Customer Reviews

Columbia Pictures Film Noir Classics I (The Big Heat / 5 Against the House / The Lineup / Murder by Contract / The Sniper)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Sniper features an audio commentary by author Eddie Muller. He starts off talking about the origins of the film - a husband and wife writing team. He mentions that it was a very controversial film at the time because of its subject matter. Muller provides all kinds of fascinating production details, like how much of the film was shot on location in San Francisco. He explains that The Sniper is a landmark film because it was one of the first to prominently feature a serial killer.

"Martin Scorsese Presents The Sniper" features the legendary filmmaker talking about the documentary feel of the film thanks to the use of authentic locations.

Also included is an original theatrical trailer.

The Big Heat starts off with "Michael Mann on The Big Heat." He speaks admiringly about the prominent female characters in the film. The director talks about the ethnic aspect of the film as well as the uncompromising nature of Glenn Ford's character.

"Martin Scorsese on The Big Heat" features the director talking about how Ford's character becomes what he's fighting against. Scorsese draws particular attention to the flat look of the film and how director Fritz Lang directs us to the behaviour of the characters.

Also included is the original theatrical trailer.

The only extra for 5 Against the House is the original theatrical trailer.

The Lineup includes an audio commentary by author Eddie Muller and James Ellroy. Muller says that this film started off as a television show cut from the same cloth as Dragnet. He plays the straight man on this track, rattling off facts, while Ellroy is his usual colourful and profane self offering his bizarro opinions on this film. He sings the praises of Don Siegel's more than capable direction. Fans of Ellroy will love this track as he gets to cut loose have some fun commenting on The Lineup.

"The Influence of Noir with Christopher Nolan" sees this respected director citing noir as an influence on his own work, most notably the psychological states of the characters, the atmosphere and the style in relation to the substance and how they all interact with one another.

Also included is the original theatrical trailer.

Murder by Contract features "Martin Scorsese on Murder by Contract." He reminisces about when he first saw the film as a teenager and how it would later influence aspects of Taxi Driver. The director speaks admiringly of the "economy of means" - how Irving Lerner depicted the passing of time. Scorsese gives us a brief background to Lerner and talks about how he got to know and even work with him.

Finally, there is the original theatrical trailer.

This set contains 5 films and no extra features have been announced. The set is due to go on sale November 3 along with a volume 2 of film noir from Sony on the same day. Sony continues to hit it out of the park with classic sets being announced rather regularly this year. The films in volume one are as follows:

The Sniper (1952) - directed by Edward Dmytrik and starring Adolphe Menjou, Arthur Franz, and Gerald Mohr. A San Francisco detective traces a series of seemingly random killings to a sharp-eyed loner who uses his rifle as a means to exact deadly revenge on the women who have rejected him.

5 Against the House (1955) - directed by Phil Karlson and starring Brian Keith, Guy Madison, Alvy Moore, and Kim Novak. Four college pals plot to rob a casino in Reno just to prove it can be done, but their plan to return the money is threatened when one of them intends to keep it for himself. Probably the weakest film of the lot.

The Lineup (1958) directed by Don Siegel and starring Eli Wallach and Robert Keith. When a mother and her young daughter unknowingly destroy a stash of heroin, a pair of hit men must keep them alive long enough to explain it to their boss. Eli Wallach makes a great villain and the scenes of San Francisco 50 years ago are interesting too.

Murder by Contract (1958) directed by Irving Lerner and starring Vince Edwards as a well-mannered college-educated young man who just figures that being a hitman is a good way to make a living. Claude is usually philisophical yet mechanical about his hits, but when he is hired to kill a woman who is about to turn in evidence against the seedy mobster he works for everything starts to go wrong for him.

The Big Heat (1953) directed by Fritz Lang and starring Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame,and Lee Marvin. Ford is a cop trying to clean up mob violence in his town, but when he gets too close to success a car bomb meant for him kills his wife. This puts Ford on an unstoppable quest for justice since this has now become personal. Grahame stars as a good-hearted moll and Marvin as a mobster with an unpredictable temper. This is the best film in the bunch.

Part of the above information is directly from the press release and part of it is from my own memory of the films. Rumor has it that Martin Scorsese picked the films that went in this and volume two of Sony's film noir sets. I have no idea what Scorsese's relationship to Sony would put him in this capacity.

Anyone who's interested in film noir will consider this first volume of Columbia classics a "must". Besides "Big Heat" (arguably Fritz Lang's best film of the fifties), this remarkable package is a very rare opportunity to have a look at "The Sniper" in pristine condition and, above all, to discover the rarest of noir gems : Irving Lerner's "Murder by Contract", one of the coolest thrillers ever made. Highly recommended, although "Five Against the House" should have been replaced by a worthier title.

I'd seen and enjoyed 4 out 5 of these Columbia films and considered them good enough to add to my library when Amazon put this set on sale for $32.00. "The Sniper", "The Big Heat" and especially "The Lineup" are excellent. "Five Against the House" is not quite as good but more than watchable thanks to an excellent cast, Phil Karlson's capable direction and on location (Reno) filming. The only film I hadn't previously seen, "Murder by Contract" was a big disappointment. I totally fail to see why Martin Scorcese admires this one so much. To me it looked like something directed by Ed Wood, almost (but not quite!) so bad that it is good! Wood's "Jail Bait" comes to mind, not only because of the Godawful musical score of both of them!. In his Classic Movie Guide Leonard Maltin gives "Murder by Contract" only 2 stars, says it is "ultimately sabotaged by pretentious dialogue and posturing". I couldn't agree more! Four out of five ain't bad though and I do recommend this package. Excellent transfers (three of them anamorphic widescreen). Several commentaries and featurettes and theatrical trailers are bonus treats.

I remember seeing some of these films on TV years and years ago. I could not appreciate the artistry then but I do now. "The Sniper" was quite thrilling. "The Line-Up" had a bravura performance by Eli Wallach. "Murder By Contract" showed Vince Edwards could indeed act. Before there was "Ocean's Eleven" there was "Five Against the House." And as for "The Big Heat"....well it has Glenn Ford....enough said. Sony/Columbia has gone from the worst home video provider to the best. And thank goodness they have!

Some of the best film noir I've seen lately, with the exception of "5 Against the house."

I agree with the many positive reviews already posted - Murder by Contract, The Lineup and The Sniper are all classics that are finally being released on dvd. 5 Against the House is entertaining as well, though I'm not sure we needed yet another release of The Big Heat, which most noir fans will already own. While I think more commentaries would have rounded out the collection better than the short presentations by other directors, my only serious complaint refers to the commentary on The Lineup. I usually enjoy Eddie Muller's insightful and knowledgeable commentaries, and got a kick out of his rather raucous collaboration with the novelist James Ellroy on the Crime Wave dvd. Yet if Ellroy's reference to himself as the "white knight of the far right" was a little confusing during that commentary, here he becomes more provocative. After dubbing himself once more the "white knight of the far right" Ellroy revels in the film's depiction of 1950s San Francisco as a "white man's America" (or something to that effect) and then offers homophobic comments on the museum curator before inserting some racially offensive remarks about Obama and black campaign workers. On several occasions an apparently nervous Muller tries to rein Ellroy in, but without success -- this is all within the first 20 minutes or so, after which I turned the commentary off. Is this for real?

While I respect Ellroy's skill as a novelist and his considerable knowledge of the 1940s and 50s, whatever insights he might have brought to this film were eclipsed by his unfortunate desire to offend and perplex rather than instruct. Even if this were all part of his deliberately overblown public persona, many filmlovers could do without Ellroy's self-indulgent nonsense. Aside from this the set is well worth owning.

Liked all five of the pictures. Very much. However, the commentary on "The Lineup" was offensive. I got very little information about the movie, a lot of foul language and gay bashing. I stopped listening after 15 minutes. Wish that the collectors of these programs had listened to the commentary before distributing it to the world at large.

First of all, I would like to thank everyone who made this collection happen! I love film noir and especially the original american film noir. The origins of film noir are debated by many film scholars, critics and just fans in general. However, it doesn't matter where film noir came from, all I know is that the american film noir movies were the best. "The Lineup" has one of the worst cold blooded psychopaths in the history of all noir and of movies in general. Eli Wallach plays the maniac hit man so real and scary. From what I have read about real life hit men, Wallach got it as close as you can to reality in this movie. "Murder By Contract" has not ever been available on video. "Murder By Contract" is a treasure for those who love film noir. All of these 50s film noir are innovative, cool and fun to watch 40 years or more later. Looking at these films you can see how influential and ispirational they must have been to the new wave of filmmakers that arose shortly afterwards all over the world not just the Nouvelle Vague in France, but in the U.S. as well. In my opinion this is the best collection of film noir on dvd out there.

***** THE BIG HEAT

Here's another film I use to watch when I despair of cinema's future. Gloria Grahame's performance is unique as well as Lee Marvin's. Masterpiece.

** 5 AGAINST THE HOUSE

Weak crime movie with an interesting Brian Keith performance. That's all.

***** THE LINEUP

An extremely brisk beginning, a pair of villains that will haunt you for days, Richard Jaeckel as the alcoholic wheelman, social etiquette taught by a gay Pygmalion to a psychopathic hit man. 86 minutes of sheer pleasure. Masterpiece.

***** MURDER BY CONTRACT

I understand now why Martin Scorsese admired so much Irving Lerner. With a simple guitar melody playing while Vince Edwards is dressing up, Irving Lerner emerges as a one of a kind director. The rest of Murder by Contract is in accordance with this mythical beginning. Masterpiece.

*** THE SNIPER

Progressive Stanley Kramer production. The murders, in my opinion, are very violent considering it's a 1952 movie. Recommended.