Shakedown Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.0

Shakedown Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov April 12, 2022

Joseph Pevney's "Shakedown" (1950) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The only bonus feature on the disc is an exclusive new audio commentary recorded by film historian Jason Ney. In English, with optional English SDH subtles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Man on a mission

Jack Early (Howard Duff) would do anything to be the best newspaper photographer in San Francisco. He would go places other photographers wouldn’t, lie and cheat, even risk his life.

After a few recent pictures and his good looks land him a part-time gig with a local newspaper, Early enters the city’s underground and earns himself a private meeting with Nick Palmer (Brian Donlevy), a very wealthy but shady businessman with plenty of connections. Through Palmer, Early learns the exact date and time Harry Colton (Lawrence Tierney) and his boys will hit one of the city’s biggest department stores, and immediately plans to be there to secretly take a few pictures as they leave with the loot. While further advancing his career with the hot pictures, Early would help Palmer get rid of Colton.

As revealed by Palmer, Colton and his boys do the hit and Early takes the pictures he needs. Later on, Early visits Colton’s office, shows him the pictures and explains to the gangster that he has arranged for the negatives to be immediately transferred to the police if something very bad happens to him. Shortly after, he walks out of Colton’s office with a big packet of money and a large grin on his face.

While pretending to have fallen madly in love with Ellen Bennett (Peggy Dow), who helped him get his part-time gig, Early hides the negatives for the hot pictures in her apartment, and then begins pursuing Palmer’s wife, Nita (Abbe Vernon), an elegant French beauty used to a life of luxury. But when the object of his affection makes it crystal-clear that she isn’t interested in him and very much intends to remain loyal to her husband, Early goes back to Colton and reveals to him how he was able to take the hot pictures. Then, in exchange for another hefty payment, he offers to help Colton get rid of Palmer. After the deal is made, Early prepares to take another set of hot pictures to advance his career.

The contemporary relevance of the cynicism that permeates Joseph Pevney’s Shakedown is so striking that it is absolutely impossible not to compare it to Edmund Goulding’s brilliant Nightmare Alley. The cast of Shakedown is very, very impressive too, so why doesn’t this film enjoy a similar reputation?

A couple of reasons. First, Shakedown does not have a huge star like Tyrone Power, so it is guaranteed that it did not receive the same attention Nightmare Alley did. Second, Shakedown was Pevney’s directorial debut, which means that it was shot with a strict budget and expected to meet someone else’s expectations first, most likely a big studio boss. The editing actually confirms this scenario. Indeed, small parts of Shakedown feel slightly congested and rushed, as if they were shot as quickly and effectively as the budget allowed. Everything in it still comes together remarkably well, but once the final credits appear it definitely feels like Pevney should have had more freedom and a better budget to shoot a bigger and more diverse film.

But it is entirely possible that Shakedown looks like a very close relative of Nightmare Alley precisely because it is so lean and straightforward, almost like a pseudo-documentary about a competitive business that has always been dominated by unethical egoists. Think about it. Would Shakedown have been a better film if Pevney had given Duff more time to rationalize his actions? It seems extremely unlikely because his profile is complete. Duff would have spent more time revealing that his character is an even bigger chameleon too, but as speculated above this only would have made Shakedown a more diverse film.

Shakedown was edited by Milton Carruth, who worked on the original silent version of Lewis Milestone’s epic All Quiet on the Western Front.

Shakedown Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

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

The release is sourced from an exclusive new 2K master. Even though this master could have used a bit of cosmetic work that would have removed the few white specks and blemishes that are present on it, I like it a lot. Why? Because the visuals have very strong organic qualities, and because the grading job is very convincing. (What you see in screencapture #5 is not edge-enhancement, but a lighting effect exacerbated by the camera). Yes, some small density fluctuations are noticeable as well, but delineation, clarity, and depth are still very, very pleasing. Image stability is good, too. If you view your films on a large screen you should notice some minor inconsistencies in the fluidity of the visuals, but because of the density fluctuations they are unavoidable. My score is 4.25/5.00. (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).

Shakedown 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 distracting anomalies to report in our review. I thought that the audio is very clear, appropriately sharp, and stable. There are a few areas where the upper register feels just a bit too thin, but it is free of distracting hiss or distortions that are usually present on masters of similar older films.

Shakedown Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary - this new audio commentary was recorded by film historian Jason Ney. I listened to the entire commentary and liked it a lot. For example, there is some very interesting information about misleading claims addressing the locations where the film was shot. Also, there is good information about the story that inspired the film and how events from the underworld were depicted in the media at the time.

Shakedown Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I had never before seen Joseph Pevney's Shakedown and thought that it was an outstanding directorial debut. Its cynicism is as hard-hitting as that of Edmund Goulding's Nightmare Alley, which is a mighty impressive film. Howard Duff is on fire too, though the entire cast does some truly terrific work and deserves to be praised as well. Kino Lorber's release is sourced from a solid exclusive new 2K master and at the moment has a very attractive price tag. Do not miss it. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.