Captain Carey U.S.A. (1950)

Well tailored Ladd adventure film. No big name costars, no fancy production values, just Ladd doing what his fans wanted him to do dominate the screen. He does plenty of that in this one. It has the sharp, tough dialogue and physicality that was expected in his films. Glad to see it coming out on DVD. Now if the powers to be would just release his other late 40's early 50's films. Beyond Glory, Chicago Deadline, and especially The Great Gatsby deserve to be seen and enjoyed.

Alan Ladd has been neglected for far too long! Please release Calcutta, Siagon, O.S.S., Blue Dahlia, The Glass Key,...Ahhh, Jeez! Give Us A Box Set!

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"I'm going to stick around and bother people."

Best remembered, if at all, for introducing the song Mona Lisa, 1950's Captain Carey, U.S.A. aka After Midnight is a very decent little thriller that sees Alan Ladd's former O.S.S. agent returning to the small Italian village where he was betrayed, his lover (Wanda Hendrix) killed and 27 villagers massacred by the Germans to find out who was really responsible. It's not a popular return: the villagers blame him for bringing death to their town (so much so they gang up to stone him in the street) and there are more emotionally painful reunions in store before he uncovers the truth. It's not particularly challenging, although surprisingly the most obvious suspects turn out to be innocent, but it's at times surprisingly bitter, with Ladd much better than usual as the disenchanted hero who's been letting his wounds poison him for years.

Although you'll never believe for a moment that you're in Italy rather than Hollywood, it's a solidly produced old-school studio system picture with decent direction by Mitchell Leisen and a half-decent supporting cast including Joseph Calleia, one-time Dracula Francis Lederer, six-times Charlie Chan Roland Winters and a young Russ Tamblyn when he was still billed as Rusty Tamblyn. The use of the Oscar winning Mona Lisa which doesn't even get a mention in the film's credits is particularly interesting: rather than the familiar vocal version, we only get a brief rendition in Italian, not as a serenade but as a warning sign of oncoming danger, an idea that's neatly replayed in purely instrumental terms long after the Germans have left.

Sadly Olive Film's region-free US Blu-ray is a disappointment due to the poor master material Paramount provided them with: while it's not disastrous, the film's clearly had no restoration and has a lot of minor contrast issues and is one it's probably best to save a few bucks on by opting for the DVD instead since the higher definition just seems to draw attention to the flaws. No extras either.

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I enjoy OLIVE label DVD. These are old movies and are mostly seen by old people, as me. So why don't put the english subtitles ?

It would help sales. Same problem with Assault on a Queen and Come blow your horn.

Giuliano Fournier

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Excellent story and acting; a little action and a little mystery. The quality of the picture and sound is very good.

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