Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema XXIII – Blu-ray Review

Let’s dig into Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema XXIII. Kino has unearthed 3 noirs from the Paramount vaults – with one of them making its home video debut here – for the 23^rd volume of The Dark Side of Cinema Blu-ray series. First, Burt Lancaster plays a man returning to Namibia to retrieve a cache of diamonds from diamond mine head Claude Rains and sadistic police commander Paul Henreid in Rope of Sand. Next, James Cagney plays a career criminal who busts out of a prison and embarks on a spree of murder and blackmail in Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye. Finally, a young Steve McQueen plays a crime investigator trying to pull a former childhood friend out of a life of crime in Never Love a Stranger. Rope of Sand and Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye were previously released by Olive Films on Blu-ray – with Rope of Sand also getting a Region Free Blu-ray release from Imprint a few years ago – while Never Love a Stranger is making its Blu-ray debut here.

The Production: 4/5

Rope of Sand (1949; 4 out of 5)

In the coastal town of on the edge of the desert in South West Africa (modern day Namibia), former hunter and guide Mike Davis (Burt Lancaster) has returned to pick up something he left behind: a cache of diamonds he discovered on a remote part of the Colonial Diamond Corporation’s private property. Police commandant Vogel (Paul Henreid) has a history with Davis – having tried to beat the location of the diamonds out of Mike previously – and believes that a second round of good old fashioned physical torture will get that information out about the location of the diamonds. However, diamond syndicate head Arthur Martingale (Claude Rains) has a vastly different approach: recruiting the seductive Suzanne Renaud (Corinne Calvet) to romance Mike and get the information on the location of the diamonds before leaving him out to dry. Mike has some plans of his own, recruiting the doctor (Sam Jaffe) who brought him back from brink of death and a mysterious stranger aptly named Toady (Peter Lorre) to assist him on his mission. Alliances will be tested, and blood will be spilled, leading to a final showdown between Mike and the sadistic Vogel over the diamonds and Suzanne.

At first glance, one could be forgiven if they believed Rope of Sand was an extension of or ripping off the themes that made Casablanca (1942) a classic, but this Hal B. Wallis production carves out its own identity here. Here, William Dieterle – working from a Golden Globe nominated script by Walter Doniger, with additional contributions by John Paxton – uses the story location of the southwestern part of Africa to create a simmering adventure story infused with noir elements; while the movie wasn’t filmed in South Africa or the deserts of modern day Namibia, the Sonoran Desert around Yuma, Arizona (even the Hotel Del Sol in Yuma was also used as a filming location, just like it was used as one for Casablanca!) fills in nicely and creates a sweltering backdrop to the story. Paramount stalwarts Hans Dreier (the studio’s chief art director and production designer) and Edith Head (costume designer) establish the style for the story while the famed cinematographer Charles Lang bathes this corner of Africa depicted on the screen in luminous black-and-white as a beautiful yet deadly counterpoint visually. Dieterle keeps the story moving along efficiently and he manages to get solid performances from the cast, including Burt Lancaster, Paul Henreid (cast brilliantly against type here as the sadistic Vogel), Claude Rains, Peter Lorre, Sam Jaffe, Mike Mazurki and Corinne Calvet in her American film debut. A real diamond in the rough here – not unlike the diamonds Mike Davis was after – Rope of Sand is a hidden gem of the film noir genre, the filmography of Paramount Pictures, and in the overall careers of many involved; to put it precisely, this is one gem worth mining out of the proverbial depths of relative obscurity.

Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye (1950; 4 out of 5)

Ralph Cotter (James Cagney) has spent much of his life in and out of prison, but this time he intends to break out of prison and stay out. After pulling off a daring escape from the chain gang – which results in the death of his partner Carleton (an uncredited Neville Brand) – Ralph picks up where he left off and goes on a brutal crime spree. However, dishonest policemen Inspector Weber and Lieutenant Reece (Ward Bond and Barton MacLane) catch wind of Ralph’s escape and crimes and decide to shake him down. This proves to be a bad decision, as Ralph – with the assistance of shyster lawyer Keith Mandon (Luther Adler) – turns the tables on the bad cops by blackmailing them; however, this may be Ralph’s undoing, especially when he tries to leave Carleton’s sister (Barbara Payton) – with whom he’s been romancing in another blackmailing deal to his advantage – for young and wealthy heiress Margaret Dobson (Helena Carter).

Few played the tough gangster role better than James Cagney, and Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye came in the wake of one of his best films, White Heat (1949). Adapted from Horace McCoy’s novel of the same name by Harry Brown Jr., director Gordon Douglas opts to show much of the action in flashback, as the bookending courthouse sequences at the start and end of the film demonstrate the manipulative power that Ralph Cotter had over his accomplices in crime; in other words, Ralph is depicted as a more concentrated and focused version of Cody Jarrett from White Heat yet still just as brutal. Also worth mentioning is that the film is quite graphic for the era in terms of onscreen violence, and it was often compared unfavorably by critics to White Heat; the state of Ohio went one step further and showed its displeasure with the film by banning it outright – despite repeated attempts by Warner Bros. to submit an edited version to satisfy the censors in the state – during the film’s initial theatrical release for being “a sordid, sadistic presentation of brutality and extreme presentation of crime with explicit steps in commission.” Despite the dismissive treatment the film got from critics and audiences during its initial run, the film is well directed, edited, scored and performed by Cagney and the supporting cast including Barbara Payton, Helena Carter, Ward Bond, Barton MacLane, Luther Adler, Steve Brodie, John Litel, William Frawley, Herbert Hayes, Dan Riss and an uncredited Neville Brand. Though it may fall under the shadow of one of his best films overall, Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye is still an above average James Cagney vehicle that showed that he still had the swaggering power that drove his long career.

Never Love a Stranger (1958; 3.5 out of 5)

Orphaned at birth, Francis “Frankie” Kane (John Drew Barrymore) spends his formative years growing up in a Catholic orphanage, befriending aspiring lawyer Martin Cabell (Steve McQueen) and romancing Julie (Lita Milan), the Cabell family maid. When told of his true roots and learning that he’ll be removed from the orphanage, Frankie runs away and enters a life of crime, becoming a numbers runner. When Frankie encounters Martin and Julie years later, Martin has become a district attorney looking into the organized crime rackets of mob boss “Silk” Fennelli (Robert Bray) and Julie has become Fennelli’s arm candy. Though he’s able to win Julie back from Fennelli, this paints a bullseye on Frankie’s back and Martin gives his onetime childhood friend a choice: either help him bring down Fennelli and the crime syndicate or get put away in prison for a long time. Frankie’s ultimate decision may just seal his fate…

Coming in the same year which another Harold Robbins novel – A Stone for Danny Fisher – came to the big screen as the Elvis Presley vehicle King Creole, Never Love a Stranger hems to the Robbins formula of melodrama but mixed in with a little noir and a dash of the crime picture. With Robbins co-adapting from his own work in tandem with Richard Day (allegedly the famed art director, if IMDB is indeed correct on this matter), director Robert Stevens – who was better known for his work on TV but had already established some experience in the film noir genre with his debut theatrical film The Big Caper (1957) – follows a well-worn trope in the genre: a young kid who turns to a life of crime and then has to make a choice about his future when caught in a really tight spot. While the film doesn’t really break any new ground in the genre, it does have two things going for it behind the camera: the presence of veteran cinematographer Lee Garmes and Raymond Scott – the same guy responsible for the “Powerhouse” music you hear in many a Looney Tunes cartoon involving conveyor belts or machinery – providing the music score, including the titular song sung by Dorothy Collins during the opening credits. The film, however, is most notable for giving Steve McQueen one of his more notable pre-stardom roles – coming in the same year as the cult classic The Blob – and for giving John Drew Barrymore (the son of the famed John Barrymore and father of actress and talk show host Drew Barrymore) one of his better film roles overall; they’re helped by the presence of Lita Milan, Robert Bray and R.G. Armstrong in the supporting cast, with an uncredited Milo O’Shea providing the off-screen narration. Again, while it may not win any awards for originality, Never Love a Stranger is still a decent enough noir melodrama bolstered by the presence of a future star in Steve McQueen as well as the scion of Hollywood royalty (John Drew Barrymore) in likely his best role on film.

