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Released by: Twilight Time
Released on: February 16th, 2016.
Director: Otto Preminger
Cast: Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews, Gary Merrill, Karl Malden, Bert Freed
Year: 1950
Purchase From Screen Archives
The Movie:
Directed by Otto Preminger in 1950,, Where The Sidewalk Ends introduces us to a cop named Detective Mark Dixon (Dana Andrews) who wants to break the whole 'sins of the father' thing and be a force for good. As far as cops go, however, Dixon is a tough one and he seems to have no problem roughing up anyone and everyone he thinks might have something useful for him. This behavior doesn't go unnoticed and after enough people complain to the top brass, his boss, Inspector Foley (Robert F. Simon), knocks him down a few pegs and takes him off his beat. He knows Dixon is a good guy, but he also knows that these days he's going too far. Meanwhile, Detective Thomas (Karl Malden) seems to be completely on the up and up, and that hasn't gone unnoticed either, something that's proven when he gets a promotion.
This story intertwines with that of Tommy Scalise (Gary Merrill) who runs an illegal gambling operation and who hopes to take rich wealthy Morrison, brought in by Ken Paine (Craig Stevens) and his beautiful wife Morgan (Gene Tierney), for all he can. Ken has no problem using Morgan as bait and soon after a squabble breaks out that leaves Morrison dead. It looks like Ken might do hard time for this, but is he really the killer? Things get complicated when Dixon accidently kills him. And with Dixon snooping around, falling hard for recently widowed Morgan, will he own up to it or try to pin it on Scalise, a thug he's been after for a long time now?
Made with the same two leads and the same cinematographer that Preminger worked with on Laura, Where The Sidewalk Ends isn't really all that similar to the earlier film outside of those factors. This one takes place in the seedy side of town in the part of New York that Laura's rich, high society characters would stay very far away from. This gives the movie a deliciously low rent atmosphere and its locations suit the twists and the turns of the narrative quite well. This is a fast paced and violent story of love, lies and obsession and where the fickle finger of fate is able to effortlessly wreak havoc in the lives of its inhabitants. It makes for great entertainment and a story that is ripe with tension and danger.
Gene Tierney is once again the definitive femme fatale and she does great work here, but it's Andrews who impresses more than anyone else in the cast. His cop is a mess - he's got problems with his temper but he can't help but follow his heart, even if he knows he shouldn't. He's subtle when he needs to be but on fire when the script calls for it. Supporting work from Karl Malden, Gary Merrill and Craig Stevens are also strong. The visuals here are just as strong as Preminger's other film noir entries, and rarely has the dark side of New York City been so gorgeously shadowy.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Twilight Time presents Where The Sidewalk Ends on Blu-ray in North America for the first time in a 1.33.1 fullframe aspect ratio in AVC encoded 1080p high definition on a 50GB Blu-ray disc. The film was released in the UK last year by the BFI (note that the BFI release is coded for Region B playback) along with Laura and Whirlpool but Twilight Time's encoding gives the movie approximately 4GBs more breathing room. There are other differences here too, as if you compare this shot from the BFI release to this shot from the Twilight Time release you'll see that the Twilight Time transfer has less visible grain and is a bit lighter. Detail and texture definitely surpass previous DVD presentations of the film. Black levels are solid here too, and there's pretty decent depth evident throughout the film. There is very little in the way of edge enhancement or compression artifacting to note here but some minor noise reduction may have been applied to smooth out some of the grain.
Audio for each picture is presented in English language DTS-HD Mono (the BFI disc used an LPCM 2.0 Mono track) with optional closed captioning provided in English only. There are no problems here, the single channel track sounds just fine and perfectly authentic. Dialogue stays clean, clear and easily discernable and there are no problems with hiss or distortion. Depth is about where you'd expect it but the scores for the three respective movies all sound quite nice here.
Extras start off with a commentary from film historian Eddie Muller ported over from the previously released domestic DVD release of the film from Fox. It's a scene specific track that starts off with Muller discussing the unique opening credits, how the whistling music used here is the most repeated piece in any 20th Century Fox production, what was shot on location versus what was shot on a sound stage and of course, Preminger's directorial style. He also discusses Tierney and Andrews, what their personal lives were like at this juncture and how that ties into their characters, the supporting characters, some of the themes that the picture deals with and lots more. If you haven't heard this track before it's a pretty fascinating dissection of the movie that really gets into a lot of detail and offers up scores of information valuable to further appreciating the picture.
Additionally, Twilight Time have included the film's score as an isolated audio track in DTS-HD, the picture's original theatrical trailer, static menus, chapter selection and a Twilight Time catalogue in still gallery format. Inside the clear Blu-ray case is an insert booklet of liner notes. Here we get a reproduction of the film's original one sheet art along with some archival stills and an essay on the film from Julie Kirgo. In her piece, Kirgo sums up the movie really well, particularly its ending, while offering some insight into the performances, characters and of course the film's infamous director. The awesome cover art is also worth mentioning!
The Final Word:
Where The Sidewalk Ends holds up really well, a fine, tense film noir anchored by some fantastic work from the two leads and some absolutely gorgeous cinematography and shadowy lighting. Twilight Time's Blu-ray, which is limited to 3000 pieces, is a good one as it presents the film nicely and with some interesting supplements as well.
Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!
