Film Noir - LIST - Page 17

Re: Film Noir - LIST

DVDTIMES is always well-informed about DVD releases, however in regards of the THE BLUE DAHLIA, THE GLASS KEY, THE BIG STEAL etc. R-2 (UK) releases: NO info (yet).

Play.com and Amazon.co.uk still say Febr. 5, 2007, however still no cover-image.
In regards of the Italian THE BLUE DAHLIA release, visit www.ebay.it, search LA DALIA AZZURRA

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Any idea if the Italian LA DONNA DEL RITRATTO (The Woman In The Window) has English audio. I find it the most frustrating to search for this type of information when it comes to the Italian DVD releases.

I just checked the ebay.it for The Blue Dahlia release. According to the item description, it only has Italian audio and no subtitles.

As far the the UK editions, I have noticed that the jacket pictures may be available shortly before the release date.

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Unfortunately no subs... I found this info.

...(thumbnail)

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Thanks Robert!

I have a Spanish edition of The Woman In The Window and the quality of recording is horrible.

I also noticed that with some Italian RKO film noir releases (The Las Vegas Story, They Won't Believe Me, The Fallen Sparrow and others) - there is English audio which is not mentioned on any of the sites I have looked at. I wish there was a reliable source of this type of information.

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Hi, I'm Italian (living in France) and I have a couple of these RKO releases.

These titles are published in Italy by Sony (Columbia) Home Entertainment and have the original English soundtrack. For more information, go to this site:
columbiatristar.it/he/
In the home page, type "RKO" and click on the word "Cerca" (search) and you will have a list of the 54 titles published. In the botttom right corner of each description there's an icon that will lead you to the full description of the movie. In this page click on "Dati tecnici" and you will find the technical specification.

Most of these titles are available in France, at a very affordable price.
The French publisher is Editions Montparnasse.

The Italian publisher Ermitage is known for the bad quality of most of its DVDs. In an Italian forum, some fans are starting to make a list of "acceptable" Ermitage DVDs, but I don't know if I can provide a link here.

Bye

Pasquale

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Thanks Pasquale!

You are right that French Editions Montparnasse has most of the Italian RKO releases but with some exceptions (The Las Vegas Story, The Fallen Sparrow, They Won't Believe Me).

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Here they are, the Universal-Noir R-2UK releases of


That's Jane Greer...?


Hmmmm... how about Ladd/Lake.... deceptive promo-shoots insteat of stills on the covers. Awful cover-art by the way.

Source (with more releases): DVDTimes.

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Thanks Robert!

I agree that the covers are pretty bad. I wish they used the original poster art instead.

By the way, what about the special features? If these releases follow the UK Double Indemnity (no special features at all) example, we should not keep our hopes high.

It would also be interesting to compare the image quality of The Big Steal (UK vs. French Editions Montparnasse).

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No features, no subs, I am afread. The AFAIR IN TRINIDAD R-2UK had no extra's too. Even my THE BLUE DAHLIA R-0 bootleg has a trailer... My hopes are low.

And... look at that OUT OF THE PAST R-2UK cover... that's Jane Greer?
Those trainees, who created these DVD-covers, have never seen these movies....

A nice job for DVDBeaver!

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Yes, that's definitely not Jane Greer on the Out Of The Past image. That should be a million dollar question. Does anyone know the answer?

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Hmmm... a riddle.



Go by the eyes, it's Jane Greer.....

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Robert,
I guess you are right - go by the eyes and/or lips - it has to be Jane Greer. They really picked the worst cover art imaginable.

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Hate the covers, but I'd buy 'em in a heartbeat if they were region 1 discs. Man, I've gotta get a region-free player one of these days.

Re: Film Noir - LIST

I hate the covers too. I only pre-ordered THE BLUE DAHLIA, THE GLASS KEY and THE BIG STEAL. I posses those other R-2UK's in R-1 (fortunately).

AFFAIR IN TRIDIDAD (R-2UK) has a bad cover-art too, and no extra features.

In regards of a region-free player, try to upgrade: link 1, or one of these players.

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Craig,
You should definitely go for a region-fre DVD player. You will be adding a totally new dimension to your DVD viewing choices. It's not only the film noir titles that are available in other regions/formats. There are so many other wonderful titles that are not available in R1.
Check www.dvdbeaver.com for the best selections/reviews/comparisons.

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Any thoughts on the possibility of a new Kiss Me Deadly DVD, now that the MGM region 1 is OOP (or at least a re-release of the same DVD)? I would guess maybe this one won't be touched again until hi-def, so looks like I might have to snag a copy from Ebay before prices get too out of hand. Just wanted to hear everyone else's thoughts on it though...

