Gangsters Collections

[filmnoir1]

Received mine today from Amazon. I have watched Smart Money with the commentary by Silver and Ursini, which is okay but they spend too much time trying to explain pre-code films and how they were produced and then later censored. I would like to have heard more about the production of the film itself.
Also watched Ladykiller with the commentary that is provided by Drew Caspar. His commentary is really interesting but it sounds as if he is reading from a script. His descriptions of Cagney onscreen and the formation of Cagney's screen persona are insightful and demonstrate a real love and appreciation for Cagney and his abilities. As Caspar is a historian and a keen observer of film, he also discusses how the film fits into a subgenre of comedy at the time "shyster films" and explains the relevance of those films in the 1930s. Equally fascinating is his reading of the film as a satire of Warner Brothers and the movie business itself as a type of "con artist"

[Ashirg]

No film noir collection announced yet, but we get the second gangster collection this year. DVD Times Announcement.

Warner Home Video have announced the Region 1 DVD release of Warner Bros. Pictures Gangsters Collection Volume 4 on 23rd September 2008. This latest group of crime genre classics features five new to R1 DVD gangster films: The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse, The Little Giant, Larceny, Inc., Invisible Stripes and Kid Galahad. The films contain bonus features such as rarely-seen Warner Bros. shorts, vintage newsreels and classic cartoons, plus original theatrical trailers. Also included in the collection is an all-new Warner Home Video feature-length documentary, Public Enemies: The Golden Age of the Gangster Film which takes the viewer on an inside look of every aspect of the crime genre and how it came about. The six-disc collection will sell for $59.92 SRP and Kid Galahad will be available as a single title for $19.97.

The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse (1938)
Dr. Clitterhouse (Edward G. Robinson) is fascinated by the study of the physical and mental states of lawbreakers, so he joins a gang of jewel thieves for a closer look in this often amusing crime drama. Claire Trevor co-stars as a savvy crime queen, and Humphrey Bogart plays Rocks Valentine, whom Dr. C. calls “a magnificent specimen of pure viciousness.” The movie also marks the start of one of film’s most noteworthy collaborations. John Huston, who was to later direct Bogart in The Maltese Falcon, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre and The African Queen, co-wrote the screenplay of The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse.

Special Features:

* Commentary by Dr. Drew Casper and Richard Jewell
* Racket Busters theatrical trailer
* Vintage newsreel
* WB short: Night Intruder
* WB cartoons:
o Cinderella Meets a Fella
o Count Me Out
* 1941 Lady Esther Screen Guild Theater Broadcast (audio only)
* 1944 Gulf Screen Guild Theater Broadcast (audio only)
* Theatrical trailer

The Little Giant (1933)
The era of the bootlegger is past but liquor runner Bugs Ahearn (Edward G. Robinson) has a plan for what he’ll do now that Prohibition is history. He decides to head for California’s posh, polo-playing Santa Barbara to become part of the high society. What he finds there -- swindlers, gold diggers, great fun – makes first class entertainment in this pre-Code gem. Edward G. Robinson shows his comedic chops for the first time, paving the way for such subsequent films as A Slight Case of Murder, Brother Orchid, Larceny, Inc. and more persona-skewering frolics.

Special Features:

* Commentary by Daniel Bubbeo and John McCarty
* Vintage newsreel
* WB short: Just Around the Corner
* WB cartoon: The Dish Ran Away with the Spoon
* Theatrical trailer

Larceny, Inc. (1942)
Edward G. Robinson once more turns his gangster image on its head in a gleeful romp based on the Broadway farce penned by Laura Perelman and S.J. Perelman. Robinson plays Pressure Maxwell, who emerges from Sing Sing planning to run a dog track with cronies Jug (Broderick Crawford) and Weepy (Edward Brophy). But the plan needs funding, so the group (assisted by Jane Wyman) opens a luggage shop as a front while attempting to tunnel into the bank next door. Now add the store’s unexpected success, a gabby traveling valise salesman (Jack Carson) and the arrival of a sour con (Anthony Quinn) who wants in on the action, and the laughs are thick as thieves.

Special Features:

* Commentary by Haden Guest and Dana Polan
* Vintage newsreel
* The Big Shot theatrical trailer
* WB short: Winning Your Wings
* WB cartoons:
o Porky’s Pastry Pirates
o The Wabbit Who Came to Supper
* Theatrical trailer

Invisible Stripes (1939)
Parolee Chuck Martin is going straight when he gets out of jail – straight back to a life of crime. In lockup or out in the civilian world, he knows he’ll forever wear a con’s ‘Invisible Stripes.’ As Martin, Humphrey Bogart continues to battle and sneer his way to career stardom in this volatile social-conscience crime saga adapted from a book by warden Lewis E. Lawes. Top-billed George Raft plays Martin’s ex-Sing Sing yard mate Cliff Taylor, who vows to walk away from crime and be a role model for his kid brother (William Holden). But what awaits Taylor are suspicion, public disdain and joblessness. So he turns to a fellow con for help. Then, as now, he finds crime doesn’t pay.

Special Features:

* Commentary by Alain Silver and James Ursini
* You Can’t Get Away with Murder Theatrical trailer
* Vintage newsreel
* WB short The Monroe Doctrine and Quiet, Please
* WB cartoons:
o Bars and Stripes Forever
o Hare-um Scare-um
* Theatrical trailer

Kid Galahad (1937)
This influential ring saga dramatically links professional boxing to criminal gambling. Edward G. Robinson is racketeer/fight promoter Nick Donati and tightly coiled Humphrey Bogart is Turkey Morgan. They’re rival promoters who, like fighters flinging kidney punches, end up swapping close-range bullets. Bette Davis plays the moll who has a soft spot for the bellhop (Wayne Morris) that Nick is grooming for the heavyweight title. And prolific Michael Curtiz directs this first of his six collaborations with Bogart that would include the romantic masterwork Casablanca and the sly comedy We’re No Angels.

Special Features:

* Commentary by Art Simon and Robert Sklar
* It’s Love I’m After theatrical trailer
* Vintage newsreel
* WB Shorts: Alibi Mark and Postal Union
* WB Cartoons:
o Egghead Rides Again
o I Wanna Be a Sailor
o Porky’s Super Service
* Theatrical trailer

Public Enemies: The Golden Age of the Gangster Film -- Warner Home Video Documentary
As popular as these films were in their heyday, seminal giants like Little Caesar and Public Enemy as well as post-war gems like Key Largo and White Heat still hold power over their audiences today. Public Enemies: The Golden Age of the Gangster Film will explore the invention and development of the crime genre; the rise of Warner stars like Cagney, Bogart and Robinson; as well as directors like Walsh, Wellman and Curtiz. It will cover the films themselves and the influence they had on filmmakers all over the world; and the artistic merit that these defining classic films still warrant. Finally, the documentary will celebrate the impact that Warner Bros. Studios had in establishing the iconic Hollywood Gangster, often imitated but never equaled.

Special Features:

* Four WB Cartoons: I Like Mountain Music, She Was an Acrobat’s Daughter, Racketeer Rabbit and Bugs and Thugs

[filmnoir1]

This is really great news. It seems that Warner's still has some surprises left for their anniversary year. However, one must still ask why they did not include Michael Curtiz's 20,000 Years in Sing Sing. Perhaps they are waiting so they can release a box set honoring the prison films of the 1930s like this one and Hell's Highway, Laughter in Hell and The Big House.
No matter, I just hope Warner's continues to release more of their classic catalogue because as a scholar working on WB, all these releases are are invaluable.

[domino harvey]

Any box set that is 80% Edward G Robinson is worth buying

[starmanof51]

However, one must still ask why they did not include Michael Curtiz's 20,000 Years in Sing Sing. Perhaps they are waiting so they can release a box set honoring the prison films of the 1930s like this one and Hell's Highway, Laughter in Hell and The Big House.

I was thinking this very thing not two days ago - that they might do a prison box. I could see Ladies They Talk About going in that as well.

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

Any box set that is 80% Edward G Robinson is worth buying

I'd say. At $60 it's a steal to boot. Larceny, Inc. and Kid Galahad sound particularly good. With sets like these, who needs new movies? I can just stay in during the summer and avoid the multiplex.

[bjeggert82]

I'm really glad they decided to release Kid Galahad separately, since that's the only one, in my mind, worth multiple viewings. Gotta love that Michael Curtiz!

[MadJack]

Any box set that is 80% Edward G Robinson is worth buying

Which makes me wonder why they didn't just replace Invisible Stripes with, I don't know, something like Manpower, and call it an Eddie Robinson Signature Set.

After all, a Gangster box without Cagney?

(not that I'm complaining about the release)

[souvenir]

Any box set that is 80% Edward G Robinson is worth buying

Which makes me wonder why they didn't just replace Invisible Stripes with, I don't know, something like Manpower, and call it an Eddie Robinson Signature Set.

That's an easy one. The word "gangsters" is a far bigger attraction for marketing purposes than a Robinson Signature Collection would be.

Agreed on the lack of Cagney, though surely a second volume of his films is coming in the next year or so since so many sit unreleased.

[MadJack]

The word "gangsters" is a far bigger attraction for marketing purposes than a Robinson Signature Collection would be.

Fair enough. Although I would not have thought a Ronald Reagan set would sell (I know a couple of the films are great, but still...).

Agreed on the lack of Cagney, though surely a second volume of his films is coming.

Hopefully, when/if it arrives, it will be full of more pre-code goodness.

[CSM126]

The word "gangsters" is a far bigger attraction for marketing purposes than a Robinson Signature Collection would be.

Fair enough. Although I would not have thought a Ronald Reagan set would sell (I know a couple of the films are great, but still...).

