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Released by: Olive Films
Released on: December 23rd, 2014.
Director: Rudolph Maté
Cast: William Holden, Barry Fitzgerald, Nancy Olsen
Year: 1950
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The Movie:
Union Station reunites Sunset Blvd.'s William Holden and Nancy Olsen in a tight thriller written by Sydney Boehm and directed by Rudolph Maté. Though the film was probably rushed into production to cash in on the success of Billy Wilder's hit made earlier the same year, it definitely stands on its own as a tense, well-made picture.
The story begins on a train heading into the titular depot in Los Angeles where a secretary named Joyce Willecombe (Olson) sees two strange gun totting men. Figuring they're up to no good, she makes mention of this to Union Station's top cop, Lieutenant William Calhoun (Holden). They quickly ascertain that the men have abducted Lorna Murchison (Allene Roberts), a blind girl who just so happens to be the daughter of Joyce's employer, Henry L. Murchison (Herbert Heyes). They're holding her for ransom and Henry agrees to pay it, asking the cops not to interfere.
Calhoun obliges, at least to start with, but has his right hand man, Inspector Donnelly (Barry Fitzgerald), keep an eye on things once the arrangements are made for the drop to be made at a locker in the station. Murchison learns this and becomes upset, while the kidnappers, led by Joe Beacom (Lyle Bettger), start to get rough with poor Lorna. The cops wind up giving chase but things head south quickly. Shots are fired and bodies fall flat but Beacom, a former Union Station worker who knows the station and its tunnels better than anyone, retains the upper hand…
It's interesting to see how the different parties involved in this predicament go about their business. No one really trusts each other here, with the motives of the police left in question at various times throughout the movie - are they out to serve the public good or out to keep up appearances for both the force and even the station itself? The film also deals some very dark cards, keeping you guessing as to whether or not Lorna has any shot whatsoever of making it out of all of this alive. So what starts off as a fairly standard 'good guys chase down the bad guys' storyline soon takes some interesting, and admittedly quite clever, twists and turns before finishing up.
As such, the film is ripe with suspense and this is only heightened by some great performances. Holden is at his grizzled, tough guy best here. He's the man in charge and don't you dare question him on his turf. Fitzgerald as Donnelly is kept in his place and the way in which Holden interacts not only with him but with the well-meaning Olson as pretty Joyce Willecombe is fascinating to watch. Adding to this is some great location photography that captures Los Angeles and the station in some interesting ways (the director worked extensively as a camera man so it makes sense that the movie looks as slick as it does here).
Video/Audio/Extras:
Union Station arrives on Blu-ray from Olive Films in a 1.33.1 fullframe transfer presented in AVC encoded 1080p high definition. Detail here is quite strong though while some minor print damage is present throughout, mostly just some small scratches and specks rather than anything too drastic. Grain is present throughout the presentation but it never gets so heavy as to distract from the generally solid detail and texture that the HD transfer offers. Black levels are really nice, quite strong, and contrast looks spot on. All in all this is a sharp and crisp image offering surprisingly good texture and contrast along with strong shadow detail. The movie looks quite good in HD, there's nothing to object to here at all. Fans should be quite pleased with the visuals on this release.
The English language DTS-HD Mono Audio track on the disc is pretty good. The score sounds quite strong here and helps to really ramp up the tension in the last twenty minutes or so. The hardboiled Dialogue stays crisp and clear, it's never a problem understanding any of the characters. There are no alternate language options or subtitles of any kind offered on this disc.
Aside from a static menu offering chapter selection, there are no extra features on this disc at all.
The Final Word:
Union Station is a solid thriller and Olive Films offers it up in very nice shape on this Blu-ray release.
Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!
