Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		4.0

Chicago Confidential Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov June 19, 2022

Sidney Salkow's " Chicago Confidential" (1957) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The only bonus feature on the disc is a trailer reel for other film noir titles from the label's catalog. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

How 'bout a drink?

The opening credits announce that Chicago Confidential is based on a screenplay by Raymond T. Marcus from the story by Hugh King, and suggested by the book by Jack Lait and Lee Mortimer. This is interesting information, but the real reason Chicago Confidential exists is different. Sidney Salkow directed Chicago Confidential exactly three years after Elia Kazan’s On the Waterfront picked up multiple Oscar statuettes at the Academy Awards. Both focus on the same subject matter, which is union corruption, and both imitate the gritty style of the Italian neorealist films while adopting noirish personalities. Chicago Confidential isn’t a copycat, but the true inspiration behind it was On the Waterfront and its unprecedented public and critical success.

After the opening credits disappear a narrator states the following: “Chicago, Illinois, one of the giants of industry among the cities of the world. The heart of all shipping on the Great Lakes. A colossus of big business and finance. A city of gaiety, with a legion of fine restaurants, theaters, and night clubs. Millions of works, a high percentage of them members of various unions and guilds. Most of these unions are decent and honest, working on behalf of their members. Some are not.” Even though the introduction was recorded in the 1950s, it is still accurate, which is extremely sad.

Immediately after that Mickey Partos (John Morley), the treasurer of the Workers National Brotherhood (WNB), one of the largest unions in Chicago, phones the office of District Attorney Jim Freemont (Brian Keith) and reveals that he has evidence that racketeers have corrupted it. A meeting is arranged for later that day, but all Freemont gets is a notice that Partos’ cold body has been found by the docks. Shortly after, Artie Blane (Dick Foran), the union’s president, is framed for Patros’ murder by Ken Harrison (Douglas Kennedy), the crooked vice president, the racketeers, and the city’s biggest underground boss. With plenty of evidence to prove without a shadow of a doubt that Blane must have ordered Patros’ execution, Freemont gets an easy conviction in court, puts him behind bars, and effectively secures a promotion as the next governor of the great state of Illinois. But Blane’s girlfriend, Laura Barton (Beverly Garland), who was with him at the time when Patros was killed, urges Freemont to reopen the case because he is sending an innocent man to the electric chair. At first Freemont refuses to take her and her statement seriously, but then changes his mind and slowly uncovers a giant rabbit hole of corruption at the bottom of which are some enormously powerful and dangerous people.

Salkow directs with confidence and precision that give Chicago Confidential a great deal of credibility without transforming it into a preachy pseudo-documentary. Was this actually possible? Yes. Even with its solid cast Chicago Confidential quite easily could have had an overpowering social conscience of the type that is present in light film noirs like The Undercover Man and Johnny Stool Pigeon where the messaging effectively destroys the credibility of the story that is being told. In Chicago Confidential the drama never creates the impression that it follows a pre-approved political script, so even though its peak and resolution are entirely predictable, the message that emerges from it sounds very sincere.

The cast of Chicago Confidential isn’t as impressive as the cast of On the Waterfront, but while comparing the two it is awfully difficult to identify serious flaws that could have been avoided to make the former look as good as the latter. The scope of their stories and the character arcs they produce are simply very different, so even though both target union corruption and deliver the same warning, it is impossible for their stars to shine in identical ways.

Salkow worked with cinematographer Kenneth Peach, who just a few months earlier collaborated with Henry S. Kessler on the excellent paranoid film noir Five Steps to Danger.

Chicago Confidential Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in a aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Chicago Confidential arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

The surface of the visuals, where grain exposure should be solid, is quite uneven, which is why there are some minor fluctuations and softness. But on my system the entire film still looked very pleasing. Yes, some minor nuances struggle to properly reveal themselves, but there is still plenty of information in the backgrounds and darker areas. The grayscale is very good, though this is another area where minor improvements can be made. Image stability is good. I did not notice a few white specks, but there are no large cuts, debris, warped or torn frames to report. All in all, despite a slightly dated appearance, Chicago Confidential looks quite nice on Blu-ray. (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).

Chicago Confidential 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 did not encounter any serious anomalies to report in our review. However, in some sections of the film the audio could be a bit uneven, a tad too thin for my liking as well. Dynamic intensity is modest, but considering that the film was produced in the early 1950s I think that this is to be expected. So, there is some room for minor cosmetic improvements, but the basics are still fine.

Chicago Confidential Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailers - trailers for the following titles from Kino Lorber's catalog:
  
  1. He Ran All the Way
  2. Witness to Murder
  3. A Bullet for Joey

Chicago Confidential Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The relationship between Chicago Confidential and On the Waterfront is instantly recognizable. In fact, I am quite certain that the former exists because of the latter, even though the material for it came from various original sources. Does this mean that they need to be compared? A comparison is probably unavoidable given their thematic similarities, but I don't think that the quality of Chicago Confidential should be judged by constantly looking at On the Waterfront because they were conceived differently and their stars do not have the same opportunities to impress. I liked Chicago Confidential a lot and would rank it amongst the best films in the Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema collection. This release is included in Volume VII. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.