Directors: Jerry Hopper, James Edward Grant, William A. Wellman, Phil Karlson, Edward Ludwig
Screenplay: Various authors for each film
Starring: Sterling Hayden, Gloria Grahame, Sean McClory, Mickey Spillane, John Payne, Yvonne De Carlo,
Country: USA
Year: 1966
Dark shadows, sinister minds and wicked deeds – all is at play here in Imprint’s ‘Essential Film Noir: Collection 6 (1954-1956)’. It includes four films, from three major studios, Universal, Warner Brothers, Paramount, and the less well-known Republic Pictures.
These include black and white border-noir Naked Alibi (1954), circus-noir Ring of Fear (1954), and first time ever Bluray releases for exotic Bond-esque noir Hell’s Island (1955) and tantalising tale oozing with melodrama Flame of the Islands (1956).
Firstly, the packaging is sleek, and the artwork on each of the boxes is funky. It comes with a card with a list of the special features on each disc.
I thought all the films were brilliant in their own unique ways. Despite the fact they’re all B-movies, they’re very different from each other. Imprint has certainly made a wise selection, going for a sense of variety in this package.
Naked Alibi (1954)
Black and white film starring noir veterans Sterling Hayden (The Killing, The Asphalt Jungle) and Gloria Grahame (The Big Heat, In a Lonely Place). Both the actors bring their A-game. It’s a really great flick with economic storytelling. It’s about a cop (Hayden) who gets wound up in his hunt for a cop killer – it starts out as a dubious mystery, involving a seemingly mild-mannered baker played by Gene Barry (The War of the Worlds) who also puts in an amazing performance.
The most striking aspect of this film is the cinematography. It was shot by, and this is no understatement, one of the greatest cinematographers ever, Russell Metty. It’s likely you haven’t heard of that name, so I’ll just let his pictures make clear how good the cinematography and lighting are in this film. He also helped make the following: Bringing Up Baby (1938), The Stranger (1946), Magnificent Obsession (1954), All That Heaven Allows (1955), Written on the Wind (1956), Touch of Evil (1958), Imitation of Life (1959), Spartacus (1960), Flower Drum Song (1961), The Misfits (1961), Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967), and The Omega Man (1971).
And yes, the picture quality is fantastic on this film. If you like grain, you’ll love this movie.
Film: 
Extras
Audio commentary by author and film historian Samm Deighan: Fascinating insight and analysis. Deighan weaves in and out of topics with a great sense of structure. I found particularly interesting what she says about Gloria Grahame’s life, how Hayden’s career began, his involvement with the red scare and how the Hayes Code ties into the ending. She recommends Ride the Pink Horse as a companion piece – which was also shot by Metty.
NEW Shadows at the Border – video essay by film academic Eloise Ross (15 mins): Speaks of the border-noir subgenre and what it symbolises, as opposed to urban-noir or rural-noir. An a-moral no-man’s land, a liminal space.
Looks at symbolism of noir elements in NA. Border towns, grim, dirty, full of risk. Looks at past examples. Background of creatives behind film, director, writer.
The Cinematographer (1951) short film from Naked Alibi director Jerry Hopper (10 mins): Fascinating Academy featurette on the role of a director of photography, in the 50s, and how they used mise-en-scène and lighting in their craft. Amazing documentary BTS footage of Hollywood sets.
Ring of Fear (1954)
I loved this film so much. This was a five-star movie, for me. It’s a deliciously dark macabre tale set in a circus! With an incredible bad guy. Irishman Sean McClory as sick and twisted Dublin O’Malley is so awesome in his role, and the writing is fantastic. It’s certainly a B-movie, but it’s just so well made and so much fun.
One of the screenwriters behind the film Mickey Spillane plays himself as the film’s noir detective. Spillane was a famous noir author at the time – the Stephen King of his day, supposedly. Real-life big cat tamer Clyde Beatty also plays himself. In jaw dropping footage, and in glorious ‘WarnerColor’, we see him performing with lions and tigers. There’s also footage of elephants performing. With modern eyes, it seems quite cruel, but it makes for the perfect noir backdrop.
Circus-noir, this may have to be my new favourite genre! Just brilliant. The picture is great too, and the wide variety of colours in the circus lends itself perfectly to the 1080 transfer.
The only issue was the fact the dialogue volume levels are quite low compared the circus tunea. It required a lot of turning the volume up and down late at night.
Film:
Extras
Film commentary with mystery writer Max Allan Collins and Cereal at Midnight host Heath Holland (2026): Collins was good friends with Mickey Spillane and even co-authored his final books. Great insight into life and career of the noir author who starred in the movie. Interesting angle to centre the audio commentary on. Slightly different than usual.
NEW As Themselves – video essay by filmmaker and film historian Paul Anthony Nelson (14 mins): Amazing documentary footage of old cameras and cinemas/nickelodeons. He speaks about the history of people playing versions of themselves and goes right back to the beginning. Some strange examples, including an actress who was a Titanic survivor. He mostly speaks about lives of Clyde Beatty who was starting in movies since 1933, and author Micky Spillane – both fascinating characters.
Hell’s Island (1955)
This was an entertaining Bond-esque picture – but it was made before the Bond franchise launched. It stars John Payne (Kansas City Confidential) as suave lawyer Mike Cormack sent to an island to find a stolen ruby. He’s been hired by a Blofeld-esque villain called Barzland because Mike’s ex-fiancée is involved.
The wheelchair bound bad guy is played by English actor Francis L. Sullivan (Oliver Twist, Night and the City/ Sullivan is wonderfully slimy in the role. Mary Murphy plays fiancée Janet Martin, and she is very shifty. It’s an entertaining noir set in an exotic location with a silly but satisfying tale.
It depicts a sunny vision of the 1950s brought to life in colour. Very clear picture quality. You can see all the finer details with a crinkle of grain. It boasts rich colours, having been shot in VistaVision with deep maroons, navies, crimson reds, vibrant blues and you can see the textures on the spotless clothing.
Film:
Extras
NEW Audio commentary by film historian Gary Gerani: Good humoured. Very detailed, non-stop commentary. Makes for a fantastic listen.
NEW The United States vs Hell’s Island – a recreation of a 1955 US Senate hearing that examined the film’s lurid advertising (5 mins): Amusing way of showing the Hells Island poster controversy. They could have used a second voice actor, however, as it depicts the same actor performing two roles.
Flame of the Islands (1956)
The film is carried by beautiful starlet Yvonne De Carlo (The Ten Commandments, The Munsters). While the plot makes little sense, it all just works. It’s a tantalizing melodrama and the noir themes become increasingly clear as the film progresses. Decarlo plays Rosalind Dee.
Rosalind has recently come into a $100,000 fortune. She decides to invest it in a private gambling club on an exotic island. Unbeknown to her, it involves some shadowy figures.
It’s an extremely racy picture for a code-era movie, and very gripping as you watch Rosalind’s journey progress.
Unfortunately, some of the film seems quite damaged, with nicks and scratches. Plus, a few of the scenes look like they’ve had some compression issues, as they’re over-washed and unclear. Most of the film the looks fantastic, however, with lots of grain and warmth to the colour.
Film:
Extras
NEW Video essay on star Yvonne De Carlo by film historian Phillipa Berry (36 mins): Fantastic documentary on the star actress. She had a really quirky career. It features lots of footage and images from her other roles, and it’s really well narrated. It makes an amusing reference to a video of De Carol that’s trended on YouTube in recent years.
Overall disc/package:
Imprint released Essential Film Noir: Collection 6 (1954 – 1956) – Imprint Collection #574 – 577 on 29th April, 2026.
