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FILM NOIR - The Forgotten Genre on DVD. (1 Viewer)

Jay E

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May 30, 2000
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Although I'm happy to see the studios release more & more catalog titles, it seems as if there is one genre that the studios seem to practically ignore and that's Film Noir. There are only a handful of Film Noir titles out on DVD and the majority of these were put out by independent companies. Film Noir is my favorite genre and it's a genre that continues to fascinate viewers, critics & film-makers yet for some reason, the major studios don't seem interested in releasing them on DVD (the 3 major culprits being Fox, Universal & Warner).

I thought I'd list some of the terrific films that have been ignored on DVD, the majority of which, sadly, will never see the light of day on DVD:

14 Hours
99 River Street
Act of Violence
Alias Nick Beal
Angel Face
Asphalt Jungle, The
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt
Big Carnival, The (Ace in the Hole)
Big Clock, The
Big Steal, The
Black Angel
Blue Dahlia, The
Boomerang
Border Incident
Born to Kill
Breaking Point
Caged
Call Northside 777
Captive City, The
Christmas Holiday
City That Never Sleeps, The
Clash by Night
Conflict
Cornered
Crime in the Streets
Criss Cross
Crossfire
Cry of the City
Cry Terror
Dark Corner, The
Dark Mirror, The
Dark Passage
Dark Past, The
Deception
Double Indemnity
Enforcer, The
Fallen Angel
File of Thelma Jordan, The
Force of Evil
Gaslight
Glass Key, The
Gun Crazy
Hangover Square
High Sierra
House on 92nd Street, The
Human Desire
I Confess
I Wake Up Screaming
Johnny O’Clock
Journey Into Fear
Killer is Loose, The
Kiss of Death
Lady in the Lake, The
Leave Her to Heaven
Line-up, The
Lodger, The
Mask of Dimitrios, The
Ministry of Fear
Murder My Sweet
My Name is Julia Ross
Narrow Margin, The
Night & the City
Nightmare Alley
No Way Out
Nobody Lives Forever
Odds Against Tomorrow
On Dangerous Ground
Out of the Fog
Out of the Past
Panic in the Streets
Phantom Lady
Phenix City Story, The
Pickup on South Street
Pitfall
Postman Always Rings Twice, The
Prowler, The
Racket, The
Reckless Moment, The
Ride the Pink Horse
Riot in Cell Block 11
Road House
Ruthless
Scandal Sheet
Scarlet Street
Set-Up, The
Side Street
Slaughter on Tenth Avenue
Sniper, The
So Dark the Night
Stranger on the Third Floor
Street With No Name, The
Suspect, The
They Live By Night
Thieves Highway
This Gun For Hire
Three Strangers
Tight Spot
Try and Get Me!
Underworld USA
Union Station
Violent Saturday
We Were Strangers
Web, The
Where the Sidewalk Ends
While the City Sleeps
White Heat
Window, The
Witness to Murder
Woman in the Window, The
Wrong Man, The


Any other Film Noir Fans out there?
 

Robert Harris

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Some of these titles are out, many are coming.

A great number made it to laser, so things do bode well.
 

Matt Everett

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Sep 4, 1999
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I'd like to see more Noir on DVD too. "The Big Combo" is out, and the quality of the disc is pretty good to my eyes. (I have an OLD 27'' so there's only so much resolution).

I bought the Image "Double Indemnity" before it went OOP. I can only hope that Universal will re-release it.
 

Jay E

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I deleted the Big Combo, It was on the list by accident (I own the DVD).

Robert, could you tell me which others are out on DVD? Double Indemnity is now OOP and thankfully so, it was a really bad transfer.
 

Walter Kittel

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Dec 28, 1998
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I'm in complete agreement, Jay. Noir is easily the most under-represented film niche with regards to DVD releases. Warner Bros. indicated in the chat that they will be working on their RKO catalog so hopefully gems like The Set-Up, Out of the Past, and The Asphalt Jungle will be forthcoming.

That is a solid list of noirs. I have some of these titles on LD, and consider them an essential part of my film collection. ( Thank goodness for LD! )

- Walter.
 

Andy Sheets

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Aug 6, 2000
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Yep, I'm definitely a fan of Film Noir, and in fact Out of the Past is possibly my favorite movie, period. I would kill to have a good dvd of that one.
 

