Search - Where the Sidewalk Ends on DVD

Content Advisory: Violence, Questionable for Children Movie Release: 1950 Format: DVD SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 43 mins Studio: 20th Century Fox Members Wishing: 3 Genres: Thriller, Film Noir, Crime Drama, Police Drama See Also: Where the Sidewalk Ends

Dana Andrews is brutal metropolitan police detective Dixon, who despises all criminals because his father had been one. When the cops pick up two-bit gambler Ken Paine (Craig Stevens) as a murder suspect, Dixon subjects Paine to the third degree -- and accidentally kills him. In disposing of the body, Dixon inadvertently places the blame for the killing on cab driver Jiggs Taylor (Tom Tully). Having fallen in love with Jigg's daughter, Morgan (Gene Tierney), Dixon tries to clear the cabbie without implicating himself, but ultimately he becomes trapped in a web of his own making; luckily Morgan promises to stand by him. Where the Sidewalk Ends was adapted from a novel by William L. Stuart; its director was Otto Preminger, who'd previously put Andrews and Tierney through their paces in Laura (1944). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Dana Andrews - Mark Dixon
Gene Tierney - Morgan Taylor
Gary Merrill - Tommy Scalise
Bert Freed - Paul Klein
Karl Malden - Lt. Bill Thomas
Tom Tully - Jiggs Taylor

Otto Preminger's Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950) is a superb piece of film noir that isn't shown nearly often enough, at least in America. It's now shown up as a Region 2 DVD in England, playable in Europe, the Middle East, and Japan, or on properly set-up computers or all-region players everywhere. The disc looks better than the movie did in a 35 mm showing at New York's Film Forum in the mid-'90s, Every shot looks perfect, and there are not even minor flaws to be seen. The contrasts are deep and full, and even the darkest shots have useful picture information. The score and the dialogue are also transferred very cleanly, on a soundtrack that is mastered at a reasonably high volume -- it all whets one's appetite for film noir in the U.S. catalog; at the time of this release, Fox had promised (but not delivered) Preminger's Laura, never mind less successful movies such as this. The film has been given a generous if not exceptional 16 chapters and comes with a trailer that is somewhat less grim than the mood of the movie itself (and both make liberal use of Alfred Newman's familiar "Street Scene" theme). Also included is a selection of bonus features with biographical sketches of director Preminger and screenwriter Ben Hecht, accessible through a multi-layer menu that opens automatically on startup. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide