“Now I’m through with land and the land’s through with me,” says world-weary mariner Donkeyman (Arthur Shields) in The Long Voyage Home, succinctly expressing the dichotomy that runs through John Ford’s 1940 drama. Adapted by Dudley Nichols from four of Eugene O’Neill’s one-act plays, the film is deeply concerned with the threshold between land and sea.
Even when in port, the men working on the SS Glencairn are largely confined to the British cargo ship, and for logical reasons, such as police and military restrictions during wartime. Yet, through the aura of despondence and alienation so strongly established by Gregg Toland’s almost spectral cinematography, the men’s entrapment takes on a metaphysical significance not unlike that of the bourgeois individuals unable to exit the dining room in Luis Buñuel’s The Exterminating Angel.
For all the isolation and deprivation endured by the sailors, The Long Voyage Home is,...
Even when in port, the men working on the SS Glencairn are largely confined to the British cargo ship, and for logical reasons, such as police and military restrictions during wartime. Yet, through the aura of despondence and alienation so strongly established by Gregg Toland’s almost spectral cinematography, the men’s entrapment takes on a metaphysical significance not unlike that of the bourgeois individuals unable to exit the dining room in Luis Buñuel’s The Exterminating Angel.
For all the isolation and deprivation endured by the sailors, The Long Voyage Home is,...
- 7/11/2023
- by Derek Smith
- Slant Magazine
Robert Benton and Paul Newman’s show-biz detective tale is one of the best-looking thrillers of 1998. With its star lineup of Susan Sarandon, Gene Hackman, Reese Witherspoon, Stockard Channing and James Garner, its the equivalent of a dog-eared comfy mystery paperback. The classic themes and stylistics are here, but in a new Hollywood where movie stars can get away with murder, and nobody seems to care. Everyone is excellent and the show quite enjoyable, even if it seems we’ve seen a lot of it before. A solid academic extra is the audio commentary by Alain Silver and James Ursini.
Twilight (1998)
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1998 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 94 min. / Street Date December 27, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95
Starring: Paul Newman, Susan Sarandon, Gene Hackman, Reese Witherspoon, Stockard Channing, James Garner, Giancarlo Esposito, Liev Schreiber, Margo Martindale, John Spencer, M. Emmet Walsh, Lewis Arquette, Jack Wallace.
Cinematography: Piotr Sobocinski
Production Designer: David Gropman...
Twilight (1998)
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1998 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 94 min. / Street Date December 27, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95
Starring: Paul Newman, Susan Sarandon, Gene Hackman, Reese Witherspoon, Stockard Channing, James Garner, Giancarlo Esposito, Liev Schreiber, Margo Martindale, John Spencer, M. Emmet Walsh, Lewis Arquette, Jack Wallace.
Cinematography: Piotr Sobocinski
Production Designer: David Gropman...
- 12/6/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Kirk Douglas and Rock Hudson can’t quite bring this all-star western fully to life, even with Robert Aldrich at the helm and a storyline that toys with (then) lurid, adult subject matter. Screen-written by Dalton Trumbo and filmed in Mexico, it perhaps packs too much edgy psychodrama into a simple cowboys & six-guns saga. Dorothy Malone and Carol Lynley give fine support and the locations are nice, as is Ernest Laszlo’s cinematography.
The Last Sunset
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1961 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 112 min. / Street Date October 12, 2021 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95
Starring: Rock Hudson, Kirk Douglas, Dorothy Malone, Joseph Cotten, Carol Lynley, Neville Brand, Regis Toomey, Rad Fulton (James Westmoreland), Adam Williams, Jack Elam, John Shay, José Torvay.
Cinematography: Ernest Laszlo
Art Directors: Alexander Golitzen, Alfred Sweeney
Film Editor: Michael Luciano
Original Music: Ernest Gold
Written by Dalton Trumbo from the novel Sundown at Crazy Horse by Howard Rigsby
Produced by Eugene Frenke,...
The Last Sunset
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1961 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 112 min. / Street Date October 12, 2021 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95
Starring: Rock Hudson, Kirk Douglas, Dorothy Malone, Joseph Cotten, Carol Lynley, Neville Brand, Regis Toomey, Rad Fulton (James Westmoreland), Adam Williams, Jack Elam, John Shay, José Torvay.
Cinematography: Ernest Laszlo
Art Directors: Alexander Golitzen, Alfred Sweeney
Film Editor: Michael Luciano
Original Music: Ernest Gold
Written by Dalton Trumbo from the novel Sundown at Crazy Horse by Howard Rigsby
Produced by Eugene Frenke,...
- 10/5/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
One of the most glamorous / unsavory films noir ever, this creepy tale of a master con-man undone by warped ambition was planned as a career-altering role for the big star Tyrone Power. Power plumbs the depths of personal degradation in terms that even today skew to the squeamish side of human experience. Almost as fascinating are the women Power uses, arrayed in dynamic contrast: Coleen Gray, Joan Blondell and Helen Walker. Yes, this is the movie about ‘The Geek’… Hollywood hadn’t been this intimate with the seamy underside of carnival life since Tod Browning’s Freaks. The disc extras include top contributions from James Ursini and Alain Silver, Imogen Sara Smith and even Coleen Gray.
Nightmare Alley
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 1078
1947 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 111 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date May 25, 2021 / 39.95
Starring: Tyrone Power, Coleen Gray, Joan Blondell, Helen Walker, Taylor Holmes, Mike Mazurki, Ian Keith,...
Nightmare Alley
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 1078
1947 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 111 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date May 25, 2021 / 39.95
Starring: Tyrone Power, Coleen Gray, Joan Blondell, Helen Walker, Taylor Holmes, Mike Mazurki, Ian Keith,...
- 5/11/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Robert Mitchum in Crossfire (1947) is available on Blu-ray from Warner Archive. Order it Here
Years of police work have taught Detective Finlay that where there’s crime, there’s motive. But he finds no usual motive when investigating a man’s death by beating. The man was killed because he was a Jew. “Hate,” Finlay says, “is like a gun.” Robert Young portrays Finlay, Robert Mitchum is a laconic army sergeant assisting in the investigation of G.I. suspects, and Robert Ryan plays a vicious bigot in a landmark film noir nominated for five Academy Awards®, including Best Picture. Edward Dmytryk directs, draping the genre’s stylistic backdrops and flourishes around a topic rarely before explored in films: anti-Semitism in the U.S. Here, Hollywood takes aim at injustice…and catches bigotry in a Crossfire.
Special Features: Commentary by Film Historians Alain Silver and James Ursini, with Audio Interview Excerpts...
Years of police work have taught Detective Finlay that where there’s crime, there’s motive. But he finds no usual motive when investigating a man’s death by beating. The man was killed because he was a Jew. “Hate,” Finlay says, “is like a gun.” Robert Young portrays Finlay, Robert Mitchum is a laconic army sergeant assisting in the investigation of G.I. suspects, and Robert Ryan plays a vicious bigot in a landmark film noir nominated for five Academy Awards®, including Best Picture. Edward Dmytryk directs, draping the genre’s stylistic backdrops and flourishes around a topic rarely before explored in films: anti-Semitism in the U.S. Here, Hollywood takes aim at injustice…and catches bigotry in a Crossfire.
Special Features: Commentary by Film Historians Alain Silver and James Ursini, with Audio Interview Excerpts...
- 3/10/2021
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Double your Diabolik and double your pleasure! … this Australian import chases a domestic disc onto the market after only a few months, but of course comes with irresistible new extras to tempt collectors and completists. Mario Bava’s funny, dynamic action thriller was the first feature to really capture the graphic art ‘feeling’ of comic panels — we wish he’d directed a whole series of Diabolik adventures. The evaluation section notes the small differences between this disc and the U.S. release from last April.
Danger Diabolik
Blu-ray
Viavision [Imprint]
1968 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 99 min. / Street Date October, 2020
Starring: John Phillip Law, Marisa Mell, Michel Piccoli, Adolfo Celi, Terry-Thomas, Mario Donen.
