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(aka "Seven Witnesses" or "Un asesino inocente")

 

directed by George Archainbaud
USA 1950

 

The main shortcoming of Hunt The Man Down is that it's too short. It tells the attempt to exonerate a man of a crime committed a dozen years earlier, half a dozen eye-witnesses to which have long since scattered. That's a lot a backstory to cram into a scant 68 minutes – programmer length – when the plot to unfurl is almost as complicated as The Killing or Out of the Past. Despite some nicely observed detail, ranging from Los Angeles' Skid Row to Beverly Hills estates where maids stand by swimming pools with towels on their arm, the many characters don't get their due – Hunt The Man Down becomes less complex than confusing.

James Anderson, working as a dishwasher in a bar that's held up after hours, shoots and kills the intruder; in the resultant publicity, he's spotted as the man who went on the lam before being sentenced for murder some years before. It falls to the public defender (Gig Young) to prove his innocence. With the help of his father, a one-armed retired cop (Harry Shannon), he tries to locate the guests at the impromptu drinking party in 1938 which (as such shindigs so often do) ended in the violent death of one of the merry-makers. He finds the original witnesses elusive, dissembling, deranged or dead. He also finds that, once a habit for homicide takes hold, it's hard to break....

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

Posters

Theatrical Release: 26 December 1950 (USA)

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DVD Review: Vértice Cine (Filmoteca RKO) - Region 2 - PAL

Big thanks to Gregory Meshman for the Review!

DVD Box Cover

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Distribution

Vértice Cine

Region 2 - PAL
Runtime 1:08:18
Video

1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio
Average Bitrate: 6.9 mb/s
PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate

Audio Dolby Digital Mono 2.0 (English, Spanish Dub)
Subtitles Spanish, None
Features Release Information:
Studio: Vértice Cine

Aspect Ratio:
Fullscreen - 1.33:1

Edition Details:
� 24-page booklet with notes by Joaquín Vallet Rodrigo (in Spanish)

DVD Release Date: August 28th, 2013
Keep case inside a cardboard slipcase

Chapters 8

 

 

 

Comments

Hunt the Man Down is a fast-paced budget noir that in 68 minutes attempts to set up and resolve a 13-year-old mystery. James Anderson (Ruby Gentry) plays a fugitive Richard Kincaid whose heroic actions during an attempted robbery of his girlfriend (Lynne Roberts, Dr. Renault's Secret) bring him a media attention that puts him on trial for the murder he went on a run for. His real life sister, Mary Anderson (Lifeboat, Whispering City) is in a cast of witnesses that can help clear his name or put him in jail. They also include Willard Parker (David Harding, Counterspy), Carla Balenda (The Whip Hand), Gerald Mohr (Gilda), John Kellogg (Port of New York), Cleo Moore (Bait) and Christy Palmer. A public defender (Gig Young, City That Never Sleeps) and his dad, a retired detective (Harry Shannon, The Devil Thumbs a Ride), start their own investigation to clear Kincaid and find the real murderer.
Like most RKO productions, the rights of Hunt the Man Down are with Warner and until they do proper remaster, the film is available in region 2 from a video source. The interlaced master used for this Spanish single-layered disc is in poor shape. There is no clarity, some marks on the screen and occasional chroma effect is apparent (capture 3). The mono audio is decent, with no distortion and the disc includes a Spanish dub and optional Spanish subtitles. What Vértice Cine can't provide in film presentation, they attempt in deluxe packaging with a cardboard slipcase and notes on the film in Spanish in a 24-page booklet that also features poster and lobby card reproductions and film stills. Buying the disc directly from Amazon España is the best option at this time, until a better release from Warner Archive eventually arrives.

  - Gregory Meshman

 

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DVD Box Cover

CLICK to order from:

 

   

 

    

 

Distribution

Vértice Cine

Region 2 - PAL


 

 



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