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

[Andrew Monroe]

Thirded. As long as you're willing to be patient on shipping, Import CDs is tops for Olive stuff. Got notice today that my BD copies of PLUNDER ROAD, THE BIG COMBO, and SHACK OUT ON 101 are on the way. It may be 10 days before they get here but at those prices I can wait.

[Richard--W]

I second that. I've been buying all my Olive blus and Warner Archive DVD-R's from importcd.com.

[Horace Cordier]

Looks like Amazon completely screwed up their SHACK OUT ON 101 listings. They just cancelled my order from months ago and issued a refund claiming the item was unavailable. But there is now a different listing up with an estimated shipping of 7 to 11 days. Ugh.

Just went ahead and ordered through importcds.com - even with shipping they beat the Amazon price I get as a Prime member.

Seems importcds are the best and cheapest sellers for Olive product.

[Richard--W]

I'm a Jean-Pierre Melville completist. I have to own every film upgraded to blu-ray.

[Andrew Monroe]

I love Melville, but I'm not a big fan of DEUX HOMMES... In fact, I think it's his weakest film by far, but still definitely worth checking out - for the reasons Richard mentioned. I've only seen the film via a poor VHS dupe before, in French without English subtitles - maybe seeing a better presentation (say, via the upcoming US BD) may raise the film in my estimation.

I'm going to get the BD, that article I linked to intrigued me enough to give the film a chance. I'm also interested in a US-set Melville.

[Paul L]

I've heard mixed things about TWO MEN IN MANHATTAN, but I'm very interested in seeing it. Here is a recent article about the restored print playing the LA Film Fest that has some good things to say about the film. And I'd certainly be up for a Blu-ray of HANGMEN ALSO DIE (with restored footage), not one of my favorite Lang films but still a good one.

I love Melville, but I'm not a big fan of DEUX HOMMES... In fact, I think it's his weakest film by far, but still definitely worth checking out - for the reasons Richard mentioned. I've only seen the film via a poor VHS dupe before, in French without English subtitles - maybe seeing a better presentation (say, via the upcoming US BD) may raise the film in my estimation.

[Richard--W]

Two Men In Manhattan is a character study in which a weaker crook usurps his superior. It's atypical of Melville but it's okay with me. If it ain't a neo-noir nothing is. It is also very observant of the USA as only a foreigner and appreciator like Melville could observe.

I just watched Joan Bennett in Scarlet Street, Woman In the Window, and Secret Behind the Door two weeks ago. That flat low voice of hers coming out of the girl-child expression topping a heavy bosom over a narrow waist and long legs defines the femme fatale. God was she hot-looking in the '40s. Her feet left sizzling footprints when she walked. Then I start reading about her in Noir City 2011, and bought three more of her classic noirs Woman On the Beach, The Scar, and The Reckless Moment all of which I'd seen before. Then I log on to R!S!P! and there she is on the banner. Talk about strange coincidences.

[Andrew Monroe]

Interesting post at the Back Alley Noir boards:

"A new label, Cohen Media Group is working on a number of films for possible future blu-ray release. They are releasing Jean-Pierre Melville's Two Men in Manhattan (1959) in 2 weeks on September 17.. Here is a few films of interest they have listed for future release.


Sudden Fear (1952). David Miller's film noir, starring Joan Crawford and Jack Palance, is receiving a 2K restoration.
Hangmen Also Die (1943). The Collection is working with Britain's Pinewood Studios on a 2K restoration of this Fritz Lang film that will reinstate a short sequence not in the version currently available here.

Jamaica Inn (1939). The Collection will restore this period adventure, the last film Alfred Hitchcock made in England before moving to Hollywood and his first adaptation of a tale by Daphne du Maurier."

I've heard mixed things about TWO MEN IN MANHATTAN, but I'm very interested in seeing it. Here is a recent article about the restored print playing the LA Film Fest that has some good things to say about the film. And I'd certainly be up for a Blu-ray of HANGMEN ALSO DIE (with restored footage), not one of my favorite Lang films but still a good one.