Cinematography: Antonio Rinaldi
Film Editor: Romana Fortini
Art Director: Flavio Mogherini
Original Music: Ennio Morricone
Written by Adriano Baracco, Mario Bava, Brian Degas, Tudor Gates,
Dino Maiuri story by Angela & Luciana Giussani
Produced by Dino De Laurentiis
Directed by Mario Bava...
Danger Diabolik
Blu-ray
Viavision [Imprint]
1968 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 99 min. / Street Date October, 2020
Starring: John Phillip Law, Marisa Mell, Michel Piccoli, Adolfo Celi, Terry-Thomas, Mario Donen.
Cinematography: Antonio Rinaldi
Film Editor: Romana Fortini
Art Director: Flavio Mogherini
Original Music: Ennio Morricone
Written by Adriano Baracco, Mario Bava, Brian Degas, Tudor Gates,
Dino Maiuri story by Angela & Luciana Giussani
Produced by Dino De Laurentiis
Directed by Mario Bava...
- 12/8/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Normal 0 false false false En-us X-none X-none
“Danger, Darkness, And Dames In High Defintion”
By Raymond Benson
Ding ding ding! Attention all lovers of film noir! The Warner Archive has released an outstanding 4-film Blu-ray collection of some of the best titles in this cinematic movement that ran from (approximately) 1941 to 1958. While author James Ellroy states in the included supplemental documentary, Film Noir: Bringing Darkness to Light, that noir began in “1945,” this is obviously incorrect. It would leave out such classics as one of the titles in the collection, as well as Double Indemnity and Laura. Film noir is generally accepted by most film scholars as beginning in 1941 with High Sierra and The Maltese Falcon.
Much debate and discussion proliferate among film historians and scholars about what film noir is. Foremost, it is Not a genre! It is mostly a style, along with thematic elements that define a group of...
“Danger, Darkness, And Dames In High Defintion”
By Raymond Benson
Ding ding ding! Attention all lovers of film noir! The Warner Archive has released an outstanding 4-film Blu-ray collection of some of the best titles in this cinematic movement that ran from (approximately) 1941 to 1958. While author James Ellroy states in the included supplemental documentary, Film Noir: Bringing Darkness to Light, that noir began in “1945,” this is obviously incorrect. It would leave out such classics as one of the titles in the collection, as well as Double Indemnity and Laura. Film noir is generally accepted by most film scholars as beginning in 1941 with High Sierra and The Maltese Falcon.
Much debate and discussion proliferate among film historians and scholars about what film noir is. Foremost, it is Not a genre! It is mostly a style, along with thematic elements that define a group of...
- 10/3/2020
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Hookers! Devil worshippers! A naughty teenage voyeur! A deadly knife, a lethal sedan and a chainsaw-wielding psychopath! Nasal Spray! CineSavant breaks with the disc-reviewing norm and abandons journalistic integrity. Well, not really, but it is a heck of a lot of fun to finally review a film I edited 32 years ago, on a happy moviemaking money-losing vacation from Cannon Films’ advertising department.
Night Visitor
Blu-ray
Scorpion Releasing
1989 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 93 min. / Street Date June (?), 2020 / available through Ronin Flix and Diabolik DVD / 22.99
Starring: Allen Garfield, Elliott Gould, Derek Rydall, Michael J. Pollard, Shannon Tweed, Richard Roundtree, Teresa Van der Woude, Teri Weigel, Scott Fults, Brooke Bundy, Henry Gibson, Kathryn Kimler, Kathleen Bailey.
Cinematography: Peter Jenson
Film Editor: Glenn Erickson
Original Music: Parmer Fuller
Art Direction: Gyongyver Sovago
Still Photographer: Elizabeth Ward
Unit Production Manager, Associate Producer: Richard J. Abramitis
Written by Randal Viscovich
Produced by Alain Silver
Directed by Rupert Hitzig...
Night Visitor
Blu-ray
Scorpion Releasing
1989 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 93 min. / Street Date June (?), 2020 / available through Ronin Flix and Diabolik DVD / 22.99
Starring: Allen Garfield, Elliott Gould, Derek Rydall, Michael J. Pollard, Shannon Tweed, Richard Roundtree, Teresa Van der Woude, Teri Weigel, Scott Fults, Brooke Bundy, Henry Gibson, Kathryn Kimler, Kathleen Bailey.
Cinematography: Peter Jenson
Film Editor: Glenn Erickson
Original Music: Parmer Fuller
Art Direction: Gyongyver Sovago
Still Photographer: Elizabeth Ward
Unit Production Manager, Associate Producer: Richard J. Abramitis
Written by Randal Viscovich
Produced by Alain Silver
Directed by Rupert Hitzig...
- 8/29/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Stars: Ralph Meeker, Nick Dennis, Maxine Cooper, Cloris Leachman, Gaby Rodgers | Written by A.I. Bezzerides | Directed by Robert Aldritch
Mike Hammer (Ralph Meeker) is driving down the freeway, minding his own business, when he almost hits a woman. Mike is a private investigator, and he knows trouble when he sees it, but he can’t just leave her in the road. His decision to stop and help triggers a confrontation with a group of thugs. When he comes around, the lady is dead – and Mike wants to know what the hell just happened.
With the help of his assistant and lover, Velda (Maxine Cooper), Mike takes a deep dive into the L.A. underworld. Scouring the backstreets, bars and boxing clubs, he uncovers a web of intrigue and violence, involving all the usual men of power, i.e. gangsters and cops. Countless bodies are left in the wake of his...
Mike Hammer (Ralph Meeker) is driving down the freeway, minding his own business, when he almost hits a woman. Mike is a private investigator, and he knows trouble when he sees it, but he can’t just leave her in the road. His decision to stop and help triggers a confrontation with a group of thugs. When he comes around, the lady is dead – and Mike wants to know what the hell just happened.
With the help of his assistant and lover, Velda (Maxine Cooper), Mike takes a deep dive into the L.A. underworld. Scouring the backstreets, bars and boxing clubs, he uncovers a web of intrigue and violence, involving all the usual men of power, i.e. gangsters and cops. Countless bodies are left in the wake of his...
- 8/15/2019
- by Rupert Harvey
- Nerdly
The Warner Archive comes through with a film noir gem that still has the power to make one’s skin crawl, as a pair of circus sharpshooters go on the lam, using their skills to pull off cheap robberies. The clammy feeling of being cut off from society, having no place to go, is expressed in near-existential terms. Peggy Cummins’ cheap tease Annie Laurie Starr promises John Dall’s Bart Tare eternal love, but what good are promises from a psycho?
Gun Crazy
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1949 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 87 min. / Street Date , 2018 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Peggy Cummins, John Dall, Berry Kroeger, Anabel Shaw, Harry Lewis, Nedrick Young, Rusty Tamblyn, Morris Carnovsky.
Cinematography: Russell Harlan
Film Editor: Harry Gerstad
Production Designer: Gordon Wiles
Original Music: Victor Young
Written by Dalton Trumbo and MacKinlay Kantor from his short story
Produced by Frank King, Maurice King
Directed by...
Gun Crazy
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1949 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 87 min. / Street Date , 2018 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Peggy Cummins, John Dall, Berry Kroeger, Anabel Shaw, Harry Lewis, Nedrick Young, Rusty Tamblyn, Morris Carnovsky.
Cinematography: Russell Harlan
Film Editor: Harry Gerstad
Production Designer: Gordon Wiles
Original Music: Victor Young
Written by Dalton Trumbo and MacKinlay Kantor from his short story
Produced by Frank King, Maurice King
Directed by...
- 5/15/2018
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Don’t look to this noir for hardboiled cynicism – for his first feature Nicholas Ray instead gives us a dose of fatalist romance. Transposed from the previous decade, a pair of fugitives takes what happiness they can find, always aware that a grim fate waits ahead. The show is a career-making triumph and a real classic from Rko — which shelved it for more than a year.
