Product Description

Five more film noir classics lined up with genre stars such as Robert Mitchum, Robert Montgomery, Robert Ryan, and Jane Russell, are now available in Volume 3 of the Film Noir Classics Collection series. The new 6-Disc DVD set is only available as a collection and includes a bonus documentary disc on the Noir genre.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #19124 in DVD
• Brand: Warner Brothers
• Released on: 2006-07-18
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, French
• Number of discs: 6
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 557 minutes

Features

• Five more film noirics lined up with genre stars such as Robert Mitchum, Robert Montgomery, Robert Ryan, and Jane Russell, are now available in Volume 3 of the Film Noir Classics Collection series. The new 6-Disc DVD set is only available as a collection and includes a bonus documentary disc on the Noir genre. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION Rating: NR Age: 012569761247

Amazon.com
Two peak achievements by as many top noir directors ... a customized vehicle for one of noir's premier icons ... an oddball experiment in making a truly "private eye" movie ... and a Howard Hughes remake of his earliest contribution to the gangster genre. Such are the five titles corralled for Warner Home Video's third box set of film noir classics.

For eye-popping dynamism coupled with ferocious intensity, no noir director matched Anthony Mann. Border Incident (1949) was Mann's and cinematographer John Alton's first film for MGM following a string of darkly dazzling low-budget beauties at Eagle-Lion (T-Men, Raw Deal, The Black Book, et al.). In structure it's virtually a remake of T-Men, transposed from the shadowy city where a Secret Service team battled counterfeiters, to California's Imperial Valley where the Immigration Service sets out to infiltrate a gang exploiting--and often murdering--Mexicans eager to work the farms. From the opening night scene of three laborers trying to recross the border and meeting a grisly end, the movie relentlessly imagines ways the human body can merge with the earth. Visually stunning, and replete with memorable villains (headed by Howard Da Silva, a past master at making affability lethal), this is one of Mann's strongest noirs and surely his most inventive. Its neglect can be explained only by people's assumption that nothing worthwhile could come of a movie top-billing Ricardo Montalban and George Murphy (as the government agents). Wrong, wrong, wrong.

After a scalding first reel in big-city night streets, Nicholas Ray's On Dangerous Ground (RKO, 1951) likewise forsakes familiar noir terrain for the countryside--the mountains and snowfields where city cop Robert Ryan seeks a psychotic killer. For both the actor and the director, Ryan's character is an exemplary creation: a man with personal demons whose overzealous pursuit of criminals has pushed him into sadism. His passage from urban darkness into the silent white mountain country becomes a redemptive journey, thanks largely to his interaction with a blind woman (Ida Lupino) in an isolated farmhouse whose younger brother may be the quarry he's after. Ray developed the screenplay with A.I. Bezzerides under the supervision of producer John Houseman (for whom Ray had made his feature debut, They Live By Night). The film boasts a thrilling music score by Bernard Herrmann, anticipating his great soundtrack for North by Northwest.

His Kind of Woman (also RKO, 1951) is a vehicle for both RKO's reigning bad boy, Robert Mitchum, and Howard Hughes' definitive coup of distaff engineering, Jane Russell. Their characters cross paths en route to a seaside Mexican resort, where she aims to continue her gold-digger pursuit of Hollywood ham Vincent Price, and Mitchum will figure in a plot to get deported mobster Raymond Burr back into the U.S.A. The slow-brewing romance between this dauntingly tall, broad-shouldered pair gives off little heat, but the players' good-natured, weary-pro rapport as they go through their mostly preposterous paces makes for very good fun. Still more is supplied by Price, who just about steals the movie when he gets to extend his sub–Errol Flynn screen heroism into real life--all the while supplying his own florid running commentary on the action. The urbane director John Farrow filled the movie with one delicious, what-the-hell-is-going-on-here scene after another (highlight: a bored Mitchum ironing his money), but that wasn't enough for studio boss Hughes. Richard Fleischer was brought in to stretch the climactic melodrama aboard Burr's yacht in the harbor, and the picture grew to an overblown two hours in length. Not that you're likely to regret a minute of it.

Robert Montgomery directed and played Phillip Marlowe in Lady in the Lake (MGM, 1947), Raymond Chandler's novel as adapted by Steve Fisher (I Wake Up Screaming). The gimmick is that, apart from a few scenes of private detective Marlowe chatting us up in his office, everything is viewed through his eyes, with Marlowe himself remaining unseen unless he glances in a mirror. This literal-minded conceit is more curious than compelling; the camera simply doesn't see the way the human eye does, and the artificiality constantly calls attention to itself. Montgomery, a suave actor who enjoyed playing it coarse and obnoxious on occasion, makes his screen Marlowe more smartass than any other ("dumb, brave, and cheap"). With him cracking wise off-camera, much of the movie is really carried by Audrey Totter, a swell late-'40s dame who has to stand up under more relentless scrutiny than even her shifty character deserves.

