Customer Reviews

Classic Film Noir 9 Movie Pack

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Well, "Noirist", I understand your frustration with Amazon for not listing the contents of this collection. These public domain film noirs have been released countless times already, but never have so many been offered for such a small price. Keep in mind that they ARE public domain movies, so don't expect perfection in picture or sound quality, although on this collection they're offered in 5.1 Surround Sound (which is nice).

Disc 1 on this 3-disc collection contains "Too Late For Tears", "The Man Who Cheated Himself", and "The Stranger".
Bonus features on this disc are a photo gallery & vintage film noir poster gallery (I LOVE those classic posters!). I'm a little puzzled by the various "Casablanca" posters being included in the film noir poster gallery, though!

"Too Late For Tears" (1949) stars Lizabeth Scott (one of the best femme fatales!) & Dan Duryea & is a great tale of greed and murder.

"The Man Who Cheated Himself" (1950) stars Lee J.Cobb & Jane Wyatt and is a forgettable low-budget crime drama. The picture and sound quality in this movie were simply awful.

"The Stranger" (1946) stars Orson Welles (in a wonderfully sinister role!), Loretta Young, and Edward G. Robinson (in a rare good guy role) & is truly a great classic.

Disc 2 contains "The Strange Love of Martha Ivers", "The Hitch-Hiker", and "Quicksand". Included on this disc is a featurette "About Film Noir" (which isn't very impressive).

"The Strange Love of Martha Ivers" (1946) is one of my favorite noirs of all time, and stars Barbara Stanwyck (in an unforgettable femme fatale role!), Van Heflin, Kirk Douglas (in his debut, I believe), and Lizabeth Scott. It's about a woman with a troubled past that eventually catches up with her.

"The Hitch-Hiker" (1952) is directed by the great Ida Lupino and stars Edmund O'Brien, Frank Lovejoy, and William Talman. It's a suspenseful tale of a psychotic hitchhiker who holds two men captive.

"Quicksand" (1950) stars baby-faced Mickey Rooney, Jeanne Cagney, and Peter Lorre (who gets too little screen time) and is an adverage but enjoyable tale of a good guy who's led astray by a femme fatale.

Disc 3 contains "Detour", "The Scar", and "D.O.A.". There are also a few theatrical trailers on this disc.

"Detour" (1945) stars Tom Neal & Ann Savage and represents ultra low-budget noir at its best! It's yet another tale of a man who's downfall is brought on by a deadly woman. By the way, I've compared this with my Alpha dvd of "Detour" and this IS a better restored version.

"The Scar" A.K.A. "Hollow Triumph" (1948) stars Paul Henreid (one of the stars of 1942's "Casablanca") and Joan Bennett, and is a depressing tale of a mobster on the run who finds out (the hard way) that changing identity was not a good escape!

"D.O.A." (1949) is one of the best examples of ultra low-budget film noir, and stars Edmond O'Brien, Pamela Britton, and Luther Adler. A man is poisoned and tries to solves his own murder before he dies!

If you haven't already bought these movies on other dvd editions, this is the best deal and I highly recommend it to all fans of classic film noir.

Other reviews will break these DVDs down film-by-film, and no reviewer can honestly compete with the fine job done bt ace reviewer Forehand in that regard. What I want to impress upon you is that despite these films' public domain status, relative obscurity, and (almost always)B-movie budgets you could not ask for a better way to obtain 13 hours' worth of gritty film noir entertainment. For, unlike most genres, film noir was a style that didn't need expensive sets, costumes, music, or special effects. It's the writing and the direction that make film noir work - and the 9 films contained on these DVDs have excellent writing and direction. You may not recognise the names of many of the lead actors, but you will remember all nine of these movies upon seeing them.

Audio and video quality are acceptable. These are most likely TV prints intended for your local "Late Late Movie" and as such, contain scratches and a sometimes harsh mono soundtrack. St. Clair Entertainment are more honest about this than are other public domain providers. There are useful chapter stops in all the movies,and each DVD features a slightly different, customized menu. As a bonus (and bonuses on public domain discs like these are rare), we have a Film Noir Poster Gallery, a collection of movie trailers, and a mini-documentary overview of the genre. The only debit is a lack of subtitles. I imagine many of the people buying this DVD set may be older, and having subtitles is a courtesy that is always welcome.

If these films were restored, and contained subtitles, this would be a 5-star set and could easily command three times the price it's getting now. As it is, "Classic Film Noir" is an amazing bargain. Anyone interested in moody crime melodrama would be well-advised to seek out this collection. If you've recently seen "Sin City" and would like to check out classic film noir, start here!

