Warner Film Noir Collections

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Finch
Joined: Mon Jul 07, 2008 5:09 pm
Location: Edinburgh, UK

Re: Film Noir Collections

#251 Post by Finch » Sat Jul 24, 2010 5:07 am

If you get something out of the other four, good for you. I'd have preferred at the very least an alternative sales model to the set as it is, i.e. individual double-bills as they've done two, three years ago, or split the set into two. I certainly didn't mean to suggest just because I didn't like the lesser known titles that they shouldn't have been included or that they wouldn't be worthwhile to others. I was open to being pleasantly surprised but only Armoured Car Robbery delivered in that respect for me.

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Yojimbo
Joined: Fri Jul 04, 2008 10:06 am
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Re: Film Noir Collections

#252 Post by Yojimbo » Sat Jul 24, 2010 12:14 pm

Mr Finch wrote:
broadwayrock wrote:Did you notice how Sergio Leone used that confrontation scene towards the end as a template for his Dollars Trilogy duels?
I've only ever seen The Good, The Bad & The Ugly but an intriguing bit of trivia nevertheless!
Just watched 'For A Few Dollars More' last night, for the first time in at least 10 years
(and afterwards listened to Christopher Frayling's typically insightful commentary).
Although 'The Good, The Bad & The Ugly' is probably the greater 'accomplishment', I still prefer 'For A Few Dollars More'; just that bit leaner, I think, and although its the first truly mature work of its director, he also wasn't afraid to fill the film with exciting directorial 'flourishes'.
(and now I gotta check out Henry King's 'The Bravados', which apparently was one of the inspirations for the story)

As for the latest Warners noir set: I was more reluctant to purchase than any other noir set, but I'm still hopeful of finding at least one 'gem', and even revising upwards some that I wasn't previously over-enthused about.

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Finch
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Re: Film Noir Collections

#253 Post by Finch » Sat Jul 24, 2010 12:27 pm

As far as expectations go, I was perhaps most disappointed with Desperate though this is not to say that it is a very solid film and still superior (unfortunately) to half the other titles. None of the 8 films strikes me as genuinely great although Cornered comes close, and Armoured Car Robbery was very strong also. Phenix City Story has an awful prologue and it's perhaps a bit too blunt in its black-and-white characterisation but it's one of the darkest and most atmospheric films in the set, and its violence is still shocking today.

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Sloper
Joined: Tue May 29, 2007 10:06 pm

Re: Film Noir Collections

#254 Post by Sloper » Sat Jul 24, 2010 7:20 pm

I love Cornered, and although it's far from a perfect film I've never really been struck by any clumsiness in the structure - as in D.O.A., I'm always too caught up in the frenzied, relentless journey of the protagonist, an archetypal 'man with nothing to lose', to bother analysing whether the whole thing makes sense or not. And I adore Walter Slezak in this!

Crossfire, on the other hand, just never quite pulled me in, perhaps because of the 'tokenness' of the leads, as David put it. (I do agree it's the small parts that make the film special, Paul Kelly most of all.)

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Yojimbo
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Re: Film Noir Collections

#255 Post by Yojimbo » Sat Jul 24, 2010 7:49 pm

david hare wrote:Yes, Paul Kelly, Gloria Grahame, Sam Levene as the Jew/homosexual and George Cooper as the "lost" boy. Ryan's just superb in this of course -the first of his three great complex gay characters, followed by Sandy in the Fuller and Claggart in Billy Budd.

Mine is a distinctly minority opinion on Crossfire, I realize.
I was surprised by how good 'Crossfire' is, when I re-watched it about 6 months ago; for the first time in about 20 years.
I was expecting a very dated, and overly talky film, but, aside from Ryan's dominating performance, I thought it excitingly paced, and the tension was well-maintained throughout.
In fact it was largely my positive revision of it that has caused me to give 'Cornered' another look, because I was definitely underwhelmed by it
(and then of course I was pleasantly surprised by 'The Sniper', and that inspired final frame)

hudakj
Joined: Sun Mar 28, 2010 5:54 pm

Re: Film Noir Collections

#256 Post by hudakj » Tue Jul 27, 2010 2:01 am

I also thought Crossfire was a very solid piece, but I can understand how some don't see it the same way.

