Powerhouse Indicator’s first foray into the Universal library yields six noir thrillers, all crime-related and all different: the list introduces us to scheming businessmen, venal confidence crooks, black-market racketeers, a femme fatale, a gangster deportee and baby stealers. The B&w features are enriched with some of the best actors of the postwar years, and the titles themselves are a litany of vice and sin: The Web, Larceny, Kiss the Blood Off My Hands, Abandoned, Deported and Naked Alibi.
Universal Noir #1
Region B Blu-ray
The Web, Larceny, Kiss the Blood Off My Hands, Abandoned, Deported, Naked Alibi
Powerhouse Indicator
1948-1954 / B&w / Street Date November 14, 2022 / available from Powerhouse Films UK / £49.99
Starring: Ella Raines, Edmond O’Brien, Vincent Price, William Bendix; John Payne, Joan Caulfield, Dan Duryea, Shelly Winters, Dorothy Hart; Joan Fontaine, Burt Lancaster, Robert Newton; Dennis O’Keefe, Gale Storm, Jeff Chandler, Raymond Burr; Marta Toren, Jeff Chandler, Marina Berti, Richard Rober; Sterling Hayden,...
Universal Noir #1
Region B Blu-ray
The Web, Larceny, Kiss the Blood Off My Hands, Abandoned, Deported, Naked Alibi
Powerhouse Indicator
1948-1954 / B&w / Street Date November 14, 2022 / available from Powerhouse Films UK / £49.99
Starring: Ella Raines, Edmond O’Brien, Vincent Price, William Bendix; John Payne, Joan Caulfield, Dan Duryea, Shelly Winters, Dorothy Hart; Joan Fontaine, Burt Lancaster, Robert Newton; Dennis O’Keefe, Gale Storm, Jeff Chandler, Raymond Burr; Marta Toren, Jeff Chandler, Marina Berti, Richard Rober; Sterling Hayden,...
- 11/5/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
There’s always somebody new in the rat race trenches whose motto is ‘how to make friends and deceive people.’ Howard Duff’s photographer uses his camera to extort money from criminals while polishing his image as a grabber of Pulitzer-worthy news photos. But how long can he maintain his charade with mobsters Brian Donlevy and Lawrence Tierney, and how soon will his kissing partners Peggy Dow and Anne Vernon see through his lies? This efficient noir was the first feature directing job from the prolific Joe Pevney.
Shakedown
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1950 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 80 min. / Street Date March 29, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95
Starring: Howard Duff, Brian Donlevy, Peggy Dow, Lawrence Tierney, Bruce Bennett, Anne Vernon, Peter Virgo, Charles Sherlock, Rock Hudson, Roy Engel, Gregg Martell, Joseph Pevney.
Cinematography: Irving Glassberg
Art Director: Robert Clatworthy, Bernard Herzbrun
Film Editor: Milton Carruth
Music director: Joseph Gershenson
Screenplay by Alfred Lewis Levitt,...
Shakedown
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1950 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 80 min. / Street Date March 29, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95
Starring: Howard Duff, Brian Donlevy, Peggy Dow, Lawrence Tierney, Bruce Bennett, Anne Vernon, Peter Virgo, Charles Sherlock, Rock Hudson, Roy Engel, Gregg Martell, Joseph Pevney.
Cinematography: Irving Glassberg
Art Director: Robert Clatworthy, Bernard Herzbrun
Film Editor: Milton Carruth
Music director: Joseph Gershenson
Screenplay by Alfred Lewis Levitt,...
- 3/22/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Normal 0 false false false En-us X-none X-none
“Not So Tangled, It Weaves”
By Raymond Benson
The low budget 1947 film noir drama, The Web, is a fairly typical example of the type of B-picture that many Hollywood studios were churning out in the late 1940s. No one referred to these crime movies as film noir at the time; it wasn’t until the late 1950s that French critics looked back at this body of work and proclaimed, “Sacré bleu! Film Noir!”—and the term stuck.
