Film Noir - LIST

Noir update;

VCI Entertainment just announced Volume 2 of their film noir series which will contain The Chase (1946) and Bury Me Dead (1947) on one DVD. The release date is August 17th. I have the Alpha version of The Chase which is dreadful, so I look forward to the set.

Another title announced for June 22nd, is RKO's Tokyo File 212 (1951) which will be available from Alpha.

Avoid the Image version of Too Late For Tears. Obviously the same source was used (whatever that was) as the Alpha version. The Image presentation is better (darker blacks and better image definition), but only marginally and certainly not worth the $15 buck difference over the Alpha version.

And finally, yesterday I received the Warner Brothers film noir collection screeners which street July 6th. Last night I watched Huston's The Asphalt Jungle (1950) and suffice it to say, fans are going to be very very pleased… reviews for the entire set, soon to follow (June 22nd).

Herb.

On 7/13 Brentwood is releasing one of their budget, 10 Movies on Five DVD sets including:

The Stranger
Borderline
He Walked By Night
Call It Murder
The Red House
D.O.A.
Kansas City Confidential
Detour
The Second Woman
Scarlet Street

I've been meaning to see more noir titles so I'll pick this up since it's cheaper than going to Alpha route. $19.95 retail but you can usually find these sets for around $13. I've got five other sets and the prints usually aren't too bad but it depends on where they get their source. Sometimes it's Image and sometimes it's Alpha.

Bring 'em on Herb!

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So many films, so little time...

I can't believe that I am only now discovering this thread. Incredible resource!

Thanks Herb!

Any news of the new Troma edition of Suddenly? Pic quality etc.?

I haven't seen or heard of anything yet John. I decided to cut my losses after the Image version - which is still better than the Platinum version I had.

BTW John, do you have the three Preminger titles that are available in R2; Whirlpool, Fallen Angel & Where The Sidewalk Ends? I'm thinking of ordering them (man, they're expensive from here) and was curious as to their quality.

Same with the Éditions Montparnasse versions (even more expensive) from France - On Dangerous Ground (1952), The Narrow Margin (1952), Angel Face (1952) and Journey Into Fear (1942). I'd like to hear from someone who has them or is familiar with them.

Herb.

No Herb, the price for barebones discs rather put me off too, and I ws hoping that the BFI titles at least may appear as Criterions, or at least with extras in the Fox Film Noir range. I have heard that the quality is decent, but for the money and no extras I want pristine.

The Gun For Hire and The Big Clock, two quintessential films of the genre arrived today, the first in Universal's new 'Noir Collection'

Both Paramount movies, the former 'introduced' Alan Ladd to the screen though this was getting on for his 50th film. What it did do, as the hit-man Raven, was establish him as a real star and set up a legendary partnership with Veronica Lake, the girl who launched a million hairstyles. Universal's transfer is very nice, if not of the very highest quality. The picture is detailed and sharp, there is evidence of a digital clean-up and there is a variation in the quality of the reels (obviously some were in poorer shape than others). You can catch fleeting glimpses of how bad things could have been in some of the transitions and scenes with lots of movement and complex backgrounds, where there are brief signs of lots of damage, scratches and dirt, but not enough, I think to distract. What Universal have done is removed all evidence of this from the many very dark scenes, where the blacks are very black with a few minor artifacts (though I did wonder did they do this at the expense of removing some detail? Minor quibble). The mono sound is pretty good too; sadly the sleeve and menu designs are poor I thought, and there are no extras. *Sigh*

However, it's the film that matters; Ladd, Lake, the wonderful Laird Cregar (who was to sadly die three years later) and Robert Preston make this a terrific noir and a good start to the series.

Most of the comments I made about the transfer also apply to The Big Clock with one big difference. The transfer looks a little soft to my eyes. There is a trailer included here, and though not in very poor shape, it shows how bad it may have been, but overall it's not as fine as TGFH. Making up for that is a fine film with Ray Milland and Maureen O'Sullivan as our hero and heroine, outshone by the superb Charles Laughton as Milland's scheming, murderous boss.

Can I just double underline that these are not bad transfers; just don't expect Casablanca. Both can be picked up for a pittance from your favourite suppliers and as such they present terrific bargains. I know what I'm watching this weekend

Cool. This Gun For Hire was long overdue on DVD. I've never seen The Big Clock, but I put it on my Netflix Queue.

Great thread, Herb.

I concluded my roundup of the new Warner and Universal film noir DVDs with this:


Deep Discount DVD sells the set for $16.20 shipped!

