Highway Dragnet (1954)

[Scottie]

[PowellPressburger]

The new transfer looks stunning and finally looks like film.

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film3/dvd_r...et_blu-ray.htm

[ArnoldLayne56]

Originally Posted by PowellPressburger

The new transfer looks stunning and finally looks like film.

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film3/dvd_r...et_blu-ray.htm

Wow, very nice.
The site review is up.
Ordering now ;-)

[The Great Owl]

When a former model is found murdered in Las Vegas, Jim Henry, a Korean War veteran played by Richard Conte (The Big Combo, The Godfather), is arrested by the local police, but he quickly turns the tables on his captors by holding them at gunpoint and then escaping. While fleeing on a desert highway, he spots two stranded women on the roadside and helps them to fix their stalled vehicle. The women, played by Joan Bennett (Scarlet Street, The Woman in the Window) and Wanda Hendrix (Ride the Pink Horse), offer Jim a ride to California, unaware that danger lies in their path.

The 1954 film noir, Highway Dragnet, which was directed by Nathan Juran (The 7th Voyage of Sinbad) and co-written by B-movie legend Roger Corman, hits the ground running with its familiar genre convention of a down-on-his-luck ex-soldier drifting from town to town, and picks up momentum in a riveting way, mostly thanks to effective on-location camerawork, as the authorities set up road blocks in a frantic attempt to defuse the hostage situation. Conte, who can erupt into menacing intensity at the drop of a hat, is the highlight here, but the multilayered interactions between Bennett and Hendrix are also worth the price of admission.

Highway Dragnet throws a nifty curveball in our direction after its first half hour, and keeps us glued to the screen through most of its short run time by way of its criminal-on-the-run narrative developments. The conclusion, which leans heavily on convenient coincidence and poor character decisions, is somewhat underwhelming compared to what came before, and, to put it mildly, one particular actress is not entirely convincing with regard to quicksand skills. For the most part, however, this is a fun and kinetic daytime noir.

Be on the lookout for Mary Beth Hughes (Inner Sanctum) as a three-sheets-to-the-wind blonde during the first scene.

This bare bones Kino Lorber Blu-ray shines with a nicely filmic presentation.