Warner Film Noir Collections

[Props55]

Hate to resurrect this thread on such a trivial note but has anyone else noticed the sidelong references to CITIZEN KANE in ON DANGEROUS GROUND? Early on when Ryan leaves the other cops in the drug store after the unintentional snub by the young countergirl, we see a shabby newsvendor/informant approach him with a tip about one of the crooks they're looking for. He writes an address on a folded newspaper and the masthead clearly reads "Love-Nest" on the insert shot. It's definitely not the same exact prop newspaper which reads "Kane Caught in Love-Nest" from the earlier film but the font and size are almost identical.

Later, after the death of Lupino's brother, his body is brought to a cabin at the foot of the mountain. There are two entrances to this snowbound cabin and outside each doorway is a sled! Again, not identical (no Rosebud logo) and the sleds are slightly different in size and design, but one has to wonder if producer John Houseman was having a bit of fun. I noticed the newspaper headline the first time I saw the film on TV many years ago but didn't catch the sleds until just recently.

[ByMarkClark.com]

Looks like 2009 at this point.

[MyNameCriterionForum]

I was rewatching Gun Crazy and I began to wonder, as if for the first time: what kind of film is this? Is it noir? Is it melodrama? Or is it something else? I was also reading another thread about form/content and considered those ideas as well -- is there a defined (however loosely) genre/style & content to which this film (and others like it) belong? I think what I mean is a sort of hard-boiled, slightly overheated approach, possibly with lurid content, more likely than not a lower budget effort. I also think a key ingredient is an element of sincerity, or a lack of irony or condescension -- which would eliminate more "self-conscious" films or genre "experiments" (and would probably mean a cut-off date for this type of film as well?) Other films that put me in this mind are The Bad Seed, The Honeymoon Killers, Russ Meyer's stuff, Jack Webb; among more "reputable" films perhaps something like A Face in the Crowd. I'm not so much interested in an absolute definition, or a "canon" of such films, but I am curious about similar movies...

[King Prendergast]

Most place it in the cycle of noir (I follow Schrader in not considering it a genre), but as David Bordwell showed in The Classical Hollywood Cinema, few films from the era fall into one clearly defined category -their hybridity was an essential aspect of the aesthetic and commercial strategies at work.

[domino harvey]

I believe films like Gun Crazy were referred to as "Crime" films when first released, as the noir label came after from the French

[bamwc2]

I received a copy of vol. 4 last Christmas from my mother, but since the visible spines show that there are two copies of Illegal/The Big Steal, I've never opened it. I tried returning it to DD, but since my mother was unable to find her receipt, they wouldn't do an exchange. I had more or less forgotten about it until today, when, at a local Barnes and Noble, I looked at their copy. Sure enough, it too had the duplicate spine, with Crime Wave/Decoy missing. Has anyone else experienced this problem?

[Haggai]

Barrie Maxwell says that Vol. 5 is forthcoming, though without any details for now:

Film noir fans will be glad to know that the previously-promised fifth volume of titles is definitely a go for a pressed DVD release. The format will be 10 films on 5 DVDs with commentaries and other extras included. Titles have not yet been revealed and exact release timing has not been finalized either.

[HerrSchreck]

Almost feels weird, like a blast from the past, to have a real cool loaded box set of some nice films given the primo WB treatment.

Good news!

[Cinephrenic]

Seconded. Love to see that more noir is coming, expecially a set.

[zedz]

Almost feels weird, like a blast from the past, to have a real cool loaded box set of some nice films given the primo WB treatment.

Even weirder: a major label having to distinguish "a pressed DVD release". But this is great news.

[HerrSchreck]

Almost feels weird, like a blast from the past, to have a real cool loaded box set of some nice films given the primo WB treatment.

Even weirder: a major label having to distinguish "a pressed DVD release". But this is great news.

Well, yeah-- that's pretty much what I meant, since they've been lapsing to releasing noirish titles like The Unsuspected on DVD-R in the Archive "collection" ("ash heap" is more accurate).

But it's so true. It's like writing home:

"Dear Mom and Dad:

I pleased to annouce-- as you'll be equally pleased to hear-- that this holiday season I shall be bringing home to the family Christmas Table, not a crack whore sucking potato chip salt off her fingers and toes, not a malnourished dilaudid addict snoozing in the gravy boat blowing savory bubbles, but a wholesome, farm-raised, deodorant-dabbed middle class female with a rosy countenance and (I think) all her teeth.

