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Beautifully restored in 4K, Mickey Spillane’s The Long Wait (1954) makes its home video debut in this 4K UHD/Blu-ray limited edition combo from ClassicFlix.

Soon after thumbing a ride from a truck driver, Johnny McBride (Anthony Quinn) is badly burned and suffers from complete amnesia when the vehicle he’s riding in blows a tire and goes over an embankment in a fiery blaze. McBride later receives a tip from an acquaintance that a photo of him was placed prominently in the window of a photography studio in a town called Lyncastle, so Johnny immediately leaves for the burg in the hopes that something there will jog his memory.

Arriving in Lyncastle, Johnny learns to his regret that the photo in question was taken from a wanted poster and that he’s the prime suspect in the murder of the town’s district attorney—after he allegedly stole $250,000 from the bank at which he was employed. In order to solve the mystery of his identity and the crimes, McBride sets out to find old flame Vera West whom he believes can prove his innocence. As the clues start piling up, Johnny encounters resistance from several townspeople, most notably from mob boss Servo (Gene Evans), who rules Lyncastle with an iron fist.

Mickey Spillane is best known for his many Mike Hammer mystery novels, but in 1951 he published the non-Hammer The Long Wait, which soon became the subject of a motion picture from the same company who brought Spillane’s I, the Jury (1953) and Kiss Me, Deadly (1955) to the silver screen. On the cusp of stardom, two-time Academy Award winner Anthony Quinn headlines a strong cast along with Oscar-winning actor Charles Coburn (The More the Merrier), Gene Evans (The Steel Helmet) and Peggie Castle (I, The Jury).

Directed by Victor Saville (Tonight and Every Night) and photographed by Franz Planer (Champion, Criss Cross), The Long Wait cast also features Mary Ellen Kay, Jay Adler, Shirley Patterson, Barry Kelley, Dolores Donlon, James Millican, Bruno VeSota, Frank Marlowe and Lawrence Dobkin.

BONUS FEATURES:

Audio commentary by Mike Hammer continuation writer Max Allan Collins (Road to Perdition), co-author of Spillane - King of Pulp Fiction (with James L. Traylor)
Image Gallery with rare scene stills

Year: 1954
Length: 94 minutes
Format: 4K UHD, Blu-ray
Misc: Widescreen, Black & White, NTSC
Language: English (Subtitled), English (Original Language)