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The Film Noir Foundation puts across more impressive rescues in concert with the UCLA Film and Television Archive: a pair of independently-produced noirs released by Monogram in 1947, modest of budget but firmly rooted in the noir style. The Guilty is a Cornell Woolrich ‘ironic twist’ mini mystery involving troublemaking twins and a soldier suffering from Ptsd. High Tide is a hardboiled corruption tale starring the king of smart-talking newsmen, Lee Tracy. Especially rewarding disc extras give us long-form visual essays on Cornell Woolrich, actor Tracy, producer Jack Wrather and the ‘international’ director John Reinhardt.

The Guilty + High Tide

Blu-ray + DVD

Flicker Alley

1947 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 71 + 72 min. / Street Date June 10, 2022 / Available from Flicker Alley / 39.95

Starring: Bonita Granville, Don Castle, Regis Toomey, Wally Cassell; Lee Tracy, Don Castle, Julie Bishop, Anabel Shaw.

Shared Credits:

Cinematography: Henry Sharp

Original Music: Rudy Schrager

Screenplays by Robert Presnell Sr.

Produced by Jack Wrather

Directed...

Blonde Ice

Written by Kenneth Gamet

Directed by Jack Bernhard

U.S.A., 1948

A wedding day is a joyous occasion to celebrate the unison between two people deeply in love with one another, ready and willing to spend the remainder of their lives together until death do them part. Claire Cummings’ (Leslie Brooks) understanding of what a wedding represents renounces most of those delightful thoughts, only retaining and applying the part about death. Claire is a vixen, a conniving, duplicitous witch who spends her energy on marrying wealthy, important people, only to concoct their demise shortly thereafter, reaping the benefits of fanciful wills in the process. Her matrimonial reunion to a powerful businessman in the film’s opening scene irks polite, clean-cut Les Burns (Robert Paige), with whom Claire to used to work at a newspaper. Deep down he loves Claire, naively unaware of her true intentions. When her hubby...

Decoy

Directed by Jack Bernhard

Written by Nedrick Young (screenplay) and Stanley Rubin (story)

U.S.A., 1946

Film noir is film noir because of a variety of recognized qualities which concern both visuals cues as well as some specific narrative aspects, including stereotypical character traits. It stands to reason that that is how the genre, or any other genre for that matter, is recognized. However, there are some examples of films that, by the very fact that they follow the standards of the genre, somehow manage to create their own special uniqueness. It might be because said movie exemplifies those characteristics particularly well. Other examples prove to be more challenging to evaluate as to what makes them special. The reasons may be more difficult to flesh out simply because one is uncertain as to whether or not the picture is actually good. Watching Jack Berhard’s Decoy in preparation for...

Chicago – Diabolical twins, obsessed journalists and jail-breaking thugs are heading their way to the Music Box Theatre. The Film Noir Foundation’s third installment of “Noir City: Chicago” features no less than sixteen restored 35mm prints of must-see cinematic rarities. Ten of these noir classics have yet to land a DVD release, thus making this festival all the more essential for local cinephiles.

The week-long festival kicks off Friday, Aug. 12, and includes criminally overlooked performances from Hollywood legends such as Humphrey Bogart, Anne Bancroft, Barbara Stanwyck, Olivia de Havilland, Ernest Borgnine, Shelley Winters and Burt Lancaster. Acclaimed noir historians Alan K. Rode (“Charles McGraw: Biography of a Film Noir Tough Guy”) and Foster Hirsch (“Detours and Lost Highways: A Map of Neo-Noir”) will be presenting the pictures while offering their wealth of historical and filmic insight.

Among this year’s most priceless treasures is “Deadline USA,” starring Bogart as...