movie world

Hot on the heels of the second box set of film noir classics from Kino comes Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema III, another three-disc collection of black-and-white thrillers produced by Universal-International that exposes the seamy underbelly of American society circa 1950. Stars like Barbara Stanwyck, Richard Conte, Dennis O'Keefe, and Robert Preston populate this hard-boiled trio of movies that focuses on crime syndicates and crippling addictions that lead to murder, nefarious manipulations, and mental breakdowns.

3xBD25 | 1080p AVC | 264 min | 54.5 Gb + 3% rec
Language: English
Subtitles: English
Genre: Crime, Drama, Film-Noir, Mystery, Romance, Thriller

Abandoned (1949)
After touching down in Los Angeles to find her missing sister, Paula Considine (Gale Storm) soon learns that she was found dead of an apparent suicide. Unwilling to accept the official cause of death since her sister had recently given birth and that the baby is also missing, she teams up with a crime reporter (Dennis O’Keefe) to find out the truth. They soon learn of a black market baby ring headed by the seemingly respectable Leora Donner (Marjorie Rambeau) and assisted by a sleazy private eye (Raymond Burr); With the assistance of the police, a sting operation is set up, but it could lead to deadly consequences…

The Lady Gambles (1949)
Joan Boothe (Barbara Stanwyck) went from having it all with her reporter husband David (Robert Preston) to becoming an out of control gambler on the verge of a nervous breakdown. And it all started with a trip to Las Vegas, where Joan is introduced to the thrill of gambling by casino owner Horace Corrigan (Stephen McNally) and both loses and wins big. Soon the thrill turns into an addiction, and Joan plunges further down the rabbit hole in pursuit of the ever fickle Lady Luck; the question is: can David manage to pull Joan out of the downward spiral before the stakes include her life?

The Sleeping City (1950)
It all starts when a very concerned doctor from hospital that we never get the chance to know has his stroll on the streets of New York City cut short by being suddenly shot in the head. The sudden murder is boldly and shockingly depicted in close-up, jarring even by today’s standards. Detective Rowan (Richard Conte) is selected and dispatched to go deep and infiltrate the ranks of the medical professionals and hospital staff in a focused effort to find the killer. Along the way, he falls in love with a beautiful nurse played by Coleen Gray. As their relationship deepens, so does the criminal plot that surrounds the execution. Things get ugly as the path to justice becomes apparent.