Tonight's Movie: Captain Carey, U.S.A (1950) - A Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review

CAPTAIN CAREY, U.S.A. (1950) is now available on Blu-ray in the Kino Lorber Dark Side of Cinema XX collection.

Captain Carey is played by Alan Ladd, who also stars in another film in the set, the terrific APPOINTMENT WITH DANGER (1950).

While APPOINTMENT WITH DANGER is the stronger of the two films, I also like CAPTAIN CAREY, U.S.A. very much.

As I wrote about the movie back in 2012, it's "an effective mood piece blending war film, romance, and film noir, all underscored by the Oscar-winning 'Mona Lisa.'" Yes, this is where that great standard by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans originated!

CAPTAIN CAREY, U.S.A. is a fast-paced 82-minute film which begins during World War II. Web Carey (Ladd) and his partner Frank (Paul Lees) are working as O.S.S. spies in Italy when they're betrayed; Web survives the raid on their hideout but has a lengthy hospitalization. Frank dies, and Web also believes the Italian girl he loves, Giulia (Wanda Hendrix) has been killed.

Years later Web returns to Italy to find out who betrayed them and was responsible for Giulia's death. To his shock, Web finds Giulia very much alive, married to an Italian baron (Francis Lederer).

Web initially plans to leave but someone attempting to give him information about the betrayer is murdered, and the former O.S.S. man is quickly on the path of solving the mystery.

Ladd and Hendrix are both very good in this, especially the always-compelling Ladd, and on the whole it's a strong film, well-directed by Mitchell Leisen. Ladd and Hendrix each convey moving emotion, and there are also some well-staged action sequences, with Ladd showing admirable agility.

The script was written by Robert Thoeren, based on the novel AFTER MIDNIGHT by Martha Albrand. The black and white cinematography was by John F. Seitz.

The supporting cast includes Joseph Calleia, Russ Tamblyn, Angela Clarke, Frank Puglia, Luis Alberni, Celia Lovsky, and Jane Nigh.

I wrote about the film in great detail in my 2012 review and invite readers to visit it for further thoughts on this film and the performances.

As noted in that review, this movie almost serves as an informal sequel to another, unrelated Ladd film, O.S.S. (1946), which coincidentally is also available from Kino Lorber. Viewers will also note plot similarities to SINGAPORE (1947), part of Kino Lorber's Dark Side of Cinema VI collection.

For more on the movie, Rachel took an enjoyable look at the film a few years ago at Hamlette's Soliloquy.

CAPTAIN CAREY, U.S.A. is presented in a good-looking Blu-ray, with the print from an HD master of a 4K scan.  Sound quality is also very good.

Extras consist of a commentary track by Gary Gerani; the trailer; and a gallery of three additional trailers for other films available from Kino Lorber.

APPOINTMENT WITH DANGER and CAPTAIN CAREY, U.S.A make this set a "must buy" for Ladd fans.

The final film in this set is MAKE HASTE TO LIVE (1954) which I plan to review at a future date.

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

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