Official Film Noir on Blu-ray Thread

[nitin]

Originally Posted by SeanJoyce

I'm patiently holding out for a TT sale. Top-shelf noir.

I think I read that the PQ on the UK release isn't quite as strong as TT's. Can anybody confirm?

Other way around.

[MifuneFan]

Criterion has officially announced The Breaking Point (1950), directed by Michael Curtiz. It's the 2nd adaptation of Hemingway's To Have and Have Not. Release date is set for August 8th.

https://www.criterion.com/films/2869...breaking-point

Film Info

Michael Curtiz brings a master skipper’s hand to the helm of this thriller, Hollywood’s second crack at Ernest Hemingway’s To Have and Have Not. John Garfield stars as Harry Morgan, an honest charter-boat captain who, facing hard times, takes on dangerous cargo to save his boat, support his family, and preserve his dignity. Left in the lurch by a freeloading passenger, Harry starts to entertain the criminal propositions of a sleazy lawyer (Wallace Ford), as well as the playful come-ons of a cheeky blonde (Patricia Neal), making a series of compromises that stretch his morality—and his marriage—farther than he’ll admit. Hewing closer to Hemingway’s novel than Howard Hawks’s Bogart-Bacall vehicle, The Breaking Point charts a course through daylight noir and working-class tragedy, guided by Curtiz’s effortless visual fluency and a stoic, career-capping performance from Garfield.

Disc Features

• New 2K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
• New interview with biographer and film historian Alan K. Rode (Michael Curtiz: A Life in Film)
• New piece featuring actor and acting instructor Julie Garfield speaking about her father, actor John Garfield
• New video essay by filmmakers Tony Zhou and Taylor Ramos, analyzing Curtiz’s directorial techniques
• Excerpts from a 1962 episode of the Today show showing contents of the Ernest Hemingway House in Key West, Florida, including items related to To Have and Have Not, the novel on which The Breaking Point is based
• Trailer
• PLUS: An essay by critic Stephanie Zacharek

[hoytereden]

I'd say it's the second and best film adaptation of the story.

[lemonski]

Originally Posted by hoytereden

I'd say it's the second and best film adaptation of the story.

I'd have to agree, IMO To Have and Have Not gets a bit of a free pass because of Lauren Bacall. The rest of the film is pretty average.

[rocknblues81]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Being the OP, It is my job in this thread to determine what gets added the list, and what doesn't

Yep. And it's a thread dedicated to film noir and of course people are going to speak out when they feel something doesn't fit.

[crazednoir]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Criterion has officially announced The Breaking Point (1950), directed by Michael Curtiz. It's the 2nd adaptation of Hemingway's To Have and Have Not. Release date is set for August 8th.

https://www.criterion.com/films/2869...breaking-point

Finally a upcoming release of note !

[javy]

Any thoughts on this release of The Third Man? I read in the official thread that this may have a stretched image.

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-T...lu-ray/130991/

[oildude]

Originally Posted by javy

Any thoughts on this release of The Third Man? I read in the official thread that this may have a stretched image.

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-T...lu-ray/130991/

I have the 4K restoration from Studio Canal; imported from Amazon UK nearly two years ago. I can sum up the picture quality in one word: STUNNING. I never noticed any stretching, just the depth and beauty of the transfer.

Before revisiting the import blu-ray, I had forgotten just how good this movie really is. And the bonus features are excellent; I don't frequently watch bonus features, but I devoured these. Very informative about the film, its casting, production, behind the scenes, the challenges of filming in a still war damaged Vienna divided between the four occupation zones, and lots of other information. There is particularly good information on the sewer sequence and an interesting look at the famous ferris wheel, recently restored along with the rest of the amusement park by the Soviet authorities. It will also make you fully aware of what an enfant terrible Orson Welles had become by this time, something which damaged his reputation and hindered his career in the long run.

[elecrofunk]

Breaking Point is a must have for me.

[noirjunkie]

Later this year, ClassicFlix will be releasing another long-requested title: Fritz Lang's proto-noir You Only Live Once (1937).

