Official Film Noir on Blu-ray Thread

[chas speed]

Originally Posted by silverlakephil

I really enjoyed Arrow Academy's release of Jacques Tourneur's Nightfall recently. It doesn't reach the heights of his better known Noir, Out of the Past, but I don't think Noir fans would be disappointed with it. Aldo Ray, Anne Bancroft, & Brian Keith characters' dialogue great in their mise en scene. The disc is Region A compatible if you're interested.

I just got the Region B Blu-ray and it's a solid Noir film.

[nitin]

The Last Seduction is a smart and sultry neo noir but IMHO its best attribute is its wicked black humour. Linda Fiorentino is like a force of nature in this movie, in an anti-heroine role that is still unfortunately rarely given to female leads. It’s one of the best performances of the 90s in my book just for how easy she makes it look.

I can’t put this in the same league as the top noirs (neo or classical) because it was developed as a TV movie and frankly it shows. John Dahl does well with what he has but it never really looks more than a good tv show.

Apart from Fiorentino tearing up the screen, Dahl also gets great mileage out of the mischievous score, much like Frears did in The Grifters.

Very enjoyable stuff.

Network’s Region B blu has an unwatchable transfer with ugly artifacting throughout. But if you are region free, Scorpion’s Region A release is far superior because even though it utilises the same problematic master that is overly processed and rife with digital noise, it actually has encoding that doesn’t make all of those attributes (especially the digital noise) worse. Also, if you are one of those people that likes to turn on sharpening in their tv, at least turn it off here because it really plays havoc with digital noise.

[kingdoxie]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Yes, I wouldn't say B&W is a necessity, but rather a common trademark of most classic noir films. In addition to Leave Her to Heaven, there's also Desert Fury, Inferno (1953), Niagara, House of Bamboo, Violent Saturday, and several others.

Ok, now I have to get Niagrara. I've seen it in Big Lots for the past year and just passed over it because I've always thought Marilyn Monroe was overrated. Now that I want it I'll probably never see it again in BL and have to pay double on Amazon. Hoping this is a good addition to my collection.

[chas speed]

Anybody ever seen Joseph Losey's "The Criminal" (1960) aka "The Concrete Jungle" starring Stanley Baker? It's getting a 4K remastering on Blu-ray soon. If it's as good as "The Prowler", I would buy it.

[SeanJoyce]

Originally Posted by kingdoxie

Ok, now I have to get Niagrara. I've seen it in Big Lots for the past year and just passed over it because I've always thought Marilyn Monroe was overrated. Now that I want it I'll probably never see it again in BL and have to pay double on Amazon. Hoping this is a good addition to my collection.

I'm going to go against the grain here and say that I did not like Niagara. River of No Return is a far more enjoyable "Marilyn vs. nature's beauty" romp, while Don't Bother to Knock is more compelling Marilyn noir. My opinion, of course.

[latehong]

Originally Posted by chas speed

Anybody ever seen Joseph Losey's "The Criminal" (1960) aka "The Concrete Jungle" starring Stanley Baker? It's getting a 4K remastering on Blu-ray soon. If it's as good as "The Prowler", I would buy it.

I saw The Criminal (1960) a few weeks ago on UK Studio Canal Blu-ray released in September this year (almost certainly using the same master the future Kino Lorber release will use). The synopsis may sound like a caper film about a soon-to-be-released convict planning another job outside a la The Italian Job, but actually it's not. Losey underplays, or rather trivializes the caper while focusing on the titular criminal's lifestyle (mainly in prison). The problem is, that lifestyle has nothing remarkable, has no principle or peculiarity differentiating him from others (unlike, say, French existential professional criminals in Jean-Pierre Melville films). His relationship with his girl can't be more superficial and the too-obvious betrayal from a partner also doesn't add much either. The prison dynamics are probably the strongest parts of this film, and if it had been a prison movie playing with those, it could have been a better film, but I'm afraid it is not. I won't say this is a bad film in any case, but it's a miscalculated mediocre effort.

I also saw Losey's another quasi-noir he made in the UK, Time Without Pity (1957) also released on Blu-ray this year (UK Indicator series, region-free). Considering these two films and his other films to come, it seems what Losey tried at that point was to borrow some usual genre tropes yet veer into something entirely different, like eccentric (often theatrical) British character drama which he would make without genre tropes later.

To sum up, if you're looking for another quintessential film noir like The Prowler, The Criminal is not that and Losey didn't even seem to try to make that kind of film. While I admire his films after the exile, as another big fan of The Prowler, I wish I could see his other American film noir: The Lawless, M and The Big Night.

