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Kit Parker Films
Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2018 6:04 am
by domino harvey
Nine film Noir Archive Blu-ray collection coming in April:
"Address Unknown" (1944) dir/William Cameron Menzies, cst/Paul Lukas, Carl Esmond, PeterVan Eyck;
"Escape in the Fog" (1945) dir/Oscar (Budd) Boetticher cst/Otto Kruger, Nina Foch, William Wright;
"The Guilt of Janet Ames" (1947) dir/Henry Levin cst/Rosalind Russell, Melvyn Douglas, Sid Caesar;
"The Black Book" (aka "The Reign of Terror") (1949) dir/Anthony Mann cst/Robert Cummings, Richard Basehart, Arlene Dahl;
"Johnny Allegro" (1949) dir/Ted Tetzlaff cst/George Raft, Nina Foch, George Macready;
"711 Ocean Drive" (1950) dir/Joseph M. Newman cst/Edmond O'Brien, Joanne Dru, Otto Kruger;
"The Killer That Stalked New York" (1950) dir/Earl McEvoy cst/Evelyn Keyes, Charles Korvin, William Bishop;
"Assignment Paris" (1952) dir/Earl McEvoy cst/Dana Andrews, Marta Toren, George Sanders;
"The Miami Story" (1954) dir/Fred F. Sears cst/Barry Sullivan, Luther Adler, John Baer
Re: Kit Parker Films
Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2018 6:11 am
by domino harvey
Very conspicuously using Sony's font and layout from their Noir boxes (and one of these films comes from their Bad Girls of Noir sets, along with some Columbia MODs)
Re: Kit Parker Films
Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2018 6:18 am
by swo17
Do we have any reason to believe this won't be a bad PD job?
Re: Kit Parker Films
Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2018 6:28 am
by domino harvey
These aren't PD titles, they're all officially licensed from Sony. I suspect you're thinking of Black Book, but this will be using the superior version Sony released on MOD
Re: Kit Parker Films
Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2018 6:41 am
by Minkin
Doesn't Kit Parker Films = VCI? Or was that just their distributor?
If VCI is anyway involved with this set, then set your expectations very low.
Re: Kit Parker Films
Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2018 7:12 am
by nitin
All Columbia titles, so if they are providing the HD masters, they should look pretty good. On the other hand 3 films per disc, which is definitely doable given some of the runtimes, but hopefully they have competent encoding.
Re: Kit Parker Films
Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2018 4:34 pm
by Godot
Wow, I'm very excited for this box set. I've had Escape in the Fog and Address Unknown in my wishlist for a while, and they are about $15 each. I haven't seen Johnny Allegro but really enjoyed the Warner Archive remastered disc of Tetzlaff's The Window. And I love The Black Book - I have the German KochMedia release (cost me $12), which I think looks nice (compared to the hideous smeary cable copy I watched for years), but $50 for an upgrade of all these to blu-ray, plus these additional new noirs I've not seen, is an easy purchase for me. And seeing that Sony noir font is reassuring, as are Domino's and nitin's notes.
Re: Kit Parker Films
Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2018 12:56 am
by Cold Bishop
I don't know how successfully it's poison pen plotting works - although there's something to admire in it's ice coldness - but Address Unknown is at the very least visually ravishing, with Menzies visual background coming through clearly. There's a riot in a theater scene in particular that stands out, with fascists practically slashing there way through the movie screen.
Re: Kit Parker Films
Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2019 1:00 am
by Godot
nitin wrote: Tue Dec 11, 2018 7:12 am
All Columbia titles, so if they are providing the HD masters, they should look pretty good. On the other hand 3 films per disc, which is definitely doable given some of the runtimes, but hopefully they have competent encoding.
Someone on Hometheaterforum contacted Kit Parker (asking not to over-use DNR as on previous KP blu-ray releases), and this was the posted reply: "Many thanks for taking the time to write. We are using the Sony masters as-is, and I agree with you about the overuse of DNR."
Also, the pre-order price dropped on Amazon to $33 and change.
Re: Kit Parker Films
Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2019 1:19 am
by domino harvey
A rep for MVD revealed this will be the first volume of several and is actually being prepped by MVD under the Kit Parker/VCI name
Re: Kit Parker Films
Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2019 7:56 pm
by captveg
Volume 2 of Noir Archive arrives on 7/16/19
Stalwart "noir" directors and casts highlight nine more hard to find features: "Bait" (1954) dir/Hugo Haas cst/Cleo Moore, Hugo Haas, John Agar; "The Crooked Web" (1955) dir/Nathan Juran cst/Frank Lovejoy, Mari Blanchard, Richard Denning; "The Night Holds Terror" (1955) dir/Andrew Stone cst/Jack Kelly, Hildy Parks, Vince Edwards, John Cassavetes, David Cross; "Footsteps in the Fog" (1955) dir/Arthur Lubin cst/Bill Travers, Ronald Squire, Finlay Currie, Belinda Lee; "Cell 2455, Death Row" (1955) dir/Fred F. Sears cst/William Campbell, Robert Campbell, Marian Carr; "5 Against the House" (1955) dir/Phil Karlson cst/Alvy Moore, William Conrad, Kerwin Mathews; "New Orleans Uncensored" (1955) dir/William Castle cst/Arthur Franz, Beverly Garland, Helene Stanton; "Spin a Dark Web" (1955) dir/Vernon Sewell cst/Faith Domergue, Lee Patterson, Rona Anderson, Martin Benson; "Rumble on the Docks" (1956) dir/Fred F. Sears cst/Laurie Carrol, James Darren, Michael Granger
Re: Kit Parker Films
Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2019 8:16 pm
by domino harvey
Footsteps in the Fog is great but already has a region-free release with great extras from Indicator. The Night Holds Terror is weak and 5 Against the House is awful (and still not a Noir now just as it wasn’t a Noir when Sony first put it out). Will have to watch my copies of the other titles before making a purchase decision
Re: Kit Parker Films
Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2019 8:52 pm
by mteller
The Crooked Web is... okay, maybe worth watching just for Mari Blanchard. I don't mind 5 Against the House but I sure don't need to see it again. I rather enjoyed The Night Holds Terror even though there isn't anything special about it and The Desperate Hours is unquestionably a better take on the same story.
