Official Film Noir on Blu-ray Thread

[The Great Owl]

I revisited Gun Crazy on TCM this morning when I was visiting with my mother. I'm hoping that this one will hit on region A Blu-ray soon.

Barton Tare, played by John Dall (Rope, Spartacus), has been fascinated with guns since early childhood, although he has an aversion to harming any living creature. After serving in the Army as a marksmanship instructor, Bart returns home and accompanies his two lifelong friends to a carnival, where he meets the stunning pistol sharpshooter, Annie Laurie Starr, played by Peggy Cummins (Night of the Demon), whom he barely bests in a target contest. The two of them are instantly smitten with each other, and they soon leave the carnival to get married. When Annie's remorseless need for material wealth makes itself apparent, the two lovers begin robbing small businesses and become known to the media as criminals. Despite Bart's wishes to return to a law-abiding life, he cannot resist the allure of Annie, who pressures him to raise the stakes by participating in a more dangerous heist.

The 1950 film noir, Gun Crazy, which was directed by Joseph H. Lewis (The Big Combo, Terror in a Texas Town), benefits from a simple storyline that feeds off of kinetically charged action sequences. A single-take bank robbery scene viewed from inside a getaway vehicle and a riveting chase where Bart shoots out the tire of a police car must have really been something else at the time of this movie's theatrical release.

Annie Laurie Starr is one of cinema's most destructive femme fatales, but Cummins portrays her with a tangible hint of tragedy and vulnerability. When she tells Bart that she knows that she's bad but that she will try to be good, we want to believe her as much as he does. Her character introduction, as she swaggers on a carnival stage in tight pants and blazes alway at her target with pistols, is perhaps the most gleefully psychosexual moment in noir.

I've always enjoyed movies about doomed lovers on the run from the law. As such, Gun Crazy sits well on the shelf next to You Only Live Once, They Live By Night, Bonnie and Clyde, Wisdom, and Natural Born Killers. Its robbery scenes have a gritty immediacy to them that even newer quick-editing action films fail to match, though. This is one crime spree that I'm always hoping will never end, although I've seen this film about a dozen times.

[mja345]

Originally Posted by SeanJoyce

To add, I've always thought that if Miller's Crossing isn't a noir, it's dangerously close to being one. And that one is just tops for dialogue.

My favorite line from "Miller's Crossing" is when Gabriel Byrne quips at John Turturro's

[Show spoiler]lightly attended funeral

, "Big turnout."

[plateoshrimp]

Originally Posted by SeanJoyce

To add, I've always thought that if Miller's Crossing isn't a noir, it's dangerously close to being one. And that one is just tops for dialogue.

Wasn't Miller's Crossing loosely based on The Glass Key?

[lemonski]

Originally Posted by scraptor

One of my favorite things about film noir is the dialogue... Out of the Past, Gilda, the Bogey/Bacall movies...

What are your favorite noirs in terms of dialogue?

Murder My Sweet (1944). Chandler has a head start on everyone else.

Deadline at Dawn (1946). Not a top tier noir, but cracking dialog by Clifford Odets.

[scraptor]

Originally Posted by oildude

I think great film noir dialogue includes the voice-over narration (if the film has it).

My favorite noir for dialogue is Out of the Past (1947)

"......And then I saw her - coming out of the sun. And I knew why Whit didn't care about that 40 grand."

To me that is just about the most perfect line in all of film. In a few words, it captures the essence of noir. Our protagonist is doomed and he knows it, and goes willingly to his own destruction.



Also:
Double Indemnity
Laura
The Big Sleep
Murder, My Sweet
Gilda
Sweet Smell of Success
Ride the Pink Horse
The Big Clock
The Postman Always Rings Twice

Good list, I haven't see the last three so they'll go onto my to-watch list. Thanks everyone.

[deckard82]

The Big Clock is excellent indeed. I have Koch's Blu-ray release (part of a movie bundle that also includes Ministry of Fear, another terrific movie and The Dark Mirror) and this movie really needs to be released in other countries on Blu-ray as well. I'm amazed that that hasn't happened yet. Ray Milland was suuuuch a great actor. And definitely deserved his Oscar for his performance in 'The Lost Weekend', which is another fantastic movie.

[Old Geezer]

Originally Posted by scraptor

One of my favorite things about film noir is the dialogue... Out of the Past, Gilda, the Bogey/Bacall movies...

What are your favorite noirs in terms of dialogue?

Double Indemnity: "I killed a man for money. And for a woman. I didn't get the money...........and I didn't get the woman."

[NoirFan]

Money. You know what that is, the stuff you never have enough of. Little green things with George Washington's picture that men slave for, commit crimes for, die for. It's the stuff that has caused more trouble in the world than anything else we ever invented, simply because there's too little of it.

That's life. Whichever way you turn, Fate sticks out a foot to trip you.