Simon_Lepine

Supporting Actor
Joined
Feb 19, 2003
Messages
601
Big Noir fan here.

Warner mentioned High Sierra was coming in the chat, as well as more Hitchock next year so that might include The Wrong Man.

Hopefully more will be coming, I think most of Bogart flicks will eventually be available, at least.


Edit:

Just saw Scarlet Street in your list, it is out on DVD and available for under 10$, ordered it for 6$ at DDD
 

Jay E

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Just saw Scarlet Street in your list, it is out on DVD and available for under 10$, ordered it for 6$ at DDD
Do you know what the quality is like on the DVD? It's a public domain title so I'm afraid the quality might be sub-par.
 

Simon_Lepine

Supporting Actor
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Feb 19, 2003
Messages
601
I haven't received the DVD yet, but from reading user comments on Amazon, it looks like it's pretty awful, here's an example:

[A special word of congratulations must go to "Alpha Video": Congratulations on crafting the ugliest-looking and poorest-sounding DVD I have ever seen or heard. It's a great thing, when masterpieces in the Public Domain can be snatched up by any unscrupulous producer. Simply burn an old magnetic-tape version onto a digital disc, press a few thousand copies, and voila! -- Instant profit. Bravo!]
Looks pretty bad but since it's so cheap and I'm a fan of Both Lang and Robinson, I thought it was worth it anyway since I doubt a better version will come up and I have never seen it before.
 

Henry Gale

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Thanks for listing Gun Crazy.....it's high on my want list. I've been lucky enough to see it twice in a theater but I need a DVD.
 

Paul_Scott

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Jul 19, 2002
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6,545
I'm hoping that they consider Out Of The Past one of their "RKO gems" that will be seeing the light of day next year.
i was planning on specifically asking about this title, but when my turn came up the the first two times i entered my question i got an *ERROR: can't send to moderated channel* message.
i could barely type out the question with Postman before i was afraid Ron would pass me over
"Paul...you there?"

it sounds like Paramount understands the importance of Ace In The Hole (aka The Big Carnival) and we might hope to see that next year. the Success (i hope) of Sunset Boulevard should have gone a ways to making that a reality.

the biggest problem i see is with Vivendi/Universal.
they own a ton of stuff (the Ladd/lakes being my favorites in this genre from them), and with their schizoid release schedules and cash problems, does't look like many classics are going to be forthcoming from them.
very sad.
 

Paul_Scott

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BTW Scarlet Street is a great movie ( as is Woman In The Window), but the dvd i had (from Front Row Entertainment -$2.99 from K-Mart) was , as the price suggests, completely unwatchable.
consistent print damage, poor leveles of contrast making the entire picture contain about a 3 step range of grey- nothing close to black, blown out whites, missing frames.

i watched about 3 minutes and then threw it out.
 

Robert Crawford

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I'm still waiting on Fox to announce their intentions on some of those great film noirs they own.







Crawdaddy
 

Jeff_HR

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Jun 15, 2001
Messages
3,593
I have some of the titles mentioned in the first post on LD & VHS tape. I'd love to replace them with decent DVDs. I'd support an increase in Film Noir films on DVD with my pocket book. :emoji_thumbsup: :emoji_thumbsup:
 

Geoff MZ

Auditioning
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Mar 30, 2003
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Does anyone know which Hitchcock films Warner might have rights to?

Another vote for Out of the Past and The Asphault Jungle.

At least we are getting Laura later this year.

Geoff
 

David Von Pein

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Feb 4, 2002
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I'll 2nd, 3rd, & 4th the vote for 1945's Leave Her To Heaven, featuring the stunning Gene Tierney! A great story & a great movie! Hopefully someday.

On Dangerous Ground is a film I've been looking for (on ANY format) for years. Can't be had. :frowning: This one is supposed to have a fine Bernard Herrmann score (evidently his own personal favorite of any of his movie scores). Has anyone heard this music score? Is it indeed worthy of Herrmann's "best"? (Which would, indeed, be a tough road to hoe, considering Bernie's great body of work with Hitchcock, et al.) :)

Let me add to wish list ..... The Desperate Hours (1955; with Humphrey Bogart/Fredric March).
 

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