In the case of The Web, the title is categorized as film noir for being a crime picture shot in black and white by Dp Irving Glassberg with high contrasting light and shadow, a tale that features cynical and unreliable characters, a twisty plot, and some double-crosses. That’s about it, really—there is no femme fatale, and there is a tangible grittiness to other, classic...
“Not So Tangled, It Weaves”
By Raymond Benson
The low budget 1947 film noir drama, The Web, is a fairly typical example of the type of B-picture that many Hollywood studios were churning out in the late 1940s. No one referred to these crime movies as film noir at the time; it wasn’t until the late 1950s that French critics looked back at this body of work and proclaimed, “Sacré bleu! Film Noir!”—and the term stuck.
In the case of The Web, the title is categorized as film noir for being a crime picture shot in black and white by Dp Irving Glassberg with high contrasting light and shadow, a tale that features cynical and unreliable characters, a twisty plot, and some double-crosses. That’s about it, really—there is no femme fatale, and there is a tangible grittiness to other, classic...
- 7/9/2021
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
It’s smooth noir sailing with this polished noir from Universal-International and its choice cast of pros — Edmond O’Brien, Ella Raines and William Bendix, plus Vincent Price doing an excellent turn as a Machiavellian businessman, a ‘frame’ expert with a side specialty in double-dealing. Director Michael Gordon earns an early credit at Universal-International with a nice look: almost all exteriors are richly photographed nighttime scenes. Ella Raines is particularly good — despite the cover illustration, she’s not a femme fatale, just a cautious independent woman.
The Web
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1947 / B&w / 1:37 flat Academy / 87 min. / Street Date July 13, 2021 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95
Starring: Edmond O’Brien, Ella Raines, William Bendix, Vincent Price, Maria Palmer, John Abbott, Fritz Leiber, Howland Chamberlain, Tito Vuolo.
Cinematography: Irving Glassberg
Production Designer Art Directors: Bernard Herzbrun, James Sullivan
Film Editor: Russel F. Schoengarth
Original Music: Hans J. Salter
Written by William Bowers, Bertram Millhauser...
The Web
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1947 / B&w / 1:37 flat Academy / 87 min. / Street Date July 13, 2021 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95
Starring: Edmond O’Brien, Ella Raines, William Bendix, Vincent Price, Maria Palmer, John Abbott, Fritz Leiber, Howland Chamberlain, Tito Vuolo.
Cinematography: Irving Glassberg
Production Designer Art Directors: Bernard Herzbrun, James Sullivan
Film Editor: Russel F. Schoengarth
Original Music: Hans J. Salter
Written by William Bowers, Bertram Millhauser...
- 7/6/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
It happens every time: we want to cruelly betray somebody, but Love keeps getting in the way. When evil Dan Duryea sics con-man louse John Payne on the saintly war widow Joan Caulfield, three other women come tagging along as well, ’cause Payne is just too attractive. The swindle in George Sherman’s unsure noir gets uglier and then loses its way in the third act, with clunker dialogue and a climax that dissolves when it should resolve. Look out for super femme input from Shelley Winters, Dorothy Hart and Patricia Alphin. It’s an early featured role for Winters, and she doesn’t hold back.
Larceny
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1948 / B&w / 1:37 flat Academy / 89 min. / Street Date July 13, 2021 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95
Starring: John Payne, Joan Caulfield, Dan Duryea, Shelley Winters, Dorothy Hart, Richard Rober, Dan O’Herlihy, Nicholas Joy, Percy Helton, Walter Greaza, Patricia Alphin, Gene Evans.
Cinematography:...
Larceny
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1948 / B&w / 1:37 flat Academy / 89 min. / Street Date July 13, 2021 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95
Starring: John Payne, Joan Caulfield, Dan Duryea, Shelley Winters, Dorothy Hart, Richard Rober, Dan O’Herlihy, Nicholas Joy, Percy Helton, Walter Greaza, Patricia Alphin, Gene Evans.
Cinematography:...
- 6/15/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Audie Murphy Collection
Blu ray
Kino Lorber
1952, 1958, 1959 / 242 min.
