Forgotten Noir – Series
Two/Volumes 4 – 6: The Man From Cairo/Mask Of The Dragon/F.B.I. Girl/Tough
Assignment/I’ll Get You/Fingerprints Don’t Lie (VCI)
Picture: C
Sound: C Extras: B- Films: B-
VCI’s DVD series Forgotten Noir continues with more
double volumes of some more interesting B-movies. The sets this time include:
Volume Four:
The Man From Cairo (1953 aka Crime Squad or Dramma Nella
Kasbah) put George Raft in an Italian Spy production of sorts looking for
$100 Million in solid Gold. Irene Papas
shows up in a bathtub and it makes for an interesting viewing just to see how
different this semi-Noir production turned out to be. At 86 minutes, it is the longest film in the
set and is the only one we would consider A-feature length.
Mask Of The Dragon (1951) is not a Mr. Moto film
despite actor Charles Iwamoto credited as such.
It is just his last name shortened.
Instead, a Sergeant (Richard Emory) delivers a jade statue from Korea to
Los Angels and gets more than he bargained for.
Would have been more suspenseful if not bookended by phony “official”
happy ending, but Sheila Ryan and Lyle Talbot make it more interesting.
Volume Five:
F.B.I. Girl (1951) has Cesar Romero in more
of a police investigational than a Noir going after Raymond Burr, hired by the
government to steal a file. George
Brent, Tom Drake Tommy Noonan and Peter Marshall also star in this interesting
chase film.
Tough Assignment (1949) has Don “Red” Berry
trying to break a cattle rustling operation in a Redd Ryder-to-Noir transplant
that has a few moments. Look for future
Bond gangster Marc Lawrence too.
Volume Six:
I’ll Get You (1952) has George Raft
searching for a missing F.B.I. agent in London in one of the more interesting
British Noirs in this series. The Cold
War was in full swing and mixers in this one well enough without dating it too
badly.
Fingerprints Don’t Lie (1951) has a great title
and is a hoot of a wacky mystery, as a major is assassinated, another man is
framed via fingerprint and the chase begins.
Really bad effects make this Mystery Science Theater material, but
points go to its ambition.
The 1.33 X 1 image on both films is good for their age,
and though there is some softness in more cases than one would like, the Video
Black and Gray Scale make up for it. Mario Albertelli shot Cairo, Jack
Greenhalgh shot Dragon, Girl and Fingerprints, Benjamin H. Kline shot Tough and Eric Cross Route.
The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono on both films are a bit more brittle, but
have their moments of clarity and the actors can be heard well for the most
part, while the music scores suffer a bit.
Paul Dunlap, who worked with Sam Fuller on some of his early classics,
composed the score for Expose.
Extras include photo galleries, trailers, some text bios and two audio
commentaries on the 5th and 6th volumes that show how out
of the way VCI is going to load these discs for fans.
A fun set overall.
- Nicholas Sheffo
