WHV Film Noir Classics Vol. 5 ? (1 Viewer)

[Richard--W]

Has there been any indication of when the next noir collection from Warner Home Video will be released or what it will contain?

Dark City
99 River Street
Phenix City Story
I, the Jury
Trouble Is My Business
Murder Is My Beat
Human Desire
Cry of the City

are a few of the titles I would like to see considered for a Volume 5.

 

[Simon Howson]

At the chat last year I asked about I Died A Thousand Times, and they said it was being considered for a future noir set.

 

[Ric Easton]

I'd like to know if another set is coming as well!

 

[Pete York]

Unfortunately, WHV may only control a few of these.

Dark City (Paramount)
99 River Street (UA)
Phenix City Story (Allied Artists)
I, the Jury (UA) and Murder Is My Beat (Allied Artists)
Human Desire (Columbia)
Cry of the City (Fox)

 

[Steve...O]

I asked about this in another thread and nobody responded with any info which leads me to believe that no Vol 5 will be coming this year or, if it is, WHV has it under wraps.

Each of the 4 previous volumes came out in July and nearly all, if not all, were officially announced by this time (early May). Also, the 85th anniversary PR made mention of the repackaging of Vol 1-4 but did not say anything about Vol 5.

Although I like a wide variety of WHV releases, the annual release of the Noirs, along with the Looney Tunes Golden Collections, were two events I especially looked forward to.

 

[Peter M Fitzgerald]

Yeah, I'm surprised there's been no hint so far of a 'Film Noir Vol. 5' set from WB this July (I'm assuming Vol. 4 sold well enough last year). There are plenty of noir (or noir-ish) gems left for WB to mine:

THE WINDOW (1949)
THEY WON'T BELIEVE ME (1947)
WHILE THE CITY SLEEPS (1956)
THE DEVIL THUMBS A RIDE (1947)
DESPERATE (1947)
ARMORED CAR ROBBERY (1950)
FOLLOW ME QUIETLY (1949)
STRANGER ON THE THIRD FLOOR (1940)
THE THREAT (1949)
ROADBLOCK (1951)
THREE STRANGERS (1946)
DEEP VALLEY (1947)
BERLIN EXPRESS (1948)
JOURNEY INTO FEAR (1942)
THE MAN I LOVE (1946)
SPLIT SECOND (1953)
CRACK-UP (1946)
THE CLAY PIGEON (1949)
BODYGUARD (1948)
THE UNSUSPECTED (1947)
OUT OF THE FOG (1941)
I WAS A COMMUNIST FOR THE F.B.I. (1951)
WOMAN ON PIER 13 (1950)
THE WHIP HAND (1951)
THE TATTOOED STRANGER (1950)
BACKFIRE (1950)
THE HIGH WALL (1947)
ROGUE COP (1954)
etc.

 

[Charles H]

For their 85th Anniversary, perhaps a WB only film noir collection: CRY WOLF, THE UNSUSPECTED, CONFLICT, NOBODY LIVES FOREVER, TO THE VICTOR, THREE STRANGERS, THE VERDICT, MASK OF DIMITRIOUS, THE TWO MRS. CARROLLS, LIGHTNING STRIKES TWICE, THE MAN I LOVE, I DIED A THOUSAND TIMES? Also CRY IN THE NIGHT and HELL ON FRISCO BAY if they can be liberated from the Ladd estate. Also BACKFIRE, NORA PRENTISS, and THE UNFAITHFUL (Chances are the late Vincent Sherman recorded a commentary for all or some of these).

 

[ChrisPearson]

Surely if Warner is ruining the packaging of the first four volumes, it's to tie in with an unpleasantly packaged fifth volume, a la the Gangsters, Bette Davis and Joan Crawford sets?

 

[TravisR]

Nothing more than a guess but maybe they've just pushed the release back from July to September or October and that's why they haven't announced anything yet.

 

[Mark VH]

I had actually thought that since WB has a couple of big neo-noir type films getting the re-release treatment (L.A. Confidential, Dark City) that they might be holding Vol. 5 for a bigger promotion. But since Dark City has already been announced, that might just have been wishful thinking.

 

[ted:r]

They can release it in a brown paper bag covered in slime and I'd still be extremely grateful.

 

[ChrisPearson]

Really? Covered in slime? I often see comments like this when packaging is criticised and I have trouble believing it.

 

[ted:r]

In my case, it would be true. Course I'd probably use industrial strength gloves to open it and dispose of the packaging, but as long as the DVD inside was fine, I'd be more than contented.

Exaggeration aside, its the movie that matters 100% to me. Pretty pictures I can see anytime I want on the net. The time I spend looking at the packaging is miniscule to the time I spend looking at the movie.

I made a comment on the Joan Crawford box where someone said they stared at the package for an hour then returned it because they couldn't stand the thought of it (the packaging) in their home. That's the kind of thinking I find extremely difficult to conceive.

 

[CineKarine]

My point of view exactly!

 

[ChrisPearson]

The movie matters more to me too, but I would end up looking at the packaging for longer: the movie I would spend 90 minutes or whatever watching, whereas the package would be continually visible on my bookshelf.

I'll buy a movie I like no matter how it's packaged (the covers of last year's MGM/UA noirs were pretty skanky and I bought those), but poor quality in any capacity should be criticised, and Warner's current designer is woefully incompetent.

Anyway, my main point was that I think there will be a Volume Five box this year, as the repackage of 1-4 follows Warner's pattern with Gangsters et al -- so, hurrah!

 

[Thaellar]

I agree it's the movie that matters. That aside, hopefully we'll hear something from Maxwell...his column on digtalbits is overdue.

 

[Darrell Bratz]

Personally I toss the packaging. I don't have room for that junk.

 

[TravisR]

If you think Warners is bad, I hate to see what you think of nearly every other studios' covers.

 

[ChrisPearson]

Fox and Criterion are both excellent in terms of cover design. Universal is so-so, although some of their recent packages are pretty nice. Other studios don't release much product that I'm interested in. Only current Warners really sucks.

Anyway, poorly packaged or not, I think there will be a Noir 5 this year and I'll be buying it.