Official Film Noir on Blu-ray Thread

[filmlover22]

Originally Posted by koberulz

They'll both be long sold out by the next B1G1.

Quite possibly. However, I would love to hear from anyone who thinks these are classics deserving almost $20 a film.

[CouncilSpectre]

Originally Posted by filmlover22

Quite possibly. However, I would love to hear from anyone who thinks these are classics deserving almost $20 a film.

I’d pay $20 for THE BURGLAR. I wouldn’t for THE RED MENACE. I haven’t seen the other two.

[playingphysicist]

Originally Posted by CouncilSpectre

I’d pay $20 for THE BURGLAR. I wouldn’t for THE RED MENACE. I haven’t seen the other two.

Yeah, Burglar def interests me due to Dan Duryea - by 1957, he was acting almost totally in westerns, so crime films (whether True Noir or not) were rarer for him.

[koberulz]

Originally Posted by filmlover22

Quite possibly. However, I would love to hear from anyone who thinks these are classics deserving almost $20 a film.

Not "quite possibly", "definitely". Imprint has adjusted their print runs downwards, and B1G1 is in May.

[Gunsnroses092789]

Originally Posted by CouncilSpectre

I’d pay $20 for THE BURGLAR. I wouldn’t for THE RED MENACE. I haven’t seen the other two.

Same!

[Diorm]

[usuallee]

Hmmm..that World Noir Volume 1 looks like a good set. The three films (one French, one Japanese, one Italian) seem interesting and they're apparently fairly well regarded, based on what little info I could find in a quick search. Region B only though, unfortunately. Maybe I need to finally pony up for a region free player.

Witness In The City was already released in Kino's French Noir set. This site's reviewer did not like the video on it. Apparently the issue was with the scan/conversion. But this set promises "new restorations" - I guess we'll see if they actually re-scanned the film.

[MifuneFan]

The Facts of Murder will be released separately for the NA market.

Bonus Materials

• New 4K restoration of the film by L'Immagine Ritrovata at the Cineteca di Bologna, world premiere on High Definition Blu-ray (1080p)
• Uncompressed mono PCM audio
• New interview with Pietro Germi expert Mario Sesti (2023)
• The Man With the Cigar in His Mouth - a documentary about Pietro Germi featuring interviews with his colleagues and collaborators including Mario Monicelli, Claudia Cardinale, Stefania Sandrelli, Giuseppe Tornatore among others (Mario Sesti, 1997, 41 mins
• What's Black and Yellow All Over? All Shades of Italian Film Noir - visual essay by Paul A. J. Lewis on the presence of noir trends in Italian cinema and the evolution of the genre (2023)

[WaverBoy]

Anyone know if there’s any chance of JOURNEY INTO FEAR (1943) hitting Blu any time soon? It was never released on DVD in this country, only VHS and LD. I’d love to see the original European release print containing the eight minutes snipped out by RKO and without the added narration. I’d also like to see THE STRANGER (1946) hit Blu from studio vault elements instead of the damaged elements used by Kino for their Blu. The old MGM DVD is currently the best version.

[silverlakephil]

Originally Posted by usuallee

Hmmm..that World Noir Volume 1 looks like a good set. The three films (one French, one Japanese, one Italian) seem interesting and they're apparently fairly well regarded, based on what little info I could find in a quick search. Region B only though, unfortunately. Maybe I need to finally pony up for a region free player.

Witness In The City was already released in Kino's French Noir set. This site's reviewer did not like the video on it. Apparently the issue was with the scan/conversion. But this set promises "new restorations" - I guess we'll see if they actually re-scanned the film.

The press stop then top menu trick on Panasonic brand Blu ray players still works for a lot of Region B Blu rays btw.

[noirjunkie]

Originally Posted by WaverBoy

Anyone know if there’s any chance of JOURNEY INTO FEAR (1943) hitting Blu any time soon? It was never released on DVD in this country, only VHS and LD. I’d love to see the original European release print containing the eight minutes snipped out by RKO and without the added narration.

Many years ago, a Warner Archive rep said they hadn't released it due to poor source elements. Whether that would still hold true today, I don't know. It is odd that it's never been released, even on DVD.

[SanCarolina59]

Originally Posted by WaverBoy

Anyone know if there’s any chance of JOURNEY INTO FEAR (1943) hitting Blu any time soon? It was never released on DVD in this country, only VHS and LD. I’d love to see the original European release print containing the eight minutes snipped out by RKO and without the added narration. I’d also like to see THE STRANGER (1946) hit Blu from studio vault elements instead of the damaged elements used by Kino for their Blu. The old MGM DVD is currently the best version.

Originally Posted by noirjunkie

Many years ago, a Warner Archive rep said they hadn't released it due to poor source elements. Whether that would still hold true today, I don't know. It is odd that it's never been released, even on DVD.

IIRC, I heard a rumor once allegedly claiming that Criterion may have Journey Into Fear as part of a package deal they got with WB for that plus Kane and Ambersons, but I don't know how true that is, so take it as you will.

