There's great snappy dialog. It's hard to find a pair of actors who did this as well or at all. I bought this because I wanted to see Wendell Corey get his due supporting these two. Burt Lancaster’s third feature and Kirk Douglas’s second, the 1947 film noir I Walk Alone is also significant as the first feature (of an eventual seven; through 1986’s Tough Guys) in which the stolid pair of screen stalwarts individually filled the frame at broad shouldered-medium and steel jawed-close views. If material, including references to the author is found on explicit, illegal or offensive websites, an attempt will be made to contact the site owner to remove it. Terrific Performances Try to Overcome Weak Script. Former cinematographer Byron Haskin tried his hand at directing with decidedly mixed results. "I Walk Alone", directed by Byron Haskin, is a good example of those films that came out after WWII. For the answers, see the end of this review. In the Key of Noir - Movie Review Essay: I Walk Al... "Loves Music, Loves to Dance. Years later Frankie is released from the clink and visits Noll with the intention of collecting his half of the nightclub's profits. Justin's Top Ten Films of All Time: 15Zine Popular Posts Widget: To use the "View Count" option You need to install Jetpack plugin and enable the "Stats" module. The touching hollowness I previously mistook for mere emptiness in his eyes here expresses the loneliness, isolation, and tortured conscience of his corruption-colluding character to the point where each glistening bead of flopsweat wiped from his brow suggests a man visually melting away. Over 2,500 Film, Streaming, Blu-ray, DVD, Book, and Soundtrack Reviews. Both these actors were extremely ambitious, hard-working and determined to improve their skills by working with better scripts and for better directors. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. Top subscription boxes – right to your door, The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (Blu-Ray/DVD Combo Pack), Too Late for Tears (Newly Restored) [Blu-ray/DVD, Bad Girls of Film Noir, Vol. Two young hoodlums (Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas) are running illegal booze into another county during prohibition and get chased by the cops. STREET DATE: JULY 26TH, 2018/KINO LORBER STUDIO CLASSICS. Having spent 14 years in prison for crimes during prohibition, the melancholy Burt Lancaster has returned home to try to muscle in on what he rightfully believes is partially his, now controlled by old pal Kirk Douglas who has turned their previous illegal enterprise into a corporation. Crosby and Fitzgerald are usually in a battle of the generations, and a confrontation of two street smart types. Douglas's bookkeeper (Wendell Corey), a younger brother figure to Lancaster, has greatly aged in Lancaster's time away, obviously consumed with guilt over the illegal activities he has had to do at Douglas's demands, and now must keep Lancaster at bay as well. I Walk Alone is a 1947 film noir directed by Byron Haskin and starring Burt Lancaster and Lizabeth Scott, with a supporting cast featuring Wendell Corey and Kirk Douglas.. In the Key of Noir - Movie Review Essay: I Walk Alone (1947), TV on DVD Review: A French Village - Season 1, Blu-ray Review: Echelon Conspiracy (2009), Movie Review: Alone With Her Dreams (2020), DVD Review: The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea -- Special Edition (2000), Film Movement DVD Collection Review – Beyond Borders: Stories of Interfaith Friendship (Arranged; A Bottle in the Gaza Sea; Foreign Letters). He's used to being a bootlegger, but since Prohibition is over, he has no product to peddle. Mastered in 4K from an original 35mm safety dupe negative and presented in its original 1.37:1 aspect ratio, the MPEG-4 AVC 1080p transfer may not be as "immaculate" as some may expect, but it is nevertheless a beauty to behold, particularly if you've seen the film before via any of its older grey-market releases. It's worth a look because of the marvelous cast assembled to appear in it. Kirk Douglas was ready to break into his typical tough guy no-nonsense image in this gripping 1949 crime drama. External Reviews ... Crack-Up Shield for Murder I Walk Alone The Bribe Deadline at Dawn. I can't give the plot away, because this must be seen more than once to comprehend the sudden climactic finish with just two of the 3 major characters alive, walking into a fog bank. The underrated Lizbeth Scott has the best performance in this rarely seen drama. Whatever happened to those great criminals and thugs of the 1920s? I have never seen the film, and I wasn't disapointed. Thank you. It is an interesting example of film noir, but it also has curious slants of it's own. Seventy-one years later, time’s inexorable pull may reveal in watching, finally, where we all walk alone. The plot is basic "film noir" - Burt comes out of a 14 year jail sentence feeling aggrieved that his ex partner - Kirk - has betrayed him. Brand New HD Master – From a 4K Scan of the 35mm Safety Dupe Negative by Paramount Pictures Archive! Looming beautifully on a large TV, KL’s Blu-ray comes with a commentary track by writer and film historian Troy Howarth, who brings his usual level of wit and scholarship to the explanatory proceedings. Lizabeth Scott's acting can be stiff and uncomfortable. In the Key of Noir - Movie Review Essay: I Walk Alone (1947) In the Key of Noir by Jen Johans. The text of this website is copyrighted material. Early Kirk and Burt in a gritty noir story. Review I Am Alive Review ... Four hours to fly across the country, almost a year to walk back home. Rotten Tomatoes, home of the Tomatometer, is the most trusted measurement of quality for Movies & TV. Special Features: -Audio Commentary by Film Historian Troy Howarth -KLSC Trailers. The really interesting feature is of course seeing Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas as they were then compared to what they became. Douglas and Lancaster were so well balanced in their movies that they were interchangeable. Good