I haven't seen Bait, but the other Hugo Haas/Cleo Moore pictures I've seen were duds.
Re: Kit Parker Films
Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2019 9:07 pm
by domino harvey
I've only seen the Other Woman so far, and I enjoyed the perversity of Moore's revenge (she ruins the life of a director who cuts her from a bit part in his film, but of course she was awful in it and deserved to be cut!). I wouldn't call it a great film noir by any stretch, but it was fun
Re: Kit Parker Films
Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2019 9:26 pm
by Noiradelic
domino harvey wrote: Thu Mar 28, 2019 8:16 pm5 Against the House is awful (and still not a Noir now just as it wasn’t a Noir when Sony first put it out).
Its DVD release was already one release too many.
Re: Kit Parker Films
Posted: Fri Mar 29, 2019 1:40 am
by Glowingwabbit
Well I'm not familiar with the other films in the set, but I enjoy 5 Against the House and I'm happy to see it included.
Re: Kit Parker Films
Posted: Mon Apr 01, 2019 7:05 pm
by jazzo
Most amusing thing about volume 2? Canadians can preorder the second set on Amazon.ca, but have no avenue to preorder the first one from them.
Re: Kit Parker Films
Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2019 10:50 pm
by Glowingwabbit
I haven't seen this announced anywhere but Noir Archive Vol 3 is coming in September
http://thesprocketvault.com/product/noi ... l-9-17-19/
“The Shadow in the Window” (1956) dir/William Asher cst/Phil Carey, Betty Garrett, John Barrymore, Jr.
“The Long Haul” (1957) dir/Ken Hughes, cst/Victor Mature, Diana Dors, Patrick Allen
“Pickup Alley” (1957) dir/John Gilling cst/Victor Mature, Anita Ekberg, Trevor Howard (CinemaScope)
“She Played with Fire” (1957) dir/Sidney Gilliat cst/Jack Hawkins, Arlene Dahl, Dennis Price, Bernard Miles, Ian Hunter
The Tijuana Story (1957) dir/Leslie Kardos cst/Rodolfo Acosta, James Darren, Robert McQueeney
“The Lineup” (1958) dir/Don Siegel cst/Eli Wallach, Robert Keith, Warner Anderson
“The Case Against Brooklyn” (1958) dir/Paul Wendkos cst/Darren McGavin, Maggie Hayes, Bobby Helms;
“The Crimson Kimono” (1959) dir/Samuel Fuller cst/Victoria Shaw, Glenn Corbett, James Shigeta
“Man on a String” (1960) dir/Andre DeToth cst/Ernest Borgnine, Kerwins Mathews, Colleen Dewhurst, Alexander Scourby
Looks like I'll be getting another copy of The Crimson Kimino. I haven't heard of the rest except The Lineup (1958) which is fantastic.
Re: Kit Parker Films
Posted: Wed Apr 24, 2019 4:05 am
by HernandoBiggies
Really hope Murder By Contract is in the next set.
Re: Kit Parker Films
Posted: Wed Apr 24, 2019 5:24 am
by HJackson
The first three sets announced have been chronologically contiguous so that ship may have sailed. Guess it depends if they're willing to dig into the 1960s as a "noir" period or cycle back - I really do hope they go back and mine more of the 40s and 50s material in future.
Re: Kit Parker Films
Posted: Wed Apr 24, 2019 2:51 pm
by mteller
Well, I have to buy this for The Lineup, one of my top 3 or 4 noirs. I bought the TT Crimson Kimono and was gonna unload it since, while it's good, I don't really need to see it again. The Case Against Brooklyn is okay, Shadow on the Window is meh. Hopefully one of the others will be a buried treasure. I really hate owning a set for just one film, but there's no way I'm not getting The Lineup.
Re: Kit Parker Films
Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2019 11:46 am
by HJackson
Dipped in with Address Unknown last night. Nice enough presentation of an interesting little film I'd never heard of before. Sounds like Escape in the Fog is the only title with some image issues, allegedly inherent to the source. If AU is representative of the rest of the titles, I can't imagine not blind-buying future sets at this value (altho Volume 3 looks like it might be 2-disc which raises some concerns...) - I expect to have a lot of fun with these over the next few nights!
Re: Kit Parker Films
Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2019 12:18 pm
by Glowingwabbit
For the price I'm definitely enjoying the presentation of these films so far. I don't know if it's just my copy but the biggest annoyance with this set is that 711 Ocean Drive and The Killer That Stalked New York are labeled wrong on the discs. Hopefully they can do a simple check next time around.
Re: Kit Parker Films
Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2019 12:32 pm
by Grand Wazoo
Are any films on these volumes upgrades of the Forgotten Noir discs?
Re: Kit Parker Films
Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2019 12:48 pm
by Jonathan S
Could anyone confirm please whether Vol.1 is Region A locked or region-free?