Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema XVII [Vice Squad / Black Tuesday / Nightmare] (Blu-ray)

This collection features three film noir classics starring screen legend Edward G. Robinson. Vice Squad (1953) – Stops You...Like a Slug in the Chest! Screen favorites Edward G. Robinson (Scarlet Street) and Paulette Goddard (The Cat and the Canary) star in the pulse-stopping police procedural, Vice Squad. It’s one tough day for captain of detectives Barney Barnaby (Robinson). When an officer is shot arresting a car thief, Barnaby uses his tough-minded skills to track down the culprits and uncovers a bank heist plot in the process. Escort madam Mona Ross (Goddard) is willing to help Barnaby with the case…for a price, of course. Director Arnold Laven (Rough Night in Jericho) and cinematographer Joseph Biroc (Bwana Devil) let this LAPD noir unfurl over the course of 24 gripping hours. The crackerjack cast includes K.T. Stevens (Port of New York), Porter Hall (Murder, He Says) and Lee Van Cleef (High Noon). Black Tuesday (1954) – The Most Ruthless Robinson of All Time! The legendary Edward G. Robinson (The Stranger) is at his snarling, savage best in the hardbitten gangster drama, Black Tuesday. On the eve of his execution, violent killer Vincent Canelli (Robinson) busts out of prison with the help of his girlfriend (Jean Parker, The Gunfighter) and a crook posing as a reporter (Warren Stevens, The Price of Fear). Escaping with Canelli is a bank robber (Peter Graves, Stalag 17) who is wounded while evading the law and leaves a trail of blood to Canelli’s hideout. Now locked in a deadly confrontation with the cops, the psychotic Canelli threatens to kill hostages if not granted safe passage. Directed by Hugo Fregonese (One Way Street), shot by Stanley Cortez (The Night of the Hunter) and featuring Milburn Stone (TV’s Gunsmoke) and Jack Kelly (TV’s Maverick). Nightmare (1956) – Beware! These Are the Eyes of a Hypnotist! Screen great Edward G. Robinson (Night Has a Thousand Eyes) shocks the screen awake in the haunting film noir, Nightmare. New Orleans clarinetist Stan Grayson (Kevin McCarthy, Invasion of the Body Snatchers) has a nightmare in which he sees himself killing a man in a mirrored room. He awakens to find blood on himself, bruises on his neck and a key from the dream in his hand. With the help of his detective brother-in-law (Robinson), Grayson uncovers clues that point to a malevolent hypnotist living in his building. Directed by Maxwell Shane (Fear in the Night) and based on a story by pulp-fiction king Cornell Woolrich (Rear Window).