Black Tuesday — Black Tuesday( Blu Ray)
Black Tuesday is a grim at points brutal, mid 50’s noir regarding a prison/ death row breakout. It features Edward G Robbins as a ruthless and uncaring gangster- who will do anything to stay alive. The film features some unpredictable plot twists ‘n’ turns, and a well-acted/varied cast of characters. Here as part of Eureka’s Master Of Cinema series is a Blu-Ray release of the film- featuring a new crisp, yet stark 2k scan, a commentary track, and a selection of other extras.
Black Tuesday is from the year 1954. It was produced/ released by prolific low budget film producer Leonard Goldstein, and was directed by Mendoza, Argentina-born Hugo Fregonese. Between the mid-forties and mid-seventies, the director had twenty-nine credits to his name- taking in the likes of Where Words Fail (1946) a bio-drama regarding famed concert pianist Dario Garzay. Classic western Saddle Tramp (1950), Jack the Ripper focused horror drama Man In The Attic (1953), mad doctor meets spy thriller The Death Ray Of Dr. Mabuse (1964), and classic monsters-focused Sci-fi horror film Assignment Terror (1970).
The film runs at a fairly tight and eventful one hour and twenty minutes. Things open up decidedly glum and moody as we get slow panning shots of the shadowy cells- with the prisons lurking inside, as one of the inmates sings a stark blues song with just slapping on wood rhythm. There are five prisoners on death row- with our two key characters being Gangster Vincent Canelli (Robbins) and toothpick bridge-building bank robber Peter Graves (Peter Manning).
Both men are due to be executed in the next day- Canelli remains taunting and obnoxious to the prison guards and his fellow inmates. While Graves is rather glumly accepting of his fate, and even when he’s offered a stay of ten days on his death sentence, if he reveals where he's hidden the money he stole, he just wants to get it over & done with.
As the execution hour approaches for the pair- a cunning, if dangerous plan is set afoot to get Canelli out before he fries. Along with the escape, we get a good selection of characters- like un-fearing / speak-his-mind priest Father Slocum( Milburn Stone), daughter of one of the wardens Ellen Norris(Sylvia Findley), trying his best to keep alive/ be useful Dr Hart( Vic Perrin), newbie journalist Frank Carson(Jack Kelly), and sassy gangster moll Hatti Combest (Jean Parker).
The acting is good throughout, with the pace kept taut and shifting over the progress of the film, I can’t detail the plot anymore, so as not to reveal the plot twists, but there are some neat/ fairly surprising turns in the film. Yes, it has a wholly downbeat & grim tone- with Robbin's character always ready to hit out / gun down whoever gets in the way, with zero remorse.
Escape from prison films do often tread expected plot traits/ unfolds, and for the most part, Black Tuesday does try to do something different/ unexpected with the form. With the moody/ bleak noir tropes to the fore.
The Blu-ray takes in a new 2k scan, this looks excellent, well defined in both its light & dark elements- all enhancing even more the film's grimly noir air. On the extras side, we get four new things- first is a commentary track by film noir expert Sergio Angelini, host of the Tipping My Fedora podcast- this is the first track I’ve heard from Mr Angelini, and I must say I was blown away by the depth of his research/ his knowledge of the noir genre, and I’ll most certainly be playing the track again down the line- to pick up things I missed out, as he packs so much in. He begins by talking about how the film is about the fear of imminent death- being both a layered and dense drama. We find out the film was initially banned in the UK, and that it was mostly filmed on the RKO backlot- though it was meant to be set in New Jersey. He touches on actors as they appear, as well as giving great observations/breakdown of key scenes as they unfold. We get a potted history of the electric chair in New Jersey, and he touches on the elements of gallows humour in the film. He talks about the use of a certain film stock in the pictures making- this very much enhances both the dark and light elements. Later on, he gives us an in-depth look at the directors’ career. We find out the film premiered in the US on the 31st of December 1954- which was an odd choice, as there is zero festive air in it. We get quotes from press reviews of the time, and much more. All in all, an excellent track, and I’ll be most certainly keeping my eye out for Mr Angelini's name in future extras.
Otherwise on the new extras front we have the following. From Argentina to Hollywood (20.44) interview with film historian Sheldon Hall looking at the career of director Hugo Fregonese. No Escape (22.23) video essay by Imogen Sara Smith, author of In Lonely Places: Film Noir Beyond the City. This again is very well researched/ observed affair- she talks about the subtle use/ recurrence of toys in the film, and their meaning. She touches on other noir pictures written by the film's screenwriter Sydney Boehm. Discussing both the films moody cinematography, use of angled shots, and prison door-like lines- even after the escape. She talks about the noir prison genre in general, and more. Lastly, we have Ehsan Khoshbakht on Black Tuesday (24.08) which finds the critic discussing the film.
The finished release comes with a booklet featuring new writing on Black Tuesday by critic Barry Forshaw and film writer Craig Ian Mann.
Black Tuesday is a great, if decidedly bleak and grim example of the noir form. Once again, Eureka have done an excellent job on both the scan and extras for this release. If you’re a fan of the cinematic noir form- this release is a must!.