They Live by Night
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 880
1948 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 95 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date June 13, 2017 / 39.95
Starring: Cathy O’Donnell, Farley Granger, Howard Da Silva, Jay C. Flippen, Helen Craig, Will Wright, William Phipps, Ian Wolfe, Harry Harvey, Marie Bryant, Byron Foulger, Erskine Sanford .
Cinematography: George E. Diskant
Film Editor: Sherman Todd
Original Music: Leigh Harline
Written by Charles Schnee, Nicholas Ray from the novel Thieves Like Us by Edward Anderson
Produced by John Houseman
Directed by Nicholas Ray...
They Live by Night
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 880
1948 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 95 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date June 13, 2017 / 39.95
Starring: Cathy O’Donnell, Farley Granger, Howard Da Silva, Jay C. Flippen, Helen Craig, Will Wright, William Phipps, Ian Wolfe, Harry Harvey, Marie Bryant, Byron Foulger, Erskine Sanford .
Cinematography: George E. Diskant
Film Editor: Sherman Todd
Original Music: Leigh Harline
Written by Charles Schnee, Nicholas Ray from the novel Thieves Like Us by Edward Anderson
Produced by John Houseman
Directed by Nicholas Ray...
- 6/23/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
We have another busy week of home entertainment releases on the horizon, as there are over two dozen titles making their way to Blu-ray and DVD this Tuesday. For those of you cult film enthusiasts, you have a lot of options when it comes to adding items to your collections, as Alienator is being resurrected by Scream Factory, Arrow Video is unleashing a special edition set for Madhouse, and Mondo Macabre has given Paul Naschy’s Inquisition an HD overhaul as well.
As if that wasn’t enough, we also have new releases for The Hound of Baskervilles, Medusa, and Nicholas Ray’s classic noir They Live By Night to look forward to as well. For you TV lovers out there, the box sets for the final season of both The Vampire Diaries and Grimm are being released Tuesday, and for those who are on the hunt for some new action cinema,...
As if that wasn’t enough, we also have new releases for The Hound of Baskervilles, Medusa, and Nicholas Ray’s classic noir They Live By Night to look forward to as well. For you TV lovers out there, the box sets for the final season of both The Vampire Diaries and Grimm are being released Tuesday, and for those who are on the hunt for some new action cinema,...
- 6/12/2017
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
How did Kiss Me Deadly come to be restored? The real question should be, how did filmdom lose track of its original ending in the first place? Savant uncovers evidence that may explain when, and why, United Artists mutilated the finish of Robert Aldrich’s apocalyptic film noir.
(Note: The images below with text can be enlarged for reading, just click on them.)
Before home video the final home for Hollywood films was Television. Robert Aldrich’s 1955 Kiss Me Deadly never saw a theatrical reissue, and it dropped out of major TV visibility in 1962. I saw the documentation in United Artists’ legal folder on the film. To secure capital to launch more movies, Robert Aldrich sold all of his ‘Associates and Aldrich’ pictures back to UA after their original releases were concluded. More papers showed Kiss Me Deadly being included in at least two TV syndication packages, and then each time pointedly removed.
(Note: The images below with text can be enlarged for reading, just click on them.)
Before home video the final home for Hollywood films was Television. Robert Aldrich’s 1955 Kiss Me Deadly never saw a theatrical reissue, and it dropped out of major TV visibility in 1962. I saw the documentation in United Artists’ legal folder on the film. To secure capital to launch more movies, Robert Aldrich sold all of his ‘Associates and Aldrich’ pictures back to UA after their original releases were concluded. More papers showed Kiss Me Deadly being included in at least two TV syndication packages, and then each time pointedly removed.
- 5/13/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
We’re knocking on the door of summer, and that means lots of big properties are ready to be unleashed. But it’s not too late to read books exploring some recent films, as well as some new works about Sherry Lansing, film noir, and Steve McQueen. Let’s start with a unique look at David Lynch’s Twin Peaks.
The Essential Wrapped In Plastic: Pathways to Twin Peaks by John Thorne
When Twin Peaks debuted on ABC in 1990, there were no message boards in which fans could argue and dissect the latest episodes. Starting in 1992, however, there was Wrapped In Plastic, the immortal Peaks’ fanzine. Just in time for the series return on Showtime is The Essential Wrapped In Plastic: Pathways to Twin Peaks. Here, Wip co-editor John Thorne brings together some of the publication’s most vital, important essays. Every episode is included, but what makes the book...
The Essential Wrapped In Plastic: Pathways to Twin Peaks by John Thorne
When Twin Peaks debuted on ABC in 1990, there were no message boards in which fans could argue and dissect the latest episodes. Starting in 1992, however, there was Wrapped In Plastic, the immortal Peaks’ fanzine. Just in time for the series return on Showtime is The Essential Wrapped In Plastic: Pathways to Twin Peaks. Here, Wip co-editor John Thorne brings together some of the publication’s most vital, important essays. Every episode is included, but what makes the book...
- 5/6/2017
- by Christopher Schobert
- The Film Stage
This is the ultimate in screen sadism circa 1947, and it’s all in the debut film performance of Richard Widmark as a too-nasty-for-words hood who likes to shoot people in the stomach. Actually, Victor Mature is not bad in a grim story of a stool pigeon that tries to square himself with the law, and finds himself a target for mob murder.
Kiss of Death
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1947 / B&W / 1:37 flat full frame / 98 min. / Street Date February 7, 2017 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store 29.95
Starring: Victor Mature, Brian Donlevy, Coleen Gray, Richard Widmark, Taylor Holmes, Karl Malden, Mildred Dunnock
Cinematography: Norbert Brodine
Art Direction: Leland Fuller, Lyle Wheeler
Film Editor: J. Watson Webb Jr.
Original Music: David Buttolph
Written by Ben Hecht, Charles Lederer, Eleazar Lipsky
Produced by Fred Kohlmar
Directed by Henry Hathaway
The older they get, the better they look. Henry Hathaway’s Kiss of Death is...
Kiss of Death
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1947 / B&W / 1:37 flat full frame / 98 min. / Street Date February 7, 2017 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store 29.95
Starring: Victor Mature, Brian Donlevy, Coleen Gray, Richard Widmark, Taylor Holmes, Karl Malden, Mildred Dunnock
Cinematography: Norbert Brodine
Art Direction: Leland Fuller, Lyle Wheeler
Film Editor: J. Watson Webb Jr.
Original Music: David Buttolph
Written by Ben Hecht, Charles Lederer, Eleazar Lipsky
Produced by Fred Kohlmar
Directed by Henry Hathaway
The older they get, the better they look. Henry Hathaway’s Kiss of Death is...
- 2/28/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Just what is the dreaded ‘Process 97’? Henry Hathaway’s docu-drama combined newsreel ‘reality’ with a true espionage story from the files of the F.B.I., creating a thriller about spies and atom secrets that dazzled the film-going public. But how much of it was true, and how much invented?
The House on 92nd Street
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1945 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 88 min. / Street Date November 15, 2016 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring William Eythe, Lloyd Nolan, Signe Hasso, Gene Lockhart, Leo G. Carroll, Lydia St. Clair, William Post Jr., Harry Bellaver, Bruno Wick, Harro Meller, Charles Wagenheim, Alfred Linder, Renee Carson, Paul Ford, Vincent Gardenia, Reed Hadley, E.G. Marshall, Elisabeth Neumann-Viertel.
Cinematography Norbert Brodine
Film Editor Harmon Jones
Original Music David Buttolph
Written by Barré Lyndon, Charles G. Booth, John Monks Jr.
Produced by Louis De Rochemont
Directed by Henry Hathaway
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
I can’t believe...