[chas speed]

Originally Posted by latehong

I saw The Criminal (1960) a few weeks ago on UK Studio Canal Blu-ray released in September this year (almost certainly using the same master the future Kino Lorber release will use). The synopsis may sound like a caper film about a soon-to-be-released convict planning another job outside a la The Italian Job, but actually it's not. Losey underplays, or rather trivializes the caper while focusing on the titular criminal's lifestyle (mainly in prison). The problem is, that lifestyle has nothing remarkable, has no principle or peculiarity differentiating him from others (unlike, say, French existential professional criminals in Jean-Pierre Melville films). His relationship with his girl can't be more superficial and the too-obvious betrayal from a partner also doesn't add much either. The prison dynamics are probably the strongest parts of this film, and if it had been a prison movie playing with those, it could have been a better film, but I'm afraid it is not. I won't say this is a bad film in any case, but it's a miscalculated mediocre effort.

I also saw Losey's another quasi-noir he made in the UK, Time Without Pity (1957) also released on Blu-ray this year (UK Indicator series, region-free). Considering these two films and his other films to come, it seems what Losey tried at that point was to borrow some usual genre tropes yet veer into something entirely different, like eccentric (often theatrical) British character drama which he would make without genre tropes later.

To sum up, if you're looking for another quintessential film noir like The Prowler, The Criminal is not that and Losey didn't even seem to try to make that kind of film. While I admire his films after the exile, as another big fan of The Prowler, I wish I could see his other American film noir: The Lawless. M and The Big Night.

Thanks for your opinion. It's too bad you can't rent these kind of discs out any more. I really did love the recent UK remastering of "The Go-Between" Blu-ray though. It was a big improvement over the first Blu-ray release.

[chas speed]

Originally Posted by nitin

The Last Seduction is a smart and sultry neo noir but IMHO its best attribute is its wicked black humour. Linda Fiorentino is like a force of nature in this movie, in an anti-heroine role that is still unfortunately rarely given to female leads. It’s one of the best performances of the 90s in my book just for how easy she makes it look.

I can’t put this in the same league as the top noirs (neo or classical) because it was developed as a TV movie and frankly it shows. John Dahl does well with what he has but it never really looks more than a good tv show.

Apart from Fiorentino tearing up the screen, Dahl also gets great mileage out of the mischievous score, much like Frears did in The Grifters.

Very enjoyable stuff.

Network’s Region B blu has an unwatchable transfer with ugly artifacting throughout. But if you are region free, Scorpion’s Region A release is far superior because even though it utilises the same problematic master that is overly processed and rife with digital noise, it actually has encoding that doesn’t make all of those attributes (especially the digital noise) worse. Also, if you are one of those people that likes to turn on sharpening in their tv, at least turn it off here because it really plays havoc with digital noise.

I remember seeing "The Last Seduction" in a theater and it seemed like such a breath of fresh air at the time. I remember the theater was also playing "Heavenly Creatures" at the same time.

[nitin]

Raw Deal is a good example of a pretty rote movie script given A grade treatment by the director and cinematographer to lift the quality of the whole affair.

This is one of the few films I can think of where the dark shadows are legitimately a major character in their own right and seem like they are interacting with and affecting the other characters. The entire film feels so intensely oppressive thanks to John Alton’s work and you can feel the characters getting boxed in by the darkness and unable to find a way out. The main character’s “I want to breathe” dialogue really could not be more apt.

Classicflix’s blu is a stunning 2k restoration that does justice to Alton and Mann’s cinematography. There was one sequence where the audio felt a bit warbled (Joe and Anne’s conversation out in the open during the Oscar’s tavern hideout sequence) but I assume the original audio was highly damaged in this scene to leave as is.

[leonmarks]

I've never understood why Joseph Losey is so highly regarded by noir buffs. Is it just because he was forced to leave the US and make films in the UK? "The Prowler" is a very good film, but nothing else he's done on either continent is particularly distinctive aside from "The Servant" which isn't noir. . I find him one of those directors made fashionable for a while by the noir "community" but without the substance to sustain the reputation.

[Gunsnroses092789]

Originally Posted by leonmarks

I've never understood why Joseph Losey is so highly regarded by noir buffs. Is it just because he was forced to leave the US and make films in the UK? "The Prowler" is a very good film, but nothing else he's done on either continent is particularly distinctive aside from "The Servant" which isn't noir. . I find him one of those directors made fashionable for a while by the noir "community" but without the substance to sustain the reputation.

