Forgotten Noir, Vol. 4 (The Man from Cairo / Mask of the Dragon)
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Features
• Black & White
• Dolby
• DVD-Video
• Full Screen
• NTSC
In Theaters : 27 November, 1953
DVD Release : 24 April, 2007 |
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Forgotten Noir, Vol. 4 (The Man from Cairo / Mask of the Dragon) Customer Reviews
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"Forgotten Noir #4 ... Man from Cairo (1953) & Mask of Dragon (1951) ... VCI Home Video (2007)"
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VCI Entertainment and Kit Parker Films presents "FORGOTTEN NOIR 4" ... Man From Cairo (1953) & Mask of Dragon (1951) --- (Dolby digitally remastered) --- Film noir has sources not only in cinema but other artistic mediums as well...the low-key lighting schemes commonly linked with the classic mode are in the tradition of chiaroscuro and tenebrism, techniques using high contrasts of light and dark developed by 15th- and 16th-century painters associated with Mannerism and the Baroque...film noir's aesthetics are deeply influenced by German Expressionism, a cinematic movement of the 1910s and 1920s closely related to contemporaneous developments in theater, photography, painting, scultpture, and architecture...opportunities offered by the booming Hollywood film industry and, later, the threat of growing Nazi power led to the emigration of many important film artists working in Germany who had either been directly involved in the Expressionist movement or studied with its practitioners...Directors such as Fritz Lang, Robert Siodmak, and Michael Curtiz brought dramatic lighting techniques and a psychologically expressive approach to mise-en-scA ne with them to Hollywood, where they would make some of the most famous of classic noirs. Lang's 1931 masterwork, the German M, is among the first major crime films of the sound era to join a characteristically noirish visual style with a noir-type plot, one in which the protagonist is a criminal (as are his most successful pursuers). M was also the occasion for the first star performance by Peter Lorre, who would go on to act in several formative American noirs of the classic era ... featuring top performances from the '40s and '50s with outstanding drama and screenplays, along with a wonderful cast and supporting actors to bring it all together ... another winner from the vaults of almost forgotten film noir gems
First up we have Michael David Productions and Lippert Pictures feature "MAN FROM CAIRO" (aka: Dramma nella Kasbah) (1953) (81 mins/B&W) --- Under Ray Enright (Director), Bernard Luber (Producer), Edoardo Anton (Screenwriter), Eugene Ling (Screenwriter), Janet Steveson (Screenwriter), Philip Stevenson (Screenwriter), Ugo Velona (Asst. Director), Carlo Bessi (Prod. Manager), Mario Albertelli (Cinematographer), Giulio Bongini (Art Director), Franco Ferrara (Music), Mario Serandrei (Film Editor), Ladislas Fodor (Original Author) - - - - the cast includes George Raft (Mike Canelli), Gianna Maria Canale (Lorraine Beloyan), Leon Lenoir (Police Captain Akhim Bey), Alfredo Varelli (Professor H. M. Crespi), Mino Doro (Major C. Blanc), Massimo Serato (Basil Constantine), Richard McNamara (Charles Stark), Irene Papas (Yvonne LeBeau), Guido Celano (Emile Touchard), Angelo Dessy (Ugly Henchman), Franco Silva (Armeno) - - - - released on November 27, 1953, Mike Canelli (George Raft), the man from Cairo, nosing around Algiers with mystery surrounding the people he meets and the things he does and has done to him, all deriving from the war-time theft of $100,000,000 in gold which lies somewhere in the adjacent desert. People representing many nationalities and reasons are also seeking the gold. It boils down to a battle between Canelli and the badie aboard a speeding train. Raft again to the fore creating excitement in every scene, shows why he was the number one boy on the Warner Bros. lot ... beautiful Greek actress Irene Papas in a tub with Raft standing in the doorway getting an eye full.
