Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema XXVI [Dr. Broadway / Smooth as Silk / The Great Gatsby]

This collection features three unsung gems of classic film noir. Dr. Broadway (1942) – An Apple a Day Couldn’t Keep This Doctor Away! Macdonald Carey (Shadow of a Doubt) stars as hot-shot city physician Timothy “Doc” Kane, also known as Dr. Broadway, in a rollicking mystery film which marked the directorial debut of Anthony Mann (T-Men, Raw Deal, The Naked Spur). Under the bright lights of the Great White Way, Doc knows everyone and everyone knows him. He’s no ordinary practitioner; when he’s not doling out medical advice, he’s rounding up racketeers and saving a beautiful blonde (Jean Phillips, Among the Living) from a window ledge—twice. Based on a novel by Borden Chase (Winchester ’73, Bend of the River), the plot throws Doc into a zippy gangster mystery set against a glittering backdrop of 1942 Times Square. The lively cast includes J. Carrol Naish, Richard Lane, Eduardo Ciannelli and Joan Woodbury. Smooth as Silk (1946) – He Takes What He Wants… A Lady’s Lips, A Lover’s Life! A slick lawyer attempts to get away with murder in Smooth as Silk, a fast-paced noir thriller starring Kent Taylor (Tangier) and Virginia Grey (Portrait in Black). When Paula Marlowe (Grey) learns her boyfriend Mark Fenton (Taylor) represents the nephew of theatrical producer Stephen Elliott (John Litel, Woman in Hiding), the ambitious actress two-times the attorney and begins seeing his client so she can score a role in his uncle’s play. Successfully landing a part, Paula quickly trades up to Stephen, who announces their engagement at a party on opening night. Determined to get even, Fenton plans to use his advanced legal knowledge to pull off the perfect diabolical crime. Smoothly directed by the versatile Charles Barton (Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein). The Great Gatsby (1949) – A Great Cast… A Great Novel… A Great Motion Picture! This 1949 retelling of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s beloved novel takes us back in time to The Roaring Twenties, an age of hot jazz and cold champagne. The great Alan Ladd (Shane) stars as Jay Gatsby, formerly Jake Gatz, who works his way from poor fisherman to extravagant Long Island millionaire and then risks it all to woo back his former love, the beautiful Daisy Buchanan (Betty Field, The Shepherd of the Hills). Shot with noir style by director Elliott Nugent (The Cat and the Canary), this rare and ravishing Paramount adaptation was made long before the book became canonized as The Great American Novel. The first-rate cast features Macdonald Carey, Ruth Hussey, Barry Sullivan, Howard da Silva, Ed Begley, Elisha Cook Jr. and Shelley Winters.