I'm a bit surprised at how popular Cornered seems to be, probably because I had never heard of it, but I did find it a very enjoyable, with its memorable suspects and excellent finale. Parts of it might be too slow paced for some, given that its more of a mystery than a straight crime-noir.

Jonathan S
Joined: Sat Jun 07, 2008 3:31 am
Location: Somerset, England

Re: Film Noir Collections

#257 Post by Jonathan S » Tue Jul 27, 2010 8:15 am

DVD Talk review of Volume 5 is rather lukewarm about most of the films - "not an out-and-out winner among them," "very little to distinguish Cornered" and The Phenix City Story dismissed as "boring to watch", although the set is still "Recommended". Judging from the Final Thoughts, this reviewer's preferred films are Crime in the Streets, Dial 1119, and Deadline at Dawn.

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Yojimbo
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Re: Film Noir Collections

#258 Post by Yojimbo » Tue Jul 27, 2010 8:19 am

Jonathan S wrote:DVD Talk review of Volume 5 is rather lukewarm about most of the actual films - "not and out-and-out winner among them," "very little to distinguish Cornered" and The Phenix City Story dismissed as "boring to watch", although the set is still "Recommended". Judging from the Final Thoughts, this reviewer's preferred films are Crime in the Streets, Dial 1119, and Deadline at Dawn.
'Crime In The Streets' is definitely not one of the films I need to revisit: its dull and worthy, Period.
(and thats speaking as a big fan of Siegel's 50's output)
So that reviewer immediately blew whatever credibility he might have had.

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Ashirg
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 9:10 am
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Re: Film Noir Collections

#259 Post by Ashirg » Tue Jul 27, 2010 8:33 am

DVD Savant is still my reviewer of choice at DVD Talk (not for technical qualities, but for movies themselves), but he also gave thumbs up to Crime In The Streets, so some people must be questioning his credibility as well. (I haven't seen it myself yet, so I don't have an opinion about this film).

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Yojimbo
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Re: Film Noir Collections

#260 Post by Yojimbo » Tue Jul 27, 2010 9:30 am

Ashirg wrote:DVD Savant is still my reviewer of choice at DVD Talk (not for technical qualities, but for movies themselves), but he also gave thumbs up to Crime In The Streets, so some people must be questioning his credibility as well. (I haven't seen it myself yet, so I don't have an opinion about this film).
He's usually quite good; and his commentaries are quite enjoyable.

Ah well,.....even Homer nods!

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Finch
Joined: Mon Jul 07, 2008 5:09 pm
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Re: Film Noir Collections

#261 Post by Finch » Tue Jul 27, 2010 12:47 pm

I like Savant as well but I'm surprised too at his championing of Dial 9111, Deadline at Dawn and especially Crime in the Streets. Not Siegel's finest hour (ahem). If anyone wants to get Cornered and Armoured Car Robbery without paying for the other titles, they're available in Spain (they may well have forced Spanish subs though). Starcafe is a good etailer.

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manicsounds
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 10:58 pm
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Re: Film Noir Collections

#262 Post by manicsounds » Mon May 13, 2013 11:16 am

From the Volume 4 set, I'm having playback problems with the Illegal/The Big Steal disc.

If I try to play "Illegal" it's fine. But if I try to play "The Big Steal" the screen freezes, and errors occur. I've tried a few players and they all have problems. Anyone else?

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swo17
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Re: Film Noir Collections

#263 Post by swo17 » Mon May 13, 2013 11:20 am

I watched the disc last year and I believe the same thing happened to me initially, but then it worked fine on another player.

PillowRock
Joined: Tue Feb 05, 2008 8:54 pm

Re: Film Noir Collections

#264 Post by PillowRock » Tue May 14, 2013 8:42 pm

By pure random chance, I just got around to watching The Big Steal within the last week. I didn't have any problems when I played it.