This is mainly a contents listing of 5 box sets of film-noir collections. Quality is excellent for the Warner box--the films are not public domain and were remastered. The four other collections are of public-domain films, some of which were fixed up somewhat. Film quality is variable (dropouts, scratches, cropped images, fuzziness, low contrast). Most films are quite watchable, and there are some very good versions, especially if low price is considered (e.g., Hitch-hiker--only on CLA9). However, there are some marginal issues (e.g., Red house--only on FN10) and some extremely bad issues (e.g., Man who cheated himself--only on CLA9).

Ratings based on video-audio quality and emphasizing value for money: 5* = CLA1; 4* = CLA9, KIL5, MY10; 3* = FN10

COLLECTIONS--SUMMARY:
*** CLA1 = Film noir classic collection (Warner, 2004) [5 movies, 1944-50] $49.95 list. Extras: 5 film commentaries; 1 introduction; 2 trailers. Note: Volume 2 with 5 more noir films will appear in 7/05.
*** CLA9 = Classic film noir (St. Clair, 2005) [9 movies, 1946-53] $9.95 list. Extras: poster gallery (in color); featurette (About film noir, TT5:00); 7 trailers (TT16:00)
*** FN10 = Film noir: 10 movies (Brentwood, 2004) [10 movies, 1934!, 1945-52] $19.95 list. Extras: 40 trailers (4/disk)
*** KIL5 = 5 film noir killer classics (Questar, 2004) [5 movies, 1945-49] $29.95 list. Extras: The posters of film noir (in color, TT3:50); 2 featurettes (What is film noir?, TT13:00; Femme fatale, TT7:53); 38 Film noir trailers (TT1.58:07)
*** MY10 = Mystery classics: 50 movie pack (Treeline, 2004) [10 film noir movies, 1945-54, 40 other movies, 1931-52] $34.95 list. Extras: none

COLLECTIONS--CONTENTS:
Asphalt jungle, The (1950) = CLA1
Borderline (1950) = FN10 Note: at best marginally film noir!
Call it murder (aka Midnight) (1934) = FN10 Note: a 1934 film, not film noir!
Detour (1945) = CLA9 FN10 KIL5 MY10 Note: right-hand-drive vehicles in first scene a goof of film, not a reissue mistake!
D.O.A. (1950) = CLA9 FN10 KIL5
Gun crazy (aka Deadly is the female) (1949) = CLA1
He walked by night (1948) = FN10 MY10
Hitch-hiker, The (1953) = CLA9
Hollow triumph (aka The scar--UK) (1948) = CLA9
Impact (1949) = MY10
Kansas City confidential (1952) = FN10 MY10
Man who cheated himself, The (1950) = CLA9
Murder, my sweet (aka Farewell my lovely) (1944) = CLA1
Out of the past (1947) = CLA1
Quicksand (1950) = CLA9 MY10
Red house, The (1947) = FN10 Note: rural film noir!
Scarlet Street (1945) = FN10 KIL5 MY10
Second woman, The (1951) = FN10 MY10
Set-up, The (1949) = CLA1
Strange love of Martha Ivers, The (1946) = CLA9
Stranger, The (1946) = CLA9 FN10 KIL5 MY10 Note: The separate Roan Group issue (with Cause for alarm, 1951) is superior.
Suddenly (1954) = MY10
Too late for tears (aka Killer bait) (1949) = CLA9 KIL5 MY10

The CLASSIC FILM NOIR 9 MOVIE PACK offers thirteen full hours of spine-tingling shadowy melodramas and some of Hollywood's best actors, all at one terrific low price. Film noir (or "dark cinema") reigned supreme from the late 1930s until the early 50s. Unlike most "happy ending" movies, in noir the protagonist often faced humiliation, defeat and even death. These little gems are all still very highly regarded by connoisseurs of this genre, and for good reason. If you are new to film noir, here's the perfect set to start your collection off right!

And if you have all these great titles already, or would like even more of the same, then you simply cannot go wrong with the DARK CRIMES COLLECTION 50 MOVIE PACK. It'll keep you on the edge of your seat for weeks to come.

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The following alphabetized movie list includes viewer poll 1 to 10 ratings, years of release and principal actors for each title.

