Private Hell 36 [Blu-ray]

Director: Don Siegel Don Siegel

Overview

Private Hell 36 was one of the last feature-length efforts by Filmmakers, a company created by producer Collier Young and his then-wife Ida Lupino. Young and Lupino also wrote the script for this grim crime melodrama, wherein two detectives Cal Bruner (Steve Cochran) and Jack Farnham (Howard Duff Lupino's future husband) are assigned to track down $300,000 stolen in a bloody hold-up. The two cops manage to locate $80,000 of the booty, whereupon Bruner, not the most ethical of men, suggests that he and Farnham split the money 50-50 and keep their mouths shut. When Farnham decides to turn honest and hand the money over to his superiors, Bruner responds with the business end of his revolver. The very small cast is rounded out by Dean Jagger as the detectives' boss and Dorothy Malone as Duff's understandably worried wife.

Product Details

Release Date:	08/21/2012
UPC:	0887090045605
Original Release:	1954
Rating:	NR
Source:	Olive
Presentation:	[B&W]
Language:	English
Time:	1:21:00
Sales rank:	24,492

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Ida Lupino	Lilli Marlowe
Howard Duff	Jack Farnham,Farnham's Child
Steve Cochran	Cal Bruner
Dean Jagger	Capt. Michaels
Dorothy Malone	Francey Farnham
Jerry Hausner	Nightclub Boss
Dabbs Greer	Bartender
Chris O'Brien	Coroner
Kenneth Patterson	Superior Officer
George Dockstader	Fugitive
Jimmy Hawkins	Delivery Boy
King Donovan	Burglar
Budget Duff	Baby Famham
Leith Stevens	Composer

Technical Credits

Collier Young

Ida Lupino

Don Siegel	Director
Collier Young	Producer,Screenwriter
Ida Lupino	Producer,Screenwriter
T.A. Carman	Sound/Sound Designer
Howard Wilson	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

Private Hell 36 is ultimately a rather standard police flick with noir overtones, but it's worth watching for a number of reasons. Director Don Siegel is not turning in the best work of his career, but he's still in firm command here, directing at all times efficiently and at times going beyond that into the electrifying. The latter is evident in the two big gun battles that bookend the film and that demonstrate Siegel's ability to create tension and excitement with seeming ease. Hell also has at its disposal a superior cast. Ida Lupino, world weary but vulnerable, is always a plus. Her role in Hell is not as well written as one might wish, but she makes the most of what is essentially a supporting part. In an even smaller role, Dorothy Malone is aces, but it's the male leads who really do the best work here. Howard Duff is quite convincing as the good cop who has a moment of weakness, and Steve Cochran turns in really impressive work as the tortured, bitter cop. The plotting gets awkward in places, and there's too much that's familiar, but overall Hell is a decent way to pass the time.

All Movie Guide - Craig Butler