directed
by Robert Florey
USA 1949
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1949's "The Crooked Way" is an obscure but highly enjoyable film noir, with some of the most stylish noir photography and lighting I've ever seen. This is because the cinematography was handled by the legendary John Alton, the most recognized and respected name in film noir cinematography. To be honest, I've never thought of John Payne as a great actor. However, with his gloomy, cynical personality and his frequent frowning, he was perfect for film noir, and appeared in several classics besides this one ("Kansas City Confidential", "Slightly Scarlet", "99 River Street", "Hell's Island"). With sharp dialogue, a well-crafted and fast-paced plot, and amazing cinematography, "The Crooked Way" is a great film noir that deserves a better reputation. Excerpt from David Forehand's review located HERE |
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Theatrical Release: 22 April 1949
Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews
DVD Review: Geneon Entertainment - Region 1 - NTSC
Big thanks to Gregory Meshman for the Review!
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CLICK to order from:
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| Distribution |
Geneon Entertainment Region 1 - NTSC |
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| Runtime | 1:25:51 | |
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1.33:1
Original Aspect Ratio |
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NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes. |
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| Audio | English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono) | |
| Subtitles | None | |
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Release Information: Studio: Geneon Entertainment Aspect Ratio:
Edition Details: Chapters 19 |
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| Comments | The plot of this B film-noir is similar to Somewhere in the Night that Fox released on DVD in Sept. 2005. John Payne stars as Eddie Rice, a war veteran who has lost his memory trying to piece together his life before going to war. The straight-forward crime story is complemented by the terrific cinematography by John Alton. Geneon Entertainment bare-bones DVD is a welcome release of this rarely seen film. The presentation is much better than most Alpha releases, but like their Big Combo disc, it suffers from ghosting and blurring during many motion scenes (see last capture). Like other Cinema Deluxe releases, the DVD comes in ultra-thin case. Geneon provided generous 19 chapters, but there are no menus and the disc starts playing once the disc is inserted and stops when the film is over. Considering really cheap price and the rarity of the film, it comes highly recommended until something better comes along. |
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combing/ghosting sample
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| DVD Box Cover |
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CLICK to order from:
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| Distribution |
Geneon Entertainment Region 1 - NTSC |
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Gary Tooze
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