Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema XXII [The Enforcer / The Scarlet Hour / Plunder Road] (Blu-ray)

This collection features three film noir classics of the ’50s. THE ENFORCER (1951) – They Called Him The Enforcer… Screen legend Humphrey Bogart (The Maltese Falcon, Deadline – U.S.A.) is in fine form as a crusading District Attorney out to convict the head of a vicious murder-for-hire ring. But when his star witness is killed, Bogie must race against time to find the evidence he needs to bring the mob boss to justice. Told in a series of flashbacks, this tense, tough-as-nails crime thriller on the cutting edge of film noir was based on the true-life “Murder, Inc.” trials. Stylishly directed by Bretaigne Windust (June Bride) with uncredited help from the great Raoul Walsh (High Sierra, Pursued) and beautifully shot by Robert Burks (Vertigo). The stellar cast includes Zero Mostel (The Producers) as nervy thug “Big Babe” Lazick, with villainous favorites Ted de Corsia (The Lady from Shanghai) and Everett Sloane (Citizen Kane). THE SCARLET HOUR (1956) – She’d Do Anything for a Thrill… Including Kill! From Michael Curtiz, the legendary director of Angels with Dirty Faces, Casablanca and Mildred Pierce, comes another dramatic triumph—The Scarlet Hour. Introducing Tom Tryon (The Cardinal) and Carol Ohmart (House on Haunted Hill) as sales manager E.V. “Marsh” Marshall and his boss’s wife Paulie, who, while scandalously parked out on Lovers’ Lane, overhear burglars planning for a heist of precious jewels. Driven by desire, Paulie and Marsh proceed to concoct a criminal scheme of their own. Twists and turns abound in Curtiz’s suspense-packed VistaVision production shot by Lionel Lindon (The Manchurian Candidate), co-starring Jody Lawrance, James Gregory, Elaine Stritch and E.G. Marshall. Guest star Nat King Cole, crooning “Never Let Me Go,” is a jazzy highlight. PLUNDER ROAD (1957) – Roaring Down Hell’s Highway with $10,000,000 in Stolen Gold! In this gritty, one-of-a-kind heist film, five men carry out an elaborate plan to rob $10 million in gold bullion from a San Francisco-bound U.S. Mint train on a dark and stormy night. To throw the police off the track, they split the massive haul into three concealed truckloads and go off in different directions, hoping for a perfect getaway. But will the looters escape justice, or meet their cruel fates on Plunder Road? Starring character-actor greats Gene Raymond, Wayne Morris, Elisha Cook Jr., Stafford Repp and Steven Ritch, with soap opera legend Jeanne Cooper (The Young and the Restless) as Raymond’s gun moll. Directed by cult favorite Hubert Cornfield (The Night of the Following Day) and shot in glorious Scope by the esteemed Ernest Haller (Mildred Pierce).