On blu-ray this week is this hardboiled noir from the '40's, which gives us early, pre-star performances from Burt Lancaster and Ava Gardner as a couple of criminals who fall for each other. You can see the screen presence they both had in this early film, and how they would both go on to become iconic stars of the 1950's. I love the word "hardboiled" that's often used to describe film noir, because it always tells you exactly what you're going to get- cynical, gritty, tough subject matter, hardened characters and steely acting that doesn't soften for one second. Some noirs are more of that than others, and this is definitely one of them- there's not a vulnerable second for any of these burned out people as they try to flee from their past crimes. You should check this one out as soon as you can, it's worth a watch.
Original 1946 Trailer:
