Customer Reviews

5 Film Noir Killer Classics (D.O.A./Detour/The Stranger/Scarlet Street/Killer Bait)

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

 

 

The liner notes say that these are "...crisp, archival prints". Well, not exactly. This set is pretty good, but not fantastic. The authoring leaves some pixellation and blotchiness in the darker scenes. Also, they have tinted some of the scenes grey. I guess that was to try and cover up some fading. "D.O.A." is pretty good, but a clearer version is the one put out by Image Entertainment. This set does contain the best and most complete version of "DETOUR" that i have seen, although it still needs more restoration (Criterion, can you hear me?). I think "THE STRANGER" looks OK, but ROAN GROUP puts out a better disc of it. Concerning "SCARLET STREET", it looks about as good as what anyone else is putting out. I guess no one has been able to find a nice, clean, fine grain print of this movie yet. The movie "KILLER BAIT" is also known as "TOO LATE FOR TEARS" and it looks better in this set than the "TEARS" disc that Image puts out. As for content, all of these movies are good ones.

A very worthwhile package for the money. All the movies are well-known and good examples of the genre, the copies are reasonable except, as another reviewer has mentioned, 'Scarlet Street' which has a rather soft focus. The packaging graphics have had some thought put into them, too. Disc six with the Extra Features is interesting and it includes the following:
1. A thirteen minute documentary (narrated by silver throated Ed Ragozzino) 'What is Film Noir', not a bad summing up of the style.
2. 'Femme Fatale - The Noir Dame', a seven minute wrap-up of the ladies, the commentary is snowing clichés after a few seconds though.
3. 'Film Noir Trailers', at seventy-eight minutes, this was one reason I bought the package though it has to be said it is rather wide ranging because it includes, for example, 'Citizen Kane' and 'Magnificent Ambersons', hardly noir!
4. 'The Posters of Film Noir', a good selection of thirty or so posters that the pause button was made for.

So, a good deal for the price.

When word gets around about the quality of this set it will sell out because this is an amazing bargain. You get five movies that, while not up to Criterion standards, are of very good quality. There is very little hiss and the images are mostly crisp. For example, The Stranger seemed perfect to me and D.O.A. was 98% crisp.

You also get two documentaries, about an hour of trailers and a gallery of film posters. You can't go wrong with this set.

The bonus disc has over 40 trailers for B&W Noirs and suspense films. In addition, some great film noir movie posters.

Also, the box set is set up nice. Looks great. Not to shabby for a public domain movie release.

All the transfers (except Scarlet Street) look fine. They're tinted blueish and yellow sometimes. Apparently, the films were pieced together from different sources. It's fairly seemless, though.

Scarlet Street still looks horrible. What a shame. That's the best film in this boxed set. Worth the price.

Be warned: "Detour" is fine film noir, but this version, at least the one I bought, has an apparent film reversal in the early hitchhiking scenes, which show the cars' drivers on the right side! Don't know how this got through. In other sections of the film, there are brief but noticeable lapses in lighting and sound quality. A good movie, but these inconsistencies in film quality are annoying at the least. This is an inexpensive set for what you get, but what you get may be less than you expect. Have since watched "Killer Bait" and "Scarlet Street" and give them both good marks, despite the lesser quality of "Scarlet Street" noted by earlier reviewers.

D.O.A. and The Stranger are near perfect prints of these fine films. While the picture quality of Detour, Scarlet Street and Killer Bait is not nearly as good as D.O.A. and The Stranger, they are still better than the same films on other sets I have, such as Classic Film Noir Vol. 1 and/or 2, although there is a slightly blue tint to some of the night scenes. Killer Bait is also known as "Too Late For Tears." The picture quality of Killer Bait on this set is better than on either Classic Film Noir or the individual film put out by Sinister Cinema of Too Late For Tears (a/k/a Killer Bait.) These are all good film noir films, and I was very pleased with this purchase.

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