BIOS:
1. George Raft (aka: George Ranft)
Date of birth: 26 September 1895 - New York City, New York
Date of death: 24 November 1980 - Los Angeles, California
2. Gianna Maria Canale
Date of birth: 12 September 1927 - Reggio di Calabria, Calabria, Italy
Date of death: Still Living
3. Ray Enright (Director)
Date of birth: 25 March 1896 - Anderson, Indiana
Date of death: 3 April 1965 - Hollywood, California
Second on the double bill is a Spartan Productions Inc and Robert L. Lippert Picture release "MASK OF THE DRAGON (1951) (55 min/B/W) --- Under Sam Newfield (Director), Sigmund Neufeld (Producer), Orville H. Hampton (Story/Screenwriter), Rupert Hughes (Story), Dudley Chambers (Original Score), Jack Greenhalgh (Cinematographer), Carl Pierson (Editor), Carl Pierson (Editor) - - - - the cast includes Richard Travis (Phil Ramsey), Sheila Ryan (Ginny O'Donnell), Sid Melton (Manchu Murphy), Michael Whalen (Major Clinton), Lyle Talbot (Police Lt. McNaughton), Richard Emory (Dan Oliver), Dee Tatum (Terry Newell), Jack Reitzen (Kim Ho), Mr. Moto (Simo), "Killer" Karl Davis (Kingpin), John Grant (Announcer), Ray Singer (Grantland), Eddie Lee (Chin Koo), Carla Martin (Sarah), Curt Barrett and the Trailsmen (Western Band) - - - - released March 10, 1951, Lt. Dan Oliver (Richard Emory), an American soldier in Korea, agrees to deliver a jade dragon to a curio shop in Los Angeles. Soon after his return to the states, he is murdered. His buddy Phil Ramsey (Richard Travis) and Ginny O'Donnell (Sheila Ryan) trace the murder to the shop of Professor Kim Ho (Jack Reitzen). When a package mailed to Ramsey, by Oliver from Honolulu, proves to contain the jade dragon, Ramsey takes it to the curio shop to force a showdown with Kim Ho over what Ramsey suspects is a smuggling racket. Not to be confused with "The Maltese Falcon" but it moves right along, and even throws in Curt Masey and His Trailsmen in an unexpected sighting ... don't touch that dial you're about to find out all the twists and turns of this film noir mystery ... all courtesy of VCI Entertainment, who in my humble opinion is the best there is in restoring early serials and film noir features like this one.
BIOS:
1. Richard Travis (aka: William Justice)
Date of birth: 17 April 1913 - Carlsbad, New Mexico
Date of death: 11 July 1989 - Pacific Palisades, California
2. Sheila Ryan (aka: Katherine Elizabeth McLaughlin)
Date of birth: 8 June 1921 - Topeka, Kansas
Date of death: 4 November 1975 - Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California
3. Sid Melton (aka: Sidney Meltzer)
Date of birth: 23 May 1920 - Brooklyn, New York
Date of death: Still Living
4. Sam Newfield (Director)
Date of birth: 6 December 1899 - New York, New York
Date of death: 10 November 1964 - Los Angeles, California
BONUS FEATURES:
1. Blumberg Commentary (Mask of the Dragon)
2. The George Raft Story by Stone Wallace
3. Photo Gallery
4. Bios
5. Sid Melton Video Bio by Joel Blumberg
6 Trailers
"Man from Cairo"
"Motor Patrol"
"Portland Expose"
Great job by the people at VCI Entertainment, hats off and thanks to Les Adams (collector/guideslines for character identification), Chuck Anderson (Webmaster: The Old Corral/B-Westerns.Com), Boyd Magers (Western Clippings), Bobby J. Copeland (author of "Trail Talk"), Rhonda Lemons (Empire Publishing Inc), Bob Nareau (author of "The Real Bob Steele") and Trevor Scott (Down Under Com) as they have rekindled my interest once again for Film Noir, B-Westerns and Serials --- looking forward to more high quality releases from the vintage serial era of the '20s, '30s & '40s and B-Westerns ... order your copy now from Amazon where there are plenty of copies available on DVD, stay tuned once again for top notch action mixed with deadly adventure --- if you enjoyed this title, why not check out VCI Entertainment where they are experts in releasing B-Westerns and Serials --- all my heroes have been Cowboys!
Total Time: 137 mins on DVD ~ VCI Home Video KPF-555 ~ (4/24/2007) |
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Forgotten Noir, Vol. 4 (The Man from Cairo / Mask of the Dragon) dvd movie.