The Racket (RKO, 1951) is the second film version of a 1920s play about municipal corruption, gangsterism, and the attempt to squash an honest police precinct captain. John Cromwell had acted in the original Broadway production, which may help explain why, as director, he let so much of this movie turn back into a play. Eventually studio boss Howard Hughes, who had produced the 1928 film version (directed by Lewis Milestone), once again called in another director to do salvage work.

That was Nicholas Ray, whose scenes include police captain Robert Mitchum's pursuit of the man who has just bombed his home. Mitchum's fellow cast members include Robert Ryan as the ultra-paranoid gangster; husky-voiced noir blonde Lizabeth Scott as a nightclub thrush romanced by Ryan's brother; future Perry Mason D.A. William Talman as a dedicated street cop; and Ray Collins and William Conrad as two municipal officials negotiating a delicate dance with morality and expediency. --Richard T. Jameson

Customer Reviews

An excellent value, especially for the superb documentary on film noir
This collection released on 18 July, like volumes 1 and 2, has excellent remasters of five film-noir movies: "Lady in the lake" (1946); "Border incident" (1949); "His kind of woman" (1951); "The racket" (1951); "On dangerous ground" (1952). Each film has a commentary and English/French/Spanish subtitles; 3 films have trailers. Unlike volumes 1 and 2, volume 3 contains its DVDs in slim cases (the DVDs are hard to remove without undue bending) and sports a sixth bonus DVD, which the box touts as being "available only in this set."

This bonus DVD makes this collection particularly special: The documentary "Film noir: Bringing darkness to light," completed in 2006 and produced and directed by Gary Leva, is far superior to any of the film-noir documentaries available on public-domain collections of film noir for several reasons: (1) At 68 min., the subject is treated in depth. (2) The B&W clips from films as well as the interviews in color and color film posters are of excellent quality. (3) The clips, some from rarely seen films, are precise selections, unlike the fuzzy, often lengthy trailers included in previous noir documentaries. (4) While traditional noir themes (femmes fatales, lighting, cynicism, fatalism, etc.) receive full treatment, other generally neglected topics are detailed, notably the role of music. (5) Commentary is by a host of film-noir historians and players. The credits list some 45 interviewees, including actress Jane Greer (1924-2001). The diversity of opinions sometimes leads to conflicting interpretations, which is probably as it should be as film noir is a recognizable phenomenon that is hard to define. "Film noir: Bringing darkness to light," is an essential and insightful analysis of the film-noir phenomenon.

The 13 scenes comprising 68 min. in "Film noir: Bringing darkness to light" are: 1) intro; 2) into the darkness; 3) what it is. what it ain't; 4) birth of a bad dream; 5) life's cheap. then you die; 6) the guy pulling the strings; 7) masters of darkness and light; 8) cut to black; 9) lullaby for the damned; 10) method behind the madness; 11) caught in a web; 12) can't cheat fate; 13) final fade out.

Rounding out the bonus DVD are five shorts (19-22 min.) from the MGM film series "Crime does not pay":
"Women in hiding" (1940) on unwed mothers;
"You, the people" (1940) on a rigged election by a crime boss;
"Forbidden passage" (1941) on illegal immigration;
"A gun in his hand" (1945) on the murder of a policeman by a robber;
"The luckiest guy in the world" (1947) on embezzlement.
These are obviously message, didactic films. The bonus disc is remiss in providing neither dates for the films nor background information on the film (and radio) series "Crime does not pay," which apparently had some 40 film episodes 1935 ("Buried loot" the first) to 1947 (and probably later).

Five Variations of Noir, from Two Studios!
While "The Film Noir Classic Collection, Vol. 3" may lack the caliber of titles of the first two collections, this edition includes several of my personal favorite films...so forgive me if I brag about it!

Featuring two MGM productions, and three from RKO (which means Howard Hughes was heavily involved), the Noir elements vary significantly in each film (one could even question whether a couple 'qualify' as Noir)...but the choices made are fascinating!

"Lady in the Lake" (MGM, 1946, **1/2): Robert Montgomery's debut as a director, portraying Raymond Chandler's 'Philip Marlowe', probably gave MGM no END of grief, when he decided to film it nearly completely with a 'subjective' camera, barely appearing on screen! While the concept wasn't new (the first twenty minutes of the Bogie/Bacall "Dark Passage" were filmed in the same manner), the audacity of making an ENTIRE film this way, particularly from the biggest of Hollywood studios, was remarkable!

Sadly, the gimmick didn't work...

With an incongruous 'Christmas' motif to introduce the film, the camera work soon becomes annoying, allowing little character development for Marlowe/Montgomery (making him seem more cruel and petty than either Bogie or Dick Powell, in their 'takes' as Marlowe). While Audrey Totter, acting to the camera lens, is terrific, everyone else seems self-conscious (especially poor Lloyd Nolan). Add to this MGM's difficulty in creating Noir-style lighting and atmosphere, and what you end up with is, ultimately, a mess!

