Columbia Pictures Film Noir Classics I (Big Heat/5 Against The House/The Lineup/Murder By Contract/The
Sniper/Sony DVD Set)
Picture: C+
Sound: C+ Extras: B Films: B
Columbia Pictures
Film Noir Classics I
is a solid set of five key Film Noir releases from the studio before they
became a major in the 1960s. Though
Fritz Lang’s The Big Heat (1953) is
a classic of the cycle and the most obvious choice for inclusion here, but the
studio was a prime force in what was a movement more than just a genre or
cycle. They were used to doing
low-budget films and had mastered them as much as the majors. These films helped to build the studio and
the rest is history.
The Sniper (1952) was produced by Stanley
Kramer and directed by an Edward Dmytryk who had just survived the Hollywood
Witch-hunts of the 1950s. The tale of a
sick man who is secretly a sniper who kills at random undetected was shot on
location in San Francisco and was dark, cutting-edge filmmaking and Dmytryk is
able to put it on screen effectively enough.
Arthur Franz is very convincing in the title role and the film is loaded
with impressive moments. Shot by
Director of Photography Burnett Guffey (Bonnie
& Clyde), the film is still ahead of its time and a great choice for
this set.
The Big Heat (1953) is the gutsy, violent Fritz
Lang thriller in which a family man and husband (Glenn Ford) who is also a
police officer willing o sacrifice everything he has to end the reign of terror
of a deadly mobster (Alexander Scourby) in one of Lang’s most successful
Hollywood films critically and commercially.
Gloria Grahame, Lee Martin, Jeanette Nolan, Jocelyn Brando and Carolyn
Jones are among the strong supporting cast.
Director of Photography Charles Lang, A.S.C., (Sudden Fear, One-Eyed Jack,
Charade, Wait Until Dark) does some of the best work of his amazing career.
5 Against The House (1955) is directed by the
underrated journeyman director Phil Karlson, whose work includes Kansas City Confidential, The Phenix City Story, Ben, the original Walking Tall and launching the TV version of The Untouchables. This Noir
is about a group of four friends (Guy Madison, Brian Keith, Kerwin Mathews and
Alvy Moore) going to Reno, Nevada for fun after Korean War duty. Along with a hot blonde (the great Kim
Novak), they decide to get involved in a heist, but it is not what they
expect. The film is based on the work of
Jack Finney, who wrote the story that became Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (1956, plus its sequels) and is well
laid out (adapted by John Barnwell, William Bowers and Producer Stirling
Silliphant), including making Reno
a character. Better than later comedy
versions of the same story, William Conrad also stars.
The Lineup (1958) also involves Silliphant,
but this time as the writer of this sort of variant of William Wyler’s The Desperate Hours (1955, reviewed
elsewhere on this site) but dirtier in Director Don Siegel’s tale of drug
trafficking gone mad leading to a family being held hostage when the killers
believe they have the product they need.
Eli Wallach is great as the evil head bad guy and we get more great
location work in San Francisco. Robert Keith, Richard Jaeckel and Mary
LaRoche also star.
Murder By Contract (1958) is the last but not least
other strong film here with Vince Edwards as Claude, a killer for hire who does
it without any problem whatsoever.
Director Irving Lerner (A Town
Called Hell) did all kinds of great work in Hollywood and this is one of the best times
he directed. Photographed by the great
cinematographer Lucien Ballard (House On
Telegraph Hill, City Of Fear, The Wild Bunch), there is much suspense
here and the film is so visually smart that it plays like a silent movie with a
clever score at times when it is not just outright silent. A gem in the last year of the Noir movement,
it is a great film to conclude this set with.
Herschel Bernardi, Kathie Browne and Michael Granger also star.
The 1.33 X 1 image on Heat
and Sniper, plus anamorphically
enhanced 1.85 X 1 image on House
(originally 1.66 X 1 in some listings), Sniper
and Lineup all are pretty good
looking with clean black and white presentations, though I expected the
widescreen films to have more detail and depth.
None of these are Blu-ray either, but look good for the format just the
same. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
throughout also is on the clean side, showing that Sony is spending the money
to take care of their archives.
Extras include the original theatrical trailer for all
films on their respective discs, Heat
include separate evaluations of the film in on-camera interviews with Michael
Mann and Martin Scorsese, Scorsese does the same for Sniper, which also has a feature length audio commentary by Eddie
Muller and on Contract, Lineup adds a fine on camera piece with
Director Christopher Nolan and feature length audio commentary by Eddie Muller
& James Ellroy.
- Nicholas Sheffo