On June 9, Kino Lorber will release the boxed set collection “Film
Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema IIIâ€.
The set consists of these three films:
ABANDONED
(1949) - Noir great Dennis O'Keefe (T-Men, Raw Deal, Cover Up) and Gale Storm
(Between Midnight and Dawn) expose a baby-selling racket in the searing crime
drama Abandoned, co-starring Jeff Chandler (Man in the Shadow) and Raymond Burr
(Pitfall). When Paula Considine (Storm) arrives in Los Angeles to find her
sister Mary, she soon learns the unwed mother is dead and her newborn infant is
missing. Teaming up with a cynical reporter named Mark Sitko (O'Keefe), Paula
discovers Mary was the victim ofa black market adoption ring run by Mrs. Leona
Donner (Marjorie Rambeau, Torch Song) and her sleazy assistant Kerric (Burr).
Hoping to entrap the pair, Paula and Sitko devise a plan but the sting
operation proves to have deadly consequences. This classic film noir was
beautifully shot by William H. Daniels (Woman in Hiding) and wonderfully
directed by Joseph M. Newman (711 Ocean Drive), with top-notch supporting
performances by Jeanette Nolan (Macbeth) and Mike Mazurki (Murder, My Sweet).
THE LADY GAMBLES (1949) - From
Michael Gordon, the outstanding director of The Web, An Act of Murder, Woman in
Hiding, Cyrano de Bergerac, Pillow Talk and Portrait in Black, comes this
classic film noir starring screen legend Barbara Stanwyck (Double Indemnity,
Witness to Murder) as a once respectable and vibrant wife who has become a
desperately out-of-control high-roller gambler. A chance visit into a Las Vegas
casino introduces Joan Boothe (Stanwyck) to the seductive allure of poker and
the craps table. All too soon, she ignores her devoted husband (Robert Preston,
Wake Island, This Gun for Hire) and older sister (Edith Barrett, I Walked with
a Zombie) as she compulsively chases after hard-hearted Lady Luck. Beautifully
shot by Russell Metty (Touch of Evil) and featuring a stellar supporting cast
that includes Stephen McNally (Diplomatic Courier), John Hoyt (O.S.S.), Leif
Erickson (On the Waterfront) and Tony Curtis (6 Bridges to Cross).
THE SLEEPING CITY (1950) - Drug
pushing and gambling set the stage for murder in The Sleeping City, a
hardboiled film-noir thriller shot on the streets of New York. When a doctor is
shot dead outside Bellevue Hospital, detective Fred Rowen (Richard Conte, Cry
of the City, Thieves' Highway) is assigned to find the killer. Posing as an
intern, Rowen is befriended by the hospital's elevator operator and a ward
nurse (Coleen Gray, Kiss of Death, Nightmare Alley) he begins to date. As his
investigation continues and potential witnesses wind up dead, Rowen finds
himself next on the murderer's list when he uncovers a narcotics ring.
Suddenly, everyone is a suspect and he doesn't know whom he can trust! Written
by Jo Eisinger (Gilda, Night and the City) and directed by George Sherman
(Larceny, Big Jake).
* Bonus Features: NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historian Samm Deighan
(Abandoned) | NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historian Kat Ellinger (The Lady
Gambles) | NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historian Imogen Sara Smith (The
Sleeping City) | Optional English Subtitles | Theatrical Trailers
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