I'd also recommend the Questar set. The transfers are as good or nearly as you can currently find from what I understand, especially those for Scarlet Street, Detour and Killer Bait (whose supposedly identical transfer was just released on a much more expensive Dark City disc). The featurettes aren't that great, but the real prize of this set is the trailer compilation. It's possibly alone worth the price.

Times are getting better maybe for B-Movie fans. Public domain titles from bargain labels in 'as good as what's available' condition are a welcome treat (until proper restorations are done, if ever). Note that most of the Questar titles are also included in a 50-pack mystery set, which also looks to be a bargain and probably uses the same transfers.

Well, not for devotees, but for someone new to the genre, they serve as a good introduction. Thus the set would make a great gift or loan for someone you're trying to acquaint with the topic. As a gift, it looks fairly impressive for just $16.



Yes, indeedy. It's just a pity that, at 78 minutes, it doesn't have a chapter stop for each trailer.

Film Noir Nuts,

I'm definitely a newbie when it comes to Film Noir so was wondering if I could get some recommendations for 'must see' film noir. I'm talking classics, not neo film noir. I should say that I have seen The Big Sleep and Maltese Falcon, the latter being one of my all time favorite movies. I have also ordered the Warner Film Noir Collection: Vol I and the four Universal films coming out next week. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

I also want to take this opportunity to thank Herb (Kane) for his Herculean effort on THE LIST!

thanks

Greg

Greg,

My top picks would be:

Some big ones:
Double Indemnity
The Postman Always Rings Twice
Out Of The Past
Kiss Me Deadly

Personal favs:
The Big Heat
In A Lonely Place
Sweet Smell Of Success
Anything with Richard Widmark, especially Kiss of Death

Some great films in this genre!

Some of my favorites, currently in print on DVD, include:

The Big Heat - Terrific noir that anticipates films such as Dirty Harry with Glenn Ford as Sgt. Dave Bannion; a cop who will do whatever it takes to stop a crime syndicate. Gloria Grahame and Lee Marvin are both very effective in this film.

Detour - The aptly name Ann Savage is one of the great femme fatales in this film. The old Image disc is kinda rough in spots, but this is a great low budget feature.

Force of Evil - Poetic dialog, great performances by John Garfield and Thomas Gomez, and wonderful cinematography by George Barnes make this a must see. For my money, one of *the* definitive noirs and film that I would place in my top ten favorite noirs.

The Killers - Solid two film treatment by Criterion ( the original Robert Siodmak feature, and Don Siegel's remake are featured ) makes this well worth your time.

Pickup on South Street - Samuel Fuller, Richard Widmark. That's reason enough to see this film.

Gilda - Worth seeing if for no other reason than Rita Hayworth performing the electric 'Put the Blame on Mame'. Great chemistry between Glenn Ford and Hayworth on display in this film. Another favorite, despite a weak ending that betrays the film's ambitions.

- Walter.

Just want to chime in to say this is an excellent thread. This year is looking very good as far as Noir titles are concerned.

Thank you Walter Kittel for your review of Force of Evil which I bought on your recommendation. It's an excellent film and the presentation is quite acceptable.

Thanks Marko. I appreciate your post, and I'm gratified to hear that you enjoyed this film, which I consider one of the gems of the noir canon.

- Walter.

I second Big Sleep, Detour, Gilda, In a Lonely Place, Double Indemnity, Killers, Out of the Past . . . and add Murder, My Sweet (in the Warners set) and Strangers on a Train.

I couldn't believe they did that. I'm thinking about ripping that file and breaking each one up into individual chapters. In fact I am thinking about adding several of the noir trailers that Warner recently released as well as those from Criterion. Could make for a fun compilation DVD.

Herb,

I have all of the three BFI Preminger discs. The quality is good, not Casablana, but those are good solid transfers. Check out the review at dvdbeaver.com including screenshots.

Regarding the Montparnasse discs: I only have their edition of Murder my sweet and it's an ok transfer, similar to the Artisan disc of Force of Evil.

Great thread and thanks for all the info.

Oliver

Are there any reviews up for the Film Noir box set (The Asphalt Jungle / Gun Crazy / Murder My Sweet / Out of the Past / The Set-Up) that comes out next week?

edit: Duh, I found it, never mind!

Thanks for the recommendations Guys. I'll be picking up Pickup on South Street and Kiss me Deadly soon. I picked up Force of Evil but haven't watched it yet. I realized that this is probably one of the only (if not THE only) version out there but it's pretty sad that on the back they advertise Full Frame as a special feature! Oh well, at least I have the movie. Some of you may have noticed that I started a thread regarding Film Noir Titles (which I should have posted here...oops). What I want to know is what your favorite film noir titles are? I'm not talking about the movie but the actual name of the movie.

