ANY MORE FOX FILM NOIR COMING? (1 Viewer)

[KellyBo]

FOX released 3 more film noirs titles today (8/29). To date no more titles have been announced, yet there are many more titles in the FOX library that could be released. Hope this is not the end of this series. Does anyone have any info about possible upcoming titles?

There are also several other titles that are supposed to be forthcoming: A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN, SUN VALLEY SERENADE and THE GANG'S ALL HERE awaiting release. Does anyone have any info about the release of any of these three titles?

 

[Multi-Region]

Or the re-release of BOOMERANG!

And why VICKI, a remake of I WAKE UP SCEAMING, in the same collection too.... there are some many other Noirs awaiting DVD-realease: THE GLASS KEY, THE BLUE DAHLIA, THE BIG STEAL, AFFAIR IN TRINIDAD, etc., etc.

 

[Irina]

The latest batch of Fox film noir has been a big dissapointment. Out of the three movies, Fourteen Hours is a decent choice. Vicki is a remake of I Wake Up Screaming which was part of the previous batch and Shock had been previously released. It would be interesting to know how they make their selections. It seems the the quality of movies is not their highest prioriry.

 

[Multi-Region]

Yeah, the start was OK: LAURA, WHERE THE SIDE WALK ENDS, KISS OF DEATH, etc., I was hopeful; however, those recent releases...

The same with the FILM NOIR COLLECTIONS: the first release was excellent, the 2nd, less, and the latest, 3th release...disappointing. I only like the LADY IN THE LAKE and the Noir documentary DVD. Despite that childish sensor bleeb over James Ellroy's speach... I hate those control-freaks, let the consumer decide what's good or wrong!

 

[Irina]

I completely agree. The first Film Noir Collection was fantastic. All true classics. The second one was not on the same level and third one is even less satisfying. It's a shame considering a huge consumer interest in film noir.

 

[Sergio A]

Of course it doesn't help that none of the above are Fox films (Glass Key and Dahlia are Paramount/Universal, Big Steal is RKO/Warner and Trinidad is Columbia/Sony).

The truth is there just aren't that many left from Fox's catalogue.

Herb Kane of course is the man to help us out here, but we know that BRASHER DOUBLOON (a rather modest noir but directed by that fine craftsman John Brahm and the commentary will be by the indefatigable Eddie Muller) is due soon - CRY OF THE CITY, ROAD HOUSE and Kazan's aformentioned BOOMERANG are actually the only major Fox noir titles left from the 1941-1959 period really -

Roll on such Gothic wonders as HANGOVER SQUARE, THE LODGER and THE UNDYING MONSTER (all directed by Brahm incidentally) as well as JANE EYRE starring Orson Welles.

Sergio

 

[Irina]

Some RKO film noir have been released in regions other than R1.
The Big Steal, for example, is available in R2 (France, Spain, and Italy).

Sergio is right that there are not that many Fox film noir left from the classic film noir time frame. These are some of them:

The Brasher Doublon (1947)
Cry of the City (1948) - available in R2 in France and Spain
The Other Woman (1954)
Plunder Road (1957)
Road House (1948)
The Thirteenth Letter (1951)

It would be great to see these titles in the next two batches of Fox film noir DVDs. Let's hope so.

It would also be nice to see The Man Who Cheated Himself (1951) in a decent condition. Public domain editions do not do justice to this great movie.

 

[Dave B Ferris]

To Irina's fine list I would add "Slattery's Hurricane", although I suppose
one could debate whether the film is more drama (or even melodrama)
than noir.

The star (Widmark) and director (de Toth) are, however, both well
known for their contributions to the noir genre.

 

[WadeM]

I posted this in another thread. It's the list that Herb compiled. I've put the ones in bold that have been released in R1. Fox only announced 24 titles when they started the series. We're now up to 21. Whether they continue, or release the others in another manner, remains to be seen.

13th Letter, The (1951) - 20th Century Fox
Backlash (1947) - 20th Century Fox
Blueprint for Murder, A (1953) - 20th Century Fox
Boomerang! (1947) - 20th Century Fox
Brasher Doubloon, The (1947) - 20th Century Fox (Commentary recorded by Eddie Muller, so likely candidate)
Call Northside 777 (1948) - 20th Century Fox
City of Chance (1940) - 20th Century Fox
Cry of the City (1948) - 20th Century Fox
Dark Corner, The (1946) - 20th Century Fox
Don't Bother To Knock (1952) - DVD 20th Century Fox (Marilyn Monroe Diamond Collection)
Fallen Angel (1945) - 20th Century Fox
Fourteen Hours (1951) - 20th Century Fox
Girl in 313 (1940) - 20th Century Fox
Hangover Square (1945) - 20th Century Fox
House of Bamboo (1955) - 20th Century Fox
House of Strangers (1949) - 20th Century Fox
House on 92nd Street, The (1945) - 20th Century Fox
House on Telegraph Hill, The (1951) - 20th Century Fox
I Wake Up Screaming (1941) - 20th Century Fox
...aka Hot Spot
Inferno (1953) - 20th Century Fox
Kiss of Death (1947) - 20th Century Fox
Laura (1944) - 20th Century Fox
Leave Her to Heaven (1945) - 20th Century Fox (Studio Classics Collection)
The Lodger (1945)
Man Who Cheated Himself, The (1950) - 20th Century Fox
Manhunt (1941) - 20th Century Fox
Moontide (1942) - 20th Century Fox
Niagara (1953) - DVD 20th Century Fox (Cinema Classics Collection)
Night and the City (1950) - 20th Century Fox (Criterion)
Night Without Sleep (1952) - 20th Century Fox
Nightmare Alley (1947) - 20th Century Fox
No Way Out (1950) - 20th Century Fox
Other Woman, The (1954) - 20th Century Fox
Panic in the Streets (1950) - 20th Century Fox
Pickup on South Street (1953) (Criterion)
Plunder Road (1957) - 20th Century Fox
Road House (1948) - 20th Century Fox
Seven Thieves (1959) - 20th Century Fox
Shock
Somewhere in the Night (1946) - 20th Century Fox
Strange Triangle (1946) - 20th Century Fox
...aka Strange Alibi (1946)
Street with No Name, The (1948) - 20th Century Fox
Swamp Water (1942) - 20th Century Fox
Thieves' Highway (1949) - 20th Century Fox
...aka Collision (1949)
...aka Thieves' Market, The (1949) (Criterion)
Third Voice (1960) - 20th Century Fox
Vicki
Violent Saturday (1955) - 20th Century Fox
Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950) - 20th Century Fox
Whirlpool (1949) - 20th Century Fox