[noirjunkie]

Also, I have a minor recommendation for the OP. The Lookout (2003) has two BD releases, and the edition listed in the OP has a botched transfer (a cropped AR) and lossy audio. This is the superior edition (correct AR, lossless audio, bonus features):



It's a strong film, and I want to make sure that if anyone visits the thread and decides to buy it, they get pointed to the correct release.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by noirjunkie

Later this year, ClassicFlix will be releasing another long-requested title: Fritz Lang's proto-noir You Only Live Once (1937).

I've got the region-free Spanish Blu-ray. This is an awesome movie!

[Cranston37]

Re: The Prowler potentially being OOP - Amazon had allowed orders to be placed for it even though they had no stock, so I took a chance on ordering one and my order just shipped, so anybody interested in one might want to place an order...

[javy]

The Third Man and The Lady from Shanghai are on their way from the U.K. I'm rollin'

[rocknblues81]

I saw it mentioned in another thread... Wouldn't Klute fit the bill for neo noir also?

Sutherland's character and performance is pretty noirish. If only he dressed for the part more.

[Juels Winnfield]

Originally Posted by rocknblues81

I saw it mentioned in another thread... Wouldn't Klute fit the bill for neo noir also?

Sutherland's character and performance is pretty noirish. If only he dressed for the part more.

It is a neo-noir IMO, not the best but it does fit the bill.

[rocknblues81]

Originally Posted by Juels Winnfield

It is a neo-noir IMO, not the best but it does fit the bill.

I've only seen it once, but I thought it was a pretty good movie. It's a fair bleak/serious movie, but it does lack in visual style.

[kristoffer]

I rewatched The Big Sleep tonight and that film still doesn't make a lick of sense!

I saw the comparison to the prerelease version afterwards as well.

How is the case at the house where Geiger was murdered and the disappearance of Reagan connected?
I mean, besides the fact that Marlowe finds out that Eddie Mars owns the house.

Also, who was the dead guy on the bed?

[noirjunkie]

Originally Posted by kristoffer

I rewatched The Big Sleep tonight and that film still doesn't make a lick of sense!

I saw the comparison to the prerelease version afterwards as well.

How is the case at the house where Geiger was murdered and the disappearance of Reagan connected?
I mean, besides the fact that Marlowe finds out that Eddie Mars owns the house.

Also, who was the dead guy on the bed?

The movie makes less sense than the book because the film had to censor some of the more explicit material from the novel that wouldn't fly due to the production code.

It's been a while since I've seen the film, so I can't remember how much was altered, but here's how it's explained in the novel:

The Geiger murder and Reagan's disappearance aren't directly connected. Marlowe wanted to follow up on Reagan because he had an affinity for General Sternwood and wanted to let him know what happened to his son-in-law, even though it wasn't officially part of his investigation.

The dead guy on the bed is the photographer who was taking dirty pictures of Carmen Sternwood. Those pictures formed the basis for the blackmail that General Sternwood calls in Marlowe to investigate.

Here, maybe this will help:

[Show spoiler]

[MassiveMovieBuff]

Originally Posted by kristoffer

I rewatched The Big Sleep tonight and that film still doesn't make a lick of sense!

I saw the comparison to the prerelease version afterwards as well.

How is the case at the house where Geiger was murdered and the disappearance of Reagan connected?
I mean, besides the fact that Marlowe finds out that Eddie Mars owns the house.

Also, who was the dead guy on the bed?

Roger Ebert's written review for The Big Sleep is great and he talks about how it doesn't really even matter that not much of it makes sense but that it's more of how everything is done that makes it such a great film noir. This is a comment on it in his review.

"It is typical of this most puzzling of films that no one agrees even on why it is so puzzling. Yet that has never affected "The Big Sleep's" enduring popularity, because the movie is about the process of a criminal investigation, not its results. The process follows private eye Philip Marlowe (Humphrey Bogart) as he finds his way through the jungle of gamblers, pornographers, killers and blackmailers who have attached themselves to the rich old general (Charles Waldron) and his two randy daughters (Bacall and Vickers). Some bad guys get killed and others get arrested, and we don't much care--because the real result is that Bogart and Lauren Bacall end up in each other's arms. "The Big Sleep" is a lust story with a plot about a lot of other things."