Your thoughts on Kino-Lorber Blu-rays (3 Viewers)

[timk1041]

After watching the Blu-ray twice, I don't think of "Time Out of Mind" as a film noir. I agree with the audio commentators that it's more of a gothic romance in which major portions of the movie were filmed like a film noir by Siodmak with the lightening and camera angles. Not a bad movie, but I wish Ella Raines was in the movie more as she was radiant during her film sequences. Man, she should have been a major film star. She had the looks and acting chops to be one. Kudos to Kino for finally releasing this movie onto Blu-ray. It's a solid video presentation. This movie wasn't a favorite of Siodmak nor it's lead female actress Phyllis Calvert, but I'm happy to have finally watched it.

One thing that bother me about audio commentary is that they didn't talk about the supporting actors enough. Hell, they didn't even mentioned the fact that Olivia and Joan's mother appeared in the film as Aunt Melinda. As both actresses got into their senior years, the sisters not only looked more alike, but also resembled their mother more so.


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Agree. Ella Raines is very under rated. Outstanding actress.

 

[RobertMG]

It'a no secret that the rights are owned jointly by the Olsen and Johnson estates, and they loathe each other. The other O&J shows are available for release because they were original screenplays, but HELLZAPOPPIN was an adaptation of their Broadway smash, and Universal only held the film rights for a fixed period of time. Logic dictates that they're screwing themselves out of money by not coming to a new agreement, but sometimes hate trumps cash. Frankly, I'd rather have CRAZY HOUSE and GHOST CATCHERS anyway.

Thats the sad part - all of the internet and bootleg dvd being sold by famous companies and the estates see no value in getting it out legally?

 

[RobertMG]

I was hoping you might consider Star Spangled Rhythm, Paramount's all-star contribution to the war entertainment effort. Filled with delightful songs and skits and most all of the Paramount roster doing something, it's brimming with patriotic nostalgia. Of course, most of the big stars making contributions are unknown to today's younger viewers, but we old timers would sure love to see it spiffed up on a Blu-ray disc.

I would be in on that one once I started working

 

[RobertMG]

I don't think we've ever asked for Hellzapoppin. Did I say it had legal issues?

Mr Insider do you know if betty Hutton's The Perils Of Pauline is with Universal or Paramount - as I posted that was one of her biggest hits and I think what got MGM interested in her for Annie Get Your Gun - great cast but only available in garbage quality

 

[Kino Lorber Insider]

Mr Insider do you know if betty Hutton's The Perils Of Pauline is with Universal or Paramount - as I posted that was one of her biggest hits and I think what got MGM interested in her for Annie Get Your Gun - great cast but only available in garbage quality

It's public domain, so the original film elements are still most likely with Paramount.

 

[RobertMG]

It's public domain, so the original film elements are still most likely with Paramount.

thank you

 

[[email protected]]

I would be in on that one once I started working

I love the scene where Betty Hutton tries climbing over the studio wall, it's hilarious

 

[Robert Crawford]

Another film noir from "Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema VIII". A solid early "B" Paramount Noir starring Burgess Meredith, Claire Trevor, Louise Platt, Sheldon Leonard and Jerome Cowan. Except for a couple of scenes, the video presentation is very good. However, there a couple of scenes that looked very rough from print damage that might have been taken from a different film source. It briefly took me out of the movie. Anyhow, the premise of the movie is about amnesic victim/Meredith trying to find out his former identity as he learns he's involved in a murder while being pursed by a dogmatic detective played by Leonard. Trevor and Platt played the women in his prior and current lives. This was my first time watching this movie and you can see how many film noirs afterward copied some of the same plotlines from this 1942 movie.

I would give the overall video presentation a grade of 3.5 out of 5 with the quality of the movie rated a 4 out of 5. I had quite a good time watching this 74 minute movie and will listen to Jason Ney's audio commentary during my next viewing of this Blu-ray.

