Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema XIV (Undercover Girl / One Way Street / Appointment With a Shadow)

Undercover Girl (1950)

NYPD trainee Christine Miller (Alexis Smith) wanted a badge all the more after her cop father (Regis Toomey) died spurning a West Coast drug racket's bribe. The L.A. lieutenant (Scott Brady) on the case offered to have her help break the mob by posing as a buyer--but will she be prepared for the personal peril? Crackling crime tale co-stars Richard Egan, Gladys George, Gerald Mohr, Royal Dano. 83 min. BW/Rtg: NR

One Way Street (1950)

L.A. gangster John Wheeler (Dan Duryea) was angry with the expense of having corrupt doctor Frank Matson (James Mason) treat the gunshot henchman Ollie (William Conrad) took in a $200K heist. Matson, it turns out, took off for Mexico with the cash and Wheeler's girlfriend (Märta Torén)--and the hood's going to do a lot more than complain to the AMA to get even. Keep an eye out for Rock Hudson. 79 min. BW/Rtg: NR

Appointment With A Shadow (1957)

Alcoholic newshound Paul Baxter (George Nader) got a last-chance tip that gangster Dutch Hayden (Frank De Kova) got plastic surgery and was skipping the country. He realizes that the "Hayden" the cops shot down was set up when he sees the real article, unaltered and alive--but who'll believe him? Effective crime story co-stars Brian Keith, Joanna Moore, Virginia Field; Richard Carlson directs. 72 min. BW/Rtg: NR

Standard and Widescreen; Soundtrack: English; Subtitles: English; audio commentary; theatrical trailers.