The
Big Heat (1953/Encore
Edition/Sony/Columbia/Twilight Time Limited Edition Blu-ray)/The
Big Sleep (1946/Warner)/I
Confess (1953/Warner)/Key
Largo (1948/Warner
Bros./all Warner Archive Blu-rays)/A
Prayer For The Dying
(1987/Samuel Goldwyn Company/Orion/MGM/Twilight Time Limited Edition
Blu-ray)/Suspicion
(1941/RKO/Warner Archive Blu-ray)/Where
The Sidewalk Ends
(1950/Fox/Twilight Time Limited Edition Blu-ray)/Woman
In White (1948/Warner
Archive DVD)
Picture:
Blu-rays: B/DVD: C Sound: B-/B-/C+/B-/B-/B-/B-/C+ Extras:
B+/B+/C/C-/C+/C/B/C- Films: B/B/B-/B/B-/B/B/B-
PLEASE
NOTE:
The
Big Heat,
A
Prayer For The Dying
and Where
The Sidewalk Ends
Blu-rays are now only available from our friends at Twilight Time,
are limited to only 3,000 copies and can be ordered while supplies
last, while the rest of these amazing releases are now only available
from Warner Bros. through their Warner Archive series. All can be
ordered from the links below.
Fans
of mystery, detective and Film Noir motion pictures have a ton to
celebrate as, remarkably, a bunch of classics in those genres are now
out on Blu-ray, even if they are specialty releases, plus an
additional gem on DVD and underrated later drama fit into the mix
that includes two tales where a priest has to hold onto a deadly
secret quietly and two where the amazing Karl Malden happens to play
the lead police detective...
Fritz
Lang's The
Big Heat
(1953) was issued a few years ago by Twilight Time from their great
Limited Edition Blu-ray series, then became one of the rare
non-Horror genre titles to sell out. Thus, with expanded extras,
they have issued it as a new Encore Edition with more extras. Here's
our coverage of the classic in that older edition...
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/11609/Aggression+Scale+(2011/Anchor+Bay+Blu-ray)/Th
Those
serious about collecting classic films or Film Noir in particular
might want to grab this one while supplies last. The film always
manages to hold up.
Howard
Hawks's The
Big Sleep
(1946) is another one of several films on this list I am shocked are
not getting wide Blu-ray releases, but this classic Philip Marlowe
gumshoe detective thriller with Humphrey Bogart as Marlowe and a
mysterious Lauren Bacall as the woman of interest proved that John
Huston's The
Maltese Falcon
(1941, reviewed on Blu-ray elsewhere on this site) was no fluke for
all the actors, craftspeople & studio itself involved when it
came to detective films, mysteries or Noirs. Marlowe is taking on
yet another job, but before he knows it, it snowballs into something
much more serious, complex and possibly deadly drawing him into a
world of deeper sleaze and death than even a cynic like himself might
have first considered.
Extremely
well laid-out screenplay, outstanding casting and Huston is rare
directorial form makes this an amazing film, so much so that the
Brothers Warner and company actually delayed it and reworked the
whole thing because they thought they could make a really good film
great. In an era a very, very, very, very long time ago when those
running studios and loved movies actually knew what they were doing,
they were correct!
As
a result, the film was delayed a year and the result was an even
larger critical and commercial smash, a key Noir film and the further
cementing of the high profiles of its stars, director and studio who
was as bold as any of the period. I won't give away anything else,
except to say this is must-see filmmaking at its best and with two
versions of the film to compare, a crash course in Classical
Hollywood moviemaking at its very best. Great to have it on Blu-ray!
Alfred
Hitchcock's I
Confess
(1953) is another film out of Hitch's very interesting slate of
releases (not in a row) with Warner that included The
Wrong Man
(see the Blu-ray elsewhere on this site) Dial
'M' For Murder
(now issued in a great Blu-ray 3D + 2D edition) and Strangers
On A Train
that marked a great period of freedom for the Master of Suspense,
almost finishing what he wanted to do at Selznick International all
along in becoming a full-fledged force in Hollywood on his own terms.
