Johnny Stool Pigeon Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Johnny Stool Pigeon Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov June 10, 2022

William Castle's "Johnny Stool Pigeon" (1949) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The only bonus feature on the disc is an exclusive new audio commentary recorded by professor and film scholar Jason A. Ney. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Johnny Stool Pigeon was released in the late 1940s and was part of a trend that produced a number of film noirs whose main objective was to praise the activities of various government agencies, like the IRS and FBI. This trend was unavoidable because it was an extension of the much bigger and better controlled trend that produced the various WWII propaganda films on both sides of the Atlantic. (In the United Kingdom, the British Film Institute has preserved a large number of these films in its archives, and some have appeared as bonus features on Region-B releases). After the end of WWII, the messaging changed a bit, but the original blueprint that was used for these films remained largely the same.

The most interesting of these films can be placed in two different groups. In the first group are the ones that focus on the mechanics of the work the government agencies did at the time. Unsurprisingly, often times these films look and sound like educational documentaries. In the second group are the ones that take their noirish identities and locations as seriously as they do their messaging, which is why quite a few of them function pretty well as authentic time capsules. Obviously, all of these films are still quite similar because they were conceived to do the same type of promotional work.

Johnny Stool Pigeon opens with a statement that makes its objective crystal-clear: “In their never-ending task of law enforcement, the officers of the Bureau of Narcotics and the Bureau of Customs of the United States Treasury fight many battles such as the one you are about to see. Their successes are a tribute to their skill, intelligence and courage. To these fearless officers we respectfully dedicate this picture.” Immediately after that, In San Francisco a couple of agents engage a young drug smuggler and his contact and in the ensuing shootout the former dies. Then, in a downtown hotel with a shady reputation, veteran agent George Morton (Howard Duff) and his partner track down the latter but discover his cold body in a puddle of blood. An investigation is launched, but there isn’t enough information to track down the party behind the smuggling operation.

Eventually, while discussing the dead-end situation with his boss, agent Morton proposes a desperate play. He can team up with Johnny Evans (Dan Duryea), a well-known criminal who is currently serving time in jail, and use the information found in the dead drug smuggler’s address book to engage a party in a Canadian trading company based in Vancouver that might have something to do with the smuggling operation. The play could work only if Evans agrees to be a stoolie and does not attempt to disappear on the way up north.

Despite having a solid cast, which also includes a very energetic Shelley Winters playing a fed-up part-time girlfriend ready for a change as well as a young Tony Curtis who can’t speak but kills on demand, Johnny Stool Pigeon offers very little that excites. There are a few episodes where Duryea and Duff produce fireworks that temporarily energize the film, but the story is so straightforward and character transformations so simplistic that it just feels like William Castle is going through a series of pre-approved situations.

The other quite disappointing aspect of the production is the mismanagement of the authentic locations that are seen in the second half. Duff, Duryea, and Winters head down to Arizona to meet a man who is supposedly on his way of becoming the biggest drug smuggler in America, but Castle’s camera offers only a few glimpses of the beautiful desert. This is the part of the film that could have made an incredible difference had Castle used the desert to create the type of special atmosphere the great film noirs are usually remembered for. Instead, the climax is a very ordinary chase that takes place near the Southern border and then quickly wraps up the film in a most predictable fashion.

Johnny Stool Pigeon Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.38:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Johnny Stool Pigeon arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

The release is sourced from a good new 2K master. Now, this master does have a few rough spots here and there that reveal minor density fluctuations, plus from time to time you will notice extremely light surface wear (blemishes, dark spots, and scratches). However, the visuals typically boast good to very good delineation, clarity, and depth. The grayscale is very convincing as well. In fact, a lot of the darker footage appears to be revealing the subtle nuances and background information as well as you can expect on a 2K master. In other words, despite the fluctuations and unevenness the entire film has a solid organic appearance. Image stability is good. I did not encounter any encoding anomalies, but there is a bit of room for optimizations. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release).

Johnny Stool Pigeon 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.

The audio is very clear, sharp, and nicely balanced. I did notice some extremely light background hiss sneaking in early into the film, but my guess is that the majority of viewers will miss it because it is completely harmless. Dynamic intensity is very good for a film from the early 1940s. I don't think there is any room for substantial improvements. A bit of cosmetic work could help strengthen the audio, but the difference should be marginal at very best.

Johnny Stool Pigeon Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary - this exclusive new audio commentary was recorded by professor and film scholar Jason A. Ney. I listened to the entire commentary and like it a lot. It correctly identifies the trend that Johnny Stool Pigeon was part of and why it lasted. There is plenty of good information about the film's stylistic qualities as well as the evolution of the film noir genre and some of its iconic representatives.

Johnny Stool Pigeon Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Johnny Stool Pigeon is part of the same trend that produced The Undercover Man and Walk East on Beacon!, which means that it is a light film noir with a very particular type of social conscience. I find some of the films from this trend quite intriguing because they can be unique time capsules, but the truth is that a lot and sometimes everything in them that is easy to describe as noir is only filler material. This is precisely the reason why Johnny Stool Pigeon fails to excite as well -- it has a stellar cast but not enough quality material to go along with its messaging. It is included in Kino Lorber's Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema VI, a three-disc box set.