a toddler, there's a knock on the door...Bill has returned like the proverbial bad penny, and he separately tries to blackmail both Alan and Judith, given that they're not actually married after all.
I found this a really interesting melodrama; it's well-paced, at just 83 minutes, with a terrific cast. The film reminded me somewhat of
NO MAN OF HER OWN (1950), which was released in the U.S. within weeks of this film coming out in the UK; as with that film, in CAGE OF GOLD a family happily adopts a young woman's baby, and the crime-laden finale regarding the blackmailer was especially reminiscent of the U.S. film.
The unhappy wife who finds herself pregnant and aided by a doctor also had slight overtones of
CAUGHT (1949). Given that I like both CAUGHT and NO MAN OF HER OWN, I enjoyed seeing the familiar themes in CAGE OF GOLD. CAGE OF GOLD, incidentally, wasn't released in the U.S. until January 1952.
I did wish that Judith and Alan communicated with each other more near movie's end, which would have solved some problems, but their motivations were understandable.
Simmons seems far more mature here than the 21 she was offscreen, and she's simultaneously frustrating and sympathetic -- in other words, quite human. She makes mistakes but then tries to move forward.
Simmons would marry Stewart Granger shortly after this film's UK release, a union which lasted for a decade. In some shots, such as one below, Farrar resembles Granger just a bit.
Farrar, who like Simmons was in
BLACK NARCISSUS (1946), oozes sleaze here as the former pilot looking for money and excitement. He's soon stepping out on his loyal girlfriend with Antoinette (Maria Mauban), eyeing her wealthy banker father as another potential blackmail target.
Although I'd seen Farrar in several films, I wasn't familiar with James Donald, who was in a number of well-known movies including LUST FOR LIFE (1956),
THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI (1957), and THE GREAT ESCAPE (1963).
Donald plays the film's most sympathetic character, and while some reviewers have indicated he's bland, I'd suggest that's a "nice guy" stereotype and they're only looking at the surface; still waters run deep, as the saying goes, and Alan's love and loyalty are deep indeed.
The supporting cast starts with the very familiar Harcourt Williams as Alan's observant doctor father; I've seen him in numerous films, including the 1948
HAMLET (which of course costarred Simmons) and Robert Montgomery's British-made film
EYE WITNESS (1950).
Then there's Herbert Lom as a lovelorn nightclub owner/crook, who wishes Marie would give up on Bill and come back to him, and best of all, Bernard Lee in a small role as a police inspector.
The screenplay for CAGE OF GOLD was written by Jack Whittingham, from a story he wrote with Paul L. Stein. It was filmed in black and white by
Douglas Slocombe, making excellent use of London and Paris locations. I especially loved the opening sequence in the Underground station.
The movie was directed by
Basil Dearden. I'm only starting to become acquainted with Dearden's work; I loved his ALL NIGHT LONG (1962) at this year's
Noir City Hollywood Festival.
The print is very slightly worn in spots but overall is just fine, a crisp print without any seriously distracting flaws. Sound quality is solid. Some films with dialogue rendered by British actors can be a bit challenging for my hearing but this one was fine.
Disc extras consist of a commentary track by Bryan Reesman and Max Evry, plus a gallery of three trailers for other films available from Kino Lorber. I'm especially looking forward to this commentary and learning more about the film and British postwar cinema.
Like all Kino Lorber releases of recent years, this disc includes optional English captioning. I'm including this information in my reviews more frequently due to reader requests.
I anticipate reviewing the other films in this set, THE RINGER (1952) and THE FRIGHTENED CITY (1961), in the near future, along with the next volumes.
Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray collection.