 

[RobertMG]

It's public domain, so the original film elements are still most likely with Paramount.

Look at this nice post on VCI's fb they give a nice shout out to KINO! 'When is it good to be Wong? That pun was too good to pass up! Monogram released 5 Mr. Wong films starring Boris Karloff and 1 starring Keye Luke starting in the late 1930's. VCI's set of all 6 is considered the best quality of the films on DVD. Now we do not consider other firms competition the more classics the better so for full disclosure KINO will be releaseing the 5 Karloff Mr. Wong's via MGM who has the negs, a Blu Ray release . But keep your eyes tuned here this week for a great price on VCI's DVD set and enjoy all 6 films in the Monogram series."

 

[RichMurphy]

I love the scene where Betty Hutton tries climbing over the studio wall, it's hilarious

Even better is her musical number "I'm doing it for Defense" (!)

 

[bujaki]

I wish Kino would release the balance of the Universal James Whale films. They're all worth a shot. I know. I've seen them all.

 

[cinefan]

Even better is her musical number "I'm doing it for Defense" (!)

And for Dona Drake fans the "On The Swing Shift" number is hard to beat. Yowza! There's a lot of entertaining stuff in "Star -Spangled Rhythm".

 

[Robert Crawford]

Kino released two more film noirs courtesy of their "Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema VI" Blu-ray boxset. Both of these Universal-International films I've been wanting to see for many years. They never did get a DVD release so I'm grateful that Kino released them onto Blu-ray. Both Blu-rays have a video presentation that I would grade a 4 out of 5 score. Each Blu-ray has an audio commentary that I need to listen to during my next viewing of each movie.

Johnny Stool Pigeon (1949) has an early Tony Curtis appearance in which he never utters a word of dialogue, but who factors a great deal with the storyline. This movie is so early in his career that his screen credit lists him as Anthony Curtis. Anyhow, a fine cast with Howard Duff, Shelley Winters, Dan Duryea and John McIntire. Directed by William Castle. I must say that Duryea really shines in this movie about drug smuggling after WWII.

As to The Raging Tide (1951) it lists Shelley Winters above the screen credits of Richard Conte, Stephen McNally, Charles Bickford, Alex Nicol and John McIntire. Directed by George Sherman, this film noir combined with melodrama is quite effective in telling a story about a stone cold killer trying to hide away from the cops by working on a fishing boat. Though, Shelley gets top billing, in my opinion, the film is more interesting when it shifts the focus to Conte, Bickford and Nicol's relationship to each other. Great black and white photography by the great Russell Metty.

 

[ahollis]

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Kino released two more film noirs courtesy of their "Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema VI" Blu-ray boxset. Both of these Universal-International films I've been wanting to see for many years. They never did get a DVD release so I'm grateful that Kino released them onto Blu-ray. Both Blu-rays have a video presentation that I would grade a 4 out of 5 score. Each Blu-ray has an audio commentary that I need to listen to during my next viewing of each movie.

Johnny Stool Pigeon (1949) has an early Tony Curtis appearance in which he never utters a word of dialogue, but who factors a great deal with the storyline. This movie is so early in his career that his screen credit lists him as Anthony Curtis. Anyhow, a fine cast with Howard Duff, Shelley Winters, Dan Duryea and John McIntire. Directed by William Castle. I must say that Duryea really shines in this movie about drug smuggling after WWII.

As to The Raging Tide (1951) it lists Shelley Winters above the screen credits of Richard Conte, Stephen McNally, Charles Bickford, Alex Nicol and John McIntire. Directed by George Sherman, this film noir combined with melodrama is quite effective in telling a story about a stone cold killer trying to hide away from the cops by working on a fishing boat. Though, Shelley gets top billing, in my opinion, the film is more interesting when it shifts the focus to Conte, Bickford and Nicol's relationship to each other. Great black and white photography by the great Russell Metty.

Thank you Robert for your comments on those two films. I have also never seen them, but I will certainly move them up to the first in the cue to watch this week. Thanks.

