ALIAS NICK BEAL: Blu-ray (Paramount, 1949) Kino Lorber

Master noir director, John Farrow gives the devil his due in Alias Nick Beal (1949) – a rather darkly disturbed re-imagining of the Faustian tale of temptation, but ultimate redemption of a man’s nearly lost soul. Although Ray Milland is top-billed, and is, in fact, the titular Mr. Beal – the devil’s disciple, come to collect on the desires of an honest man, the real ‘star turn’ here is owed supporting player, Thomas Mitchell who, as Joseph Foster, the latest client with aspirations to hold a higher office than the one he presently occupies, makes the legendary and critical misfire of all ye of truly pure heart – stepping into a bear trap of forces beyond his understanding or control, still believing he can manipulate the variables in his favor. The picture is also noteworthy for Audrey Totter’s performance as Donna Allen – a cheap tart, made over by Beal as potential play-thing for Foster. Problem for the devil: Foster isn’t playing into this sex snare. Another problem: neither is Allen. It’s refreshing, in fact, to see Totter – usually typecast as the proverbial ‘femme fatale’ – herein desperately resisting the urge to help Beal topple a good man. Indeed, she denies Beal’s sway at the outset, and later, outright defies his scheming to have her play the part of Foster’s seductress, luring him away from his strait-laced wife, Martha (portrayed with ample virtue, vim and determination by the spectacularly underrated Geraldine Wall).  The picture is also stocked to the rafters with familiar supporting players in the noir movement; George Macready, against type as the noble and inquisitive Rev. Thomas Garfield, Fred Clark - morally bankrupt, Frankie Faulkner, Henry O’Neill (dutiful Judge Hobson), Nestor Paiva (as curmudgeonly bar man, Karl) and Darryl Hickman (as delinquent youth, Larry Price).

It was quite a year for Ray Milland who, born Alfred Reginald Jones, took his ‘stage’ name from the street where he lived before becoming one of Paramount Picture’s most bankable stars.  Or was Milland a riff on ‘Mullane’ – his stepfather’s surname? Milland was also billed as ‘Spike Milland’ and ‘Raymond Milland’ in two early forays into the picture-making biz in Britain. Oh well, by the time he arrived on American soil in 1934 he was known as Ray Milland…and it stuck, quickly snatched up by Paramount talent scouts for his undeniable good looks and congenial nature. For a time, this suited him. But by 1949, the looks had already begun to slip away, replaced by that softish middle-aged thing with the ever-so-slightly bulging eyes.  He was a freelancer, age 42 in ’49, his contact with Paramount expired the year before. And, having walked away from that squeaky-clean male ingenue persona the studio rather desperately tried to hermetically seal, only to be broken wide open by his turn as the reckless alcoholic in Billy Wilder’s Oscar-winning The Lost Weekend (1945), Milland now added yet another layer of scintillating uncertainty to his actor’s artistry as the eponymic Mr. Beal – a delectably nasty avatar. As for Audrey Totter; she began her career as a disembodied voice on the radio in various soap opera dramas before signing a 7-year movie contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1945. It became clear her strength was in playing wicked women – a particular brand of femininity for which MGM possessed virtually no stomach. And so, the loan outs began, followed by a change of venue, first to Columbia, then 2oth Century-Fox. Totter, it seems, came to the party too late, the fifties’ yen in grand spectacles virtually wiping out the seedy little noir drama overnight. She retreated to TV, then considered the industry’s red-headed stepchild. And although the small screen kept her active for decades thereafter, the meaty roles were few and far between. Just shy of her 96^th birthday, Totter died of a stroke, remembered largely today as a beloved footnote in the annals of film noir.