M (1951) is a noir. Not a masterpiece like Lang's original, but still a great film.

Not a noir, but don't forget Mr. Klein, another great film he would later make.

Also, The Big Night and The Lawless are supposedly noir, though I haven't seen them myself... yet.

I'm not defending his career as a noir director. Just pointing out a few pieces of evidence. I myself don't think of him as an important figure in noir, but just another good-great director.

[chas speed]

Originally Posted by leonmarks

I've never understood why Joseph Losey is so highly regarded by noir buffs. Is it just because he was forced to leave the US and make films in the UK? "The Prowler" is a very good film, but nothing else he's done on either continent is particularly distinctive aside from "The Servant" which isn't noir. . I find him one of those directors made fashionable for a while by the noir "community" but without the substance to sustain the reputation.

I have never really thought of Losey as a Noir director. I loved "The Prowler" and I wish he had made a few more Noir movies in the 50's, but haven't seen enough of his other 1950's films to judge.

[noirjunkie]

FYI - If you've been thinking of picking up Network's UK release of Hell Drivers (1957), now would be the time, since it might be going OOP. It's no longer available on Network's site (and hasn't been for quite some time), and it's not available on Amazon UK. Zavvi still has some copies left, but that's the only place I've seen it still listed for sale.

[SuperFlyHighGuy]

Originally Posted by SeanJoyce

I'm going to go against the grain here and say that I did not like Niagara. River of No Return is a far more enjoyable "Marilyn vs. nature's beauty" romp, while Don't Bother to Knock is more compelling Marilyn noir. My opinion, of course.

I think Niagara is definitely worth seeing but it flounders some in the last act. I need to see the other two you mention though, I've actually been trying to see more Marilyn films after enjoying her in Asphalt Jungle and Bus Stop.

[noirjunkie]

Originally Posted by SuperFlyHighGuy

I think Niagara is definitely worth seeing but it flounders some in the last act. I need to see the other two you mention though, I've actually been trying to see more Marilyn films after enjoying her in Asphalt Jungle and Bus Stop.

Her performance in Don't Bother to Knock is a knockout. It was her first leading role, and it might just be her best performance. The film is currently part of Twilight Time's end-of-year sale. I highly recommend it.

[lemonski]

Originally Posted by noirjunkie

Her performance in Don't Bother to Knock is a knockout. It was her first leading role, and it might just be her best performance. The film is currently part of Twilight Time's end-of-year sale. I highly recommend it.

Richard Widmark is also great in it, but he’s great in pretty much everything. As a whole though, the film suffers from being too set-bound for my tastes - I’m guessing it was originally a play - so I tend to prefer Niagara out of the two.

[GeoffOliver]

Don’t Bother to Knock was actually based on a novel, though I haven’t read it, so I can’t say how faithful it is. It really is Marilyn’s best performance along with Some Like it Hot (where, despite being a comedic film, she had some nice dramatic scenes). I’m not really sure I would categorize it as noir (although I do so in my collection), but it’s a thrilling little drama with some interesting cinematic choices (a couple scenes remind me of Rear Window). Shout Factory is also releasing the film in their Anne Bancroft set (she has a small role) for those interested in that or miss out on the Twilight Time edition.

My favorite Richard Widmark performance is his scenery-chewing turn in Road House (1948), which also has good work from Ida Lupino. It’s an absolutely ridiculous film, but that’s why I love it. Kino’s Blu-ray also looks pretty good.

Speaking of Ida Lupino, I recently saw her in A Woman in Hiding, which is an interesting little noir, and a rare one told almost completely from a female character’s point of view. It has a lot in common with films like Rebecca, Gaslight, Notorious, and Suspicion, where women can’t trust their husbands, and they have no safe place to call home. It’s also an interesting film to watch in the #MeToo era, since the story is about men not taking a woman’s very serious concerns seriously. I’m glad Kino put it out, and they did a good job with it.

[mdanderson]

Trapped available for preorder from Flicker Alley or Amazon.https://www.flickeralley.com/classic...ed/p/154590920

[noirjunkie]

This should be added to the box sets section of the OP:

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by noirjunkie

This should be added to the box sets section of the OP:

It's there, but in the post for the 1940's section, since most of the films are from the 40's. The other two volumes are part of the box set section for the 50's since all of the films in them are from that decade. I suppose, instead of having separate box set / collection areas for each decade, I could just combine them together at the end.