The British Film Institute will release on Blu-ray three films directed by Otto Preminger:
Fallen Angel (1945),
Whirlpool (1949), and
Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950). The films will be offered in a
three-disc set, which will be available for purchase on September 28.
Fallen Angel
Film noir, a classic film style of the '40s and '50s, is noted for its dark themes, stark camera angles and high-contract lighting. Comprising many of Hollywood's finest films, film noir tells realistic stories about crime, mystery, femmes fatales and moral conflict.
June Mills (Alice Faye) and her sister Clara live a quiet life in a small coastal town until Eric Stanton (Dan Andrews), a smooth-talking con man, comes into their lives. He seems to fall heard for June, but Clara believes he's interested only in the family fortune. Meanwhile, sultry waitress Stella (Linda Darnell) catches Stanton's fancy and thinks he might be her ticket out of town. The local cop (Charles Bickford) knows more than he's telling about his fellow citizens and their tangles relationships, which draw even tighter after a shocking murder. Starring Alice Faye, Dana Andrews, and Linda Darnell.
Whirlpool
A woman secretly suffering from kleptomania is hypnotized in an effort to cure her condition. Soon afterwards, she is found at the scene of a murder with no memory of how she got there and seemingly no way to prove her innocence. Starring Gene Tierney, Richard Conte, and José Ferrer.
Where the Sidewalk Ends
In this hard-hitting mystery drama, Mark Dixon is a cop who loathes hoodlums so much that he's demoted for slugging suspects. On a murder case, even though he suspects a hood named Tommy Scalise, he loses his temper and kills another suspect. He then falls in love with that man's widow, but stands by as her father is charged with the murder. Ultimately, Dixon realizes he must find a way to clear the older man without implicating himself. Starring Dana Andrews, Gene Tierney, and Gary Merrill.
Special Features:
- Audio Commentaries on all three films by critic Adrian Martin
- The Guardian Lecture: Otto Preminger interviewed by Joan Bakewell (audio only)
- Original trailers
- And More...