Even more than The
Wrong Man,
this might be the most explicit of his film to deal with Catholicism
as a priest (Montgomery Clift) is told of a murder in confession by
the killer himself, who happens to work at his church!
He
has to stick to his vow of silence, but as the police investigate, it
gets tougher when he becomes the #1 murder suspect via the head
police detective (Karl Malden) further complicated by his
relationship with a woman he loved (Anne Baxter, looking as good as
she ever did) before he joined the priesthood. Add that she's
married and the murderer was trying to frame him all along and you
have the makings of a fine thriller. Unfortunately by Hitchcock's
own admission, he gets too hung up on Clift's character, assumes
wrongly they'll understand the silence vow and it hurt the film at
the box office. Despite some fine moments, it also hurts it now,
tripping up an already tricky story to tell. Had Hitch stuck to the
thriller aspects, the religion would have very likely took care of
itself and made for a better film, yet it is still one of hitch's
films and very much worth a look.
John
Huston's Key
Largo
(1948) is apparently a film that has been the target of criticism
that it os not as good as Huston, Bogart and Bacall's other films or
comes up short otherwise, but long before the so-so 1980s hit pop
song came out as a tribute to it, it always had a following and fans.
Though it is not perfect, it has a unique feel to it as a big crime
film with Edward G. Robinson as a tough gangster holding Bacall,
Bogart and Lionel Barrymore as her ill father-in-law. The end of
WWII looms large here and just when things cannot get worse, a
hurricane hits the small island, further trapping everyone
physically, figuratively and psychologically. If anything, it is a
much-imitated classic that never came close to pulling off what we
get here.
Claire
Trevor is Robinson's 'gal' (so good she won a Best Supporting Actress
oscar for her work here) and future director Richard Brooks co-wrote
the hard-hitting screenplay adaptation of the Maxwell Anderson stage
play with Huston. Though it may not always look like a Noir with the
bright daylight of the locale, it is enough of one to qualify.
Still,
Warner Bros. has decided to issue it exclusively as a Warner Archive
Blu-ray, a bit shocking but so be it. Serious fans will go out of
their way to get it and looking and sounding this good will only
reestablish how good the film really is, intension, suspense and
otherwise.
Mike
Hodges' A
Prayer For The Dying
(1987) is a film about terrorism that all the creative people
involved may have disowned in its final theatrical release, but even
as a damaged work has its moments. Editing issues aside, John
Scott's music score was replaced by Bill Conti without their
permission and the promotion was awkward as a result. Mickey Rourke
in prime mode is very convincing as a an IRA hitman who is out to do
what he has to do, but a priest (Bob Hoskins of Long
Good Friday,
reviewed on Blu-ray elsewhere on this site) witnesses him
assassinating a target in a a cemetery he is part of. Instead of
getting killed himself, he vows not to reveal Rourke's character did
the killing, but other problems are on the way by way of a group of
gangsters led by Alan Bates.
The
film as it is juggles all the storylines well enough, though this is
not too complex, most people would have botched even this much in
these days of sloppy storytelling. The actors do give it their all
also including no less than Liam Neeson before Michael
Collins
(see the Blu-ray elsewhere on this
site), Sammi Davis, Cliff Bartholomew, Allison Doody, Peggy Aitchson
and Anthony Head, later of the Buffy
The Vampire
series, making a turn before fame not unlike Pierce Brosnan towards
the end of Long
Good Friday,
though Head first got notice for his series of Nescafe ads in the
U.K. and Taster's Choice ads for Nestle in the U.S. market.
I
was no big fan of the film when it came out and understood why the
makers were not happy that their original intents did not work out,
but there is enough in this Twilight Time Limited Edition Blu-ray to
see what they were trying to do and where to go. At least this was
an ambitious film about something.