The House on 92nd Street
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1945 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 88 min. / Street Date November 15, 2016 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring William Eythe, Lloyd Nolan, Signe Hasso, Gene Lockhart, Leo G. Carroll, Lydia St. Clair, William Post Jr., Harry Bellaver, Bruno Wick, Harro Meller, Charles Wagenheim, Alfred Linder, Renee Carson, Paul Ford, Vincent Gardenia, Reed Hadley, E.G. Marshall, Elisabeth Neumann-Viertel.
Cinematography Norbert Brodine
Film Editor Harmon Jones
Original Music David Buttolph
Written by Barré Lyndon, Charles G. Booth, John Monks Jr.
Produced by Louis De Rochemont
Directed by Henry Hathaway
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
I can’t believe...
- 12/10/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
It’s the most wonderful time of the year for film fans, with some of the best films of the year in theaters and lots of elaborate and thoroughly-researched books to read. This rundown has real variety, with new and recent texts covering cinema history, TV greats, and, of course, Star Wars. Note that one of this year’s finest books, The Oliver Stone Experience (Abrams Books), was covered by The Film Stage in September via an interview with author Matt Zoller Seitz. Make sure to check out Experience, and see below for another fine selection from the prolific Seitz.
Star Wars Year by Year: A Visual History, Updated Edition by Daniel Wallace (Dk Publishing)
It’s a fantastic idea: a book that offers a timeline not of the Star Wars story, but of the Star Wars phenomenon. This newly updated edition of the 2010 release now includes recent works like...
Star Wars Year by Year: A Visual History, Updated Edition by Daniel Wallace (Dk Publishing)
It’s a fantastic idea: a book that offers a timeline not of the Star Wars story, but of the Star Wars phenomenon. This newly updated edition of the 2010 release now includes recent works like...
- 12/1/2016
- by Christopher Schobert
- The Film Stage
Elia Kazan's third picture is a hard-hitting noir, a true story that honors the efforts of a noble States' Attorney when confronted with a murder case that was a little too open-and-shut. But a close read of the movie uncovers a miasma of social criticism, hiding behind the self-congratulating official narration. A great show. Boomerang! Blu-ray Kl Studio Classics 1947 / B&W / 1:37 flat full frame / 88 min. / Street Date November 15, 2016 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring Dana Andrews, Jane Wyatt, Lee J. Cobb, Sam Levene, Arthur Kennedy, Cara Williams, Ed Begley, Taylor Holmes, Robert Keith. Cinematography Norbert Brodine Art Direction Richard Day, Chester Gore Film Editor Harmon Jones Original Music David Buttolph Written by Richard Murphy from an article in The Reader's Digest by Anthony Abbot (Fulton Oursier) Produced by Louis De Rochemont, Darryl F. Zanuck Directed by Elia Kazan
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
In just his second movie, director...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
In just his second movie, director...
- 11/15/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Otto Preminger looks at police corruption and comes up with a classy noir starring Dana Andrews as a rogue cop and Gene Tierney as the woman whose father he accidentally frames for murder. With Karl Malden, Gary Merrill and velvety-slick B&W cinematography by Joseph Lashelle. Where the Sidewalk Ends Blu-ray Twilight Time Limited Edition 1950 / B&W / 1:37 Academy / 95 min. / Ship Date February 9, 2016 / available through Twilight Time Movies / 29.95 Starring Dana Andrews, Gene Tierney, Gary Merrill, Bert Freed, Tom Tully, Karl Malden, Ruth Donnelly, Craig Stevens. Cinematography Joseph Lashelle Art Direction J. Russell Spencer, Lyle Wheeler Film Editor Louis R. Loeffler Original Music Cyril J. Mockridge Written by Ben Hecht, Robert E. Kent, Frank P. Rosenberg, Victor Trivas from the novel Night Cry by William L. Stuart Produced and Directed by Otto Preminger
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Want to see an example of a gloriously polished studio production, a film noir...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Want to see an example of a gloriously polished studio production, a film noir...
- 2/21/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
(Region B) It's just like the film industry, I tell ya! Director Jules Dassin teams with writer A.I. Bezzerides for one of filmdom's strongest slams at the free market system. Trucker Richard Conte fights back when cheated and robbed by Lee J. Cobb's racketeering produce czar. Thieves' Highway Region B Blu-ray + Pal DVD Arrow Video (UK) 1949 / B&W / 1:37 Academy / 94 min. / Street Date October 20, 2015 / Available at Amazon UK / £14.99 Starring Richard Conte, Valentina Cortese, Lee J. Cobb, Barbara Lawrence, Jack Oakie, Millard Mitchell, Joseph Pevney, Morris Carnovsky Cinematography Norbert Brodine Art Direction Chester Gore, Lyle Wheeler Film Editor Nick DeMaggio Original Music Alfred Newman Written by A.I. Bezzerides from his novel Thieves' Market Produced by Robert Bassler Directed by Jules Dassin
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Did Jules Dassin initiate his string of studio produced films noirs, each of which has a strong element of social criticism, if not outright condemnation of 'the system?...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Did Jules Dassin initiate his string of studio produced films noirs, each of which has a strong element of social criticism, if not outright condemnation of 'the system?...
- 11/3/2015
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
As far as Hollywood was concerned, hardboiled pulp author Raymond Chandler was big news in 1944 and 1945, working with Billy Wilder on the Production Code breakthrough hit Double Indemnity, and getting two of his popular Philip Marlowe books transposed to the screen -- and not completely shorn of their racy content. Savant Blu-ray Review The Warner Archive Collection Warner Archive Collection 1944 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 95 min. / Street Date September 15, 2015 / available through the WBshop / 21.99 Starring Dick Powell, Claire Trevor, Anne Shirley, Otto Kruger, Mike Mazurki. Cinematography Harry J. Wild Art Direction Carroll Clark, Albert S. D'Agostino Film Editor Joseph Noriega Original Music Roy Webb Written by John Paxton from Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler Produced by Sid Rogell, Adrian Scott Directed by Edward Dmytryk
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Many films noirs seem to come from the same stylistic universe, in terms of themes and visuals. But a few of the...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Many films noirs seem to come from the same stylistic universe, in terms of themes and visuals. But a few of the...
- 9/1/2015
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Olivia de Havilland on Turner Classic Movies: Your chance to watch 'The Adventures of Robin Hood' for the 384th time Olivia de Havilland is Turner Classic Movies' “Summer Under the Stars” star today, Aug. 2, '15. The two-time Best Actress Oscar winner (To Each His Own, 1946; The Heiress, 1949) whose steely determination helped to change the way studios handled their contract players turned 99 last July 1. Unfortunately, TCM isn't showing any de Havilland movie rarities, e.g., Universal's cool thriller The Dark Mirror (1946), the Paramount comedy The Well-Groomed Bride (1947), or Terence Young's British-made That Lady (1955), with de Havilland as eye-patch-wearing Spanish princess Ana de Mendoza. On the other hand, you'll be able to catch for the 384th time a demure Olivia de Havilland being romanced by a dashing Errol Flynn in The Adventures of Robin Hood, as TCM shows this 1938 period adventure classic just about every month. But who's complaining? One the...
- 8/3/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Robert Montgomery’s 1947 sophomore film, Ride the Pink Horse is an exciting film noir gem ripe for rediscovery, available on Blu-ray for the first time courtesy of Criterion’s digital restoration. Best known as a comedic actor and Oscar nominated for roles in Night Must Fall (1937) and Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941), Montgomery would eventually direct a handful of titles mostly neglected by the passage of time with the exception of his first directorial credit, the experimental noir Lady in the Lake (as the film is presented entirely from the point of view of its protagonist, as if we’re looking directly through his eyes), an adaptation of a Raymond Chandler novel. Lady premiered earlier in the very same year, and though it is often referenced for its structural technique, it’s his follow-up title that’s more impressive, as unique and off kilter as its enigmatic title.
Former GI Lucky...
Former GI Lucky...
- 3/17/2015
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
“Border Town Noir”
By Raymond Benson
Most film noir pictures take place in urban centers—New York City, Los Angeles—where the big city is as much a character as the unhappy humans in these often bleak and brutal, sometimes brilliant, Hollywood crime films that spanned the early forties to the late fifties. Film noir peaked in the latter half of the forties, with an abundance of the classic titles released between 1946-1948.