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Ivy Mike: I think it's highly unlikely that we'll see a new Kiss Me Deadly DVD soon, given the uncertain status of MGM's future release policies.

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Jan. 8th, 2007: Yvonne de Carlo died at age 84.
Yvonne was outstanding in the underrated Film-Noir CRISS CROSS.
R.I.P.

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"Ace In The Hole" is playing in the Film Forum in NYC. From The New York Times:

"Wilder was justly fond of “Ace in the Hole,” but the film flopped with critics and audiences who clearly didn't appreciate the unflattering mirror image he was holding up to them with such wicked glee. Paramount Studios renamed the film “The Big Carnival,” which did nothing but tick off its director. The newly restored print at Film Forum reinstates the original title and lets you see just how nimbly Wilder corralled all those itty-bitty locusts on the big screen. "

The key words there being "newly restored". Hopefully, this gives us hope.

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Hey, can any of our region 2 folks comment on the a/v quality of the new editions of THE BLUE DAHLIA, THE GLASS KEY, and THE BIG STEAL?

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Yes, sure!

I pre-ordered these 3 R-2 Noirs. The release date is now Febr. 12 in steat of Febr. 5. And still no additional data (extra features, subs, etc.).

Quote (DVDTimes): Universail can't release the Warner Noir sets outside America because Warner don't own worldwide rights to the RKO titles. The RKO titles announced here (Big Steal, Murder My Sweet, Crossfire, and Out of the Past) are also going to look crap, based on Universal UK's previous track record - they don't have access to any half-decent materials (or won't pay to access them). The others will probably look fine, assuming materials are being provided by their masters in the US.

Maybe I should have waited with ordering untill DVDBeaver has reviewed them. (Gary Tooze has in the mean time reviewed Affair in Trinidad R-2 too.)

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Also, Turner Classic Movies is showing it on January 25th at 2:30 a.m. ET.





Crawdaddy

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Oops... for some reason I was thinking these came out on 1/05 instead of 2/05 (well, now 2/12). No pressure!

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April 2007: DVD-release of BRUTE FORCE: Criterion

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Just a FYI

The current issue of Entertainment Weekly (Eddie Murphy on the cover) has a review (by Ken Tucker, a usually reliable writer) of the Robert Mitchum Box Set. They gave a generally mixed review, giving "Angel Face" an A- but citing that it isn't a gathering of Mitchum's best work. (I'd agree but am very glad to own it.) (The review does have a nice still of Mitchum and Jean Simmons),The interesting thing about it is that it ends with the writer wishing the box-set creators would have included "The Friends Of Eddie Coyle". The problem is, of course, that "Eddie" is owned by Paramount, not Warners, making it extremely unlikely, if not impossible, that WB could have included it even if they wanted to. While I want "Eddie" as much as anyone, it bothers me that the review basically dissed WB for something beyond its control.

EW also lamented, in its year end issue, that there was too much noir being released, citing (if I recall correctly) "Forgotten Noir, Vol. 2". I'm quite sure that everyone in this forum feels exactly the opposite. While obviously not all noir is "Double Indemnity", there is a great deal that is at least worth seeing once and deserves to be released.

Another thing is that it seems a lot of people consider every black and white crime film to be noir when that simply isn't true. Everything that's labeled noir isn't definitively noir. Myself, I go by "Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the American Style, Third Edition" by Alain Silver and Elizabeth Ward (1993 - its time for an update!) as my guide. Poor crime films labelled as noir should not be counted as strikes against actual noir.

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Does anyone know the current status of the Republic-owned at one time noirs (SECRET BEYOND THE DOOR, CAUGHT, PITFALL, THE DARK MIRROR, THE STRANGE AFFAIR OF UNCLE HARRY, MOONRISE, THE SCAR)? Have they been relegated to Lions Gate-Limbo? Were they officially remastered during their brief sojurn with Paramount?

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I second the question--all of those movies really ought to be rescued and made available (although, the Scar, at least, can be found on various PD sets)... in fact, Charles' list would make an astounding boxed set! (better, even, than Warners' upcoming Film Noir vol 4, I would say--although I'm dying for that one too!)

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Agreed. I consider that book to be my definitive reference as well. However, it is interesting how opinion varies as to whether some films fit in the cycle or not.

Doug

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Blast of Silence is available on a nice German DVD (with an audio commentary in English by the film's star).

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A couple of British film noir have been recently released in the UK:

The Man in Grey - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Man-Grey-Mar.../dp/B000LXH3D8 and

No Orchids For Miss Blandish - http://www.amazon.co.uk/No-Orchids-F.../dp/B000H1QQWS