Product Description

Lights out! Questar presents five killer examples of film noir, the shadow-drenched genre of middle-class crime, anxiety, and desperation that blackened American movie screens in the 40’s and 50’s. Each of these thrillers comes in a crisp archival print on a separate DVD, which includes riveting bonus features on some of the people and ideas behind this darkest—and most enduringly popular—of all movie genres. Disc One: D.O.A. - On vacation from his clinging girlfriend, a complacent accountant (Edmund O’Brien) unknowingly swallows a drink spiked with radioactive poison and then spends the last desperate hours of his life trying to find out who "killed" him—and why. Directed by Rudolph Mate. Disc Two: Detour - Hitchhiking across the country to reunite with his girlfriend, the film’s "hero" encounters two sinister characters—one of them a venomous, blackmailing woman whom he "accidentally" murders. Directed by Edgar G. Ulmer. Disc Three: The Stranger - Orson Welles directs and stars in this thriller about a monstrous Nazi official who’s hiding out as a small-town American college professor. A war crimes detective turns up determined to expose him—even if it means endangering the Nazi’s innocent wife. Disc Four: Scarlet Street - Homely, henpecked Chris Cross (Edward G. Robinson) leads an honorable, if tedious, middle-class life until he falls madly in love with the dangerously seductive young Kitty (Joan Bennett). Directed by Fritz Lang. Disc Five: Killer Bait - A bickering couple find a bag of money in the back seat of their car. The husband wants to turn the illicit cash in, but his money-hungry wife has a different idea—and she’ll do anything to realize it. Directed by Byron Haskin. Disc 6: SPECIAL FEATURES - Black and Blue: The History of Noir; Hot-Blooded and Cold-Hearted: The Dames of Film Noir; Classic Lines Quiz; Over 35 Film Noir Trailers including Double Indemnity, 1944, Reservoir Dogs, 1992, Sunset Blvd, 1950...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #64008 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-04-06
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Box set, Black & White, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 6
• Running time: 540 minutes

Amazon.com
Like many public-domain DVD sets, this six-disc set compiles a handful of well-liked features from one genre--in this case, a quintet of venerable '40s noir. Where Questar's box exceeds expectations is on its sixth disc, which is chock full of extras that make the set a must-have for viewers looking for a crash course in Hollywood thrillers. The lineup of flicks is solid--Rudolph Mate's D.O.A., in which Edmond O'Brien must find out who has poisoned him; Edgar G. Ulmer's minimalist Detour, which pits desperate Tom Neal against feral Ann Savage; Orson Welles's The Stranger (which is technically more suspense than noir), in which his Nazi-turned professor locks horns with Edward G. Robinson--who's also featured in Fritz Lang's moody Scarlet Street. The set is rounded out by the lesser-known Killer Bait, and if the picture quality isn't as crystal-clear as on major studio releases, the supplemental features more than make up for it. Disc 6 features two swell featurettes, one on the genre itself and the other on its predatory ladies, as well as a color gallery of poster art and a terrific compilation of trailers for such films as Bullets or Ballots and The Postman Always Rings Twice. For noir first-timers, this set is a killer place to start. --Paul Gaita

Customer Reviews

Not Exactly Crisp......
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 bit of gold in black and white.
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.

DON'T WAIT! GET THIS NOW!
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.