Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema IX – Blu-ray Review (1 Viewer)

[t1g3r5fan]

For the ninth entry in Kino’s Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema series, three more Universal noirs are brought up from the vaults. First, Deanna Durbin finds herself in a New York City whodunit with comic overtones in Lady on a Train. Second, Maria Montez gets caught up in post-WWII intrigue in the North African city of Tangier. Finally, William Powell has to stay one step ahead of the cops and killers in San Francisco in Take One False Step. All three films are making their Blu-ray debut here.



Tangier (1946)



Released: 25 Mar 1946
Rated: Approved
Runtime: 74 min




Director: George Waggner
Genre: Adventure, Drama



Cast: Maria Montez, Robert Paige, Sabu
Writer(s): M.M. Musselman, Monte Collins, Alice D.G. Miller



Plot: A war-weary newsman (Robert Paige) joins a Spanish dancer (Maria Montez) hunting down a Nazi...

Continue reading...

 

[timk1041]

Another one I'll be buying.

 

[Flashgear]

Thank you Mychal for another thoroughly informative review! Your work is greatly appreciated!
I can buy this with confidence, and Dark Side of Cinema IX is one that I'll be getting soon.

What a bounty of vintage cinematic treasures continue to come our way from the great Kino-Lorber! Honestly, it's hard to keep up with them, what with at least another half-dozen highly desired titles on Blu that I'll be buying from them before mid-January!

 

[Robin9]

Thanks for these reviews which I agree with. Like you, I think it's a shame that Deanna Durbin and Maria Montez did not work more frequently outside their normal habitats. I also agree about the picture and sound quality of these three discs. I'm very glad I bought this box-set.

 

[Artanis]

The Faces of Noir: Studio Portraits Featuring the Silver Screen Stars Ava Gardner, Humphrey Bogart & Rita Hayworth

Ah yes.
Ava.
"The World's Most Beautiful Animal"
And, RITA!

Nothing compares.

 

[Mark McSherry]

Regarding David Bruce and Lady on a Train--- His daughter wrote a love song to her father called 'Errol Flynn.'



Lyrics-

In a hall, on a wall, in a house in Reseda
There's a poster held up by two nails and a pin
It's my Daddy, the actor, 'bout to die with his boots on
He's the man standing up there, beside Errol Flynn
He got third or fourth billing at the end of each picture
"Well, that don't mean much, " he would say with a grin
But he'd hold my hand tight as he pointed his name out
Only four or five names down below Errol Flynn...

 

[Robert Crawford]

Thank you for your fine review. I never cared for "Lady on a Train". I tried it again yesterday and it still doesn't work for me. Too much silliness in the movie, especially, early in the film. I didn't particularly care for "Tangier", but I found it more tolerable to watch than "Lady on a Train". I did enjoy "Take One False Step.

 

[ahollis]

Yes, I watch One False Step last night and found it extremely entertaining.

 

[Will Krupp]

I never cared for "Lady on a Train". I tried it again yesterday and it still doesn't work for me. Too much silliness in the movie, especially, early in the film.

It's always been one of my favorite Durbin movies, but I respect that other people don't necessarily hold the same affection for it. While I'm thrilled to have an HD scan, I don't think it helps that the movie is included in a "film noir" boxset as I don't think it has much in common with other film noirs of the period. It's first a comedy with none of the tropes we've come to expect from the genre so it's bound to disappoint anyone looking for an example of noir, IMO. If anything, the "society girl goes amateur sleuthing" routine would seem more at home in the late 30's rather than the late stages of the war, but I get a kick out of the New York Christmas feel to it and have loved the movie unequivocally since I was a kid.

I liked Take One False Step (I'd never seen it before) though the constantly changing tone was occasionally off-putting. A chance to see the somewhat unexpected pairing of Powell and Shelley Winters is worth a look and doesn't disappoint in that respect.

I didn't find much to like in Tangier, unfortunately.

Anyone who wants a free copy of Tangier, let me know, as I doubt I'll ever watch it again.

 

[Will Krupp]

Regarding David Bruce and Lady on a Train--- His daughter wrote a love song to her father called 'Errol Flynn.'

The "he died with his boots on" line is a direct reference to his 1976 death shortly after finishing a scene in Moving Violation. Thank you for posting it.

I've always had a crush on David Bruce because of this movie. He's absolutely adorable.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

It's always been one of my favorite Durbin movies, but I respect that other people don't necessarily hold the same affection for it. While I'm thrilled to have an HD scan, I don't think it helps that the movie is included in a "film noir" boxset as I don't think it has much in common with other film noirs of the period.

Weirdly, this is the only movie in the set I’m interested in but not enough to pick up two other movies just to get it. I’m pretty sure I have an MOD DVD-R from Universal somewhere.

But if anyone else doesn’t want Lady on a Train I’m happy to take it off their hands

 

[Will Krupp]

Weirdly, this is the only movie in the set I’m interested in but not enough to pick up two other movies just to get it. I’m pretty sure I have an MOD DVD-R from Universal somewhere.

But if anyone else doesn’t want Lady on a Train I’m happy to take it off their hands

Not weird at all! I was in the exact same boat, the only difference being that I WAS willing to get the whole set to have it, lol.

Ironically enough, the one you already have, though SD and interlaced, has the best grayscale of the three video masters that have been used to date, IMO. I find the new scan on the blu-ray, though nice, to be overly bright. There are also some odd anomalies that pop up here and there. The optical transitions look very soft and fuzzy this time around, which may be the result of the new HD scan being less forgiving than the old one was. There is the occasional odd damage (when the lights go out during the opening moments of "Night and Day" there's a brief, pulsing "fluctuation" over the screen that I thought might be mold, for example) and an errant clump of something lodges itself into the corner of the image during a good portion of "Gimme a Little Kiss." None of these appeared on the older SD scans. This isn't to say it's "doom and gloom" or that I don't enjoy the film on blu-ray, I do, but there is a trade-off of sorts.

 

[Keith Cobby]

I'm only buying it for Lady on a Train as well. I don't like these sets much and wish they were singles.

 

[Robert Crawford]

It's always been one of my favorite Durbin movies, but I respect that other people don't necessarily hold the same affection for it. While I'm thrilled to have an HD scan, I don't think it helps that the movie is included in a "film noir" boxset as I don't think it has much in common with other film noirs of the period. It's first a comedy with none of the tropes we've come to expect from the genre so it's bound to disappoint anyone looking for an example of noir, IMO. If anything, the "society girl goes amateur sleuthing" routine would seem more at home in the late 30's rather than the late stages of the war, but I get a kick out of the New York Christmas feel to it and have loved the movie unequivocally since I was a kid.

That's my main problem with this film besides not being a fan of Durbin. If rights issue wasn't a problem, "Christmas Holiday" (1944) would've been a more appropriate movie for this box set. I do like that film!

 

[timk1041]

That's my main problem with this film besides not being a fan of Durbin. If rights issue wasn't a problem, "Christmas Holiday" (1944) would've been a more appropriate movie for this box set. I do like that film!

Agree, that would have made a better choice, but I do like Lady On A Train and I am a huge Durbin fan.

 

[Will Krupp]

Agree, that would have made a better choice, but I do like Lady On A Train and I am a huge Durbin fan.

I would have preferred a standalone release of Lady but "any port in a storm."

 

[Will Krupp]

besides not being a fan of Durbin.

 

[Artanis]

View attachment 164534

Yes. People hung carpets on the walls.

 

[Will Krupp]

Yes. People hung carpets on the walls.

Tapestries!!

 

[timk1041]

View attachment 164534

Doesn't look like Durbin to me