Official Film Noir on Blu-ray Thread

[Richard--W]

Originally Posted by Professor Echo

And such a marked difference in its private eye protagonist who is as far as you can get from Raymond Chandler's description that these men must be the guardian knights of the mean streets. In this movie Hammer is an egotistical, selfish, stupid bastard who is so self-centered his actions help bring about a

[Show spoiler]mini-armageddon.

It's likely the darkest of all the noir films, brilliant and unrelenting. Everyone needs this movie in their collection.

I would say the two types of private eye were equally popular in fiction and in the
popular imagination. Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer is a very different character
than Chandler's Philip Marlowe. Spillane's crime world was much sleazier. Aldrich
and Bezzerides' adaptation is almost an entirely new story. There's another film to
be had out of this novel although I doubt it would surpass Aldrich's. Spillane's Mike
Hammer novels are still ripe for filming.

[jayrobb9]

Originally Posted by Gerby

Are you sure it's good enough for your collection?

Sure, it's watchable. I'm a huge fan of Edmond O'Brien and Neville Brand.

And finding decent copies of Films Noir where I live is hard to do, so I take them where I can

[Richard--W]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Kiss Me Deadly has my favorite opening credits title sequence of all time.

Memorable title sequence. The opening credits scroll like end credits in reverse. I also like
the opening title sequence in Chinatown, part super and part scroll, over a Chinese tile.

[nitin]

Moonrise

This was stunning, top tier film noir in my book. It really shouldn’t work, Dane Clark is fairly one note and weak in the lead role and I didn’t quite buy the initial development of his and Gail Russell’s relationship. But it still really works despite those aspects because all of the other roles outside of Clark are performed with sensitivity and nuance and counterbalance his one note performance to achieve a probably unintended but thematically coherent effect of Clark’s character always raging against everything and everyone.

Of course, this is all aided by the much lauded mood and atmosphere created by the expressionist mise en scene, and it really is something to behold, particularly on Criterion’s stunning blu ray. The opening alone should be more famous for having one of the all time great edits but Borzage’s work throughout is first rate (my favorite scenes in this regard were the beginning, the Ferris wheel scene, the raccoon hunt which ends with Clark and the raccoon atop the tree and the impromptu dance in Blackwater mansion).

[MifuneFan]

Official details for Trapped, coming from Flicker Alley on December 17th (though Amazon lists it as December 31st)

DELUXE BLU-RAY/DVD DUAL FORMAT EDITION

Release Date: December 17th, 2019 - Available for Pre-order Only

Before making Hollywood epics such as Tora! Tora! Tora! and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, director Richard Fleischer started his career with a series of low-budget B-features, often taking ripped-from-the-headlines tales of crime stories and spinning them into noir gold... of which an exquisite example is 1949's endlessly entertaining Trapped.

A young Lloyd Bridges stars as hardboiled hood Tris Stewart, a convicted counterfeiter doing time in the Atlanta pen. When a fresh batch of fake bills starts circulating, treasury agents bail Stewart out to help lead them to the maker of the fake plates. But Tris double-crosses the Feds, hooking up with his gun-moll sweetie (22-year-old Barbara Payton in her breakout role). They plan to heist the plates and hightail it across the border. With the Feds closing in and the double-crosses piling up, Stewart finds himself between a rock and a hard place… and this time, he may be trapped for good!

Although long sought by the Film Noir Foundation, Trapped was believed to have suffered the unfortunate fate of many B-films of the era—oblivion. But when a private collector deposited a 35mm acetate print at the Harvard Film Archive, the Film Noir Foundation and UCLA Film & Television Archive (with support from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association's Charitable Trust [The HFPA Trust]) sprang into action, restoring the film. The result, presented in a Blu-ray/DVD dual-format edition by Flicker Alley, honors the pitch-perfect

Special Features and Technical Specs:

NEW RESTORATION OF THE FILM

• "Freeing Trapped" — a mini-documentary on the film's creation and history, featuring interviews with Eddie Muller, Donna Lethal, and others.
• "A Sedulous Cinderella: Richard Fleischer Remembered" — a remembrance of the man, the director, and the father, by his son, Mark Fleischer.
• Audio Commentary Track — Featuring author Alan K. Rode and film historian Julie Kirgo.
• 24-Page Souvenir Booklet — Featuring rare photographs, poster art, and commentary by "Czar of Noir" Eddie Muller.

REGION-FREE

[noirjunkie]

Speaking of Trapped and director Richard Fleischer, here's a 2013 article from Noir City magazine that covers Fleischer's early noir work at RKO: The Forgotten Man: Richard Fleischer's RKO Years.

[MifuneFan]

Fritz Lang's House by the River (1950) has just been announced by Kino for January 14th

Originally Posted by Kino Lorber Insider

Coming January 14th!