support from Marc Lawrence, Mickey Knox ( as a sadistic gunsel) and Mike Mazurki as Kirk's dorman and bouncer, and he gives Burt a thorough bouncing in what is the only real violence in the film. Frankie (Lancaster) invades Dink's (Douglas) office to muscle in on what he's owed of Dink's big operation. Every minute was worthwhile. No need to recap the plot. The first of what would ultimately tally up to be seven feature films starring the talents of Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas ‒ a collaboration that would span nearly four decades, concluding with Tough Guys in 1986 ‒ I Walk Alone takes us back to when the two iconic performers were still essentially strangers to one another. I love old films, I recommend not paying full price for this film, Reviewed in the United States on July 13, 2020. Meanwhile, the nefarious Turner ‒ who intends to marry rich socialite Kristine Miller to save his business and himself ‒ asks his seductive, surly-voiced nightclub singer girlfriend Kay (Lizabeth Scott) to go out on a date with Frankie to find out what his unreformed former acquaintance is really up to. After fourteen years in prison for bootlegging, Frankie Madison (Burt Lancaster) is released and returns To New York to meet his friend and partner Noll "Dink" Turner (Kirk Douglas). Alas, things have changed considerably during his prison stretch: the illegal business he and Turner once controlled has since transformed into quite the legitimate ‒ and swanky ‒ establishment. Both Lancaster and Douglas, who co-starred in a number of films over the next two decades, were famous for tough exteriors hiding sensitive natures. To console Frankie, 'Dink' sends his girlfriend, Lizabeth Scott (Kay Lawrence) his way. This is when a change takes place. Even so, the film is most interesting in the way it depicts the change in crime syndication (from streetwise toughness in the bootlegging Depression days to business acumen in the capitalist post-WWII era) that occurred during the fourteen years Lancaster spent behind bars: this is highlighted in a sharply amusing sequence when accountant Corey wrecks Lancaster's dream of owning half of Douglas' business empire (as they had verbally agreed on all those years before) by disclosing in "double-talk" the complex legal relationship that exists between the various companies owned by Douglas! U.S. release: 16 January 1948. In the case of this fine, slow-burning film noir from first-time (solo) director Byron Haskin (Robinson Crusoe on Mars, September Storm), the separation between the two leads only helps to add fuel to the fire. And no frosting for sure. Although it was still very early in their careers, they had already become typecast as, respectively, the jilted, ex-con hero and the suave, slimy villain and this film has them reprising those characterizations – albeit less effectively than their prototype seen earlier in THE KILLERS (1946) and OUT OF THE PAST (1947); the same goes for Scott and Corey who both share a divided loyalty towards the two male leads. Melodrama develops as Lancaster plots to muscle in on Kirk Douglas’ nitery. | The latest book from the prolific Mary Higgins Clark is a sure fire winner. Although the top billing is given to Wendell Corey, he has little to do in it. Lastly, we bear witness to a dynamic early role by Mickey Knox, an American-born tough guy who later moved to Europe after being blacklisted during the McCarthy Era. Dave tries to become human later but it comes at a cost as the pivotal character in this tight drama. With this 4K scan and digital restoration, Kino Lorber surpass themselves in their visually crisp presentation of this previous rarity on home video. Kirk has turned his half of the business into a nightclub, with the beautiful Lizabeth Scott as his star attraction, and he's thriving. I should read the product description, Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 9, 2020. brilliant film lancaster and douglas at their best, very speedy delivery. is the only official web domain of Jen Johans. I would recommend getting the bundle with the DLC story on next-gen systems or Steam if the game does interest you. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. If you hold the copyright and would like the images removed, please let the blog author know. | As a plus we have Lisabeth Scott, surely one of the most alluring actresses of the time and Wendell Corey making the most of a crummy part. This leads to Douglas having Lancaster badly beaten up and turns Douglas's songstress mistress (Lizabeth Scott) onto Lancaster's side, tired of Douglas's involvement with a pushy, wealthy widow (Kristen Miller). A good thriller all around,predictable at times but very stylish, gritty and involving all the time. When he went in brute force for running liquor was the path to success. There was an error retrieving your Wish Lists. Unfortunately, the movie goes downhill from there. Byron Haskin (The War of the Worlds, Too Late for Tears) directed this classic film noir about two bootleggers on the lam. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading. I just saw this film two nights ago at the San Francisco Film Noir Festival. | User Ratings This review is for the KINO LORBER DVD. Your recently viewed items and featured recommendations, Select the department you want to search in, + No Import Fees Deposit & $32.48 Shipping to Russian Federation. As well as stating that they only "get" a minimal amount of the percentages ~ by the books. Like the pools of overhead light that shine forlornly on each street corner, I Walk Alone contains some of the genre’s great studio-crafted cityscapes, endlessly stretching to some unknown point in the unperceivable distance. As one would expect, Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster manage to be somewhat entertaining, but they are greatly hampered by a lackluster and painfully predictable script, perfunctory direction, and a leading lady who isn't capable of creating the type of tension and chemistry which her role requires.