Anything related to the Gipper is bound to sell well Stateside.

[shearerchic]

The word "gangsters" is a far bigger attraction for marketing purposes than a Robinson Signature Collection would be.

Fair enough. Although I would not have thought a Ronald Reagan set would sell (I know a couple of the films are great, but still...).

Agreed on the lack of Cagney, though surely a second volume of his films is coming.

Hopefully, when/if it arrives, it will be full of more pre-code goodness.

Maybe films like Blonde Crazy, The Oklahoma Kid, Devil Dogs of the Air, The Strawberry Blonde, Taxi, and Jimmy the Gent.

[Perkins Cobb]

This box is occupying the traditional July Warners film noir slot, and it's confirmed (or at least strongly hinted) by Alan Rode on the Classic Horror Film Board that we won't get another noir set until 2009.

[Belmondo]

This box is occupying the traditional July Warners film noir slot, and it's confirmed (or at least strongly hinted) by Alan Rode on the Classic Horror Film Board that we won't get another noir set until 2009.

I'm hiding out here at 99 River Street after my friends committed an Armored Car Robbery while I was eying that Woman on the Beach, and I must conclude that I find a serious Pitfall in delaying the noir set until next year.

[souvenir]

I'm hiding out here at 99 River Street after my friends committed an Armored Car Robbery while I was eying that Woman on the Beach, and I must conclude that I find a serious Pitfall in delaying the noir set until next year.

99 River Street? Isn't that an MGM property?

[oldsheperd]

I reckon it's me and my sick mind, but I giggle every time I think of the word, "Clitterhouse".

[domino harvey]

Recently finished off this set, which will forever just be the Tough Guys box to me, and saw there hasn't been much discussion on the films, so I've chimed in with a few brief thoughts. Though its highs were on par with the previous volume, its lows were far far far far below that of its predecessor. City For Conquest was the big surprise-- a film with an ambitious scope delivered at a rapid clip with the aid of elaborate camera work, a dash of self-importance, and some brilliantly-executed tear-jerking. Definitely knocked my socks off! Also great were Bullets For Ballots, a real crackerjack of a switcheroo with a game Robinson and fun plot, and Each Dawn I Die, a wonderfully dark and violent prison drama that literally exploded in the last thirty minutes into an intense riot film. G-Men was a passable, inoffensive procedural that meant well but didn't quite work. A Slight Case of Murder was a comedy with no laughs and had a twisty plot with no twists-- a total failure. And worse yet was San Quentin, a leaden, artless piece of deadwood that never should have been rescued from the vaults. At the very least, the set was easily worth the ~$20 it cost for the three films that worked.

[Jonathan S]

I bought this set mainly for those hilarious Breakdown (blooper) reels of outtakes that Warner used to show at their annual parties (they didn't get a theatrical release). I suspect I'll watch those more often than any of the films, though like Domino I enjoyed three or four of them.

Incidentally, I had two copies of Bullets or Ballots from Amazon and both froze at the same point (about 8 minutes into the film) on all my players. This was about a year ago, in the original Tough Guys packaging, so maybe Warner have corrected the fault now. I was able to pick up the film about a minute after the frozen point, and fortunately it wasn't an important scene.

[bjeggert82]

Is Kid Galahad still being released individually? I can't find it anywhere for preorder, just the boxed set.

[rohmerin]

subtitles??? please. I'll pray for the Spanish, aunque me conformaría con los ingleses.

One year later and not one of the gangsters vol.3 has arrived here. What a shame! I hate WB Europe, specially our national brunch.

[filmnoir1]

It looks as if the release date on this has been pushed back to sometime in October according to Amazon and Deep Discount. Can anyone confirm this?

[videozor]

It looks as if the release date on this has been pushed back to sometime in October according to Amazon and Deep Discount. Can anyone confirm this?

Release date is October 21, 2008 according to a major wholesale distributor

[domino harvey]

Well, I guess most of us will just be waiting for the November sale then

[Antares]

It looks as if the release date on this has been pushed back to sometime in October according to Amazon and Deep Discount. Can anyone confirm this?

I pre-ordered this awhile back and then got an e-mail from Amazon stating that it had been pushed to November.

[domino harvey]

I'm surprised at the praise for Black Legion here. I'm finally working my way through this set and yikes, what a trainwreck! Awkward performances all around (It looks like the budget only allowed for the film to use first takes) and the film lays out such a bizarre case against the faux-Klan. I did find it amusing that the judge sentenced the entire organization to life in prison for the murder Bogart committed-- though that's still not nearly as implausible as a character being torn between Ann Sheridan and a liquored-up hag. And what was with the movie making a stronger damnation of the capitalism inherent in the organization rather than their violence? At least it wasn't a total loss due to the great little scene where Mayo shows a radio news reel being recorded live, but by that point it felt mostly like a consolation prize for still watching.