Today, Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema XXV. Hungarian-born film director John H. Auer and 3 of his films at Republic Pictures are the focus of the 25th volume of Kino’s Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema Blu-ray series. First, a plot by John Carroll to have Vera Ralston marry his terminally ill brother Robert Paige takes an unexpected turn in The Flame. Next, the city of Chicago bears witness to several disparate characters whose paths cross in City That Never Sleeps. Finally, Evelyn Keyes tries to find ex-husband Wendell Corey – believed to be dead after the Pearl Harbor bombing – in post-WWII Honolulu in Hell’s Half Acre. City That Never Sleeps and Hell’s Half Acre were previously released on Blu-ray by Olive Films, while The Flame makes its Blu-ray debut here.
The Production: 4/5
The Flame (1947; 3.5 out of 5)
As the black sheep of his wealthy family, George MacAllister (John Carroll) is nursing a deep resentment towards his terminally ill half-brother Barry (Robert Paige). Strapped for cash since squandering his share of the family inheritance, George devises a scheme to get his half-brother’s money by having his girlfriend Carlotta Duval (Vera Ralston) get hired as Barry’s nurse; the whole idea is that Carlotta will fall in love with Barry, marry him and then take him for all he’s worth before discarding him. But George didn’t count on Carlotta actually having true feelings of love for Barry or that blackmailer Ernie Hicks (Broderick Crawford) would enter his life…
A melodrama with a noir twist, The Flame was one of many attempts by Republic Pictures studio head Herbert J. Yates to make Czech skater turned actress Vera Ralston into a movie star. Taking a script by Lawrence Kimble from a story by novelist Robert T. Shannon here, director & producer John H. Auer works within the conventional love triangle framework of some noirs and adds a neat stylish touch to the proceedings. A lot of that is due to the contributions of Republic Pictures regular Reggie Lanning as cinematographer in addition to the production design team of Gano Chittenden, John McCarthy Jr. and George Milo helping to make the mostly stage bound production – with some effective special effects work by the Lydecker Brothers – feel a little less confining and more polished than the typical Republic picture of the era; veteran composer Heinz Roemheld’s lush music score is a nice touch too. While Vera Ralston looks and sounds a little stiff in the lead, this is still one of her better film roles during her screen career and she has nice support from the likes of John Carroll, Robert Paige, Broderick Crawford, Henry Travers, Blanche Yurka, Constance Dowling, Hattie McDaniel and Victor Sen Yung. While her film career may not have taken off as her boss – and future husband – would’ve liked, The Flame is still one of the better films of Ralston’s career, with a neat plot twist at the end that you won’t see coming; this film has largely been unavailable on home video until now, with this Blu-ray release finally giving it a chance to be reappraised.
City That Never Sleeps (1953; 4 out of 5)
In Chicago, the “Windy City”, the lives of 5 different and disparate characters play out over the course of one night. There’s nearly burned-out cop Johnny Kelly (Gig Young), on the verge of leaving the beat behind for good; lounge singer/exotic dancer Sally “Angel Face” Connors (Mala Powers) is the woman Johnny is having an affair with and also the object of affection for performance artist and former actor Gregg Warren (Wally Cassell). There’s also Hayes Stewart (William Talman), a former magician who has turned to a life of crime; crooked yet smooth-talking attorney Penrod Biddel (Edward Arnold) wants Stewart out of town and into police custody – in Indiana – yet unaware that the crook is carrying on with his wife Lydia (Marie Windsor). And overlooking all of this is Johnny’s beat partner Sgt. Joe (Chill Wills), an honest cop trying to convince his new partner to not give up on everything he has.
City That Never Sleeps might be the best film of John H. Auer’s directorial career and one that’s more than a typical noir that critics largely dismissed the film as upon first release. Steve Fisher’s screenplay melds the type of disparate characters that populate The Asphalt Jungle (1950) with an interesting touch of a plot element from It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) in the form of the “Voice of Chicago”, which turns out to be Sgt. Joe (Chill Wills’ voice is dead giveaway on that plot point). That unique combination is a hallmark of film’s uniquely offbeat nature, marked by the striking cinematography by John L. Russell, some of which was filmed on location in Chicago. While the film may be uneven in spots, John H. Auer’s direction is buoyed by solid performances from the ensemble cast, including Gig Young, Mala Powers, the aforementioned Wills, Edward Arnold, William Talman, Wally Cassell, noir legend Marie Windsor and featuring Tom Poston in his film debut as a detective. Another noir that has been reappraised positively over the years, City That Never Sleeps bristles with a unique and creative energy that permeates throughout and is one of more underrated films in the canon of Republic Pictures.