Alfred
Hitchcock's Suspicion
(1941) is usually thought of a part of the films Hitch made with
Selznick International that includes Rebecca,
Notorious
and Spellbound
(all reviewed on Blu-ray elsewhere on this site), but this is
actually an RKO Radio Picture where Selznick 'lending out' Hitch to
the studio, who went all out to make a grade-A thriller.
Joan Fontaine (Rebecca)
is a woman who gets involved with Cary Grant, a well-off guy who
sweeps her off her feet, though she has led a sheltered life and he
has not. Everything seems fine, until she starts to find out he is
not being totally honest with her.
As
things get worse, it gets to the 'will he kiss me or will he kill me
point' that she is not certain if she can trust him. Nigel Bruce is
a big part of the film and its 'normal' side and how could such
things happen when people have so much wealth, money and 'happiness'
anyhow? As things move on, we have to wonder if she is not well or
catching onto the truth quicker than anyone around her.
Unfortunately, no matter what Hitch and company were setting up, RKO
were more interested in making big bucks and tacked on a phony ending
that does not match the rest of the film or the original intents of
the makers, making this one of the most infamous releases in the
studio's too-short life.
With
no alternate ending ever shot and.or discovered in the vaults, RKO
catalog owners Warner Bros. have issued this still very popular
Hitchcock hit as a Warner
Archive-only Blu-ray as prominent and important as I
Confess
or The
Wrong Man.
The truth is, most of this is still a really great film and worth
your time, especially in this upgraded release. We get plenty of
suspense, dark moments and even Hitchcock heading into a Noir
direction in the first year of the genre no one set out to invent.
Otto
Preminger's Where
The Sidewalk Ends
(1950) is yet another remarkable, classic Film Noir that established
the director as top rate and capable of very important work. Dana
Andrews is a cop who accidentally kills a suspect that turns out to
be a war hero in an altercation while dealing with another criminal
investigation and decides to cover it up. Gene Tierney plays the
woman who falls for him that he also wants, having also known her
father from an interesting police incident years before. This
becomes more difficult when the head police detective (Karl Malden
again, solid again) intends to follow every single clue until he
finds out how he died.
The
mystery is well set up, even after we know more than anyone by
Andrews, plus he has a vendetta with a local head gangster (Gary
Merrill) while his partner (Bert Freed) does his best to help him
out, even when he is unknowingly being used. Fox has allowed
Twilight Time to issue this as one of their Limited Edition Blu-rays
as well, showing that yet again, another gem has been too far
forgotten and in need of rediscovery. Up there with Laura,
which this film reunites many of the player with Preminger, this is
one of Preminger’s best films. Honest, brutal, realistic,
interesting and unnerving in unexpected ways, it is one of the great
Film Noirs and more of a Noir than Laura
in certain respects.
Tom
Tully, Ruth Donnelly, Craig Stevens and even Oleg Cassini also star
in this real Noir gem that everyone should see. [I'm almost running
out of superlatives here!]
Last
but not least is Peter Godfrey's Woman
In White
(1948), a lavish Noir-era retelling of one of the first-ever mystery
fiction tales by Wilkie Collins about a woman in trouble who keeps
showing up on the side of a road or home garden (circa 1859) first
encountered by a painter (a young Gig Young) warning her of evil.
Who is she? What secrets does she really know? Who or how many are
really up to no good? With everything looking so normal and peaceful
in the area of her appearances, what darkness lies behind the facade
and for the title character, what kind of gilded cage is this?
Made
in England, Eleanor Parker, Sydney Greenstreet, Agnes Moorehead,
Alexis Smith and John Emery make a great cast in what is easily the
best filmed (or taped for that matter) adaptation of the landmark,
classic novel that still retains its cleverness and is done here as
richly and darkly as we are ever likely to see it made. Yes, some
twists became genre conventions, but the makers play it as fresh and
with the energy all good mystery films need to work. Sure, it has a
few moments that may be dated or others that might be obvious to
genre fans, but it is worth a serious look and deserves rediscovery.