The only real 'misfire' in this collection!

"Border Incident" (MGM, 1949, ****): This FABULOUS Anthony Mann
film, of a joint US/Mexico operation to break up an illegal alien racket is even more topical, today. Vastly underrated when released (and sadly, ignored by audiences), it is gritty, brutal, and totally involving, with a brilliant cast, including Ricardo Montalban and George Murphy (in their best screen work) as the agents, and Howard Da Silva, Charles McGraw, a clean-shaven Arthur Hunnicutt, and Sig Ruman as members of the gang.

Unflinching (the machine tiller murder scene is remarkably gruesome, for 1949), the film is only marred by a 'tacked-on' happy-ending narration, which stated that the illegal alien problem had been 'solved'.

Anthony Mann was WAY ahead of his time, and this film proves that his talents went far beyond Jimmy Stewart westerns!

"The Racket" (RKO, 1951, ***1/2): Remake of a 1928 Howard Hughes' film, this involving police drama, credited to John Cromwell (although Hughes would add scenes directed by others), was a hard-hitting, topical tale of corruption, both outside and within the system. Featuring a 'hard-as-nails' villainous turn by Robert Ryan, and Robert Mitchum's equally tough hero, the supporting cast really shines, particularly William Talman's straight-arrow cop, Ray Collins as a weak District Attorney, William Conrad as a detective who plays both sides, and Lizabeth Scott's pragmatic Noir heroine.

"On Dangerous Ground" (RKO, 1950-1952, ****1/2): Vastly underrated when released (the film was actually 'shelved' for two years, while Hughes 'tinkered' with it), Nicholas Ray's
film of city cop Robert Ryan nearly "losing his soul", then finding redemption through blind Ida Lupino, during a rural murder investigation, is finally receiving the recognition it deserves! A rich, character-driven story, symphonic in style (with three 'movements'), the film benefits greatly from a powerful Bernard Herrmann score, the wonderful chemistry between Ryan and Lupino, and the added Hughes' "touches" (including a romantic finale that brings the film to a very satisfying conclusion).

While unsuccessful when released, the film is now regarded as a near-masterpiece of the genre!

"His Kind of Woman" (RKO, 1951, ****): I LOVE this movie!!! A combination Noir/Sophisticated Comedy/Farce, it nearly defies description, and really shouldn't work at all (particularly with the production history behind it), but it does, brilliantly, thanks to the Mitchum/Jane Russell chemistry (in their first film together), a wildly funny turn by Vincent Price, and the involvement of Howard Hughes, who, literally, reshot the final third of the film 3 times, with two different directors!

Directed, initially, by John Farrow, a straight-forward Noir tale of down-on-his-luck gambler Mitchum getting a "too good to be true" offer to go to Mexico quickly expands into a sometimes brutal, yet often comic adventure, as he gradually discovers that an exiled gangster (Raymond Burr, whose scenes were added AFTER the film was completed!), plans to kill him, and assume his identity to return to the States. While learning this, he stays at a swank resort, swapping one-liners (and romantic looks) with Russell, meeting her fiancé, hammy (and ALREADY married) movie star Price, beating sleazy Jim Backus at poker to save a girl's virtue (in a scene reminiscent of "Casablanca"), getting pushed around by hood Charles McGraw and the "facts of life" from agent Tim Holt...all leading to a spectacular finale, set on Burr's yacht, involving torture, and an insane rescue by Price, some misfit Mexican policemen, and over-aged resort guests!

Howard Hughes, dissatisfied with the Farrow 'cut', brought in Richard Fleischer to 'beef up' the finale (and increase Price's role), then decided, AFTER the second 'cut', to replace the film's villain with Burr...requiring yet ANOTHER major reshoot! Needless to say, this long, convoluted production would not be one of Mitchum or Russell's favorite films to make...

Yet the film is vastly entertaining, to this day, and was a big hit, when released!

A VERY interesting collection of films, to be sure!

ANOTHER WARNER WINNER-5 Tantalizing Noirs and a great new documentary
Two years ago Warner Home Video broke ground by releasing their first set of Film Noir classics. Having the libraries of three major studios to draw from, including RKO, the king of all noir studios, the set was a smash. Other companies followed in panic, trying to mimic WB's success.

Warner didn't flood the market in response, though. They have kept to delivering one excellent set per year, and neatly bested the competition.

This year, they've added something extra. A brand-new, wonderful feature-length documentary that provocatively explores the world of Film Noir. Although many of Warner's documentaries are usually found on TV prior to the DVD release, this one is only available for viewing as part of this nifty box.

Sleekly packaged, with six discs in sturdy slim packaging, the films here are all ecxeptionally impressive and quite different.
The quality of the transfers is very good, and the whole set is a sensational value here on Amazon.

Don't pass this one by.