Directed by Jean Negulesco for Fox in 1948, Road House (obviously not to be confused with the Patrick Swayze/Cannon Films vehicle of the same name!) tells the tale of a man named Pete Morgan (Cornel Wilde) who makes an okay living for himself running a lounge not too far from the American border with Canada. Pete's old friend Jefty Robbins (Richard Widmark) owns the joint but it's Pete that does most of the work. Jefty was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, he's more interesting in travelling about and visiting the city than keeping the small business going.

When Jefty returns from a visit to Chicago with a sexy chanteuse named Lily Stevens (Ida Lupino) in tow, things get complicated. Jefty's got a thing for her, but she's been ridden pretty hard over the years. Her once silky smooth voice has been worn down from all the hard living, and she's looking for a break or even just a steady job. Jefty owns a bar, so he can give her that, even if Pete shows some understandable hesitation. Unfortunately for Lily, local beauty Susie Smith (Celeste Holm) is on the scene. She's younger, nicer, and her voice hasn't gone downhill. But amazingly enough, when Lily is given a shot she goes over like gangbusters. Her performances are sincere, earnest and heartfelt and that seems to catch on with the crowds and even eventually brings Pete around too. Soon enough, Pete and Lily have hit it off in a big way, though Jefty either doesn't see it or doesn't want to see it until Pete levels with his old friend. Heartbroken and used to getting what he wants, Jefty isn't going to let his beloved Lily go without a fight, and from there? Things get complicated.

This one might be on the more melodramatic side of the noir cannon, but don't let that dissuade you. There's still plenty of tension here, particularly in the last half of the picture, and when things aren't getting dicey there's plenty else to enjoy. The cinematography is great, the road house itself making for a decidedly cool, if slightly folksy, locale for all of this to play off against. The big neon sign that calls to patrons is awesome and the interiors are decorated in that quirky way that a lot of backwoods watering holes tend to be decorated it. While you typically expect your noir to take place in gritty urban locations, the woodsy settings completely work and don't take you out of the drama or the action at all.

It is, however, the performances that really make this one stand out. The plot is a little bit predictable and the ending not particularly tough to see coming, but the cast do such a great job crafting interesting characters out of what has been written for them that you don't mind so much. Cornel Wilde is rock solid here as the guy who keeps the bar going. It's interesting to watch his character's opinion of Lily change quite dramatically as he gets to know her and gets to see her perform. Ida Lupino is absolutely fantastic as the aforementioned Lily. Yeah, maybe she's been around the block a few times but the lady has got all the sex appeal you could ask for and she knows how to use it. She also does a great job in the musical scenes, handling her own vocals here really committing to it. She could sing in that great sort of smoky, sultry way that tends to get the attention of most red blooded men in movies like this and she's a superb casting choice for the part. Not to be outdone, Richard Widmark is also great here, especially once he becomes the scorned lover in need of revenge! He plays the heavy really well, but he does it by humanizing him, not by turning him into some sort of super villain. Throw in the beautiful Celeste Holm in a supporting role and yeah, the cast here all score full marks.

Entertaining, engaging, super stylish and superbly acted, Road House delivers.

Video:

Road Houseis presented in an AVC encoded 1080p high definition transfer framed at 1.37.1 fullframe on a 25GB disc that looks really nice. Contrast looks very solid here and black levels stay strong, thought there are some minor fluctuations here and there. The whites never bloom or look too hot while detail and texture are sometimes uneven, meaning some shots look nice and crisp, others are quite soft in appearance, but this looks to have everything to do with the way that the movie was shot rather than the transfer. There is some very minor print damage noticeable throughout the film, but it's not really a huge deal, really just small specks and the like rather than massive scratches, it's not really that noticeable at all. There are no signs of edge enhancement, noise reduction or compression artifacts to complain about. All in all the picture quality on this release is pretty decent. Fans should be quite pleased.