Video: 4/5

3D Rating: NA

For this Blu-ray set, Rope of Sand and Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye are presented in their original 1:37:1 aspect ratios while Never Love a Stranger is presented in its original 1:66:1 aspect ratio; for the HD transfers in this set created from 4K scans of each film’s respective prints, Rope of Sand had its HD transfer taken from one created in 2021 by Paramount, Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye had its transfer created in 2019 and Never Love a Stranger had its transfer created in 2022. For each film, there’s minor instances of scratches, tear and dirt present on each transfer – nothing that makes each film unwatchable – while film grain structure, fine details and gray scale are presented and represented faithfully on each film. This Blu-ray boxset release is likely the best each film will ever look on home video and – in the cases of Rope of Sand and Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye – bests previous home video editions.

Audio: 5/5

The original mono soundtracks for all three films are presented on dual mono DTS-HD Master Audio tracks for this release. For each film, there minimal cases of distortion present like crackling, popping and hissing on their respective tracks; likewise, dialogue tracks, sound mixes and music scores for each film – Franz Waxman for Rope of Sand, Carmen Dragon for Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye and Raymond Scott for Never Love a Stranger – are all presented with clarity, strength and faithfulness. Overall, this Blu-ray boxset release is likely the best each film will ever sound on home video.

Special Features: 3.5/5

Rope of Sand

Commentary by screenwriter/film historian Gary Gerani – Recorded for this release, Gerani goes into detail about the film’s production, including why some viewers might mistake this noir as a very loose reimagining of Casablanca (due to some of the ties in casting).

Theatrical Trailer (2:47)

Bonus KLSC Trailers – I Walk Alone & Kiss the Blood Off My Hands

Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye

Commentary by author/film historian Alan K. Rode – Recorded for this release, Rode goes into detail about the film, including why it has fallen by the wayside due to it coming in the shadows of Cagney’s more acclaimed White Heat.

Theatrical Trailer (2:26)

Bonus KLSC Trailers – Shake Hands with the Devil & One, Two, Three

Never Love a Stranger

Commentary by writer/film historian Julie Kirgo and writer/filmmaker Peter Hankoff – The last of the newly recorded commentaries for this release feature Kirgo and Hankoff engaging in a spirited conversation about the film’s production and why it has fallen through the cracks in terms of film adaptations of Harold Robbins’ works.

Bonus KLSC Trailers – Force of Evil, The Enforcer & Short Cut to Hell

Not carried over from the 2023 Imprint Blu-ray release of Rope of Sand are a commentary track by Samm Deighan and an interview with film professor Jos Arroyo.

Overall: 4/5

Kino continues to impress with their Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema Blu-ray series bringing previously overlooked films from the Golden Age of Noir back into print. Volume 23 is no exception, with solid HD transfers and three brand new commentary tracks as special features. Very highly recommended.

Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema XXIII [Rope of …

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Mychal has been on the Home Theater Forum’s reviewing staff since 2018, with reviews numbering close to 300. During this time, he has also been working as an assistant manager at The Cotton Patch – his family’s fabric and quilting supplies business in Keizer, Oregon. When not working at reviewing movies or working at the family business, he enjoys exploring the Oregon Coast, playing video games and watching baseball in addition to his expansive collection of movies on DVD, Blu-ray and UHD, totalling over 3,000 movies.