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manicsounds
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Re: Film Noir Collections

#265 Post by manicsounds » Wed May 29, 2013 10:50 am

So what's the reason for Volume 2 being out of print?

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hearthesilence
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2005 4:22 am
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Re: Film Noir Collections

#266 Post by hearthesilence » Wed May 29, 2013 1:19 pm

Jonathan S wrote:DVD Talk review of Volume 5 is rather lukewarm about most of the films - ...The Phenix City Story dismissed as "boring to watch", although the set is still "Recommended".
A sordid but true story, the style reflects that. Nothing boring about it at all, I thought it was excellent.

It was one of Jonathan Rosenbaum's 100 "alternative" American films in response to the AFI 100, and he seemed partial to it for its portrayal of the South, where Rosenbaum also grew up.

"Phil Karlson’s noirish 1955 docudrama about organized crime is authentically seedy, shot in Alabama with adept use of many locals and an unusual candor about racist violence." Rosenbaum writes more here.

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What A Disgrace
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Re: Film Noir Collections

#267 Post by What A Disgrace » Wed May 29, 2013 1:55 pm

Phenix City Story is probably the single best film in the entire series of Warner Film Noir sets. The DVDTalk reviewer should probably stop masturbating immediately prior to watching movies.

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swo17
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Re: Film Noir Collections

#268 Post by swo17 » Wed May 29, 2013 1:58 pm

I was about to say the same thing (well, your first sentence anyway), until I remembered about Out of the Past.

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hearthesilence
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2005 4:22 am
Location: NYC

Re: Film Noir Collections

#269 Post by hearthesilence » Wed May 29, 2013 2:14 pm

FWIW, I saw Elmer Gantry for the first time the other night, and it was great to see Edward Andrews and John McIntire sharing a scene or two. I think the first time I really noticed those two actors was in Phenix City Story - their roles in that film may very well be their best film performances.

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Cash Flagg
Joined: Thu Jan 24, 2008 11:15 pm

Re: Film Noir Collections

#270 Post by Cash Flagg » Fri Aug 02, 2013 9:09 pm

Apologies for the bump, but what does Cathy O'Donnell silently mouth at 101:55 of They Live By Night, after watching Granger speed off?

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Jean-Luc Garbo
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Re: Film Noir Collections

#271 Post by Jean-Luc Garbo » Sat Jan 11, 2014 9:39 pm

This is really weird as both boxes were available last week, but volumes two and three aren't available in the WBshop anymore. Are they OOP now or can we expect a reprint?

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fdm
Joined: Fri Apr 21, 2006 1:25 pm

Re: Film Noir Collections

#272 Post by fdm » Fri Jan 17, 2014 11:54 pm

Jean-Luc Garbo wrote:This is really weird as both boxes were available last week, but volumes two and three aren't available in the WBshop anymore. Are they OOP now or can we expect a reprint?
Volume 2 has been out of print for quite some time (years), I thought. 3 seems to be in stock at Amazon.

Seems like (TCM exclusive) Columbia Pictures Film Noir Classics III is not available at the moment as well.

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Ovader
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 1:56 am
Location: Canada

Re: Film Noir Collections

#273 Post by Ovader » Tue Jan 28, 2014 5:41 pm

The Warner Film Noir Classic Collection Volume 2 seems to be back in print on Amazon.ca. Of course earlier today I paid a higher priced new edition on eBay thinking it was OOP over the past few years.

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Ovader
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 1:56 am
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Re: Warner Film Noir Collections

#274 Post by Ovader » Tue Jun 02, 2015 11:03 am

The Volume 4 set is OOP? If so then damn I missed it while available.

Marwood
Joined: Thu Sep 19, 2013 8:05 am

Re: Warner Film Noir Collections

#275 Post by Marwood » Mon Jul 20, 2020 5:32 am

Does anyone know if the documentary "Film Noir: Bringing Darkness to Light" that was included as an extra disk in the 6-discs Warner Film Noir Classic Collection Vol. 3 has been included on any subsequent release? Perhaps on one of the Criterion Warner sourced noirs?

I'd like to get the docu, but not that keen on buying this OOP set.

Thanks

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