The Film Noir Thread! Gats, dames, and cheap hooch welcome.

[Mark C.]

The title COVER UP and Dennis O'Keefe kept nagging at my memory and I finally realized this morning I have it on dvd too, haha! Bought the Geneon disc probably 10 years ago and did watch it once, have zero memory of it. Not a good sign, but I need to watch it again. Boy, the years are getting rough on my memory banks....

Yeah so many Noirs and they do blend in after awhile, I have seen almost 400 so it's hard to recollect all of them after awhile.

[Andrew Monroe]

I own COVER-UP on dvd and have seen it. Don't remember a thing about it, My imdb rating of the film is 4/10 so I wouldn't expect great things here.

The title COVER UP and Dennis O'Keefe kept nagging at my memory and I finally realized this morning I have it on dvd too, haha! Bought the Geneon disc probably 10 years ago and did watch it once, have zero memory of it. Not a good sign, but I need to watch it again. Boy, the years are getting rough on my memory banks....

[Mark C.]

I own COVER-UP on dvd and have seen it. Don't remember a thing about it, My imdb rating of the film is 4/10 so I wouldn't expect great things here.

[Andrew Monroe]

I've never seen COVER UP, thanks for the news! It's not listed in most of the noir references I have, makes me wonder if it's more of a murder mystery than out and out film noir. Either way, the little I've read sounds very intriguing. Dennis O'Keefe stars and co-wrote the screenplay...I like O'Keefe, used to think of him as sort of a low budget Alan Ladd but as I've seen more of his films over the years I find him to actually be more convincing as a tough guy. He's an insurance investigator looking into a supposed suicide in this one. It's set at Christmas, another plus, always like those classic noirs and mysteries set around the holidays. William Bendix is also in it.

[Ian Jane]

Kino just announced that they're releasing 1949's Cover Up on Blu-ray in March.

[Andrew Monroe]

Looks like a very nice upgrade on THE NAKED CITY, Paul. That one's sort of underrated in that it's much more suspenseful than what you'd expect from a noir done in the documentary style. Good cast too.

I love the gritty noirs but my first love when it comes to film noir is still what drew me in in the first place - the mostly 1940s-era ones that place emphasis on shadow and mood, along with a quite often twisted sexuality (under the surface to be sure, but it's there if you look for it)...films like PHANTOM LADY, THE BIG CLOCK, OUT OF THE PAST, etc. The 1950s films more often than not don't have the same stylistic atmosphere, a lot of them have a flat, almost made-for-television look (though they often made up for lack of atmosphere with a more overt violence). Not saying this was always the case but a fair amount of the time. Anyway, there's room for all kinds of styles thank goodness.

I'll bring up another gritty noir I'd love to see get a loving release though - even if it has a snowball's chance - SHIELD FOR MURDER. Co-directed by and starring Edmond O'Brien. This one might be my favorite of his noirs, depending on what day you ask. There's a great scene where crooked cop Eddie is eating with a drunk floozy in some dive and he proceeds to beat the crap out of a couple thugs who are tailing him, sending the woman into hysterics with the explosion of violence. Amazing sequence.

[Paul L]

Hi guys, Im new to the noir genre. Ive only seen maybe 7-8 of them. Can anyone recommend some good ones to start with for a beginner? I like the more gritty style if possible, but Im open to all of them. Thanks!

Without knowing what you've seen, I'll mention a few favorites:

MURDER MY SWEET
KANSAS CITY CONFIDENTIAL
BRUTE FORCE
THE ASPHALT JUNGLE
THE BIG COMBO
THE BIG HEAT

Those are mostly on the gritty side, leaving out other great noirs like LAURA, SCARLET STREET, etc.

I'll second Andrew's recommendations, and Ian's suggestion of PANIC IN THE STREET (my dear departed nan's favourite film, btw).

I'm a fan of the 'grittier' films noir too, especially those mostly shot on location in the 1950s. I'd add RAILROADED, T-MEN, BORDER INCIDENT, CRIME WAVE, ACT OF VIOLENCE (that one's a doozy), Edward Dmytryk's THE SNIPER and Allen Baron's BLAST OF SILENCE.

Btw, Arrow's new NAKED CITY Blu-ray is very impressive, equal to their BRUTE FORCE disc. I'd forgotten how tense that confrontation between Jimmy Halloran and Willie Garzah is: it's a great scene, a masterclass in suspense.

I've added a review of Arrow's NAKED CITY disc here ( http://dvdcompare.net/review.php?rid=3445 ), with some large screenies and a visual comparison with the Criterion DVD. I really hope NIGHT AND THE CITY or THIEVES' HIGHWAY can get similar Blu-ray releases soon.

[Ian Jane]

Panic In The Streets is pretty gritty too.

[Andrew Monroe]

Without knowing what you've seen, I'll mention a few favorites:

MURDER MY SWEET
KANSAS CITY CONFIDENTIAL
BRUTE FORCE
THE ASPHALT JUNGLE
THE BIG COMBO
THE BIG HEAT

Those are mostly on the gritty side, leaving out other great noirs like LAURA, SCARLET STREET, etc.

[Kevin S.]

Hi guys, Im new to the noir genre. Ive only seen maybe 7-8 of them. Can anyone recommend some good ones to start with for a beginner? I like the more gritty style if possible, but Im open to all of them. Thanks!

[Mark C.]

i'm down with a good print of DOA, I've never owned a version of this on dvd that I was satisfied with.

[Andrew Monroe]

A new company called The Film Detective are going to be releasing D.O.A. on Blu-ray.

From FB:

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Here's their site: http://thefilmdetective.com/

Looks like they're a PD outfit.

There's an article on them here where Kansas City Confidential is also mentioned.

If D.O.A is cheap enough I'll take a chance on it. I hope they don't over do it on the clean-up for these.

[Ian Jane]

A new company called The Film Detective are going to be releasing D.O.A. on Blu-ray.

From FB:



Here's their site: http://thefilmdetective.com/

Looks like they're a PD outfit.

There's an article on them here where Kansas City Confidential is also mentioned.

[Andrew Monroe]

She was a charming middle-aged lady with a face like a bucket of mud. I gave her a drink. She was a gal who'd take a drink, if she had to knock you down to get the bottle.

[Clive Smith]

The Film Noir Thread! Gats, dames, and cheap hooch welcome.

A black pool opened up at my feet. I dived in. It had no bottom. I felt pretty good... like an amputated leg.