(7.3) Detour (1945) - Tom Neal/Ann Savage
(7.4) D.O.A. (1950) - Edmond O'Brien
(7.1) The Hitch-Hiker (1953) - Edmund O'Brien/Frank Lovejoy/William Talman.
(7.3) The Man Who Cheated Himself (1950) - Lee J. Cobb/Jane Wyatt
(6.4) Quicksand (1950) - Mickey Rooney/Peter Lorre
(6.4) The Scar ("Hollow Triumph")(1948) - Paul Henreid/Joan Bennett
(7.5) The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946) - Barbara Stanwyck/Van Heflin/Lisabeth Scott/Kirk Douglas/Judith Anderson
(7.5) The Stranger (1946) - Edward G. Robinson/Loretta Young/Orson Welles
(7.2) Too Late for Tears (1949) - Lizabeth Scott/Don DeFore/Dan Duryea

This film came in a Classic Film Noir DVD set I received as a Christmas gift. It contains eight other public-domain films noir and, at under $10, is a great deal even if you don't get it for free.

The Hitch-Hiker is widely considered to be the first film noir directed by a woman, acclaimed actress Ida Lupino. The cast, however, is what made me curious to see it, and it was not coincidentally the first film I watched from the set, though it is in fact the second film on the second disc.

To someone like me, this is an all-star cast: Edmond O'Brien (star of D.O.A., also included in this set), Frank Lovejoy (star of Nightbeat, my favorite old-time radio show), and William Talman (Hamilton Burger from TV's Perry Mason, the show that made me want to be a lawyer when I was a teenager). The three leads are all in top form: O'Brien and Lovejoy embracing their everyman status and Talman at his most threatening as the -- as Burger his threats were always just below the surface, but Lupino allows him the freedom to truly disturb.

That The Hitch-Hiker is supposedly based on a true story (Lupino co-wrote the screenplay) scarcely enters into the experience after this idea is pronounced on an introductory title card. The film itself is the reason to watch as it makes this simple story far more entertaining than it has any right to be. What would normally serve well as the plot to a half-hour anthology series is stretched to seventy minutes with hardly a look at the clock due to solid performances and a gripping narrative.

I have not had time to see all 13 hours, but the 3 or 4 movies that I have seen were as expected. The quality was not up to the "restored" sets with the higher price, but they were the same as you would see on late night TV in the old days. It was quite fun to watch these as they may have been shown years ago. I am pleased with the set and think it was well worth the price.

I saw this DVD set in a Best Buy a few months ago. It was only six or seven dollars, so I bought it. I sat down and watched a couple of the films and they were awesome. I haven't finished watching the whole set but of the 4-5 films I have watched, it was totally worth every penny. D.O.A. and Detour are my favorites so far... the only one I really didn't like was The Scar. I guess I just couldn't get into it.

Classic Film Noir
St. Clair Entertainment Group

In an era when most CD movies are plain silver discs requiring an electron microscope to decipher the movie title, viewers will appreciate the easy legibility of this well packaged and presented group of films from St. Clair Entertainment Group that come with full credits as to year, running time, and major stars, although curiously, Disc 3 does not list Edmund O'Brien or Pamela Britton as staring in the Rudolph Maté thriller D.O.A.

Disc One
Too Late For Tears
The first of two films featuring perhaps the badest bad girl of noir, Lizabeth Scott. It takes a lot to survive a relationship with her character, Jane Palmer; even as the movie ends another man is said to meet his demise at her hands. The script lets you know she was her own industry by the time this film was made in 1949. A purloined bundle of cash is the real main character; holding onto it brings out Jane's unwavering avarice. "Don't change, Tiger. I don't know if I'd like you with a heart," her partner Danny, played convincingly by Dan Duryea, tells her. When Don Blake, played by Don Defore, thinks he has found some answers, he watches nervously as Jane's fingers move toward her handbag. "What's in the purse?" he demands. "Lipstick" she replies. "Colt or Smith & Wesson?" he asks. Technical glitches and splices gone awry impair this film, although as a vehicle for the femme fatale motif and for its insights into the career of Lizabeth Scott, the picture is still valuable.

The Man Who Cheated Himself is a sardonic title about the corrupting influence of money, with Felix Feist directing Lee J. Cobb in the title role of Detective Ed Cullen, an experienced San Francisco gumshoe who should have known better than sacrifice his career for socialite Lois Frazier, played to perfection by Jane Wyatt. Cobb is paired with John Dall, as his neophyte brother Andy who is just learning the sleuthing business. While Ed has fallen into a coziness of routine accompanied by an even laxer morality, Andy is laser focused on solving the murder of Frazier's husband regardless of where the evidence points. Contains some fine cinematography and a Hitchcockesque scene involving Lois' languidly floating scarf that evokes the vanishing nature of the dream she and Ed shared.

The Stranger
Edgar G. Robinson plays a determined investigator, Mr. Wilson, who works for a UN War Crimes Tribunal determined to break up a ring of former Nazis and bring them to justice. The trail leads Wilson to a small Connecticut town where he must convince Mary Longstreet (Loretta Young) that she has married his prime suspect. Noteworthy for its probe into the predictive power of behavioral psychology and the influence of the subconscious. Contains many of the features that made an Orson Wells film special: interplay between light and dark, tight camera angles, understated articulation of deep philosophical principles. A slip up by the copyright holders allowed this film to fall into public domain.


Disc 2
Strange Love of Martha Ivers doesn't suffer from the abruptness of D.O.A.'s ending, in fact, it has the kind of shocking finale that makes a movie unforgettable. The film is made even more intriguing by the fact that Van Hefflin, as Sam Masterson - Martha's childhood playmate who returns to town after an 18 year hiatus, survives even though he breaks a cardinal rule of noir cinema: never turn your back on Barbara Stanwyck. This film is well made from beginning to end, and also features a compelling performance by Lizabeth Scott in a role that has become taboo for contemporary cinema: the female ex-con.

The Hitchhiker is a didactic piece of cinema attempting to warn travelers of the dangers inherent in hitchhiking. Indeed, the film's marketing campaign asks "Who Will Be His Next Victim: You?" The didactic genre was fairly common in the 1940's and 1950's and has its extension in a film like The Sniper, which is not included in the current package. There is even a message from the producers as the film begins. The shortcoming of this movie lies in the unrelenting brutality of its psychotic protagonist, so much so that I found myself fast forwarding through the film to the point of the villain's eventual capture.

Quicksand
Mickey Rooney as auto mechanic Dan Brady can't catch a break and gets shaken down time after time for bigger and bigger stakes in another didactic classic intended to show "what a tangled web we weave when at first we do deceive." Ironicly, his luck changes for the better when he pulls a gun on a motorist who turns out to be a kindly lawyer. When he ditches femme fatale Vera Novak (Jeanne Cagney) and reunites with his loyal admirer Helen (Barbara Bates), we know there's hope down the road and he'll get the shortest prison sentence possible. Valuable for the display of almost hyperkinetic energy Rooney give the film.


Disc 3
D.O.A. is a film that is flawed by its ending, which is much too abrupt, although that shortcoming is more than offset by the brilliant cinematography which features some of the best hard bop jazz committed to film. Academy Award winner Edmund O'Brien (The Barefoot Contessa) as victim Frank Bigelow and Pamela Britton as his needy and vulnerable paramour Paula achieve a connection on film that is honest and believable. It is the performances of the actors, and the camera work, not the script, that raises this film from the level of ordinary it might otherwise have been consigned to. Director Rudolph Mate uses bus scenes, night life and especially Bigelow's romp through San Francisco streets to achieve a verisimilitude on city life.

The Scar
People earn the fate they deserve in this story of attraction, murder and double identity starring Paul Henreid as John Muller and Joan Bennett as tough minded but still vulnerable Evelyn Hahn who falls in love with a man having a dubious past. His ambition to reintegrate himself into society after a lengthy prison term leads him to take unsanctioned shortcuts. A subsequent detour into netherworlds and Evelyn's accompaniment almost mirror the details of Joan Bennett's real life in which her husband Walter Wanger, shot her film agent, Jennings Lang.

Detour
With its hitchhiking theme, Detour is paired well in this package, yet it too suffers from the same drawback as The Hitchhiker, an unrelenting brutality, this time from a female character, and the effect is the same: a monochromatic performance bordering on unwatchable. Detour at least, is redeemed by a story line more complex than Hitchhiker but ends abruptly with no real solution to the concepts it introduces.

WOW! What great movies. Not a bad one in the entire pack, in my opinion. The Mickey Rooney one almost seems a little out of place, but once you watch the entire thing, it too is a good film. These are excellent examples of 'Film Noir' movies, and are a wonderful treat to watch. As far as I am concerned, all of the films in this 9 pack are more than worth the money....which is a good value to begin with. If you like 'Film Noir', buy it! If you don't know 'Film Noir', buy it! You won't be disappointed.

i have bought many of these sets and they really put these together well. all the movies are sharp and clear and even at this great price this company also adds a few extras in the mix(you other companys take heed of that) and that makes this one a keeper!! give it a try!!