[Richard--W]

VCI's DVD of SLIGHTLY SCARLET (1956) fills my hi-def monitor very nicely from edge to edge. Alan Dwan's version of the James M. Cain classic Love's Lovely Counterfeight (published 1936). A classic harboiled noir about ambition, greed, mendacity and sexual obsession undermining the best intentions. John Payne got better as he got older, playing a double-dealing opportunist who's only tough on the outside. His expression remains inscrutable. The chief detective and the gangster he double-crosses are tough outside and inside. The two redheads, played by Arlene Dahl and Rhonda Fleming, tempt and blindside him, but only because he lets them. He's one step ahead of everybody until the third act, when everybody's cross-purposes begin to trip him up with increasing momentum. The momentum is the marvel here. So is the deeply shadowed, contoured lighting by John Alton, which achieves the same degree of noir in color that he so often did in monochrome. Want to see what a color noir should look like during the golden age of noir? This is it.

If this were a hi-def transfer, it wouldn't smudge. I expect it would look better on an old CRT TV. I consider this a first-rate noir. The commentator compares it to a Douglas Sirk / Russell Metty collaboration like Inherit the Wind or Magnificent Obsession -- melodramas layared with subtext in rich color and meticulous design -- and I think the compliment is right on the money.

[Andrew Monroe]

I'll have to check this out, ON DANGEROUS GROUND one of my favorite noirs. Possibly my favorite. As much as I love the stuff in the city the film really picks up for me when he arrives in the country. I always like when a noir film leaves the city and heads out to the country like in NIGHTFALL or Losey's THE PROWLER.

THE PROWLER is one of my favorite noirs. NIGHTFALL is really good too. The problems I have with ON DANGEROUS GROUND and CRY VENGEANCE aren't the rural settings, it's that they take a turn from dark noir territory to redemption stories. Not to say they're bad - CRY VENGEANCE made a particularly strong impression on me - just not personal favorites. NIGHTFALL and THE PROWLER stay tough even in the unusual settings. By the way, Scott, you'd probably like THE HITCH-HIKER if you haven't seen it. It takes place in the countryside mostly. It's coming to blu in the near future.

[Scott]

Yeah, Stevens certainly wasn't vain if he was willing to go through the whole movie with that hideously huge scar. He's very good at playing the quiet, intense type. I think I mentioned it before, but the review of CRY VENGEANCE in the Film Noir Encyclopedia calls it an unofficial sequel of sorts to THE DARK CORNER - where Stevens played another character who's "all dead inside'. Read your review at DVD Talk (worth a look for those who haven't seen it), I picked up on THE BIG HEAT feel too. The sort of jarring change in mood of the film once he gets to Alaska brings up the same problem I have with ON DANGEROUS GROUND. But I think I actually prefer this film to that way more known and praised Ray film. There's still some moments of toughness in the later scenes of CRY VENGEANCE, like the two remarkably cold-blooded executions Homeier commits.

I'll have to check this out, ON DANGEROUS GROUND one of my favorite noirs. Possibly my favorite. As much as I love the stuff in the city the film really picks up for me when he arrives in the country. I always like when a noir film leaves the city and heads out to the country like in NIGHTFALL or Losey's THE PROWLER.

[Colin]

Thanks Andrew. I'm looking forward to participating in some of the discussions hereabouts.

[Andrew Monroe]

This German DVD presents the film very nicely indeed.

Thanks for the link - and welcome, Colin. Great to have another noir and classic western enthusiast here.

[Colin]

I don't suppose there's a really nice version of HOLLOW TRIUMPH aka THE SCAR available, is there?

This German DVD presents the film very nicely indeed.

[Andrew Monroe]

Yeah, Stevens certainly wasn't vain if he was willing to go through the whole movie with that hideously huge scar. He's very good at playing the quiet, intense type. I think I mentioned it before, but the review of CRY VENGEANCE in the Film Noir Encyclopedia calls it an unofficial sequel of sorts to THE DARK CORNER - where Stevens played another character who's "all dead inside'. Read your review at DVD Talk (worth a look for those who haven't seen it), I picked up on THE BIG HEAT feel too. The sort of jarring change in mood of the film once he gets to Alaska brings up the same problem I have with ON DANGEROUS GROUND. But I think I actually prefer this film to that way more known and praised Ray film. There's still some moments of toughness in the later scenes of CRY VENGEANCE, like the two remarkably cold-blooded executions Homeier commits.