My Warner set has shipped so I'm anxiously waiting.

later

Greg

For me, names that evoke the aesthetics I associate with noir tend to work best - cityscapes, shadows, dark themes, etc. Some of the titles that I like, solely on that basis are:

The Asphalt Jungle

Just about all of the 'The Big' titles, especially
The Big Combo
The Big Heat
The Big Sleep

Bury Me Dead
Chicago Confidential
City of Shadows
Dark City
Dial M for Murder
The File on Thelma Jordan - Perhaps my favorite title. On another topic, I certainly wish that Paramount would release this film.
The Glass Key - Very distinctive.
Hell Is A City - Evocative characterization of the film's environment.
House of Bamboo
I Was A Communist for the FBI - Splendid B movie title.
Johnny Angel
Kansas City Confidential - Another 'Confidential' title.
The Man With the Golden Arm
Murder, My Sweet
The Naked City
Out of the Past
The Public Enemy
Scarlet Street
So Dark the Night
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers
Sweet Smell of Success
To Have and Have Not
Where the Sidewalk Ends


Speaking of favorite titles, my alltime favorite SF title would work in the context of noir. Phillip K. Dick's Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said.

- Walter.

Oliver, thanks for posting. Glad to hear they look pretty good and judging by Gary's screencaps, they do. I went ahead and ordered the three BFI titles as well as the five French Éditions Montparnasse titles including Macao (1952) which I wasn't aware of its R2 release. Of course these are all Warner controlled, so after having ordered them, you know darn well what 5 titles will be announced in the next set...

I'm not sure I'd be able to list a group of interesting titles but a list of my favorites (in no particular order) are:

- The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
- The Big Heat (1953)
- D.O.A. (1950) - Edmond O'Brien... pound for pound, perhaps the best actor in the genre - Duryea comes close.
- Dark Passage (1947) - my favorite of the many San Francisco noirs
- Double Indemnity (1944) - one of the perfect examples of film noir
- In a Lonely Place (1950) - Bogie & Grahame are superb
- The Killers (1946) - though I'm not fond of the '64 version
- The Killing (1956) - another great Sterling Hayden heist film
- Laura (1944) - hoping this leads the pack of the upcoming Fox line, till then a ratty vhs fills the void
- The Maltese Falcon (1941)
- Out of the Past (1947) - perhaps the perfect example of film noir
- Pickup on South Street (1953)
- A Place in the Sun (1951)

These are the titles I find myself returning to the most, although that changes almost monthly... Oddly, two titles that are highly regarded in the genre are Kiss Me Deadly and The Night Of The Hunter, neither of which really do it for me. To look at it from another angle, I have all but a couple of the DVDs that have been released and the only one I would suggest to avoid like the plague is Roger Corman's, Teenage Doll (1957) - just a terribly silly film IMO.

Herb.

Herb,

that's exactly what happend to me with Murder My Sweet.

Another Company worth checking out is Wild Side from France, they have released a great looking T-Men/Raw Deal set and some other Noirs. Only problem with their releases, besides high prices and limited availability, are their non-removable french subtitles. The french are big noir fans and there are a lot of great releases out there.

You might also like to check out the German release of Leave Her To Heaven (German title: Todsünde)

Oliver

Herb, I'm almost sorry (almost) to suggest this. Could you indicate in the list on the front page which discs are not up to par transfer wise, or is that a daft idea?

John... Yes I was planning to go through the list eventually and rate the discs accordingly, especially now that many of the R2 discs have started showing up - many of which are pretty impressive. In fact I've added almost a dozen R2 releases to the list in the last couple of days.

Herb.

Even better

I'd love to see Universal release THE GLASS WEB on DVD, especially with a field sequential 3-D option.

I was able to see five of the films on your Noir list in the original dual projector polarized 3-D format at a film festival last year (THE GLASS WEB, I, THE JURY, INFERNO, DIAL M FOR MURDER and MAN IN THE DARK) and they were amazing in the original format.

The latter was a bit cheesy and gimmicky, (but still tremoundously entertaining) but the others used the stereoscopics quite well and in a stylish way perfectly suited to the noir style. The 3-D versions were much more impressive than flat showings on TV. If you ever get the chance to see these in stereo, do so!

I've been checking out a lot of the films in this week's Noir festival on TCM too. Most of them are new to me.

Too Late For Tears (1949) Noir

I did a forum search and came up with nothing.

Which company is currently offering the best a/v quality transfer:

- Image



- Gotham Distr.




Have there been any official announcements and if not, which one should I pick up?

Thanks!