Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

Finger Man Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov July 13, 2024

Harold Schuster's "Finger Man" (1955) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The only bonus feature on the release is an exclusive new audio commentary by professor Jason A. Ney. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked"

Man with a wire

Conman Casey Martin (Frank Lovejoy) is in serious trouble. After tagging him for months, several treasury agents have picked up Martin and informed him that they have enough to put him behind bars for a long time. If tried before the right judge, Martin could easily become a lifer.

But in a cozy office, while describing Martin’s imminent incarceration, the senior treasury agent who has led the months-long operation offers a deal. If Martin agrees to finger prominent crime boss Dutch Becker (Forrest Tucker), the government will drop the charges against him and forget that he has been a conman his entire life. Becker goes down, Martin stays out. The deal is as simple as it sounds.

Martin agrees to finger Becker, but not because the deal gives him a legitimate chance to remain a free man. Even if he were to do what the government needs and walk away alive, he would instantly become a target for Becker’s goons. His freedom would not mean much then, would it? But Martin’s sister (Evelyn Eaton), a junkie, is dying because of the drugs that have made Becker a rich man, so at least he can avenge her inevitable death.

Several days later, while working closely with former lover Gladys Baker (Peggie Castle), Martin successfully pops on Becker’s radar and leaves the right impression. To solidify the impression, Martin then clashes with Becker’s short-fused executioner, Lou Terpe (Timothy Carey), who instantly vows to destroy his chances of becoming part of his boss’ organization. The theater works as intended and Martin successfully gets in, but while putting together a bogus liquor deal that can bring down Becker, he loses his trusted partner, and shortly after Terpe tips his boss that the new guy is a stoolie.

Despite working with familiar material, Harold Schuster’s Finger Man surprises with several excellent twists that transform it into a very entertaining crime film. Also, despite being a modest production, Finger Man brings together a motley crew of great character actors who give it all and end up looking as impressive as Hollywood’s big stars did at the time.

Virtually all twists have something to do with the management of the character arcs. For example, Lovejoy’s compromised conman never evolves into a genuinely good character, so he goes through the drama as a lone wolf making the best moves he can. Also, for a long time, it is unclear whether the treasury agents are bluffing or planning to let Lovejoy walk away if he delivers their man. This makes the progression of the drama quite difficult to predict because it frequently looks like it is part of a theater, like the one that frames the crime boss. (Use a conman to take down a crime boss and let the former walk away as a free man while tipping the latter’s hitmen where to track him down. It is a perfectly orchestrated cleanup).

Finger Man has a twisty identity, too. Large parts of it have a classic noirish appearance, emphasizing the allure of dark alleys and thick shadows as often as possible, which is effectively countered by conventional clean visuals that most melodramas produced at the time. This is somewhat unusual, but considering that Finger Man was not an expensive production, it is entirely logical.

Schuster used the services of cinematographer William Sickner, who lensed almost exclusively B-films and TV shows. While his work in Finger Man is difficult to praise, it is very solid, and at times makes it look like a much more ambitious project.

Finger Man has a high-quality soundtrack that also makes it look like a more ambitious project. The soundtrack was created by Paul Dunlap, who scored Sam Fuller’s classic films Shock Corridor and The Naked Kiss.

Finger Man Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

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

It is easy to tell that Finger Man has been remastered because it has a very nice, even organic appearance. Yes, there are a few areas with small but noticeable density fluctuations, and occasionally tiny white specks and blemishes can be spotted, but there are no limitations of the kind that would suggest that the current master was prepared many years ago. The grayscale is very convincing, too. All blacks, grays, and whites look healthy and properly set. I did not see crushing, even in areas where such could have easily snuck in, which an old master undoubtedly would have produced. There are no traces of problematic digital tinkering. Image stability is outstanding. All in all, I think that with a few cosmetic adjustments, the current master could have produced a near-perfect presentation of Finger Man. (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).

Finger Man 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.

While viewing the film, I did not notice any age-related anomalies to report in our review. I had the volume of my system turned up quite a bit as well because I thought that Paul Dunlap's score was unusually effective. Dynamic intensity is very good, but the film's original sound design is, perhaps unsurprisingly, rather modest. Frank Lovejoy's narration and all dialog are very clear and easy to follow.

Finger Man Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary - this exclusive new audio commentary was recorded by professor Jason A. Ney.

Finger Man Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

In Finger Man, conman Casey Martin quickly realizes that the government can extort just as effectively as the most dangerous competitors he has successfully avoided for years. But the bad deal he is offered is his only chance to stay out of jail, so he rolls the dice and becomes a stoolie. I quite liked Finger Man. It has a very solid cast that easily sells it as a much bigger project and looks lovely. It is included in this three-disc box set, together with Crashout and City of Shadows. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.