Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #90558 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-03-01
• Formats: DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English, German, Italian, Japanese, Polish
• Number of discs: 17

Amazon.com
This 17 film collection includes some of the best in film noir from 1944 - 1955, with 12 Oscar nominations between them. These are the films that defined the genre and the style of film-making. Mystery, Suspense, Murder, this collection has it all! Films Included: Call Northside 777, Laura, Panic in the Streets, House of Bamboo, Nightmare Alley, Street with no Name, House on 92nd Street, Somewhere in the Night, Whirlpool, Dark Corner, Kiss of Death, Where the Sidewalk Ends, Fallen Angel, The House on Telegraph Road, No Way Out, I Wake Up Screaming and House of Strangers

Customer Reviews

An indispensable series for aficionados of film noir
The Fox film noir collection is an "Amazon.com exclusive" consisting of 9 DVDS in their individual cases (alas including individual shrink wrap, which one tediously has to remove) presented in one blister pack. The nine titles are:
*** BATCH 1 (DVDs released 3/05): Call Northside 777 (1948); Laura (1944); Panic in the streets (1950)
*** BATCH 2 (DVDs released 6/05): House of bamboo (1955); Nightmare alley (1947); Street with no name (1948)
*** BATCH 3 (DVDs released 9/05): House on 92nd Street (1945); Somewhere in the night (1946); Whirlpool (1949)

The film restorations are superbly done. The DVD cases are in uniform format, being part of the "Fox film noir" series. Each title has a film commentary (Laura has two) plus other extras, minimally a trailer. In addition, each title has a 4-page booklet with these sections: "the lineup," "the look," "the scoop," "the story," and "scene selection."

The DVDs list for $14.95 each and currently Amazon sells them for around $10 each. Amazon sells the 9-DVD collection for $74.99, which works out to $8.33 for each DVD. Certainly, not all titles are of the caliber of Laura (1944), but this collection is a must-have for the firm-noir aficionado.

Incidentally, BATCH 4, was released 12/05 and consists of: The dark corner (1946); Kiss of death (1947); Where the sidewalk ends (1950). BATCH 5 will be released in 3/06: Fallen angel (1945); House on Telegraph Hill (1951); No way out (1950)

Alain Silver & Elizabeth Ward's "Film noir: An encyclopedic reference to the American style" (1992, 3rd ed.) lists 32 noir titles by Fox. Hence we can probably expect from Fox another 20 or so titles in the "Fox film noir" series. If these 32ish titles all materialize in this excellent series, it will be a big chunk both out of one's purse and DVD shelf space.

better price (than list) to start your collection, but not the best deal on noir
I haven't yet purchased these titles & was just about to, until I checked up on what's included with the current bundle (March 1 2007) that Amazon is offering. As previously mentioned, this is not a box set (misleading description from Amazon), but rather a bundle of the first 17 titles in Fox's noir series. I purchased the Warner Bros.' boxes 1-3 (and reviewed them there) which I thought were an excellent value for the money (when on sale, roughly 6 - 7$ per disc). I've held off on these since the price is higher. This bundle discounts the titles to about $8 per disc, which is better than the usual price for each, but a local retailer often sells these titles for 7.50 - 10.00 (with a buy 3 get 1 free sale). Still I would have jumped on this price had this been a bonafide box set with the slimmer DVD cases, but these regular dvd's will take up quite a bit of real estate in my storage. Moreover, the more recent titles aren't included (missing titles: Boomerang, 14 Hours, Shock, Vicki, all released last year). If Fox would release all the titles to date (plus the next releases: Hangover Square & The Lodger) in slim cases & a box at a comparable price I'll jump, otherwise I'm holding out for a better deal.

A great collection of noir films with commentary
Nobody else has actually run through each of the films and given a brief description. I do that plus I provide a rating as given by a popular movie database.

Call Northside 777, (1948) 7.4/10 - Stars James Stewart as a reporter investigating a 10 year old murder conviction.
Laura, (1944) 8/10 - Dana Andrews is a cop in love with the portrait of a murdered woman.
Panic in the Streets, (1950) 7.3/10 - Stars Richard Widmark as a physician working with police to find a killer infected with the plague.
House of Bamboo, (1955) 6.7/10 - This is not really a noir and is a remake of "Street with No Name". It is set in Japan and shot in Technicolor.
Nightmare Alley, (1947) 8/10 - You won't see this one on TV often, but it's great. Tyrone Power is a scam artist in a carnival who sets his sights on higher stakes.
Street with no Name, (1948) 7.3/10 - Lloyd Nolan is an FBI inspector who uses an undercover agent to infiltrate a band of thieves led by Richard Widmark.
House on 92nd Street, (1945) 7/10 - Won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay in which an FBI agent infiltrates a German spy ring.
Somewhere in the Night, (1946) 7.2/10 - An amnesiac whose face was damaged in combat goes searching for a missing man and finds his identity to be surprising.
Whirlpool,
Dark Corner, (1946) 7.1/10 - Lucille Ball plays a secretary helping her boss find out who framed him. A good and unusual role for Lucille Ball.
Kiss of Death, (1947) 7.6/10 - Victor Mature is a thief who has to rat out another criminal due to personal circumstances. The other criminal (Richard Widmark) takes it personally. Widmark won an Oscar for his performance, and the film won Best Original Screenplay.
Where the Sidewalk Ends, (1950) 7.8/10 - Mark Dixon (Dana Andrews) is a cop that accidentally kills a suspect and frames a well-known criminal for the killing.
Fallen Angel, (1945) 7.2/10 - Eric Stanton (Dana Andrews) frequents a restaurant and falls for a waitress there (Linda Darnell). He marries a different woman for her money, hoping his new found wealth will impress the waitress. Shortly afterwards, the waitress is killed and Stanton investigates and solves the murder.
The House on Telegraph Hill, (1951) 7/10 - Victoria Kowelska (Valentina Cortesa) survives a German concentration camp and takes on the identity of a woman there who does not survive so that she can gain passage to the U.S. Once there, she moves into a house she has inherited from the dead woman's aunt. However, her life is still in danger.
No Way Out, (1950) 7.5/10 - Nominated for Best Screenplay Oscar. Sidney Poitier plays a prison doctor who tries to save the brother of a criminal but fails. The surviving brother (Richard Widmark) is out for revenge.
I Wake Up Screaming (1941) 7.4/10 - Frank Christopher (Victor Mature) is being framed for the murder of a waitress that he turned into a Hollywood star and then deserted him. He turns to the dead girl's sister (Betty Grable) to help him solve the crime.
House of Strangers (1949) 7.4/10 - Edward G. Robinson is a banker whose sons turn against him and take the family business away from him after one of the sons goes to jail for trying to tamper with a witness in an effort to clear his father. The jailed son returns from prison ready to avenge his father and deal with his brothers, but the other sons are determined to strike first.

My personal opinion is that all of these films are good to very good with the exception of "House of Bamboo". That movie is just too much of an obvious remake of the much better Street with No Name. One thing that Fox often does with its classics - and the films in this group are no exception - is to provide a commentary track. That's something that Warner, Fox's closest competitor in classic films on DVD, doesn't do as consistently as Fox does. That plus the entertainment value of the films definitely makes these 17 noirs worth your time.