Road House

Not to be confused with the 1989 Patrick Swayze bar bouncer movie, this Road House (1948) is a solid film noir with a rural setting. Ida Lupino stars as Lily Stevens, a big city chanteuse in a romantic triangle with hunky but impassive Pete Morgan (Cornel Wilde) and pathologically jealous Jefferson Robbins (Richard Widmark). Stevens sashays into the titular road house as Robbins's "discovery," exuding brassy attitude as she clashes with Morgan, the joint's practical manager. The antagonism is instant, the attraction a matter of time, and the showdown with the psychotically possessive Robbins inevitable. While the title and plot sound a little tawdry, this is actually a handsome production that puts urban toughness into a back-country town setting, and it gives Lupino a terrific role as a saloon singer who croons "One For My Baby (And One More For the Road)," one of the great American standards of lost love and late night regret. Director Jean Negulesco creates the rural community entirely on a studio set, turning it into an atmospheric prison cut off from the world by fog and mist. Boasting a terrific cast, this should appeal to fans of Hollywood classics and film noir. Bowing on Blu-ray, extras include audio commentary by film historians Kim Morgan and Eddie Muller, and a behind-the-scenes featurette. Recommended. (S. Axmaker)