FILM NOIR: THE DARK SIDE OF CINEMA XVI (1942-1951)

This collection features three film noir classics. THE MYSTERY OF MARIE ROGET (1942) – The Mystery-Master’s Spine-Clutching Classic of the Phantom Mangler of Paris! The haunting film adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s pioneering detective story The Mystery of Marie Rogêt paints the future “Queen of Technicolor” Maria Montez (Cobra Woman, Tangier) in stunning shades of noir. A successful actress in the City of Light, Marie Rogêt (Montez) has a sinister dark side: she is plotting the death of her younger sister. When Marie goes missing and the maimed corpse of a young woman is discovered, Rue Morgue sleuth Dr. Paul Dupin (Patric Knowles, O.S.S.) works to track down the killer. Filled with suspense and intrigue, this gripping classic (also known as Phantom of Paris) was inspired by the real-life unsolved murder case of Mary Rogers. Featuring Maria Ouspenskaya (The Wolf Man), John Litel (Pitfall), Edward Norris (The Man with Two Lives) and Lloyd Corrigan (The Chase). CHICAGO DEADLINE (1949) – Was She Good or Evil? Ladd Provides the Answer. From noir king Lewis Allen, director of The Uninvited, Desert Fury, So Evil My Love and Appointment with Danger, comes a twist-filled mystery headlined by screen greats Alan Ladd (Lucky Jordan, O.S.S.) and Donna Reed (It’s a Wonderful Life, Backlash). In a cheap hotel room on Chicago’s South Side, hard-nosed newspaperman Ed Adams (Ladd) finds the body of a dead girl, Rosita Jean d’Ur (Reed). Her address book leads to a host of men frightened by her death but claiming never to have known her. The more questions Ed asks…the more he uncovers the shocking truth. June Havoc (No Time for Love), Irene Hervey (Play Misty for Me) and Arthur Kennedy (Bright Victory) add strong support to the smoldering suspense of Chicago Deadline. IRON MAN (1951) – He’s All Man in the Ring—or Anywhere! Jeff Chandler (Man in the Shadow, The Tattered Dress) stars as a coal miner who turns to professional boxing in the knock-out noir Iron Man. In a small Pennsylvania mining town, Coke Mason (Chandler) is a man with simple life ambitions: he endeavors to marry Rose (Evelyn Keyes, 99 River Street) and own a small business. But his gambling brother George (Stephen McNally, The Raging Tide) has plans to take advantage of Mason’s intense rage and turn him into a professional boxer. Worried that his “killer instinct” may prove to be too much in the ring, Mason must cope with the pressures of his newfound success in this blistering boxing drama from noir master Joseph Pevney, director of Flesh and Fury, Foxfire and Female on the Beach. Featuring future Hollywood legend, Rock Hudson (Man’s Favorite Sport?), and TV legends James Arness (Gunsmoke) and Jim Backus (Mister Magoo, Gilligan’s Island).