18.1 C
New York
Friday, November 8, 2024
Advertisement

Union Station (1950) Blu-ray Review

union-station-bluray-coverU.S. Release

– –

The Film

[Rating:3.5/5]

title

1950 was a very busy year for Hollywood leading man William Holden, featured in no fewer than four films including the legendary Sunset Boulevard, Born Yesterday, Father is a Bachelor, and Union Station. This latter effort was a less publicized crime story brimming with all of the essential elements of a film noir.

two

A train trip connects passenger Joyce Willecombe (Nancy Olson) with railroad policeman William Calhoun (William Holden) when she spots an armed man in her car. The real story begins when Lorna Murchison (Allene Roberts), the blind daughter of wealthy Henry Murchison (Herbert Heyes), has been kidnapped by the two men, Gus Hadder (Don Dunning) and Vince Marley (Fred Graff) that Joyce saw on the train.

train

Calhoun assembles his team to find the missing woman. They track down Hadder and chase him off a train but the kidnapper ends up trampled to death in the Chicago stockyards. The search continues as Union Station is staked out by Calhoun’s forces waiting for Murchison to open a locker that contains his daughter’s suitcase. Working with Inspector Donnelly (Barry Fitzgerald), Calhoun and colleagues begin to narrow their investigation with Marley’s unwilling assistance. Meanwhile, Joe Beacom (Lyle Bettger) and his moll Marge Wrighter (Jan Sterling) are holding Lorna hostage in their apartment. However, when Calhoun and Donnelly finally find and break into the apartment, it has been vacated.

jan

The pair of kidnappers is now on the run with their blind hostage in tow, but a chance encounter with a street cop leads to a shoot out. The policeman is killed and Marge is critically wounded as  Joe takes off by himself with Lorna. The time for paying the ransom draws near and tension mounts as it looks like the kidnapped Lorna might not survive the exchange process at Union Station. In typical film noir fashion, the plot speeds on to its nail-biting conclusion.

gun2

Union Station benefited substantially from the efforts of director Maté whose extensive resumé included such diverse films as It had to be You, D.O.A., When Worlds Collide, and For the First Time, and Daniel L. Fapp’s dramatic cinematography. Holden’s performance as the hard-boiled railroad detective and Fitzgerald’s turn as the crusty but loveable police detective elevate this one above much of its competition.

Video Quality

[Rating:3/5]

neck

The black and white contrasts are decent with a very modest amount of streaking, blurring or washout. Close-ups are surprisingly sharp.

Audio Quality

[Rating:3/5]

union

The boxy mono soundtrack is typical of its generation with adequate dialogue coverage and serious compression of climaxes.

Supplemental Materials

[Rating:0/5]

lorna

No extras are provided.

The Definitive Word

Overall:

[Rating:3.5/5]

murch

This pretty standard film noir is buoyed up by fine direction and cinematography, and strong performances by its two stars Holden and Fitzgerald. The restoration is beyond reproach and delivers a decent account of 1950s sights and sounds.

 Additional Screen Captures

[amazon-product]B00OUO9ZSA[/amazon-product]

barry1

body

car

face

face2

gun

gun1

kidnapper

watch

willie2

willie

[amazon-product]B00OUO9ZSA[/amazon-product]

Advertisement

Related Articles

Join the Discussion on TheaterByte!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Stay Connected

301FansLike
0FollowersFollow
184FollowersFollow
1,710FollowersFollow
- Advertisement -

Notice of Compliance with FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION 16 CFR Part 255

In accordance with the Federal Trade Commission 16 CFR part 255 guidelines, this website hereby states that it receives free discs and other theatrical or home entertainment "screeners" and access to screening links from studios and/or PR firms, and is provided with consumer electronics devices on loan from hardware manufacturers and/or PR firms respectively for the purposes of evaluating the products and its content for editorial reviews. We receive no compensation from these companies for our opinions or for the writing of reviews or editorials.
Permission is sometimes granted to companies to quote our work and editorial reviews free of charge. Our website may contain affiliate marketing links, which means we may get paid commission on sales of those products or the services we write about. Our editorial content is not influenced by advertisers or affiliate partnerships. This disclosure is provided in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR § 255.5: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Latest Articles