Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema XX [Captain Carey USA / Appointment with Danger / Make Haste to Live] (Blu-ray)

This collection features three film noir classics. CAPTAIN CAREY, U.S.A. (1950) – Screen legend Alan Ladd (Lucky Jordan) plays the title role in this outstanding noir tale of a former OSS operative who returns to Italy after the war to avenge the death of resistance worker Giulia (Wanda Hendrix, Sierra)—only to find out that his “deceased” lover is not only still alive, but also now the wife of a powerful Italian baron (Francis Lederer, Midnight). Carey decides to stick around, hoping to flush out the traitor who had caused the wartime deaths of several of his OSS colleagues and resistance fighters. Enhanced by the musical number “Mona Lisa,” which won an Academy Award (Best Original Song, 1950) and later became an all-time classic. Directed by Hollywood great Mitchell Leisen (No Man of Her Own). APPOINTMENT WITH DANGER (1951) – Ladd is back as the U.S. Mail’s Ace Agent Smashes the Biggest Mail Robbery Plan in History! Screen legend Alan Ladd (Chicago Deadline) is Postal Inspector Al Goddard, assigned to investigate the murder of a fellow officer. The only witness to the crime is Sister Augustine (Phyllis Calvert, Time Out of Mind), who identifies the photograph of one of the assailants. This leads Goddard to a seedy hotel where he learns that the assailant is a member of a gang headed by Earl Boettiger (Paul Stewart, Kiss Me Deadly), and he soon discovers that the gang is planning a million-dollar mail robbery. This taut and thrilling film noir also features Jan Sterling (Female on the Beach) and future Dragnet stars, Jack Webb and Harry Morgan, as Stewart’s henchmen. Directed by noir master Lewis Allen (So Evil My Love). MAKE HASTE TO LIVE (1954) – Only a Gangster Killer Knew the Secret of Her Past! In this taut noir melodrama, Crystal (Dorothy McGuire, The Spiral Staircase) has unknowingly married a murderer. She knew Steve (Stephen McNally, The Raging Tide) was handsome and charming. But by the time she discovered he was a cold-blooded killer, it was too late: he had already become her husband. So she ran like never before, and built herself a new life together with her daughter. And years later, when she learns that Steve had been jailed for murder, Crystal thought she was safe. But when Steve is released from prison, he has a deadly reunion in mind. With Mary Murphy (The Wild One) and Edgar Buchanan (Human Desire), Make Haste to Live was the final feature film by veteran director William A. Seiter (Hot Saturday).