Review: Too Late For Tears (1949) And Woman On The Run (1950)

These two late-period film noirs became available in the UK from Arrow Films in June 2016 as a matching pair of dual-format Blu-Ray and DVD combos, essentially replicating equivalent US releases from Flicker Alley the previous month. Both movies are presented in top-notch new high-definition restorations courtesy of the UCLA Film & Television Archive, and their release was made possible by the sterling efforts of the Film Noir Foundation, an admirable organisation dedicated to the preservation and appreciation of film noir.

            Too Late for Tears stars two noir icons, Lizabeth Scott and Dan Duryea. Scott’s character, Jane Parker, is out driving in the Hollywood Hills one evening with her husband Alan, played by Arthur Kennedy, when a suitcase full of illicit cash lands in their laps – almost literally, as it is thrown into the back of their moving car by a member of a criminal gang in a bizarre case of mistaken identity. She then proceeds to stake her claim as one of the most mercenary women ever to be depicted on screen, as she does everything in her power to take possession of the money and keep it from being recovered by its intended recipient, Duryea’s character, Danny Fuller. Alan is just the first of several people who come to a sticky end when they try to oppose her …

In Woman on the Run, struggling artist Frank Johnson, played by Ross Elliott, is the chance witness of a supposed gangland murder, but makes himself scarce before the police can take him into protective custody. His semi-estranged wife, portrayed by the movie’s star Ann Sheridan, then plays a cat-and-mouse game with the police as they both try to track Frank down before the murderer can get to him and eliminate him.

One of the main things that these two movies have in common, and that makes their pairing-up for release coincidentally rather apt, is their inclusion of strong female lead characters, who are both equally determined and unrepentantly single-minded in their own individual ways. Scott’s character in particular is an archetypal femme fatale, and certainly not a woman anyone would want to cross! Scott and Sheridan give excellent, career-highlight performances in their respective roles, and the movies as a whole are both extremely enjoyable, although Woman on the Run, with its unusual fairground-set climax, probably just has the edge.

The Film Noir Foundation deserves much kudos for its dogged and ultimately successful campaign to get these movies restored and then commercially released, and any noir aficionados unfamiliar with the organisation’s work would be well advised to check out its website at www.filmnoirfoundation.org and consider making a small donation to its ongoing cause, in return for access to regular downloads of its superb quarterly magazine Noir City.

These Arrow releases both come highly recommended; and each is rounded off with a strong package of extras:

Too Late for Tears

• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing.
• Audio commentary by writer, historian and film programmer Alan K Rode
• Chance of a Lifetime: The Making of ‘Too Late for Tears’, a new behind-the-scenes examination of the film’s original production, produced by Steven Smith and the Film Noir Foundation and featuring noir experts Eddie Muller, Kim Morgan, and Julie Kirgo.
• Tiger Hunt: Restoring ‘Too Late for Tears’, a chronicle of the multi-year mission to rescue this lost noir classic, produced by Steven Smith and the Film Noir Foundation.
• Gallery featuring rare photographs, poster art and original lobby cards.
• Reversible sleeve featuring original poster artwork on one side, and newly-commissioned artwork by Matt Griffin on the other.
• Booklet featuring new writing by writer and noir expert Brian Light.

Woman on the Run

• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing.
• Audio commentary by author, historian and noir expert Eddie Muller.
• Love is a Rollercoaster: ‘Woman on the Run’ Revisited, a new featurette on the making of the film, from script to noir classic, produced by Steven Smith and the Film Noir Foundation.
• A Wild Ride: Restoring ‘Woman on the Run’, a stranger-than-fiction featurette on the film’s restoration, produced by Steven Smith and the Film Noir Foundation.
• Noir City, a short documentary directed by Joe Talbot about the annual Noir City Film Festival, which the Film Noir Foundation hosts at San Francisco’s historic Castro Theatre.
• Gallery featuring rare photographs, poster art and original lobby cards.
• Reversible sleeve featuring original poster artwork on one side, and newly-commissioned artwork by Matt Griffin on the other.
• Booklet featuring new writing by Eddie Muller.

Stephen James Walker