Search - Railroaded on DVD

Content Advisory: Questionable for Children Movie Release: 1947 DVD Release: 01/18/2000 Format: DVD SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 14 mins Studio: Kino Members Wishing: 6 Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Film Noir, Psychological Thriller

One of director Anthony Mann's earlier films, Railroaded features John Ireland as Duke Martin, a seedy criminal looking to skim off of his boss' money. Instead of making the extra cash by his usual means--a small gambling operation run by beautician Clara Cahhoun (Jane Randolph)--Duke (Ireland) chooses instead to hold up the beauty parlor at gunpoint. Things go awry, however, when the cops hear Calhoun's (Randolph) assistant scream in terror. In a spray of gunfire, both a policeman and Martin's partner in crime are killed. Meanwhile, a local delivery boy is accused of killing the police officer. Detective Mike Ferguson (Hugh Beaumont) is assigned to the case, and quickly begins to butt heads with Duke, who he realizes from the start is up to no good.

~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

John Ireland - Duke Martin
Sheila Ryan - Rosa Ryan
Hugh Beaumont - Mickey Ferguson
Jane Randolph - Clara Calhoun
Ed Kelly - Steve Ryan

Anthony Mann's Railroaded probably hasn't looked as good as it does on Kino's DVD release since the day it opened in 1947 -- not only is the movie, a very stylish crime thriller, transferred from what looks like a pristine source print, but it's been transferred well. The darkly lit scenes reveal just enough visual information to make them intelligible without sacrificing the realistic obscurity of the low lighting, and the skin textures are visible in the close-ups; in fact, this could easily be among the best looking modern incarnations of any film ever made at PRC, and it is one instance where the DVD image looks distinctly better than the stills on the packaging. It's 23 minutes into the movie before the first blemishes appear on the screen, and most of those are very, very slight; the middle section of the movie isn't quite as sharp or rich as the opening 30 minutes, but it's a reasonably close match despite the slightly weaker source material. Edgar Ulmer's movies for PRC should have gotten preserved as well as this film is. The official running time on the movie is 74 minutes but Kino's DVD clocks in at just under 72 without anything missing. The movie has only been given nine chapters, which is a little skimpy given the relative complexity of the plot and the care with which the movie has been treated in its film-to-video transfer. The film starts automatically, and the menu must be accessed manually. There are no special features, but the movie is so good that none are really required. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide