Product Details

• Actors: Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Grace Kelly, Lana Turner, Ray Milland
• Format: Color, DVD, Full Screen, Black & White, Subtitled, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 1.0)
• Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Turner Home Ent
• DVD Release Date: September 1, 2009
• Run Time: 433 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B002945DUM
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,003 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
  • #57 in Movies & TV > DVD > Horror
• For more information about "TCM Greatest Classic Films Collection: Murder Mysteries (The Maltese Falcon / The Big Sleep / Dial M for Murder / The Postman Always Rings Twice 1946)" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

THE MALTESE FALCON Some high-living lowlifes want to get their sweaty hands on a bejeweled falcon. Detective Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart) wants to find out why – and who’ll take the fall for his pertner’s murder. Sydney Greenstreet, Mary Astor, Peter Lorre and Elisha Cook Jr. co-star in a crackling masterwork directed and written for the screen by John Huston. THE BIG SLEEP (1946) L.A. private eye Philip Marlowe (Humphrey Bogart) takes on a blackmail case…and wears out his gumshoes trailing murderers, nightclub rogues, the spoiled rich and more. Lauren Bacall joins Bogart under Howard Hawks’ brisk and atmospheric direction of an ace adaptation of Raymond Chandler’s novel. DIAL M FOR MURDER Alfred Hitchcock’s screen version of Frederick Knott’s stage hit casts Grace Kelly, Ray Milland and Robert Cummings as points of a romantic triangle. She loves Cummings; her husband Milland plots her murder. But when he dials a Mayfair exchange to set the plot in motion, his right number gets the wrong answer! THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE (1946) Based on the novel by James M. Cain (Double Indemnity, Mildred Pierce), this quintessential film noir stars John Garfield and Lana Turner as illicit lovers who botch a first attempt to bump off her husband, pull it off and betray each other at trial. Amorous attractions never proved so fatal as in this steamy, stormy classic.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

49 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best of the TCM collections, July 4, 2009

By 

calvinnme - See all my reviews
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This review is from: TCM Greatest Classic Films Collection: Murder Mysteries (The Maltese Falcon / The Big Sleep / Dial M for Murder / The Postman Always Rings Twice 1946) (DVD)

This is not really a boxed set. Instead it is a two disc collection of four really good murder mystery films under the control of Warner Home Video. The purpose of these sets is to introduce people to the various genres of classic film at a low price. Unlike the Warner Archive collection, these discs are pressed DVDs, but there are no extras.

First, there are two classic Humphrey Bogart films, "The Maltese Falcon" and "The Big Sleep". "The Maltese Falcon" is available in deluxe form as
The Maltese Falcon Three-Disc Special Edition (1941 & 1931 versions / Satan Met a Lady). This film not only has Bogart in his prime, it has the great team of Sidney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre. Here they are not so much a team as on the screen simultaneously, but they are still fun to watch. Here Bogart plays a detective that is so tough he does things like pistol whip someone with their own gun and then give the gun back to him. Nobody but Bogart could pull off this kind of toughness.

"The Big Sleep" has Bogart teamed with Lauren Bacall, with Bogart playing Philip Marlowe in a well-acted film noir that is a bit confusing the first time you watch it. Things make more sense the second time around though. There were actually two versions of this film and they can be found on The Big Sleep, along with commentary comparing the two versions, if you want the extras.

Dial M for Murder was a Hitchcock film from 1954 starring Grace Kelly as the cheating wife of a tennis player (Ray Milland). Milland's character learns about her affair and, rather than feeling terribly hurt about it, he is worried about losing access to his wife's money should she divorce him. He makes plans to insure that never happens. I've always loved this one and the unexpected turn it makes in the middle - Ray Milland turns out to be quite the quick thinker under pressure. This is already available as Dial M for Murder. This more deluxe versions contains two featurettes.

Finally there is 1946's The Postman Always Rings Twice. John Garfield plays Frank, a drifter, who gets a job at a restaurant run by Nick and his young wife, Cora (Lana Turner). Frank and Cora fall for each other, but Cora doesn't want to give up Nick's money. The two make one bungled attempt at murder that raises the suspicion of the D.A. Their second one is also bungled. It manages to kill Nick, but it also gets them accused of murder. This is available in a more deluxe edition as The Postman Always Rings Twice, which contains a documentary on John Garfield.

If you only pick up two of these TCM greatest collections make sure it is this one and TCM Greatest Classic Films Collection: American Musicals (The Band Wagon / Meet Me in St. Louis / Singin' in the Rain / Easter Parade). They are the two best of the bunch.

47 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars 5 Stars for the Films, 3 for the Packaging, July 13, 2010

By 

Angela Wilson "I love books & DVDs!" (Midwest) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: TCM Greatest Classic Films Collection: Murder Mysteries (The Maltese Falcon / The Big Sleep / Dial M for Murder / The Postman Always Rings Twice 1946) (DVD)

I bought this set because I LOVE the films in it - and it was very inexpensive. I bought it despite the fact that these were on double-sided discs - which never last as long and tend to have a lot of problems with skipping and locking up.

While the films themselves were great (I prefer them on full screen), the packaging was not. The first disc is in a hard plastic sleeve that slams against the second disc, which is attached to the back of the plastic jacket. The second disc had scratches on it when it arrived NEW. I had to clean it twice before it would play without skipping. This would not be an issue if they did not used double-sided discs. I won't buy any more of these sets because of that. They are priced great, but I'd rather get collections that don't get scratched right out of the factory.

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Four Fantastic movies for a great price, November 23, 2009

By 

Edmonson (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: TCM Greatest Classic Films Collection: Murder Mysteries (The Maltese Falcon / The Big Sleep / Dial M for Murder / The Postman Always Rings Twice 1946) (DVD)

This is an amazing set of four great movies and for a decent price. "Dial M for Murder" appears to have been remastered, and cleaned up, and really looks fantastic. The colors are rich and vibrant and the blacks are deep. "The Big Sleep" though, is not remastered, and has dust spots on the negative. Also, the left side of the frame sometimes appears dull and lacks the deep blacks seen on the right side of the frame. "The Postman Always Rings Twice" also has dust spots, though "The Maltese Falcon" appears to be clean.

I was surprised to also see that each film has many special features, including interviews with other directors, film historians, or archival experts. The packaging is basic but it does the job with a movie on each side of two discs in a DVD case. This set is an excellent buy.