But again, the kudos here are owed character actor, Thomas Mitchell who, undeniably, appeared in some of the most high-profile classics of all-time, including his breakthrough role in Frank Capra’s 1937 masterpiece - Lost Horizon, and, John Ford’s The Hurricane, 1939’s Stagecoach (for which he won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar as the alcoholic, Doc Boone), Only Angels Have Wings, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and, Selznick’s opus magnum - Gone with the Wind, 1940’s Angels Over Broadway, Our Town, and, The Long Voyage Home, 1942’s The Black Swan, Darryl Zanuck’s 1944 Technicolor titan biopic, Wilson, and, The Keys of the Kingdom, Capra’s Christmas perennial, 1946’s It’s A Wonderful Life,  and Fred Zinneman’s 1952 sobering western, High Noon.  Forty-three of his fifty-nine movies were actually made within a prolific 10-yr. period between 1936-46.  And these are but Mitchell’s career highlights! Born to Irish immigrants in New Jersey, Mitchell was bitten by the acting bug in his early teens, touring with Charles Coburn's Shakespeare Company in 1913 while authoring several plays, including Little Accident, made into a movie in 1930, and remade twice thereafter. When movie work dried up in the early fifties, Mitchell segued into television, reinventing himself yet again as an entrenched and indispensable part of small screen programming, appearing in anthologies as well as his own series, Glencannon (1959), lasting 39-episodes. Most today will have forgotten that Mitchell also originated the role of Det. Columbo on the stage in 1960 – his last performance – a character later to be made immortal by Peter Falk on television. When Thomas Mitchell died of peritoneal mesothelioma 2-yrs. later at the age of 70, he was revered. Today, he still holds a solid spot as one of Hollywood’s most enduring and endearing character players. In Alias Nick Beal, Mitchell lends what could otherwise have been a dull milquetoast with blind-sided ambitions, an air of fallen, bittersweet dignity.

After storm-cloud-filled main titles, underscored by Franz Waxman, Alias Nick Beal wastes no time introducing us to ambitious District Attorney, Joseph Foster – an honest man, gunning for an underworld crook – Hanson – whom we never meet but are told is too slick to be caught. At present, Foster is loosely entertaining slimy Frankie Faulkner who has his own ambitions for the as the puppet master behind the throne, as well as Foster’s devoted friend, Rev. Garfield who, along with the reform counsel, implores Foster to reconsider running for political office. At the same time, Foster takes an interest in a wayward youth, Larry Price who, at first, is too tough to partake of Foster’s benevolent ‘boys club’. Larry, however, steadily matures in his respect for Foster’s never-waning virtue. This seems to have transformed his life into a purposeful one. If only Foster could have acquired the doctored ledgers to prove Hanson’s guilt. Yet these, presumably, were destroyed by Hanson’s dutiful bookkeeper. Nevertheless, Foster is lured by an anonymous phone call to the seedy China Coast Café – a waterfront dive where he is introduced to Nick Beal. Mr. Beal is, apparently, a concerned citizen, taking Foster to a construction shack on the wharf where Foster is led to discover the cooked accounts he has been searching for, strangely intact and awaiting his confiscation. Obtained illegally, the evidence is nevertheless enough to convict Hanson.

Now, poised to become governor, Foster is revisited by the shadowy Mr. Beal, goaded into a bribe for his services already rendered. Foster’s wife, Martha cautions against it. But Foster knows Beal could spill everything about his illegally obtained search, not only to reverse Hanson’s conviction but also derail his own chances for political office. So, Foster pays. Not long thereafter, he meets Hanson’s former bookkeeper, Henry T. Finch (Douglas Spencer), now a wanted man. Finch informs Foster he knows he burned the original ledgers. He therefore hints that those Foster used at trial were forgeries. From this moment on, all of Foster’s precious victories will be shallow as Mr. Beal continues to tighten the yoke, guiding Foster into the political career he does not actually want. Beal hires the prostitute, Donna Allen (Audrey Totter), re-making her as an elegant clothes horse - just the sort to successfully lure Foster away from his wife. Except Allen, although going along with Beal’s plan at first, increasingly proves she possesses a spine, also unexpected empathy for Beal and against his manipulation by Beal. Martha too begins to stand her ground against her husband’s ever-increasing reliance on Mr. Beal’s powers of persuasion as he draws nearer the governor’s seat. Alas, Foster naively believes once he has been elected, he will be able to shore himself of Nick Beal’s influences. And thus, Beal remains close at hand throughout the election process. Foster’s slavish devotion to Beal, more than anything else, drives a wedge in his marriage. Soon, Foster and Martha are estranged. Donna Allen, however, has already decided to leave town without fulfilling her commitments to Beal. Meanwhile, Rev. Garfield becomes convinced Beal is the modern-age reincarnation of the devil, come to claim yet another soul on earth.