[Gunsnroses092789]

Originally Posted by WaverBoy

I’d also like to see THE STRANGER (1946) hit Blu from studio vault elements instead of the damaged elements used by Kino for their Blu. The old MGM DVD is currently the best version.

Olive Films' Blu-ray is from MGM's studio elements, the same as the MGM DVD.

[MifuneFan]

Kino has just announced a new release of Odds Against Tomorrow (1959) coming December 5th. The film was previously released on BD by Olive Films.

Coming December 5th on Blu-ray!
Odds Against Tomorrow (1959) Starring Harry Belafonte, Robert Ryan, Gloria Grahame, Shelley Winters & Ed Begley – Shot by Joseph C. Brun (Edge of the City) – Screenplay by Abraham Polonsky (Force of Evil) & Nelson Gidding (I Want to Live!) – Based on a Novel by William P. McGivern (The Big Heat) – Directed by Robert Wise (The Set-Up, The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Haunting).

[MifuneFan]

Criterion has officially announced Blast of Silence (1961) for December.

Blast of Silence (1961)

https://www.criterion.com/films/538-blast-of-silence

DIRECTOR-APPROVED BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

• New 4K digital restoration presented in two aspect ratios, 1.85:1 (widescreen) and 1.33:1 (full-screen), with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
• Requiem for a Killer: The Making of “Blast of Silence”
• Rare on-set Polaroids
• Photos of locations from the film in 2008
• Trailer
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• PLUS: An essay by film critic Terrence Rafferty and a graphic-novel adaptation
  of the film by acclaimed artist Sean Phillips (Criminal, Reckless, Fatale)

Cover by Sean Phillips

[leonmarks]

Originally Posted by noirjunkie

Many years ago, a Warner Archive rep said they hadn't released it due to poor source elements. Whether that would still hold true today, I don't know. It is odd that it's never been released, even on DVD.

I'm really hopeful that the extraordinary advances in AI technology are going to make restorations, even from crap source elements, exponentially easier and faster.

[usuallee]

Warner Archive is releasing Palmetto (1998) with Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Shue, and Gina Gershon. Anyone else excited for it to finally make its blu-ray debut? Watched it on VHS back in the day, and have remembered it fondly ever since, though I've never rewatched. Preordered & looking forward to it!

May I suggest that it be added to the Neo-Noir section?

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by usuallee

Warner Archive is releasing Palmetto (1998) with Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Shue, and Gina Gershon. Anyone else excited for it to finally make its blu-ray debut? Watched it on VHS back in the day, and have remembered it fondly ever since, though I've never rewatched. Preordered & looking forward to it!

May I suggest that it be added to the Neo-Noir section?

I added it to the A-Z list when it was announced, and also mentioned it earlier in the thread (the release was September at the time, but has been moved to Oct. 24th). I was waiting at the time for a database entry with cover art to add the thumbnail, so I'll do that now. Thanks for the reminder

[usuallee]

Great! Thanks MifuneFan for your continued efforts. Such a great, comprehensive resource for noir on blu-ray.

[MifuneFan]

Cause for Alarm! (1951) from ClassicFlix officially dated for November 28th.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CJFZC4B1...ect=1&sr=1-469

SYNOPSIS:

Newly restored and making its Blu-ray debut from ClassicFlix—Loretta Young stars in the pulse-pounding, edge-of-your-seat thriller Cause for Alarm! (1951).

Married after a whirlwind courtship during World War II, suburban housewife Ellen Jones (Young) copes with the fact that her husband George (Barry Sullivan) is now a bedridden invalid. Increasingly paranoid and quick to anger, George is convinced that Ellen is having an affair with their old friend (and George’s physician), Dr. Ranney Grahame (Bruce Cowling).

Afraid for his life and certain that Ellen and Ranney are conspiring to kill him by overdosing his medication, George composes a letter to the local district attorney requesting an investigation in the event of his untimely death. Ellen later unwittingly mails the letter, but upon learning of its contents shortly before George dies of natural causes, she goes to every length possible to retrieve the incriminating note!

Loretta Young gives a sensational performance in Cause for Alarm! as a woman trapped in a desperate situation, with taut direction courtesy of Tay Garnett (The Postman Always Rings Twice), and a memorable musical score by composer André Previn (My Fair Lady) who was only twenty-one at the time.
Co-written and produced by Young’s then-husband Tom Lewis, who would also later produce his wife’s long-running television series “The Loretta Young Show”, Alarm co-stars Barry Sullivan and Bruce Cowling, and features Irving Bacon, Margalo Gillmore and Art Baker."

DETAILS:

FORMAT: Blu-ray
GENRE: Drama, Film Noir, Suspense
RATING: NR
RUNTIME: 74 minutes
LANGUAGE: English
DISC COUNT: 1
Theatrical Year: 1951
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1
Region: 0
B&W
Special Features: Original Theatrical Trailer