John Alton Film Noir Special Edition Bundle (T-Men / Raw Deal / He Walked by Night) - Blu-ray

"It's not what you light… it's what you don't light." - John Alton

No other individual defines the foreboding film style known as noir more than John Alton, the Academy Award®-winning cinematographer (An American in Paris) who established his reputation as one of the movie industry's finest by plying his unique talents in the arena of B-movies.

It was his work at Eagle Lion Films in the late 1940s, particularly his collaborations with director Anthony Mann which showcased Alton’s unsurpassed mastery of low-key lighting and bold use of shadows and darkness, that made Hollywood take notice. Though his film work is later represented by such iconic noirs as Border Incident and The Big Combo, the three features in this collection present the incomparable John Alton at the peak of his art.

T-MEN (1947, 92 min.)

"Superb visual quality that does justice to John Alton’s striking black & white cinematography..." - Leonard Maltin

When the trail goes cold on a counterfeit ring in Los Angeles, Treasury agents Dennis O’Brien (Dennis O’Keefe) and Tony Genaro (Alfred Ryder) are called upon to infiltrate the shadowy and dangerous underworld of organized crime. Their only lead takes them to Detroit where they convince mob kingpin Carlo Vantucci of their criminal pedigree and start piling up clues to tie the Vantucci mob to the “tough, tight outfit” in L.A.

O’Brien and Genaro finally get a break when they learn a former Detroit hood – The Schemer (Wallace Ford) – is on the outs with the syndicate and has been demoted to pushing the fake paper in Los Angeles. Not wasting a second, O’Brien heads to L.A. and tracks down his cigar-smoking target, quickly duping the counterfeiter into being introduced to the “higher-ups”. But the deeper O’Brien penetrates the organization, the more harrowing the mission becomes for him and fellow T-Man Genaro, with their every move being scrutinized and carrying the risk of deadly exposure.

A major box office success upon its release, T-Men holds a special place in film noir canon not only as director Anthony Mann’s breakout film, but as the initial pairing of the filmmaker and cinematographer John Alton. Like none before them, their combination of highly stylized camera set-ups, along with the brilliant uses of light and shadows, created the gritty realism and visual tension that made their crime thrillers popular with critics and movie patrons alike.

With a story by Virginia Kellogg (White Heat) and a screenplay by John C. Higgins (Raw Deal), T-Men also features Charles McGraw, Jane Randolph and, in a brief but key scene, June Lockhart.

BONUS FEATURES:

• Audio Commentary by biographer & producer Alan K. Rode
• Into the Darkness: Mann, Alton and T-Men - Featurette with cinematographer Richard Crudo, film critic & author Todd McCarthy, writer and film historian Julie Kirgo, film historian & director Courtney Joyner and biographer & producer Alan K. Rode
• A Director’s Daughter: Nina Mann Remembers - An Interview with Nina Mann
• PLUS: A 24 page booklet with an essay by author Max Alvarez (The Crime Films of Anthony Mann) featuring stills, posters and other production material
• The mono soundtrack has been restored is uncompressed (Blu-ray only) on this release.

RAW DEAL (1948, 79 min.)

"Another beautifully produced Blu-ray from ClassicFlix." - Robert Harris, Home Theater Forum

All Joe Sullivan wants is “a breath of fresh air.” But when you’re serving time in stir for robbery, fresh air is a rare commodity. That’s about to change though as mob boss Rick Coyle has greased the skids inside the prison walls, so Joe can make it outside where girlfriend Pat will be waiting.

But things don’t exactly go as planned for the duo as car trouble during their getaway forces them to get help from the only person nearby -- strait-laced legal assistant Ann Martin, whom they kidnap and use to evade capture. Things aren’t going as planned for Rick either who set up the escape fully expecting the fugitive to get “cut down” so he could keep the $50,000 he owes Joe for taking the rap for him.

Now past the dragnet, the trio each find themselves increasingly conflicted in their loyalties and core beliefs as Joe is torn between the two women, who both care for him, while Pat and Ann each make decisions that prove they’re not as bad, or as good, as they’re supposed to be.

Raw Deal presents the moviemaking team of director Anthony Mann and cinematographer John Alton at the peak of their success (fresh off their box office smash T-Men), offering dark, moody atmosphere filled with fog-shrouded landscapes and characters who are no strangers to the “left-handed endeavor” of crime. Scenarist John C. Higgins (He Walked by Night) and co-writer Leopold Atlas offer a taut, suspenseful tale of one man’s desperate bid for freedom and the two women who love him.

Dennis O’Keefe, star of the earlier T-Men, contributes a first-rate performance as the determined Joe, with Marsha Hunt (Pride and Prejudice) as Ann and Oscar® winning actress Claire Trevor (Key Largo) as the fiercely loyal Pat. Raw Deal also features a suitably slimy Raymond Burr as Rick, John Ireland as Burr’s sadistic henchman Fantail, and noir standbys Regis Toomey and Whit Bissell. Raw Deal is film noir at its finest!

BONUS FEATURES:

• Feature length audio commentary by author and film historian Jeremy Arnold
• Deadly is the Male: The Making of Raw Deal - A Featurette with writer and film historian Julie Kirgo, film historian & director Courtney Joyner and biographer & producer Alan K. Rode
• Dennis O’Keefe: An Extraordinary Ordinary Guy - A featurette with Jim O’Keefe (son of Dennis O’Keefe) and biographer & producer Alan K. Rode & film historian & director Courtney Joyner
• An image gallery with rare stills, posters and other promotional material
• Restoration Comparison
• Trailers
• PLUS: A 24 page booklet with an essay by author Max Alvarez (The Crime Films of Anthony Mann) featuring stills, posters and other production material
• The mono soundtrack has been restored is uncompressed on this release

HE WALKED BY NIGHT (1948, 79 min.)

"Film noir aficionados will love this top-notch rendering that brings this movie to life like never before." - David Krauss, High-Def Digest

When a Los Angeles police officer is savagely gunned down, a city-wide manhunt ensues for his cunning and ruthless killer.

But finding the murderer, chillingly played by Richard Basehart in only his third film, proves difficult for Detective Marty Brennan (Scott Brady) and his colleagues as Basehart’s Roy Morgan is always one step ahead of the law. Will modern police methods and sheer determination be enough to find the elusive cop-killer before he strikes again?

Visually stunning, cinematographer John Alton’s brilliant use of light and shadows shine in this groundbreaking police procedural that paved the way for the TV series Dragnet; which itself spawned an entire sub-genre of television crime-dramas that are still popular to this day.

Based on true events, He Walked by Night was directed by Alfred L. Werker, along with an uncredited Anthony Mann (who is believed to be responsible for the film’s most iconic scenes). Co-written by John C. Higgins (Raw Deal) and Crane Wilbur (The Phenix City Story), it also features Jack Webb who went on to create and star in the aforementioned Dragnet.

BONUS FEATURES:

• Audio Commentary by biographer and producer Alan K. Rode & writer and film historian Julie Kirgo
• Below the Surface: He Walked by Night - Featurette with cinematographer Richard Crudo, film critic & author Todd McCarthy, writer and film historian Julie Kirgo, film historian & director Courtney Joyner and biographer & producer Alan K. Rode
• Image gallery with rare stills and posters
• PLUS: A 24 page booklet with an essay by author Max Alvarez (The Crime Films of Anthony Mann) featuring stills, posters and other production material
• The mono soundtrack has been restored is uncompressed on this release.