Unable to convince Foster of as much, Garfield and Martha band together to fight Beal on their terms. To ensure his security as a part of Foster’s inner counsel, Beal gets Foster to sign a binding contract, in effect, trading his soul for his career under penalty of death should he renege on the deal. When Foster wins the governorship, Beal presses him to institute certain measures that will surely place him in charge of the political process. Instead, Foster – having finally come to his senses – defies Beal by confessing to members of the press his lack of God-given guidance and conscience necessary to faithfully discharge his duties in the office, thereby momentarily derailing Beal’s plans to rule behind the throne, although Beal confides this is merely temporary, as he will find weaker prey on whose greed he can fester and feed.  Beal reminds Foster of their contract, the stipulation forcing Foster to give up his soul to Beal at the stroke of midnight. Believing he is powerless to prevent the inevitable, Foster accompanies Beal back to the fog-laden waterfront where his descend into purgatory will be made complete. Mercifully, Larry has witnessed Beal ushering Foster away. Martha and Rev. Garfield pursue them to the wharf where Garfield confronts the devil with the truth. Beal produces the contract Foster signed. But Garfield now places his Bible upon it, thereupon denying Beal access to it. Unable to retrieve the document, Beal concedes defeat, but promises to return someday soon to begin the process all over again by corrupting another seemingly ‘innocent’ man, before vanishing into the dense night fog.

Some 72-years later, Alias Nick Beal remains a daring ‘then’ contemporary take on the classic Faustian tale of soul-stealing succession. Ray Milland’s performance as the sly and abiding devil incarnate is a masterpiece of downplaying. About all Milland ever does to imply a fate worse than death for dear Mr. Foster is raise an eyebrow, with cinematographer, Lionel Landon’s chiaroscuro lighting perfectly pitched to catch a restless and disturbing glint in Milland’s tainted and presuming glances. We doff our caps to John Farrow’s spookily paced direction – methodically built from relatively unassuming ‘cute meets’ into intentionally ominous coincidences too terrifying to dismiss. Wisely, Farrow forgoes the urge to make this devil appear or disappear in a puff of smoke, ball of flame, or some other such nonsensical special effect Hollywood’s menage is prone to extort. Instead, Milland seems to suddenly materialize, from out of the fog, or merely, to come into focus against a background no one is paying attention to at first; basic spook-inducing chills, but jarring, and ghoulishly good nonetheless, though especially when harmonized with Milland’s cruel and calculatingly glacial prurience.  Scripted by Farrow fav, Jonathan Latimer (adapted from a tale by Mindret Lord), Alias Nick Beal hails from a particular epoch in post-war forties’ darkly purposed fantasy, narrowly to avoid the unhappy fate of fates at the end. Franz Waxman’s score is a bit too ‘on the nose’ for contemporary tastes, punctuating with a harsh explosion of sound. But otherwise, Alias Nick Beal is a deliciously perverse entertainment with a good solid, though none-too-preachy morality tale at its core.

Kino Lorber’s Blu-ray is another instance of Universal Home Video’s inability to ‘poo or get off the pot’ when it comes to mastering deep catalog inherited from Paramount via MCA long ago. If original elements do exist for this grand fantasy, they have not been utilized for this 1080p remaster. And while Alias Nick Beal occasionally represents a middling effort at best, most of what is here falls well below expectations for good ‘quality’ video mastering. Contrast is anemic at best. The image is unintentionally soft, especially around the edges. Speaking of edges: their artificial effects are persistent throughout. Ditto for gate weave and overall image instability. The scenes taking place under the cover of fog are an indistinguishable sea of black crush with intermittent age-related artifacts and speckling come to intrude. Any way you slice it, this is a fairly disappointing effort on Uni’s part. The 1.0 DTS audio is actually quite good, and better than the image, showing no signs of hiss or pop, although dialogue can occasionally sound slightly muffled. The only extra is an audio commentary from noir historian, Eddie Muller who begins by reminding us he came out of ‘retirement’ to partake. Mr. Muller’s best work is decidedly behind him, as he waffles through a fairly dull and opinion-riddled commentary with few facts peppered between the hyperbole and ennui otherwise afflicting his words. There are also theatrical trailers for this and other like-minded product Kino is peddling. Bottom line: Alias Nick Beal is a fine film given a below-average image harvest. Uni ought to be ashamed of this. They have a gemstone but have paid it little to zero attention that it deserves. Recommended for content. Expect nothing from the actual mastering effort and you will be pleasantly surprised.

FILM RATING (out of 5 – 5 being the best)

4

VIDEO/AUDIO

2.5

EXTRAS

1