Black Hand - Gene Kelly

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

directed by Richard Thorpe
USA 1950

With its scenes of extortion and murder in the Italian-American community of Manhattan's Lower East Side at the turn of the century, The Black Hand inevitably calls to mind the flashbacks to young Vito Corleone's start in The Godfather, Part II. And while it's far from that league, there's much in The Black Hand to admire.

Eight years after the murder of his father, an Italian immigrant, for daring to oppose the criminal organization called The Black Hand (the script also calls it The Mafia and The Comorra), young Gene Kelly returns to New York to pursue his vendetta. With the help of police detective J. Carrol Naish, he tries to organize the tenement neighborhood to resist the reign of intimidation and terror. But the mob has moles who anticipate and thwart his every move. When Naish travels to Naples on the case, he's killed, but not before mailing an envelope of incriminating photos to Kelly. But the little brother of Kelly's girlfriend (Teresa Celli) is kidnapped, with the envelope serving as ransom....

Excerpt of review from Bill McVicar for imdb.com located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: 11 March 1950 (New York City)

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DVD Review: Warner Home Video (Warner Archive Collection) - Region 0 - NTSC

Big thanks to Gregory Meshman for the Review!

DVD Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	Warner Home Video Region 0 - NTSC
Runtime	1:31:51
Video	1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 6.22 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate
Audio	Dolby Digital Mono (English)
Subtitles	None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Warner Home Video Aspect Ratio: Fullscreen - 1.33:1 Edition Details: • None DVD Release Date: July 17th, 2012 Keep case Chapters 30

Comments

After starring in a number of musicals, comedies and dramas, Gene Kelly went dark for Robert Siodmak with Deanna Durbin for Universal's essential noir Christmas Holiday (1944), that is still unavailable on DVD in region 1. His next excursion to the noirland was in 1950 for this movie from MGM that traces history of mafia in New York Italian neighborhood at the turn of 20th century. Gene Kelly gives an excellent performance as an Italian immigrant Johnny Columbo on a personal vendetta against people who are responsible for killing his father. Teresa Celli is his girl and J. Carrol Naish is a likeable detective trying to persuade Johnny that there are legal ways to avenge his father.

The single-layered disc from Warner Archive Collection was released back in 2012 and is overall a top-notch release. The contrast of this black and white film is well balanced and there is very little damage on the print, just minor specs and marks that are never intrusive. The mono audio soundtrack is good with no distortions. There is no trailer included and disc gets 30 chapters. A recommended release for any noir or Gene Kelly fan.

- Gregory Meshman

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