Zeus

Early Noir Curio

Posted by Unknown on May 16th 2016

An early noir, Street of Chance is an interesting, although not entirely successful, oddity. It follows Burgess Meredith's everyman who, left amnesiac by a blow to the head in the street, returns home to find his apartment empty and his wife long gone. It turns out that he has in fact been missing for some time, and the movie concerns his search for those missing months. Who are the menacing men following him? Who is the mysterious woman (Claire Trevor, in her first noir appearance) who claims to know him by another name? How does a recent murder play into it?

The answer to these mysteries is relatively enthralling, although a preponderance of coincidences and some rather obvious twists prevent it from becoming a classic. Still, for fans of the two main stars it is an interesting early tale and worth a watch for the curious.

The Zeus DVD is a fine transfer; never less than TV-quality throughout and with a good audio balance.