I, The Jury 3D Blu-ray (1953) [Region A Locked]

[Camps]

Albeit a 2D film, posting the news here as well for fellow Spillane fans: The long-awaited () The Long Wait makes its blu ray debut in March, thanks once again to the good folks at ClassicFlix.

https://www.classicflix.com/blog/202...deo-this-march

Though it's not a Mike Hammer movie, it makes for a good 1-2 punch with Jury. (Of course the best filmic Spillane adaptation remains Kiss Me Deadly... which Mickey hated along with every other movie based on his work with the possible exception of The Girl Hunters... in which he starred... )

[T. Warren Scollan]

OK, I know I'm going to get a lot of flak for this, but here goes anyway:

I thought the film was both spectacular and really sucked!

First off, a visual delight. The cinematography, the lighting, the filming style, framing, and composition (especially considering the 3D). A Film Noir masterpiece. And the 3D worked really well, as it almost always seems to do in the Golden Age. Then there's the image sharpness and clarity, which can be credited to both the condition of the original elements and the excellent work of the restorers. I didn't notice any alignment problems, but then my vision is extremely tolerant to those kind of glitches.

Second, the movie. The plot and narrative were rambling, confusing, and unecessarily complex. A poor script, one that might be associated with a "B" film. And the poor leads. I thought Biff's acting was very weak. But then the dialog that was written for him certainly didn't help. The whole thing was definitely not a "The Narrow Margin". Think what it would have been like starring Charles McGraw and Marie Winsor!

And yet I will treasure this and rewatch it repeatedly over the years for what I've reasoned in my first paragraph and try to just ignore the second.

[Camps]

Originally Posted by T. Warren Scollan

OK, I know I'm going to get a lot of flak for this, but here goes anyway:

I thought the film was both spectacular and really sucked!

First off, a visual delight. The cinematography, the lighting, the filming style, framing, and composition (especially considering the 3D). A Film Noir masterpiece. And the 3D worked really well, as it almost always seems to do in the Golden Age. Then there's the image sharpness and clarity, which can be credited to both the condition of the original elements and the excellent work of the restorers. I didn't notice any alignment problems, but then my vision is extremely tolerant to those kind of glitches.

Second, the movie. The plot and narrative were rambling, confusing, and unecessarily complex. A poor script, one that might be associated with a "B" film. And the poor leads. I thought Biff's acting was very weak. But then the dialog that was written for him certainly didn't help. The whole thing was definitely not a "The Narrow Margin". Think what it would have been like starring Charles McGraw and Marie Winsor!

And yet I will treasure this and rewatch it repeatedly over the years for what I've reasoned in my first paragraph and try to just ignore the second.

I don't think you'll get flak; actually your opinion's in the mainstream.

Harry Essex may have been a competent and active writer but he was a neophyte -- and lousy -- director. Opinions may differ about his writing ability but they don't about his directing ability; all the proof is there on his IMDb page. Biff may have delivered a performance more to my liking with a director more to my liking, like the director of the Mike Hammer movie that followed it, acclaimed as one of the very best noirs. And Spillane hated both movies.

But the cinematography and 3D are an eyeful and I'm very happy to have this finally on blu ray.

[WaverBoy]

I love the film as-is; great pulpy fun, and it literally pulls no punches. Wouldn’t have it any other way.

[ikms]

Finally took delivery of this one today. Too bad John Garfield left us when he did, because seeing him as Mike Hammer was all I could manage when experiencing Biff Elliot's method performance (I don't think the clothes were big so much as his head was comparatively small!). Alton deserves all the praise and I found it a completely different experience than watching his classic 2D work. With depth in play my eyes wouldn't read the framing the traditional way (closed one eye and, yep, a "stills photography" look is still there) - the experience was actually more immersive than I expected. Tantalizingly there was a brief shot early in the film featuring smoking where the volumetric potential of cigarette smoke was apparent, and I lamented the rest of the film he didn't lean into that feature. There was the one shot late in the film with window light shafts broken by bars shining out through "fog" in the background, but it was too distant to have much impact. Had he tried out the T-Men steam bath sequence here... it would have been one for the ages.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEaE8jRI_gE