Nora Prentiss is a film Noir about a man who has become weary with his all too routine married life. The boredom of staleness of his lifestyle leads him to falling in love with another woman, the title character, and it proves to be the costliest thing he has ever done.
Directed by Vincent Sherman and starring Kent Smith (Cat People, The Damned Don’t Cry) as Dr. Richard Talbot, Nora Prentiss is a feature about what can happen to a man in a stale, boring and dull marriage who crosses paths with a much more attractive and livelier woman for a little fun and excitement. Nightclub singer Nora Prentiss (legendary actress Ann Sheridan, Angels with Dirty Faces, They Drive by Night, Black Legion) becomes the other woman! Richard discovers all the things he has been missing and wanted in his life and ultimately decides that this is for him! They fall deeply in love with each other and want to get married! But he’s married so what can they do? Richard plots to break away from his marriage, his kids, his life basically. He ends up going from a highly respected doctor into a world that is reprehensible, sinful and forbidden (at least for a married man). Nora, even though she loves Richard realizes that things are doomed between them and attempts to leave and break away from him. She is unable to as he tells her a story that gives her hope that they can be together forever. Richard’s plans go awry, but Nora stays with him anyway!
Some would say the storyline with Richard Talbot and Nora might be too far-fetched, contrived or implausible to what could or would really happen to someone in real life, which might be true, but when a man cheats on his wife, it tends to not end well. Maybe not as extreme as to what happens to Richard!
Nora Prentiss is indeed a dark Noir that you either love it or hate it. I personally enjoy it, as it is only a movie, and movies are for our entertainment.
Other fine actors in this cast includes Bruce Bennett (Mildred Pierce, Dark Passage) as Dr. Joe Merriman, Robert Alda (The Man I Love, Tarzan and the Slave Girl) as a nightclub owner and close friend to Nora, Phil Dinardo, and Rosemary DeCamp (Night Unto Night, Eyes in the Night) as Richard’s wife Lucy.
The cast hands in excellent performances as one would expect but Kent Smith goes way over the top and gives possibly one of most outrageous performances in his career as Dr. Richard Talbot!
Warner Archive’s new Blu-ray of Nora Prentiss is a beautiful, high-quality release as it is with all their titles. Their Blu-ray is far superior to the DVD that came out some time ago. The feature was given a new 4K scan from the original camera negative. The black levels, the contrast, resolution are all outstanding and top-notch. There is plenty of shadow detail to the image, and much in the way of grain structure for this picture; basically, no DNR or anything artificial appears to have been applied. I feel most viewers will really enjoy watching this movie more than ever now.
Regarding the Blu-ray’s audio, the English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono soundtrack offers a crisp clear sound with easy-to-follow dialogue, action noises and music. The atmospheric score by Franz Waxman’s is dynamic and the various sound effects and noises which include cars that explode and blow up into flames, characters yelling which have excellent fidelity. There are no age-related issues such as popping, hissing, crackling, or fluttering. Optional English SDH subtitles are available for this release.
The Nora Prentiss Blu-ray comes with a few extras that include a classic Warner cartoon, The Big Snooze and a classic Warner Brothers short titled So You Think You’re a Nervous Wreck with Joe Meeker. An original theatrical trailer is the other extra. Okay it isn’t much, but some Blu-ray classic movies aren’t going to have a wealth of extras and at times I think we should just be glad that a movie has made it to the world of high definition!
Despite the lack of extras, the audio and video quality for Nora Prentiss is a substantial upgrade over the DVD and can be recommended for fans of the film and the great cast!
Nora Prentiss
Director – Vincent Sherman
Cast- Anne Sheridan, Kent Smith, Robert Alda
Country of Origin-USA
Distributor – Warner Archive/Warner Home Video
Number of Discs –1
Reviewed by – David Steigman
Date –12/25/24