Hell’s Half Acre (1954; 4 out of 5)
Hawaii might be the Gem of the Pacific, but even Paradise has a dark side if you know where to look. This is certainly true in the case of ex-racketeer Chet Chester (Wendell Corey), who is being squeezed by former partners-in-crime in the seamy side of Honolulu. However, an escape route unexpectedly emerges when his girlfriend Sally (Nancy Gates) kills one of his ex-partners trying to blackmail him into restarting the crime syndicate they ran together, only without Chet; believing he has enough clout to swing a favorable jail sentence in his favor, he willingly takes the fall. However, when Sally is killed by Roger Kong (Philip Ahn), Chet escapes from police custody and hides out in Hell’s Half Acre – Honolulu’s tenement district – searching for Kong to avenge her murder. Unbeknownst to him, Donna Williams (Evelyn Keyes) has arrived in Honolulu from Los Angeles in search of the husband who went MIA from the ill-fated U.S.S. Arizona following the attack on Pearl Harbor; it may soon become clear to Donna that Chet and the presumed missing Randy Williams are one and the same…
Coming right after City That Never Sleeps, Hell’s Half Acre mixes the picturesque beauty of Hawaii with the dark side of film noir. Reuniting with screenwriter Steve Fisher, director John H. Auer fashions an economical – but never cheap – story of the “man with a past” trope mixed in with blackmail, murder and a light touch of travelogue in the quieter scenes. Cinematographer John L. Russell also reteams with Auer to capture the Honolulu locations in the story in their beauty while also mixing in the darker and seamier sides of paradise, including the titular location of the city. However, the film’s beating heart is the strong performances of lead players Wendell Corey and Evelyn Keyes, with a supporting cast that includes Elsa Lanchester, Nancy Gates, Philip Ahn, Marie Windsor, Keye Luke, Jesse White and Leonard Strong. Much like City, Hell’s Half Acre is another underrated film in the Republic Pictures filmography that’s worth rediscovering and reappraising.
Video: 4/5
3D Rating: NA
For this Blu-ray release, The Flame and City That Never Sleeps are presented in their original 1:33:1 aspect ratios, while Hell’s Half Acre is presented in its original 1:85:1 aspect ratio; the HD transfers for The Flame and Hell’s Half Acre were created in 2017 by Paramount Pictures from 4K scans of each film’s respective film elements, while City That Never Sleeps is the beneficiary of the most recent HD transfer in the set, created in 2024 by Paramount from a 4K scan. On each transfer, film grain, gray scale and fine details appear to be faithfully represented and presented with instances of scratches, tears and dirt present on each respective transfer ranging from minimal to minor. This Blu-ray set is likely the best each film will ever look on home video and bests the previous home video incarnations of City That Never Sleeps and Hell’s Half Acre.
Audio: 4.5/5
The original mono soundtracks for all three films in this Blu-ray boxset are presented on 2.0 dual mono DTS-HD Master Audio tracks. For each film, dialogue, sound mix and respective music scores – Heinz Roemheld for The Flame, R. Dale Butts with additional music composed by Stanley Wilson and stock music by Frank Perkins and Victor Young for City That Never Sleeps and Butts with stock music composed by Young for Hell’s Half Acre – all presented with strength and clarity with minimal cases of distortion like crackling, popping and hissing present on each track. This Blu-ray boxset is likely the best all three films will ever sound on home video and in the cases of City That Never Sleeps and Hell’s Half Acre, best their previous Blu-ray releases by Olive Films.
Special Features: 3.5/5
The Flame
Commentary by Cereal at Midnight podcast host Heath Holland – The first of two new commentary tracks Holland has recorded for this release has him going over the details on the film’s creation, including Herbert J. Yates’ attempt to turn Czech actress Vera Ralston into a star.
Bonus KLSC Trailers – Dark City, Appointment with Danger & The Stranger
City That Never Sleeps
Commentary by film historian Imogen Sara Smith – Carried over from Imprint’s 2023 Blu-ray release of the movie, Smith goes over some of the creative touches the film – and director John H. Auer – makes in telling the story and why the film deserves a second look today.
Bonus KLSC Trailers – Force of Evil, The Enforcer & Shield for Murder
Not carried over from Imprint’s Blu-ray release of the movie is an interview with film critic Kim Newman.
Hell’s Half Acre
Commentary by Cereal at Midnight podcast host Heath Holland – Holland’s second commentary track for this release delves into the film’s history, including the backstory of the director, the popularity of Hawaiian – and Polynesian – culture in films during this time and where it fits overall in the film noir genre, specifically the “Hawaii Noir” subgenre.
Bonus KLSC Trailers – 99 River Street, The Killer Is Loose & Touch of Evil
Overall: 4/5
Kino continues to find gems in their ongoing Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema Blu-ray series, with each of the three films in this set having solid HD transfers and informative commentary tracks accompanying them. Very highly recommended.
![Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema XXV [The Flame / City That Never Sleeps / Hell's Half Acre]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51kforwR68L._SL255_.jpg)
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.
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