Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

Black Tuesday Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov March 26, 2025

Hugo Fregonese's "Black Tuesday" (1954) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the release include new audio commentary by critic and screenwriter Gary Gerani and vintage trailer. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

The hot cage

Some of the best macho film noirs emerged during the early 1950s. It was because certain writers and directors tried to go as far as they could to separate themselves from a sea of competitors. The same trend materialized in Italy during the 1970s, when local writers and directors began collaborating on the notoriously violent poliziotteschi. Before the emergence of the poliziotteschi pretty much everyone in Italy was writing and directing crime films that were expected to impress with good stories featuring big characters. These crime films were routinely modeled after the classic American film noirs, too. The polizotteschi started a new trend. Instead of prioritizing good stories and big characters, their creators began prioritizing over-the-top violence, and the farther they went with it, the more they separated themselves from the competition.

Black Tuesday reveals a similar willingness to go as far as possible. In fact, Edward G. Robinson almost single-handedly moves Black Tuesday into the same territory that the likes of Umberto Lenzi and Fernando Di Leo will repeatedly visit with their poliziotteschi a couple of decades later. It is a bit strange, but it is true because Robinson appears as unhinged as Tomas Milian, who made several of the wildest poliziotteschi with Lenzi and one scripted by Di Leo.

Less than an hour before he is to be strapped into the electric chair and sent to meet his creator, crime boss Vincent Canelli (Robinson) is freed by a couple of his associates who have successfully blackmailed a senior prison guard (James Bell) to work with them. On the way out of the prison, Canelli brings with him Peter Manning (Peter Graves), an army vet-turned-robber, several other death row inmates, and a few hostages. When a cop fires at the group, Manning is seriously wounded.

In a secluded warehouse, Canelli reunites with his gal, Hatti (Jean Parker), the brain behind the escape, and orders Dr. Hart (Vic Perrin), one of the hostages, to fix up Manning as quickly as possible, but not because he cares about him. Canelli needs Manning alive because he wants a portion of the small fortune he has stolen from a large bank and stashed away. After Dr. Hart stitches up Manning and he falls asleep, Canelli and a crooked pilot begin discussing the final phase of the escape.

A few hours later, Dr. Hart performs a risky surgery on Manning, the only way to get him back on his feet. When Manning regains some of his strength, he is paired with Hatti to retrieve the small fortune from the safest hiding place in the world -- another big bank. The two, pretending to be a businessman and his secretary, successfully get in and out of the bank, but the cops follow them back to the warehouse.

Hugo Fregonese directed various genre films, many with big stars like Joel McCrea and Van Heflin, only a few of which are film noirs. However, his best work might be in Black Tuesday.

But it is not only because Fregonese engages Robinson in a mighty impressive way and gets an unforgettable performance from him. Black Tuesday is a mighty lean, mean, and stylish film noir, and Fregonese’s direction makes it such. Indeed, there is just no fat in it, and while Robinson quickly puts his stamp on it, he is surrounded by talented actors whose great efforts are easily recognized by Fregonese’s camera. Identical cinematic efficiency and balance are very rare in similar film noirs featuring a big star like Robinson.

What exactly makes Black Tuesday a great macho film noir? It unleashes its characters and does not protect the audience from their meanness, which instantly makes the progression of its drama unpredictable. Its resolution is predictable, but this is an insignificant detail because all film noirs are populated with doomed characters.

Fregonese worked with original material by Oscar nominated writer Sydney Boehm, who scripted Fritz Lang’s iconic film noir The Big Heat. His director of photography was Stanley Cortez (The Night of the Hunter).

Black Tuesday Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Black Tuesday arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

Last year, we reviewed this Region-B release of Black Tuesday, produced by Eureka Enterainmnet. It was sourced from a 2K master struck from a 35mm fine-grain. This release appears to have been sourced from the same master.

The 2K master retains various source limitations, some of which affect delineation, clarity, and depth. For example, in different darker areas, some finer nuances are not as convincing as they need to be. Also, there are grain fluctuations and some of them make select visuals appear quite 'thick'. On a large screen, this is will be the most obvious limitation you notice because some of the transitions between the normal and 'thick' visuals are quite pronounced. However, there are no traces of any problematic digital corrections, so even with these fluctuations, the entire film still looks very good. It just does not have that very even, very stable appearance great 2K and 4K masters sourced from excellent elements ensure. Image stability is very good. A few tiny blemishes can be spotted, but there are no large cuts, marks, debris, warped or torn frames to report. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Black Tuesday Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

I can only repeat what I noted in our review of the Region-B release of Black Tuesday. All exchanges are clear and always easy to follow. However, if the audio is turned up enough, you will notice some extremely light background hiss. Its presence is never distracting, but it will be part of your viewing experience. Dynamic intensity is good. The biggest and most effective contrasts emerged during the action footage. I did not encounter any encoding anomalies to report.

Black Tuesday Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary - in this exclusive new audio commentary, critic and screenwriter Gary Gerani shares a lot of interesting information about the filming of Black Tuesday at RKO's studio lots, some curious additions that were made to the film, Edward G. Robinson's performance and how it shapes the film's identity, the careers of various cast members and director Hugo Fregonese, etc.

• Trailer - presented here is a remastered vintage trailer for Black Tuesday. In English, not subtitled. (2 min).

Black Tuesday Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

In the 1970s, the great Cuban-born actor Tomas Milian played a lot of characters like Edward G. Robinson's crime boss Vincent Canelli. They were astonishingly mean and violent, often genuine human torpedoes, which some believe single-handedly ensured the longevity of the over-the-top poliziotteschi. This may seem a bit strange, but only if one ignores the fact that the 1950s produced the best macho film noirs for the same reason the 1970s produced the most violent poliziotteschi. I think that Black Tuesday, which has been quite difficult to track down and see, is one heck of a film noir that needs an urgent reevaluation and a spot next to its most famous relatives. If you enjoy it, I also recommend grabbing a copy of 99 River Street. Black Tuesday is included in Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema XVII, a three-disc box set. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.