House by the River (1950)
• Brand New 2K Master
• NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historian Alexandra Heller-Nicholas
• Interview with Celebrated Producer and Historian Pierre Rissient
• Optional English Subtitles
• Dual-Layered BD50 Disc
• Trailers

Exiled to Republic Pictures, Fritz Lang (Metropolis, Spies, Scarlet Street, The Woman in the Window) created House by the River, a shocking and mordant low-budget thriller. Like fellow cinema giants Orson Welles and John Ford, Lang enjoyed a freedom at Republic that allowed him to make a truly unique and personal film. Regarding House by the River, Cahiers du Cinéma declared, “Lang’s main erotic obsession is displayed more clearly than in any of his other films.” Victorian ne’er-do-well Stephen Byrne (Louis Hayward, And Then There Were None) assaults and accidentally murders his wife’s virginal housekeeper. With the reluctant assistance of loyal brother John (Lee Bowman, Bataan), Stephen remorselessly consigns the girl’s corpse to the river. But as John’s affection for Stephen’s wife Marjorie (Jane Wyatt, Pitfall), police suspicion about the girl’s disappearance, and the depths of Stephen’s depravity all escalate, the river itself provokes a horrifying reunion between victim and murderer. Boasting an ingenious script by The Spiral Staircase scribe Mel Dinelli and evocative photography by seven-time Oscar nominee Edward Cronjager (Heaven Can Wait), House by the River is a criminally underrated American film, both a work of art and a moral nightmare.

[fatboyslim142]

Been looking at the first page & am wondering what the hell is the Gregory Peck Western 'Yellow Sky' doing in this listwhen it is NOT a Film Noir movie?

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by fatboyslim142

Been looking at the first page & am wondering what the hell is the Gregory Peck Western 'Yellow Sky' doing in this list?

It's widely considered a western noir. There's a few westerns that are.

[noirjunkie]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Fritz Lang's House by the River (1950) has just been announced by Kino for January 14th

This is a film I thought we might never see on blu-ray. I'm excited to get it.

[MalteseCrow]

Speaking of Lang noirs, I'm surprised we're getting House by the River before Clash by Night. Anyone know what the hold-up on that one is about?

Hell, even looking outside noir, it's one of only a handful of Lang's entire filmography that hasn't hit BD yet.

[noirjunkie]

Originally Posted by MalteseCrow

Speaking of Lang noirs, I'm surprised we're getting House by the River before Clash by Night. Anyone know what the hold-up on that one is about?

Hell, even looking outside noir, it's one of only a handful of Lang's entire filmography that hasn't hit BD yet.

It's with WB, which has been slow to work their way through the titles that were originally included in their noir box sets. We're just now completing Volume One with the release of The Set-Up.

[CBHampson]

Can anyone confirm whether there is a DVD release of the Noir Archive sets? Specifically Vol 3? Looking to pick it up from this Target sale but it's listed as DVD...which I don't think exists.

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by CBHampson

Can anyone confirm whether there is a DVD release of the Noir Archive sets? Specifically Vol 3? Looking to pick it up from this Target sale but it's listed as DVD...which I don't think exists.

I don't believe there is. Plus the UPC (683904633798) lines up with the database entry for the BD here.

[noirjunkie]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

I don't believe there is. Plus the UPC (683904633798) lines up with the database entry for the BD here.

This isn't the first time this has happened on the Target website. If the UPC matches the blu-ray set, you're good to go.

[Hoke Moseley]

Re-watched Dark Passage yesterday for the first time in years to kick off my Noirvember... my first watch since reading Goodis' novel a year or two ago. I think knowing the book beforehand makes some of the plot implausibilities in the movie easier to forgive. But yeah, this is definitely one of the greats... enhanced by Bogart/Bacall's chemistry probably more than any of their other collaborations. And this thing flies by... feels like it's 80 minutes instead of 107. And damn... that ending hits (and somehow feels very earned).

[SeanJoyce]

Dark Passage is easily my least favorite of the Bogart/Bacall pairings and I would disagree that their chemistry is superior to their other collaborations (2nd worst after Key Largo, IMO) but it's still a solid noir with some nice San Fran location shooting and unique plot angle.

The diner scene is the standout moment for me.

[Professor Echo]

I just picked up the French Blu of SOMEWHERE IN THE NIGHT from Amazon Germany for $8 and change. Does anyone have this? Beaver gave it a pretty good review and says the French subs are not forced. This is actually a Noir I've never seen, but I've read it's only ok. I kept waiting for a US release, but now with Fox titles maybe headed for the Disney Cemetery, I decided to stop waiting.

[lemonski]

Originally Posted by Professor Echo

I just picked up the French Blu of SOMEWHERE IN THE NIGHT from Amazon Germany for $8 and change. Does anyone have this? Beaver gave it a pretty good review and says the French subs are not forced. This is actually a Noir I've never seen, but I've read it's only ok. I kept waiting for a US release, but now with Fox titles maybe headed for the Disney Cemetery, I decided to stop waiting.

I’d be very interested to know your thoughts on the disc, Professor. I’ve had my eye on it for ages, thinking that a UK or US release would be just around the corner, but....nothing.

[Gunsnroses092789]

Originally Posted by Professor Echo

I just picked up the French Blu of SOMEWHERE IN THE NIGHT from Amazon Germany for $8 and change. Does anyone have this? Beaver gave it a pretty good review and says the French subs are not forced. This is actually a Noir I've never seen, but I've read it's only ok. I kept waiting for a US release, but now with Fox titles maybe headed for the Disney Cemetery, I decided to stop waiting.

I have it. The subs are NOT forced. The quality is decent, but not amazing. The sound is slightly hissy, and the video a little noisy, but it looks fairly natural. I'd say 3-3.5/5.

Oh and I like the movie a good deal!