So when this drunk handed me a ten spot after a request, I couldn't get very excited. What was it I asked myself? A piece of paper crawling with germs. Couldn't buy anything I wanted.

[hoytereden]

Originally Posted by scraptor

One of my favorite things about film noir is the dialogue... Out of the Past, Gilda, the Bogey/Bacall movies...

What are your favorite noirs in terms of dialogue?

I love The Narrow Margin. Great dialogue, especially when Charles McGraw is snarling it. This is from an early scene when his partner and he are discussing what kind of a woman they're assigned to protect is:

Beddoe-"What about this dame, Mr. Crystal Ball?
McGraw-"A dish."
Beddoe-"What kind of a dish?"
McGraw-"Sixty-cent special. Cheap, flashy, strictly poison under the gravy."

[The Great Owl]

I was hoping that Detour had been announced. Haha.

Someday, hopefully, although the film needs some work for a high definition release.

[noirjunkie]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I was hoping that Detour had been announced. Haha.

Someday, hopefully, although the film needs some work for a high definition release.

Me, too. I got excited when I saw the poster art.

[NoirFan]

Originally Posted by oildude

Our protagonist is doomed and he knows it, and goes willingly to his own destruction.

[Show spoiler]From a bullet to the crotch, no less!

Originally Posted by noirjunkie

Me, too. I got excited when I saw the poster art.

Apologies for getting your hopes up! Unfortunately the film, like a couple of dozen other titles, is in the clutches of Wade Williams, who refuses to part with his hoard unless he is given an absurdly unrealistic chunk of change. (Kino, and other labels, have tried.)

[noirjunkie]

Originally Posted by NoirFan

Apologies for getting your hopes up! Unfortunately the film, like a couple of dozen other titles, is in the clutches of Wade Williams, who refuses to part with his hoard unless he is given an absurdly unrealistic chunk of change. (Kino, and other labels, have tried.)

An interesting note from Gary Tooze on DVDBeaver:

Confession: in April of 2009, from Ann Savage's Estate, I purchased her original (1945) 16mm print of Detour. It is presumed to be a reduction print of the Wade Williams one (Image Entertainment) and the second best source of the film in existence. It has very good density and healthy grain structure. In most spots it shows less damage than the WW. Through a reputable Post House in Toronto I transferred in HD (twice!) - creating a personal Blu-ray for myself with the intention adding up to 7 commentaries (I've spoken to many including Dave Kehr, Jonathan Rosenbaum, from Eddie Muller to Guy Maddin) and making it available, through the DVDBeaver site, to fans of the iconic film. Unfortunately, I don't have the funds to restore it to a significantly high enough level to make it viable. I've added three captures below as examples (see very bottom for third sample).

The caps of his blu-ray look good enough for a blu-ray release to me. Granted, it won't look ideal, but it would be better than what we have now.

[deckard82]

I'd love a proper Blu-ray release for Detour too. I have Koch's German DVD release and it's....well...less than optimal. But yeah, better than nothing I guess.

[NoirFan]

Originally Posted by noirjunkie

The caps of his blu-ray look good enough for a blu-ray release to me. Granted, it won't look ideal, but it would be better than what we have now.

I had forgotten about that - he should have tried a Kickstarter to raise the remaining funds. I know I would have contributed.

[EVERYONE LIES]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I was hoping that Detour had been announced. Haha.

Someday, hopefully, although the film needs some work for a high definition release.

Detour is in very rough shape. As it stands right now it is almost unwatchable. Hopefully someone can pull a decent element out of their ass.

[billydillydilly]

Pre-ordered the John Alton set from Amazon.ca back in February (due for release today) and now it tells me it won't be shipping til April 11th. What's that about? Was this set delayed or is this an Amazon Canada distribution screw-up?

[mogwai_macabre]

Originally Posted by EVERYONE LIES

Detour is in very rough shape. As it stands right now it is almost unwatchable. Hopefully someone can pull a decent element out of their ass.

I have the Image DVD, and I certainly wouldn't call it unwatchable. Lots of print damage and I think at one point a second or two are missing. I don't want to sugar coat it, and say it doesn't desperately need a restoration. But if you've only seen 'unwatchable' copies that are probably circulating around YouTube or 50 Film Noir box sets, maybe give the Image DVD a chance.

[Jexes23]

Favorite Dialogue.....
The Maltese Falcon (First B&W film I ever sat through. I saw it when I was like 14 or 15 and caught it on the tube) still my favorite Noir film ever.

[Show spoiler]When you find out he was nailing his recently deceased ex-partners wife in the first few minutes of the film I was sold immediately.

Dial M For Murder

[traths]

Originally Posted by EVERYONE LIES

Detour is in very rough shape. As it stands right now it is almost unwatchable. Hopefully someone can pull a decent element out of their ass.

Wow, I didn't realize that film was in such bad shape.