 

[timk1041]

Mr Insider do you know if betty Hutton's The Perils Of Pauline is with Universal or Paramount - as I posted that was one of her biggest hits and I think what got MGM interested in her for Annie Get Your Gun - great cast but only available in garbage quality

Speaking of that film, I was wondering which studio owns the rights to Dear Ruth (1947) Dear Wife (1949) and Dear Brat (1951). The first 2 starred Joan Caulfield and all 3 were from Paramount. Possibly Universal owns at least the first one or Paramount all 3? I don't think they're in the public domain.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Today, I spent the afternoon watching the Kino Blu-ray of "Shakedown" (1950) starring Howard Duff, Brian Donlevy, Peggy Dow, Lawrence Tierney and Bruce Bennett. A movie about an unscrupulous photographer working for a San Francisco paper that delves into unprofessional behavior and blackmail with known criminals. This was the film directing debut of Joe Pevney, who would go on to direct many films for Universal-International during the 1950's. Appearing in this movie is a young Rock Hudson with a couple lines of dialogue before he would hit his stride as an actor during the next several years. Some of the film was definitely filmed at Universal studios, but there was shooting done on location too in San Francisco. As far as the Blu-ray video presentation, my rating is a solid 4 out of 5 grade while giving the film grade another 4 rating. For years, I've heard about this movie so I'm happy to have finally watched it and did so twice with my second viewing having Jason Ney's audio commentary.

Here is Eddie Muller talking about Shakedown:



Eddie talked about doing the audio commentary for Kino, but apparently, he backed out which is a shame since he talks about this film noir quite often and his affection for this movie. Anyhow, Ney's commentary was informative, but is lacking Eddie's sense of humor and persona which makes listening to his audio commentaries so enjoyable.

 

[bujaki]

I watched it Friday night. What a despicable character Duff played! Not a single redeeming feature. Dow was good, as expected.
Last night I watched all 3 films from the Noir collection that included Temptation (with non-favorite Merle Oberon), Enter Arsene Lupin (worth it just to gaze into Ella's eyes), and Street of Chance (best of the bunch, what with the other queen of noir, Claire Trevor).

 

[Robert Crawford]

I watched it Friday night. What a despicable character Duff played! Not a single redeeming feature. Dow was good, as expected.
Last night I watched all 3 films from the Noir collection that included Temptation (with non-favorite Merle Oberon), Enter Arsene Lupin (worth it just to gaze into Ella's eyes), and Street of Chance (best of the bunch, what with the other queen of noir, Claire Trevor).

This week, I'll get around to Temptation. Not a huge fan of Merle Oberon. Anyhow, I love me some Ella and Claire. I can their movies at any time.

 

[Paul Penna]

Today, I spent the afternoon watching the Kino Blu-ray of "Shakedown" (1950) …

Eddie talked about doing the audio commentary for Kino, but apparently, he backed out which is a shame since he talks about this film noir quite often and his affection for this movie. Anyhow, Ney's commentary was informative, but is lacking Eddie's sense of humor and persona which makes listening to his audio commentaries so enjoyable.

I agree about Eddie Muller's commentaries, but I was engrossed throughout by Jason Ney's on Shakedown. Even though right at the start he pulled a boner by misidentifying the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as the Golden Gate.

 

[t1g3r5fan]

Speaking of that film, I was wondering which studio owns the rights to Dear Ruth (1947) Dear Wife (1949) and Dear Brat (1951). The first 2 starred Joan Caulfield and all 3 were from Paramount. Possibly Universal owns at least the first one or Paramount all 3? I don't think they're in the public domain.

Universal holds the rights to Dear Ruth while Paramount holds the rights to Dear Wife and Dear Brat; Dear Wife is a Paramount title due to the fact that it was released after December 1, 1949, which is the demarcation date - with some notable exceptions - between which Paramount titles belong to the studio and which are held by Universal.