 

[Jeff Swindoll]

Not by Fox. It was a cheapjack public domain release.

 

[Irina]

Thanks for clarification, Jeff. It's still amazing that they would not release better or previously unreleased titles first.

 

[Sergio A]

This has been released as a bare bones but good-looking DVD in region 2, so region 1 can't be far behind - DVD Beaver has some screen captures as I recall.

Sergio

 

[Multi-Region]

Has someone bought VICKI already?

I posses I WAKE UP SCREAMING; scenario identical; so, still interesting to buy VICKI?

 

[Irina]

From the reviews I have read, I Wake Up Screaming is a far more superior original. I have bought Vicki - it's on its way - I still think it should be an interesting film noir, just not on the same level as I Wake Up Screaming.

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDRev...dvd_review.htm

 

[Craig Beam]

With each volume retailing for around ten dollars, even the lesser titles are worth the money. I've watched all but 5 of the 21, and I'll agree that a few didn't necessarily blow me away... but at no point have I regretted buying every single volume. I'm saddened by the possibility that the series may only contain 3 more films. As long as Fox keeps releasing noir titles, I'll keep buying them.

Robert: I have Vicki, but I haven't watched it yet. I'm trying to get to it, since I recently watched I Wake Up Screaming and I enjoy comparing noirs and their remakes (The Killers for example)... hopefully this weekend.

 

[Dave GR]

I've watched them both now. I Wake Up Screaming is, IMO, superior, but I still enjoyed Vicki. Richard Boone is a particularly interesting substitute for Laird Cregar in the cop role, and with Jean Peters and Jeanne Crain too it's worth a look.

I also agree with Craig 100% - even though a couple of the Fox noirs haven't really been my cup of tea, I'm happy to own them all so far. They're a real bargain.

 

[Deepak Shenoy]

Guess I have been a completist (yet to watch the latest wave though) but I haven't regretted any of my purchases so far. Quite a few of the titles were excellent and the rest were worth watching at least once. If Fox does plan to stop at 24 titles, I really hope the next wave includes Cry of the City and Road House - the only two titles I really want from the remainder of the Fox Noir catalog.

I agree that Warner's third noir box set was quite a disappointment. In fact the only title I found worthwhile was On Dangerous Ground and the transfer on this title was especially bad. This may be the first Warner box that I actually regretted buying and it may be going on e-bay soon.

Now if only Universal would jump on the noir bandwagon and release the handful of essential noir titles they own - including Blue Dahlia, Glass Key, Ministry of Fear, Phantom Lady, etc ...

-D

 

[Irina]

The third Warner film noir set was especially disappointing to me since 3 out of 5 movies (The Racket, His Kind of Womand and On Dangerous Ground) had been already been released in R2 before. The Lady in the Lake was a gimmick noir and Border Incident was a border line noir. I hope their next set will be better.

Both Cry of the City (available in R2 in France and Spain) and Road House are top examples of film noir. I hope they get released in the next Fox noir wave. I would also add The Brasher Doubloon to the mix. I read that Eddie Muller has already recorded the commentary for it with Fox.

 

[Dave GR]

I've really enjoyed WB's Noir vol 3 boxset: His Kind of Woman and On Dangerous Ground were the standouts for me, Lady in the Lake and The Racket decent but nothing special, and I have yet to watch Border Incident or the Bringing Darkness to Light documentary. So far I have absolutely no complaints with the set though. Bring on vol 4!

As for Fox's next wave, like Irina I'm hoping for Road House, Cry of the City and Brasher Doubloon.

 

[Multi-Region]

I fully agree. The only interesting disc in this set was the Noir-docu. Although, James Elroy suffered the Production Code/Hays Code during his interview: he is censored.

I tried to sell this Warner set, but nobody is interested. It has spoken around, that Noir 3 is not recommended.

The first film-noir set is, in my opinion, still the far best of the 3 sets.