One of the more unique things about Ride the Pink Horse is that the urban setting is gone. Instead, the action is set in a border town in New Mexico, where there is indeed danger, to be sure, but there’s also a little less pessimism among the inhabitants—unlike in the urban noirs in which everyone’s a cynic. Interestingly, one might say that the “border town noir” could be a sub-set of the broader category,...
By Raymond Benson
Most film noir pictures take place in urban centers—New York City, Los Angeles—where the big city is as much a character as the unhappy humans in these often bleak and brutal, sometimes brilliant, Hollywood crime films that spanned the early forties to the late fifties. Film noir peaked in the latter half of the forties, with an abundance of the classic titles released between 1946-1948.
One of the more unique things about Ride the Pink Horse is that the urban setting is gone. Instead, the action is set in a border town in New Mexico, where there is indeed danger, to be sure, but there’s also a little less pessimism among the inhabitants—unlike in the urban noirs in which everyone’s a cynic. Interestingly, one might say that the “border town noir” could be a sub-set of the broader category,...
- 3/12/2015
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
He Walked by Night
Written by John C. Higgins and Crane Wilbur
Directed by Alfred L. Werker and Anthony Mann
U.S.A., 1948
The very long and arduous investigation tasked of Los Angeles police captain Breen (Roy Roberts) and Sergeant Merty Brennan (Scott Brady) begins on a quiet night, on a quiet street when aspiring criminal guru Roy Martin (Richard Basehart) is accosted by a patrolling officer after the latter sees him trying to break into an electronics shop. Roy is prepared for the confrontation, surprising the unfortunate law enforcement representative with his pistol, killing the man in the process. With one of their own gunned down mercilessly, Captain Breen and Sgt. Brennan tackle one of the most difficult cases of their careers, a story inspired by the newspaper headlines of the time when in 1945 and 1946 a former police officer and army veteran Erwin Walker took the city by storm...
Written by John C. Higgins and Crane Wilbur
Directed by Alfred L. Werker and Anthony Mann
U.S.A., 1948
The very long and arduous investigation tasked of Los Angeles police captain Breen (Roy Roberts) and Sergeant Merty Brennan (Scott Brady) begins on a quiet night, on a quiet street when aspiring criminal guru Roy Martin (Richard Basehart) is accosted by a patrolling officer after the latter sees him trying to break into an electronics shop. Roy is prepared for the confrontation, surprising the unfortunate law enforcement representative with his pistol, killing the man in the process. With one of their own gunned down mercilessly, Captain Breen and Sgt. Brennan tackle one of the most difficult cases of their careers, a story inspired by the newspaper headlines of the time when in 1945 and 1946 a former police officer and army veteran Erwin Walker took the city by storm...
- 2/6/2015
- by Edgar Chaput
- SoundOnSight
Film noir. What is it? What are its defining characteristics? What films best express its qualities? Sex appeal, violence, cynicism, anti-heroes, femmes fatales, bleak commentary on modern society, maddening twists of fate that perpetuate one’s misery, running away from danger yet never making any ground…noir is and represents a wide variety of things, so much so that film experts do not even agree on whether it is a genre unto itself. (Two of the leading voices, James Ursini and Alain Silver, agree that it represents a movement rather than a definable genre.) For well over two years now, Sound on Sight has hosted the Friday Noir column which, on a near-weekly basis, has covered a great many noir entries of the commonly recognized classic period (1941 to 1959) as well as sizable portion of neo-noirs. Slowly and steadily, the column has explored the extremely exhaustive catalogue of titles with still many to come.
- 5/2/2014
- by Edgar Chaput
- SoundOnSight
Born to Kill
Written by Eve Greene and Richard Macaulay
Directed by Robert Wise
U.S.A., 1947
Helen Brent (Claire Trevor) is in Reno, Nevada for a few days to settle a divorce. She stays at a nearby ‘bed and breakfast’ type establishment where the fun natured caretaker Mrs. Kraft (Esther Howard) and neighbor Laurey Palmer (Isabel Jewell) seem to spend more time drinking and laughing than anything else. Upon visiting a casino one evening, Helen makes eye contact with a tall, square-jawed handsome man named Sam Wilde (Lawrence Tierney), whose family name suites him perfectly. Sam, prone to violent outbursts driven by jealousy and lust, knows Laurey too, even having dated her. When discovering she has a new boyfriend, Sam murders them both in cold blood in a manner that would make Jason Voorhees proud. Sam them follows Helen to San Francisco, hoping to cozy up with the her as well.
Written by Eve Greene and Richard Macaulay
Directed by Robert Wise
U.S.A., 1947
Helen Brent (Claire Trevor) is in Reno, Nevada for a few days to settle a divorce. She stays at a nearby ‘bed and breakfast’ type establishment where the fun natured caretaker Mrs. Kraft (Esther Howard) and neighbor Laurey Palmer (Isabel Jewell) seem to spend more time drinking and laughing than anything else. Upon visiting a casino one evening, Helen makes eye contact with a tall, square-jawed handsome man named Sam Wilde (Lawrence Tierney), whose family name suites him perfectly. Sam, prone to violent outbursts driven by jealousy and lust, knows Laurey too, even having dated her. When discovering she has a new boyfriend, Sam murders them both in cold blood in a manner that would make Jason Voorhees proud. Sam them follows Helen to San Francisco, hoping to cozy up with the her as well.
- 12/13/2013
- by Edgar Chaput
- SoundOnSight
A periodic round up of interesting and notable books about film, including biographies, histories, critical assessments, and more.
I have to confess from the off that, apart from Daniel Day-Lewis’ typically spellbinding performance (if that’s even the right word for what he does) and the meticulous detail and cinematography that made the film a joy to look at, Stephen Spielberg’s Lincoln left me rather cold; perhaps if I had read Lincoln: A Cinematic and Historical Companion (Disney Editions, distributed in the UK by Turnaround www.turnarounduk.com) beforehand, my viewing experience would have been richer and more rewarding.
The book opens with earnest forewards by Spielberg and producer Kathleen Kennedy, and is thereafter divided into two sections, each in two parts. Part One, ‘Players on the Stage of History’, features full page colour photos of the film’s main players in the style of 19th century portraiture, which...
I have to confess from the off that, apart from Daniel Day-Lewis’ typically spellbinding performance (if that’s even the right word for what he does) and the meticulous detail and cinematography that made the film a joy to look at, Stephen Spielberg’s Lincoln left me rather cold; perhaps if I had read Lincoln: A Cinematic and Historical Companion (Disney Editions, distributed in the UK by Turnaround www.turnarounduk.com) beforehand, my viewing experience would have been richer and more rewarding.
The book opens with earnest forewards by Spielberg and producer Kathleen Kennedy, and is thereafter divided into two sections, each in two parts. Part One, ‘Players on the Stage of History’, features full page colour photos of the film’s main players in the style of 19th century portraiture, which...
- 6/3/2013
- by Ian Gilchrist
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Out of the Past
Written by Daniel Mainwaring
Directed by Jacques Tourneur
U.S.A., 1947
Sometimes, there is no eluding one’s past, regardless of how hard one tries. The reasons are numerous. Perhaps the emotional and psychological weight of an event in one’s life are too great to shake off. In other instances the shackles exist because an individual is condemned to spend years actively correcting previous errors in judgement in the hopes of earning long sought after redemption. There exists another set of circumstances, the most deceptively simple of the lot, that being when a person merely walks away from an embarrassing, shameful and deeply regrettable episode, but deliberately creating separation from their history is no guarantee that the old ghosts will acquiesce to letting them be. When one least expects it, a new challenge presents itself from…Out of the Past.
Jeff Baily (Robert Mitchum) has...