The
1080p 1.33 X 1 black & white digital High Definition image
transfers on Heat,
Sleep,
Confess,
Key,
Suspicion
and Sidewalk
are all truly impressive and remarkable, with Heat
looking as good as it did on its previous limited edition Blu-ray
release, Suspicion
having some of the roughest footage at times due to the times the RKO
catalog did not have the resources for preservation and restoration
it should have had and you can see differences in the monochrome
stocks, how they were developed (each studio had their own labs at
the time) and the different visual approaches. Still, they all have
their Noir look and moments, as well as some great demo moments in
every single case. Sure, you can
see the age of the materials used here and there as expected, but
this is far superior a transfer to all previous releases of the film
for films made to last by artists serious about visual storytelling.
The five making their debut will stun fans and only a really good
35mm (or maybe 16mm) film print could compete with what we get here.
The
1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image on Dying
has some minor signs of wear and parts of the print where you can
once again see the age of the materials used, but this is a more
well-shot film than it looked when I saw it a long time ago and
Director of Photography Michael Garfath (Nuns
On
The
Run,
Croupier)
uses the frame to create as much density as possible. The prints
were by MetroColor and this is a pretty good representation of that,
mostly consistent with some demo shots of its own.
The
1.33 X 1 image black & white image on Woman
is not bad for DVD or its age, though a little softer than I would
have liked, but a good-looking film like this deserves a Blu-ray HD
4K upgrade. Still, this is nice enough, even if its ranking last
place in playback quality here.
As
for sound, all Blu-rays offer DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) lossless sound
mixes and all are originally theatrical monophonic releases, save
Dying,
issued in old Dolby A-type analog surround. It is here in 2.0 Stereo
with Pro Logic-like surrounds, but you can here the sonic limits of
the soundtrack. However, since the music was changed against the
will of the director, some of what we get could be second generation
and unlike Twilight Time's amazing 1984
Blu-ray (see elsewhere on this site), the version with the original
score is not here.
Thus,
the 2.0 Mono on the rest of the Blu-rays can compete and are about
even with each other, save Confess,
whose audio is just a little rougher and aged than the rest.
Otherwise they all sound as fine as expected and the lossy Dolby
Digital 2.0 Mono on the Woman
DVD is able to tie it in overall performance, tying them for last
place with a few more source issues than Confess.
Both are key films that deserve serious clean-up and restoration
however, and I hope they get it down the line.
Extras
include Original Theatrical Trailers in all 8 releases, with all
three Twilight Time releases adding more, great, illustrated booklet
on the film including informative text and more, continuously
excellent, underrated essays by the great film scholar Julie Kirgo,
plus all 3 have always-welcome Isolated Music Scores. Heat
repeats all this from its previous, out-of-print Blu-ray edition, but
we get Michael Mann and Martin Scorsese on camera in separate
interview featurettes on why the film is great from an old DVD
version of the film and a brand new feature length audio commentary
track by Kirgo, Lem Dobbs and Nick Redman. This is now the
definitive version to own.
Sleep
adds an introduction by Robert Gitt, comparison of 1945 and 1946
versions and in its entirety, the older 1945 cut of the entire film!
Confess
adds a Premiere Newsreel and Making Of featurette of the film,
Hitchcock's
Confession: A Look At I
Confess,
Dying
adds on camera in separate interview featurettes on by Hodges and
Garfath, Suspicion
adds the Making Of featurette Before
The Fact: Suspicious Hitchcock
and
Sidewalk
adds an older feature length audio commentary track more than worth
your time by film scholar and
Noir expert Eddie Muller. Those are all great extras!
To
order The
Big Heat,
A
Prayer For The Dying
and Where
The Sidewalk Ends limited
edition Blu-rays, buy them and other exclusives while supplies last
at these links:
www.screenarchives.com
and
http://www.twilighttimemovies.com/
… and
to order any or all of the Warner Archive releases, go to this link
for them and many more great web-exclusive releases at:
https://www.warnerarchive.com/
-
Nicholas Sheffo