Independent U.S. distributors Olive Films have announced that they will add seven titles to their Blu-ray catalog in December: Lewis Allen's
Appointment with Danger, William Dieterle's
Dark City and
Rope of Sand, Otto Preminger's
Hurry Sundown,
Skidoo, and
Such Good Friends, and Rudolph Maté's
Union Station.
Appointment With Danger
Synopsis: Postal Inspector Al Goddard (Alan Ladd) is assigned to investigate the murder of a fellow officer. The only witness to the crime is Sister Augustine (Phyllis Calvert), who identifies the photograph of one of the assailants. This leads Goddard to a seedy hotel where he learns that the assailant is a member of a gang headed by Earl Boettiger (Paul Stewart), and he soon discovers that the gang is planning a million dollar mail robbery. This classic film noir also features the stars of Dragnet, Jack Webb and Harry Morgan, as Stewart's Henchmen. This was Alan Ladd's final Film Noir and was directed by Lewis Allen (The Uninvited). STREET DATE: DECEMBER 23.
Dark City
Synopsis: After losing his company's $5,000 cashier's check in a crooked card game, a stranger in Chicago commits suicide. The group of gamblers, with Danny Haley (Charlton Heston) as a member, worries about the dangers of cashing the check, but this becomes the least of their worries when the head of the group is found hanged. Police Captain Garvey (Dean Jagger) concludes the hanging to be a case of homicide and discovers that the stranger had a mentally deranged brother who is out to avenge his brother's death. Fran (Lizabeth Scott), a torch singer desperately in love with Danny, begs him to runaway with her. This classic film noir also features the stars of Dragnet, Jack Webb and Harry Morgan, as Danny's gambling partners. Directed by William Dieterle (Rope of Sand). STREET DATE: DECEMBER 23.
Rope of Sand
After a two-year hiatus, Mike Davis (Burt Lancaster) returns to the same African city where he was tortured and left for dead at the hands of a sadistic Police Commandant (Paul Henreid). Originally innocent of all charges, Mike is back to claim the diamonds he had supposedly stolen two years ago. He enlists the help of an alcoholic stranger (Peter Lorre) and the doctor (Sam Jaffe), who had helped him back to health. The diamond syndicate head (Claude Rains) recruits a nightclub temptress Suzanne Renaud (Corinne Calvet) to seduce and betray Mike as an alternate to brute force. This suspense-noir classic was directed by William Dieterle (Dark City). STREET DATE: DECEMBER 23.
Hurry Sundown
Synopsis: Otto Preminger (Anatomy of a Murder) directs this epic adaptation of K.B. Gilden's novel about racial prejudice and emotional unrest in 1940s Georgia. Henry Warren (Michael Caine) is an unscrupulous and racist landowner obsessed with buying up all available land in a Georgia farming town. Blocking his path are sharecroppers Rod McDowell (John Phillip Law) and Reeve Scott (Robert Hooks), one white and one black. The star-studded cast includes Jane Fonda, Faye Dunaway, Diahann Carroll, Burgess Meredith, Robert Reed and George Kennedy. Screenplay adapted by Thomas C. Ryan and Horton Foote. STREET DATE: DECEMBER 23.
Skidoo
Synopsis: Otto Preminger (Anatomy of a Murder) directs this psychedelic-comedy classic starring Jackie Gleason as Tough Tony Banks, a retired gangster who reluctantly comes out of retirement to silence his old friend and squealer (Mickey Rooney). Tony's suburban haven comes crashing down as his daughter (Alexandra Hay) takes up with a hippie (John Phillip Law) and his wife (Carol Channing) gives them permission to move into their house with their hippy friends. The all-star cast includes Batman villains (Cesar Romero, Burgess Meredith, Frank Gorshin), with Frankie Avalon, Peter Lawford, George Raft, Slim Pickens, Fred Clark, Richard Kiel, Harry Nilsson and Graucho Marx in his final role as the mob boss names God. Music and lyrics by Nilsson. STREET DATE: DECEMBER 23.
Such Good Friends
Synopsis: Otto Preminger (Skidoo) directs this comedy-drama based upon the novel by Lois Gould and adapted by Esther Dale (Elaine May under the pseudonym). Julie Messinger (Dyan Cannon) is an intense woman who hides her wild emotions and desires under her conventional façade. Her husband Richard (Laurence Luckinbill) checks into the hospital for a simple mole removal that goes seriously wrong. The stellar cast includes James Coco, Jennifer O'Neill, Ken Howard, Louise Lasser, Nina Foch, Sam Levine, Doris Roberts and Burgess Meredith. STREET DATE: DECEMBER 23.
Union Station
Returning to the city from her wealthy employer residence, Joyce Willecombe (Nancy Olson), spots two armed men on the train. She reports them to the conductor who radios in to the Station's police. Once at Union station she points out the men to Lt. William Calhoun (William Holden), head of the station's police squad and they find out that the gunmen are members of a gang who have kidnapped her employer's blind daughter and are seeking a $100,000 ransom. The Chicago police headed by inspector Donnelly (Barry Fitzgerald), and the FBI are both called in. The action in this classic Film Noir culminates in a chase through the station's underground tunnels. Directed by Rudolph Maté (D.O.A.). STREET DATE: DECEMBER 23.