Written by Daniel Mainwaring
Directed by Jacques Tourneur
U.S.A., 1947
Sometimes, there is no eluding one’s past, regardless of how hard one tries. The reasons are numerous. Perhaps the emotional and psychological weight of an event in one’s life are too great to shake off. In other instances the shackles exist because an individual is condemned to spend years actively correcting previous errors in judgement in the hopes of earning long sought after redemption. There exists another set of circumstances, the most deceptively simple of the lot, that being when a person merely walks away from an embarrassing, shameful and deeply regrettable episode, but deliberately creating separation from their history is no guarantee that the old ghosts will acquiesce to letting them be. When one least expects it, a new challenge presents itself from…Out of the Past.
Jeff Baily (Robert Mitchum) has...
- 3/22/2013
- by Edgar Chaput
- SoundOnSight
By Lee Pfeiffer
It was a long road for John Steinbeck's 1947 bestseller The Wayward Bus to make it on to the silver screen. The steamy novel about sexually frustrated people who find themselves on an arduous bus ride over dangerous terrain was considered too steamy to adapt to film. At various stages George Stevens and Howard Hawks were involved in film adaptations that never saw fruition. By the time censorship had been relaxed, it was the late 1950s and Fox finally decided to push the envelope by financing the film at the urging of Darryl F. Zanuck, now an independent producer. What emerged was a pale shadow of once-prestigious product. Gone were Stevens, Hawks and Marlon Brando, who was once attached to the film. Instead, an unknown director, Victor Vicas, convinced Zanuck and Fox to allow him to helm the movie. The cast is still impressive, with two of...
It was a long road for John Steinbeck's 1947 bestseller The Wayward Bus to make it on to the silver screen. The steamy novel about sexually frustrated people who find themselves on an arduous bus ride over dangerous terrain was considered too steamy to adapt to film. At various stages George Stevens and Howard Hawks were involved in film adaptations that never saw fruition. By the time censorship had been relaxed, it was the late 1950s and Fox finally decided to push the envelope by financing the film at the urging of Darryl F. Zanuck, now an independent producer. What emerged was a pale shadow of once-prestigious product. Gone were Stevens, Hawks and Marlon Brando, who was once attached to the film. Instead, an unknown director, Victor Vicas, convinced Zanuck and Fox to allow him to helm the movie. The cast is still impressive, with two of...
- 8/12/2012
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
I always find difficulty in reviewing informative literature, as these works tend to either stink of languor or come across as so perfectly written that the idea of critiquing it becomes an intimidating notion. Alain Silver and James Ursini fit more within the confines of the latter than the former, but the current edition of Vampire Film is admittedly infectious, and very enjoyable; even as a typical guy whos ridiculously far from obsessed wi…...
- 12/6/2011
- Horrorbid
"At least you can see they're really trying to make a good festival," commented, with typical dry wit, one of the (very) few international colleagues the Brigade considers at least something of a crypto-Ferronian. Hard to argue with that, as Locarno's program still shows the signs of having to battle back and forth with the two heaviest lifters on the festival calendar, Cannes and Venice—yet mostly, the Ferroni Brigade had a grand time this year.
Of course, more often then not, when dispirited acquaintances met a merry Brigadier in between screenings, the answer to their inevitable question would be: "Coming from (and returning to) a retrospective, of course!"—but also among new films, we ended up with more truly interesting stuff than in the previous year. Not all of it true donkey material, for different reasons. Nevertheless, there were quite a few Ferronian pleasures out there, some of them more touching than others,...
Of course, more often then not, when dispirited acquaintances met a merry Brigadier in between screenings, the answer to their inevitable question would be: "Coming from (and returning to) a retrospective, of course!"—but also among new films, we ended up with more truly interesting stuff than in the previous year. Not all of it true donkey material, for different reasons. Nevertheless, there were quite a few Ferronian pleasures out there, some of them more touching than others,...
- 9/21/2011
- MUBI
Publishers Limelight Editions will be releasing The Vampire Film: From Nosferatu to True Blood in book form today (September 20th). This paperback incorporates an analysis of 700 plus films, 800 photos and 488 pages of vampire lore from the beginning of recorded film to the present. Included in the book are films like Underworld, Van Helsing, I Am Legend and Let the Right One In. From television there is coverage of "Buffy: The Vampire Slayer," "True Blood," and "The Vampire Diaries." This is a co creation from authors Alain Silver and James Ursini.
Now, Limelight Editions would like to give one vampire fan a copy of the book to take with them from haunt to haunt. Requirements for entering this contest are simple. Entrants must be of Canadian or American citizenship. As well, entrants must be a fan of 28Dla on Facebook or a follower of 28Dla on Twitter. Also, entrants must name...
Now, Limelight Editions would like to give one vampire fan a copy of the book to take with them from haunt to haunt. Requirements for entering this contest are simple. Entrants must be of Canadian or American citizenship. As well, entrants must be a fan of 28Dla on Facebook or a follower of 28Dla on Twitter. Also, entrants must name...
- 9/20/2011
- by noreply@blogger.com (Michael Allen)
- 28 Days Later Analysis
Chicago – Very few movies are as wonderfully weird as “Kiss Me Deadly,” a film that clearly influenced decades of work that would follow from “Blue Velvet” to “The Adjustment Bureau.” Recently released in a beautiful Criterion edition, “Kiss Me Deadly” is a film that history almost forgot but that found its way to the right people who recognized this unique gem as something worth cherishing. It’s a perfect choice for the most important collection of films released on Blu-ray and DVD as it’s a classic less-heralded than some that will now be brought to a wider, adoring audience.
Blu-Ray Rating: 5.0/5.0
Based on the book by Mickey Spillane, “Kiss Me Deadly” probably seemed like just another noir when it was released but history has re-appraised the film as a fascinating funhouse mirror of the Cold War fears so prevalent at the time of its release in 1955. Directed by Robert Aldrich...
Blu-Ray Rating: 5.0/5.0
Based on the book by Mickey Spillane, “Kiss Me Deadly” probably seemed like just another noir when it was released but history has re-appraised the film as a fascinating funhouse mirror of the Cold War fears so prevalent at the time of its release in 1955. Directed by Robert Aldrich...
- 7/5/2011
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Kiss Me Deadly Directed by: Robert Aldrich Written by: A.I. Bezzerides Starring: Ralph Meeker, Albert Dekker, Paul Stewart, Cloris Leachman It doesn't take a film noir connoisseur -- of which I am not -- to realize that Kiss Me Deadly is one of the strangest, darkest, and most influential entries in the popular pulp sub-genre. Robert Aldrich's bleak tale of intrigue and cold war paranoia slowly burns in stark black and white, eventually exploding on screen in an unforgettable finale that left everybody asking 'what's in the box?' long before Brad Pitt or Quentin Tarantino. The film opens with a young Cloris Leachman (in her feature film debut), running through the streets wearing nothing but a trench coat. In a fit of desperation, she stands in the middle of the road in an attempt to flag down an oncoming car, sending it swerving into the dirt. The passenger...
- 6/30/2011
- by Jay C.
- FilmJunk
If 75% of movies were like Robert Aldrich's Kiss Me Deadly I could watch one a day and never get bored. Of course, with the long line of noir crime thrillers out there that wouldn't be too hard to do, but at the same time this is just one more example of a kind of film that just isn't being made any longer.
However, you can look at several of today's films and see how films such as Kiss Me Deadly informed them. For starters, anyone that's seen Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction has already seen a piece of Kiss Me Deadly in the form of the mysterious glowing briefcase. Now the contents of the two cases may be entirely different, but as a storytelling device it's an example of how the greats of today never stray too far from what has worked throughout time in an effort to keep audiences on edge.
However, you can look at several of today's films and see how films such as Kiss Me Deadly informed them. For starters, anyone that's seen Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction has already seen a piece of Kiss Me Deadly in the form of the mysterious glowing briefcase. Now the contents of the two cases may be entirely different, but as a storytelling device it's an example of how the greats of today never stray too far from what has worked throughout time in an effort to keep audiences on edge.