Love always,

Your son,
Flem.

PS-- So much for 'that thing' you said I 'had about me.'"

[Antoine Doinel]

As much as I want to be excited about this, WB has only proven to take their promises are probably best taken with psychedelics. The way they're going, each film in the noir set will come free in a Happy Meal.

[willoneill]

The way they're going, each film in the noir set will come free in a Happy Meal.

That's fine, as long as I can get a "pressed" disc, I'll eat the damn mcnuggets. Fries too.

[Benshi2]

I have the first 4 sets of the Film Noir Classic Collection. I am sure that I will buy the next set or sets as they are released. There are so many great noirs that haven't been released yet. Losey's The Prowler(UA), The Window(RKO), Stranger on the Third Floor(RKO), Phantom Lady, Pitfall etc. These are ones I particularly want to see. There are also some other films that have been released in other collections that could be legitimately called noir that I haven't bought yet. They could stick some of those in as well. Angel Face anybody? We're waiting, Warner!

[Finch]

Angel Face has been out for some time. Stranger on the Third Floor is owned by Sony now if I'm not mistaken and I think jaredsap mentioned in the Sony thread that a Peter Lorre set is planned for 2010.

[HarryLong]

Two Hammer sets, a Toho set, a Karloff-Lugosi set in the offing and now a Peter Lorre set ... Gosh, I love Sony.

[Finch]

I did a search because I wanted to make sure I didn't misremember things: this is what jaredsap said in the Criterion & Sony thread:

"We've restored CRIME AND PUNISHMENT, THE FACE BEHIND THE MASK (which is amazing) and ISLAND OF DOOMED MEN. I can't speak about timelines, but as Mike S. has already mentioned, there should be a Lorre box from Sony eventually. THE FACE BEHIND THE MASK and ISLAND OF DOOMED MEN are often considered noirs (a stretch in both cases, but nevermind) so a Lorre box is not the only packaging opportunity."
(page 3)

Sincere apologies for my mixup! If Stranger is ever going to be released, it'd be Warner as the film is from RKO originally.

[HerrSchreck]

I've seen The Island of Doomed Men as well as Face Behind The Mask, and I'd say neither of them are on a par with Stranger On The Third Floor, though they're all intriguing titles a la Lorre's presence. The plot of Island of Doomed Men is rather hackneyed, and I'd say it's weaknesses bubble up here and there to such a degree that the film at times teeter totters on camp. Face Behind is definitely the better of these two films, but-- again-- it suffers from issues of silliness and predictability in the plot. What makes it good and sometimes rubbing up against excellent is the existentialist bent to Lorre's narrative. If this film were seen more, it would be mentioned in the same breath viz those films that ruminate on the nature of "identity-as-countenance?" i e Eyes Without A Face, The Face of Another.

There are clips of the film on youtube, and you can see after the three minute mark here how they simulate the effect of a man, his face destroyed in a fire, wearing a mask of his own pre-fire face, created from a passport photo by plastic surgeons. It's a brilliant effect-- they don't change his face TOO much, but they make it appear under tension at the edges and fake and waxy looking. Very well done.

[Frankinho007]

Finally, Warner announced their "The Film Noir Classic Collection Volume 5 " for July 13th. The set will containt 8 movies on 4 double feature DVDs. A minor downer is the fact they have obviously dropped all the special features except for some trailer. The titles are:

Cornered (1945)
Desperate (1947)
The Phenix City Story (1955)
Dial 1119 (1950)
Armored Car Robbery (1950)
Crime in the Streets (1956)
Deadline At Dawn (1946)
Backfire (1950)

Here's the press release at the Home Theater Forum: http://www.hometheaterforum.com/forum/t ... n-volume-5" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[domino harvey]

What the deuce, didn't someone already record a commentary for Armored Car Robbery and that's how we knew it was coming?

[otis]

Deadline At Dawn =D> =D> =D>

[What A Disgrace]

The Phenix City Story

*SOLD*

A minor downer is the fact they have obviously dropped all the special features except for some trailer.

*I'm still going to buy it*

[Napier]

And they're on real DVD's. Count me in.

[domino harvey]

It's so pathetic that just releasing an actual DVD is cause for celebration. Oh 2005, where are you now