Image Entertainment presents
Gunman in the Streets (1950)

Denise: "What is it? What is it?"
Eddy: "A bullet."
Denise: "Is it bad?"
Eddy: "Don't think so."
Denise: "You don't think so?"
Eddy: "I haven't had time to look."
- Simone Signoret, Dane Clark

Review By: Rich Rosell  
Published: January 15, 2002

Stars: Dane Clark, Simone Signoret
Other Stars: Robert Duke, Fernand Gravet
Director: Frank Tuttle

MPAA Rating: Not Rated for (violence)
Run Time: 01h:28m:19s
Release Date: January 15, 2002
UPC: 014381137422
Genre: film noir

Style Grade	Substance Grade	Image Transfer Grade	Audio Transfer Grade	Extras Grade
A-	A-	B-	B	B+

DVD Review

If you are a film noir fan, then this should be good news for you. All Day Entertainment has revived the Frank Tuttle man-on-the-run thriller Gunman In The Streets (known in Canada as Gangster At Bay), and it is a wonderful example of the genre. In 1950 Tuttle, the director responsible for This Gun For Hire and The Glass Key, teamed up with groundbreaking cinematographer Eugen Shufftan (Bluebeard) to create a fast-paced crime story that is appropriately gritty and tough.

Eddy Roback (Dane Clark) is a rough-edged American criminal captured by the Paris authorities. As he is being transported through the city he escapes during an explosive shootout staged by his henchmen, and Roback has to work to stay one step ahead of the ever-closing dragnet that is set up by Commissioner Dufresne (Ferdinand Gravet) and to try and contact his former lover Denise Vernon (Simone Signoret). Roback needs money to make it to the Belgian border, and as he re-enters Denise's life, she has to struggle with forming alliances with a dangerous man or turning him over into the hands of the law. Good guy American newspaperman Frank Clinton (Robert Duke) is also vying for the attention of Denise, and a potentially volatile love triangle forms that spreads a nice blend of tension into the mix.

As is so typical of the genre, Tuttle's Gunman In The Streets is beautifully loaded with deep shadows, swirling cigarette smoke and snappy banter. This is the kind of film where literally everyone smokes, and it looks damn good on them, too. Smoking is so prevalent to the noir mood that during a scene where an informer is being revived with oxygen, Commissioner Dufresne hovers over him in a cloud of smoke. Tuttle also stages a hip sequence near the end where Denise is forced to choose where her alliance falls, with Roback or Clinton, and it is a largely dialogue free scene that is properly tense.

All film noirs need a dynamic femme fatale to bring everything together, and here it is screen beauty Simone Signoret (Diabolique). Her turn as the self-assured Denise is a winner, and it's easy to see why Roback and Clinton fall head over heels for her. Signoret has a perpetual smirk and a heavy-lidded gaze that is the stuff that all film noir is made of. There is a brief scene in Chez Bertrands where Denise is softly backlit, sipping from an oversized snifter, and she is absolutely radiant. She even gets to utter the clichéd "I'm no good for you" line, and still manages to give it life.

This is a very strong piece of genre filmmaking that was never released theatrically in the United States, nor has it ever been released on video.

Rating for Style: A-
Rating for Substance: A-

 

Image Transfer

	One
Aspect Ratio	1.33:1 - Full Frame
Original Aspect Ratio	yes
Anamorphic	no

Image Transfer Review: All Day Entertainment have thankfully resurrected Gunman In The Street, and issued it with a 1.33:1 image transfer that has been digitally mastered from 35m fine grain. That's not to say that the source print isn't littered with nicks, scratches and other assorted blemishes, but I imagine that a minor crime classic like this from 1950 will never look much better. There are moments where the print looks very good, and just as many where it looks less than clean, but then again this film is over fifty years old.

Considering this title has never been released on home video, film noir fans should rejoice over any version of this crime classic.

Image Transfer Grade: B-

 

Audio Transfer

	Language	Remote Access
Mono	English	no

Audio Transfer Review: The English mono track provided here has it's fair share of hiss and crackle, but it doesn't distract from the viewing experience. Dialogue suffers from distortion at times, but it is overall clear and audible.

No real complaints, considering its age.

Audio Transfer Grade: B

 

Disc Extras

Full Motion menu with music
Scene Access with 20 cues and remote access
Production Notes
Packaging: Amaray
Picture Disc
1 Disc
1-Sided disc(s)
Layers: single

Extra Extras:

1. Photo Gallery
2. Censored Footage Restored
3. Collectible Booklet

Extras Review: One of the key production elements here is the inclusion of a number of censored scenes, which were deemed too violent when the film was released, and ridiculously tame by today's standards. The scenes have been added back into the film, but are also collected here as a montage.

The photo gallery consists of 10 theatrical posters and stills, and the Collectible Booklet is a two-page insert with microscopic print that I was unable to read. Damn, I hate saying that. It makes me sound REALLY old. The production notes replicate much of the information that is listed on the back cover of the DVD case.

Extras Grade: B+

 

Final Comments

Tough. Hard-boiled. Violent. Sexy.
Film noir like it should be, from a gritty classic crime saga saved from obscurity by All Day Entertainment.

Recommended.

 

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