- 6/21/2011
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
"Kiss Me Deadly," out today in a new Blu-ray and DVD edition from The Criterion Collection, is the ultimate film noir, an example of the form at its bleakest and blackest. Everything about it is extreme, from the amorality of its greedy, violent hero to the sexuality of its femme fatales, whose distinctly carnal heavy breathing provides the soundtrack to the opening credits.
Those credits made our list of the greatest opening titles in history. They begin with Mickey Spillaine's famous private eye Mike Hammer (Ralph Meeker) as he nearly runs over Cloris Leachman's Christina Bailey, naked except for a man's trenchcoat, on a deserted stretch of road outside Los Angeles. He gives her a lift and as she catches her breath (or has an orgasm; from the sound alone, it's tough to say) the credits scroll on screen from top to bottom with the words arranged from bottom to top.
Those credits made our list of the greatest opening titles in history. They begin with Mickey Spillaine's famous private eye Mike Hammer (Ralph Meeker) as he nearly runs over Cloris Leachman's Christina Bailey, naked except for a man's trenchcoat, on a deserted stretch of road outside Los Angeles. He gives her a lift and as she catches her breath (or has an orgasm; from the sound alone, it's tough to say) the credits scroll on screen from top to bottom with the words arranged from bottom to top.
- 6/21/2011
- by Matt Singer
- ifc.com
DVD Playhouse June 2011
By
Allen Gardner
Kiss Me Deadly (Criterion) Robert Aldrich’s 1955 reinvention of the film noir detective story is one of cinema’s great genre mash-ups: part hardboiled noir; part cold war paranoid thriller; and part science- fiction. Ralph Meeker plays Mickey Spillane’s fascist detective Mike Hammer as a narcissistic simian thug, a sadist who would rather smash a suspect’s fingers than make love to the bevvy of beautiful dames that cross his path. In fact, the only time you see a smile cross Meeker’s sneering mug is when he’s doling out pain, with a vengeance. When a terrified young woman (Cloris Leachman, film debut) literally crossed Hammer’s path one night, and later turns up dead, he vows to get to the bottom of her brutal demise. One of the most influential films ever made, and perhaps the most-cited film by the architects...
By
Allen Gardner
Kiss Me Deadly (Criterion) Robert Aldrich’s 1955 reinvention of the film noir detective story is one of cinema’s great genre mash-ups: part hardboiled noir; part cold war paranoid thriller; and part science- fiction. Ralph Meeker plays Mickey Spillane’s fascist detective Mike Hammer as a narcissistic simian thug, a sadist who would rather smash a suspect’s fingers than make love to the bevvy of beautiful dames that cross his path. In fact, the only time you see a smile cross Meeker’s sneering mug is when he’s doling out pain, with a vengeance. When a terrified young woman (Cloris Leachman, film debut) literally crossed Hammer’s path one night, and later turns up dead, he vows to get to the bottom of her brutal demise. One of the most influential films ever made, and perhaps the most-cited film by the architects...
- 6/11/2011
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
The Criterion Collection turns down the lights to honor one of the great film noirs, Kiss Me Deadly, which will be released on Blu-ray and DVD on June 21.
Ralph Meeker (r.) gets grilled in Kiss Me Deadly (1955).
In this 1955 movie adaptation of Mickey Spillane’s novel, the good manners of the 1950s are blown to smithereens. Directed by Robert Aldrich (The Killing of Sister George), Kiss Me Deadly stars Ralph Meeker (Paths of Glory) as snarling private dick Mike Hammer, whose decision one dark, lonely night to pick up a hitchhiking woman sends him down some terrifying byways.
Brazen and bleak, the movie is a film noir masterpiece as well as an essential piece of cold war paranoia, and it features as nervy an ending as has ever been seen in American cinema.
The Blu-ray and DVD carry the list prices of $39.95 and $29.95, respectively.
As with all of Criterion’s discs,...
Ralph Meeker (r.) gets grilled in Kiss Me Deadly (1955).
In this 1955 movie adaptation of Mickey Spillane’s novel, the good manners of the 1950s are blown to smithereens. Directed by Robert Aldrich (The Killing of Sister George), Kiss Me Deadly stars Ralph Meeker (Paths of Glory) as snarling private dick Mike Hammer, whose decision one dark, lonely night to pick up a hitchhiking woman sends him down some terrifying byways.
Brazen and bleak, the movie is a film noir masterpiece as well as an essential piece of cold war paranoia, and it features as nervy an ending as has ever been seen in American cinema.
The Blu-ray and DVD carry the list prices of $39.95 and $29.95, respectively.
As with all of Criterion’s discs,...
- 3/16/2011
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
It always manages to amaze me how fast the months fly by, it seems like only yesterday we were announcing the May 2011 Criterion Collection titles, and here we are with June’s. This month continues Criterion’s recent trend of increasing the new titles selection, and bringing an amazing director to the Eclipse Series.
Let’s go through all of the new titles first this time. Earlier this year, Criterion released their “wacky new years” drawing, hinting at a couple of titles that we are finally getting to see made official this June. In that drawing we had an image of Marilyn Monroe with Albert Einstein’s head, hinting at Nicolas Roeg’s film, Insignificance. This will be released on DVD and Blu-ray on June 14. In that drawing, we also had the infamous glowing briefcase, hinting at Robert Aldrich’s Kiss Me Deadly (which also screened last year at the...
Let’s go through all of the new titles first this time. Earlier this year, Criterion released their “wacky new years” drawing, hinting at a couple of titles that we are finally getting to see made official this June. In that drawing we had an image of Marilyn Monroe with Albert Einstein’s head, hinting at Nicolas Roeg’s film, Insignificance. This will be released on DVD and Blu-ray on June 14. In that drawing, we also had the infamous glowing briefcase, hinting at Robert Aldrich’s Kiss Me Deadly (which also screened last year at the...
- 3/15/2011
- by Ryan Gallagher
- CriterionCast
I know our favorite holiday has passed, and now it's all commercialism and Christmas carols unless you want to pull a Tobe Hooper at Sears, but there are a few gift ideas that might be really appreciated if found in those black stockings hanging by the fireplace Christmas morning.
1. First is the trilogy of Zombie Haiku, Werewolf Haiku and Vampire Haiku, all written by Ryan Mecum and published by How Books. The werewolf book tells the tale of a postman after he has been bitten by a "rabid" dog and his both frightening and hilarious degeneration into a werewolf. A couple of examples:
"If you think tacos
are hard for you to digest,
try passing chipmunks."
Or
"In conversation,
burping up a severed toe
can make things awkward."
The vampire haiku book tells the tale of one William Butten, who was "changed" by a mysterious woman on board a ship...
1. First is the trilogy of Zombie Haiku, Werewolf Haiku and Vampire Haiku, all written by Ryan Mecum and published by How Books. The werewolf book tells the tale of a postman after he has been bitten by a "rabid" dog and his both frightening and hilarious degeneration into a werewolf. A couple of examples:
"If you think tacos
are hard for you to digest,
try passing chipmunks."
Or
"In conversation,
burping up a severed toe
can make things awkward."
The vampire haiku book tells the tale of one William Butten, who was "changed" by a mysterious woman on board a ship...
- 12/16/2010
- by thebellefromhell
- DreadCentral.com
The Night of the Hunter: Criterion Collection [Blu-Ray]
The Film
While researching the aspect ratio of Charles Laughton's The Night of the Hunter (1955) on DVDBeaver.com, I noticed something rather telling in the review. In each DVDBeaver review, there are links to books related to the film. For instance, if you look at the review of 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), you'll find links to books on Kubrick. For the review of Night of the Hunter, DVDBeaver supplied a list of film noir book titles including Alain Silver's appropriately titled Film Noir, which features Hunter's antagonist Rev. Harry Powell (Robert Mitchum) on the cover. Re-watching the film, I couldn't help but wonder what classified it as noir (for my classical noir retrospective, click here).
