Tonight's Movie: Union Station (1950) - A Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review

This is my weekend for favorite 1950 police procedurals!

Earlier this weekend I revisited MYSTERY STREET (1950), with Ricardo Montalban as a police detective; it was cowritten by Sydney Boehm.

Boehm, inspired by a story by Thomas Walsh, was also the solo screenwriter behind another longtime favorite, UNION STATION (1950), which I watched today. UNION STATION was recently released on Blu-ray by Kino Lorber as part of the Dark Side of Cinema XXIV collection.

William Holden plays Lt. William Calhoun, stationed at Chicago's Union Station along with Inspector Donnelly (Barry Fitzgerald) and several other officers.

Joyce Willecombe (Nancy Olson), a sharp-eyed secretary, is riding on a Chicago-bound train when she notices a pair of men acting strangely; the men race their car to the station to board the train but once aboard take seats at opposite ends of the compartment. Most concerning: One of the men (Lyle Bettger) is concealing a gun.

The conductor (Harry Hayden) is skeptical when Joyce quietly informs him of her observations, but he does connect her with Lt. Calhoun when the train pulls into Chicago, on the off chance something nefarious is going on.

After Calhoun opens a suitcase Beacom (Bettger) stows in a locker, it becomes clear that the two men have kidnapped Lorna (Allene Roberts), the blind daughter of Joyce's wealthy employer (Herbert Heyes), and they're holding her for ransom. The race is on to save Lorna's life.

I first saw this film in 2009, thanks to Turner Classic Movies, and I had the chance to revisit it theatrically at last year's 2024 Noir City Hollywood Festival. It's held up to multiple repeat viewings over the years, a dynamic, fast-paced 81 minutes with excellent leads and a great setting.

Holden and Olson, who worked in four films together, are charming leads in a good story. They're backed by a host of interesting supporting actors; in addition to those mentioned above, the cast includes Jan Sterling (who coincidentally was in MYSTERY STREET), James Seay, Parley Baer, Byron Foulger, Trevor Bardette, Robert Cornthwaite, Dick Elliott, Douglas Spencer, Queenie Smith, Kasey Rogers, and more.

UNION STATION was directed by Rudolph Mate and filmed in black and white by Daniel L. Fapp.

UNION STATION is one of several Paramount Pictures films recently released by Kino Lorber which was previously released on Blu-ray and/or DVD by the now-defunct Olive Films. It's boxed in this set with the previously reviewed JENNIFER (1953) plus THE CROOKED CIRCLE (1957), which will be reviewed at a future date.

The excellent Blu-ray print is from an HD master by Paramount Pictures from a 4K scan. Sound quality is also strong.

Disc extras for UNION STATION include the trailer; two additional trailers for other films available from Kino Lorber; and an engaging commentary track by Alan K. Rode.

Rode covers all aspects of the film and its production, including sharing stories from Nancy Olson, whom he's interviewed on multiple occasions. The movie was filmed at Union Station in Los Angeles, and Rode mentions the series of screenings he hosted in the station of movies which filmed there; I was in attendance at the 2016 screening he hosted of CRISS CROSS (1949)!

For some additional thoughts and background on this film, please click over to my 2009 review. The film, disc, and set are all recommended.

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

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