Sure, I can see on the surface where one might brand the film a noir. The film owes its aesthetic to German Expressionism, is shot in black and white,...
The Film
While researching the aspect ratio of Charles Laughton's The Night of the Hunter (1955) on DVDBeaver.com, I noticed something rather telling in the review. In each DVDBeaver review, there are links to books related to the film. For instance, if you look at the review of 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), you'll find links to books on Kubrick. For the review of Night of the Hunter, DVDBeaver supplied a list of film noir book titles including Alain Silver's appropriately titled Film Noir, which features Hunter's antagonist Rev. Harry Powell (Robert Mitchum) on the cover. Re-watching the film, I couldn't help but wonder what classified it as noir (for my classical noir retrospective, click here).
Sure, I can see on the surface where one might brand the film a noir. The film owes its aesthetic to German Expressionism, is shot in black and white,...
- 11/17/2010
- by Drew Morton
DVD Playhouse—November 2010
By Allen Gardner
Paths Of Glory (Criterion) Stanley Kubrick’s 1957 antiwar classic put him on the map as a major filmmaker. Kirk Douglas stars in a true story about a French officer in Ww I who locks horns with the military’s top brass after his men are court-martialed for failing to carry out an obvious suicide mission. A perfect film, across the board, with fine support from George Macready as one of the most despicable martinet’s ever captured on film, Ralph Meeker, and Adolphe Menjou, all oily charm as a conniving General. Also available on Blu-ray disc. Bonuses: Audio commentary by critic Gary Giddins; Excerpt from 1966 audio interview with Kubrick; 1979 interview with Douglas; New interviews with Jan Harlan, Christiane Kubrick, and producer James B. Harris; French television documentary on real-life case which inspired the film; Trailer. Widescreen. Dolby 1.0 mono.
Winter’S Bone (Lionsgate) After her deadbeat father disappears,...
By Allen Gardner
Paths Of Glory (Criterion) Stanley Kubrick’s 1957 antiwar classic put him on the map as a major filmmaker. Kirk Douglas stars in a true story about a French officer in Ww I who locks horns with the military’s top brass after his men are court-martialed for failing to carry out an obvious suicide mission. A perfect film, across the board, with fine support from George Macready as one of the most despicable martinet’s ever captured on film, Ralph Meeker, and Adolphe Menjou, all oily charm as a conniving General. Also available on Blu-ray disc. Bonuses: Audio commentary by critic Gary Giddins; Excerpt from 1966 audio interview with Kubrick; 1979 interview with Douglas; New interviews with Jan Harlan, Christiane Kubrick, and producer James B. Harris; French television documentary on real-life case which inspired the film; Trailer. Widescreen. Dolby 1.0 mono.
Winter’S Bone (Lionsgate) After her deadbeat father disappears,...
- 11/6/2010
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
Chicago – If one looks at the spine of a Criterion Collection release, he will see a number that indicates the order in which films have been inducted into the most important DVD/Blu-ray series in history. With over 500 films in the collection (this week’s “Paths of Glory” is #538), one might wonder where it all began. “Grand Illusion,” which Criterion no longer has rights to, is #1 but their second inductee has recently been transferred to Blu-ray and the two-disc release for “Seven Samurai” is a beauty.
Blu-Ray Rating: 5.0/5.0
One of several films by Akira Kurosawa than can accurately be called “incredibly influential,” “Seven Samurai” inspired not just other films directly but is one of those movies that’s often cited by modern filmmakers as why they became involved in the movie industry in the first place. “Seven Samurai” is mesmerizing, a film that transports the viewer through Kurosawa’s amazing storytelling ability.
Blu-Ray Rating: 5.0/5.0
One of several films by Akira Kurosawa than can accurately be called “incredibly influential,” “Seven Samurai” inspired not just other films directly but is one of those movies that’s often cited by modern filmmakers as why they became involved in the movie industry in the first place. “Seven Samurai” is mesmerizing, a film that transports the viewer through Kurosawa’s amazing storytelling ability.
- 10/28/2010
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Predators
Extras include:
Commentary by producer Robert Rodriguez and director Nimród AntalMotion ComicsMoments of ExtractionCrucifiedEvolution of the Species: Predators RebornThe ChosenFox Movie Channel presents Making a SceneDeleted and Extended ScenesTheatrical Trailer
Apocalypse Now (Full Disclosure Edition) Blu-ray
Extras include:
Apocalypse Now - original 1979 CutApocalypse Now ReduxCommentary for both versions"A Conversation with Martin Sheen" interview by Francis Ford Coppola"An Interview with John Milius" interview by Francis Ford CoppolaComplete Francis Ford Coppola interview with Roger Ebert at the 2001 Cannes Film FestivalMonkey Sampan "lost scene"Additional Scenes"Destruction of the Kurtz Compound" end credits with audio commentary by Francis Ford Coppola"The Hollow Men," video of Marlon Brando reading T.S. Eliot's poemThe Birth of 5.1 SoundGhost Helicopter Flyover sound effects demonstrationA Million Feet of Film: The Editing of Apocalypse NowThe Music of Apocalypse NowHeard Any Good Movies Lately? The Sound Design of Apocalypse NowThe Final MixApocalypse Then and NowThe Color Palette...
Extras include:
Commentary by producer Robert Rodriguez and director Nimród AntalMotion ComicsMoments of ExtractionCrucifiedEvolution of the Species: Predators RebornThe ChosenFox Movie Channel presents Making a SceneDeleted and Extended ScenesTheatrical Trailer
Apocalypse Now (Full Disclosure Edition) Blu-ray
Extras include:
Apocalypse Now - original 1979 CutApocalypse Now ReduxCommentary for both versions"A Conversation with Martin Sheen" interview by Francis Ford Coppola"An Interview with John Milius" interview by Francis Ford CoppolaComplete Francis Ford Coppola interview with Roger Ebert at the 2001 Cannes Film FestivalMonkey Sampan "lost scene"Additional Scenes"Destruction of the Kurtz Compound" end credits with audio commentary by Francis Ford Coppola"The Hollow Men," video of Marlon Brando reading T.S. Eliot's poemThe Birth of 5.1 SoundGhost Helicopter Flyover sound effects demonstrationA Million Feet of Film: The Editing of Apocalypse NowThe Music of Apocalypse NowHeard Any Good Movies Lately? The Sound Design of Apocalypse NowThe Final MixApocalypse Then and NowThe Color Palette...
- 10/19/2010
- by josh@reelartsy.com (Joshua dos Santos)
- Reelartsy
Here we are again: another mid-month Criterion Collection new release announcement, with some incredible titles to talk about. Many of today’s announced titles have been teased at in one way or another, over the past few months.
First up we are finally going to see Akira Kurosawa’s masterpiece, Criterion Collection #2, Seven Samurai finally making its high definition debut in the states. This release was something that Criterion mentioned back in December, as the Ak 100: 25 Films of Akira Kurosawa was released, and the Yojimbo / Sanjuro films were about to be announced on Blu-ray. In the post, Jonathan Turell mentioned that they wanted to have Seven Samurai ready on Blu-ray for Kurosawa’s birth month as well, but that it wouldn’t be ready until later in the year. The Seven Samurai Blu-ray was also teased at earlier this year when Amazon suddenly added a pre-order page for it,...
First up we are finally going to see Akira Kurosawa’s masterpiece, Criterion Collection #2, Seven Samurai finally making its high definition debut in the states. This release was something that Criterion mentioned back in December, as the Ak 100: 25 Films of Akira Kurosawa was released, and the Yojimbo / Sanjuro films were about to be announced on Blu-ray. In the post, Jonathan Turell mentioned that they wanted to have Seven Samurai ready on Blu-ray for Kurosawa’s birth month as well, but that it wouldn’t be ready until later in the year. The Seven Samurai Blu-ray was also teased at earlier this year when Amazon suddenly added a pre-order page for it,...
- 7/15/2010
- by Ryan Gallagher
- CriterionCast
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