Starring Audie Murphy, Stephen McNally, Walter Matthau, Charles Drake
Cinematography by Irving Glassberg, Harold Lipstein
Directed by Don Siegel, Jesse Hibbs, Jack Arnold
“My temper was explosive… perhaps I was trying to level with my fists what I assumed fate had put above me.” – To Hell and Back, Audie Murphy, 1949
A remarkably self-aware assessment for such an angry young man. To hear him tell it, Audie Murphy came out of the cradle itching for a fight—when Pearl Harbor was attacked, he got one. He was only 16 at the time so he marched down to the recruiting center and lied about his age. In 1945 Murphy left the Army as the most-decorated soldier of World War II. In 1971 his twin-engine plane crashed into a mountainside in Virginia’s Roanoke County killing everyone on board. In the 26 years between the end of the war...
Blu ray
Kino Lorber
1952, 1958, 1959 / 242 min.
Starring Audie Murphy, Stephen McNally, Walter Matthau, Charles Drake
Cinematography by Irving Glassberg, Harold Lipstein
Directed by Don Siegel, Jesse Hibbs, Jack Arnold
“My temper was explosive… perhaps I was trying to level with my fists what I assumed fate had put above me.” – To Hell and Back, Audie Murphy, 1949
A remarkably self-aware assessment for such an angry young man. To hear him tell it, Audie Murphy came out of the cradle itching for a fight—when Pearl Harbor was attacked, he got one. He was only 16 at the time so he marched down to the recruiting center and lied about his age. In 1945 Murphy left the Army as the most-decorated soldier of World War II. In 1971 his twin-engine plane crashed into a mountainside in Virginia’s Roanoke County killing everyone on board. In the 26 years between the end of the war...
- 8/15/2020
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
Although only one of these 1950s B&w thrillers falls within a mile of a hard definition of film noir, all give us glamorous actresses in interesting roles. Claudette Colbert takes her turn at playing a nun, Merle Oberon tries a femme fatale role on for size and Hedy Lamarr does very well for herself as a man-hungry movie star. Kino gives all three excellent transfers, and one comes with an appropriately gossipy audio commentary.
Film Noir the Dark Side of Cinema II
Thunder on the Hill, The Price of Fear, The Female Animal
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1951-58 / B&w / 1:37 Academy, 1:85 widescreen / 84,79,82 min. / Street Date May 12, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 49.95
Starring: Claudette Colbert, Ann Blyth, Robert Douglas, Anne Crawford, Connie Gilchrist, Gladys Cooper, Michael Pate, Phillip Friend; Merle Oberon, Lex Barker, Charles Drake, Gia Scala, Warren Stevens, Phillip Pine, Konstantin Shayne, Stafford Repp; Hedy Lamarr, Jane Powell,...
Film Noir the Dark Side of Cinema II
Thunder on the Hill, The Price of Fear, The Female Animal
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1951-58 / B&w / 1:37 Academy, 1:85 widescreen / 84,79,82 min. / Street Date May 12, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 49.95
Starring: Claudette Colbert, Ann Blyth, Robert Douglas, Anne Crawford, Connie Gilchrist, Gladys Cooper, Michael Pate, Phillip Friend; Merle Oberon, Lex Barker, Charles Drake, Gia Scala, Warren Stevens, Phillip Pine, Konstantin Shayne, Stafford Repp; Hedy Lamarr, Jane Powell,...
- 5/25/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
The second of Anthony Mann and James Stewart’s must-see westerns, Bend of the River continues the duo’s trend of character-driven yet action-packed outdoor adventures, this time set in snowy Oregon. The fine actor Arthur Kennedy plays a perfectly ambiguous villain while the auburn-haired Julie Adams and Rock Hudson – just on the cusp of stardom – round out the cast. The ravishing Technicolor photography is by Irving Glassberg.
The post Bend of the River appeared first on Trailers From Hell.
The post Bend of the River appeared first on Trailers From Hell.
- 8/5/2019
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
The Strange Door
Blu Ray
Kino Lorber
1951 / 1:33:1 / 81 Min.
Starring Charles Laughton, Boris Karloff, Sally Forrest
Written by Jerry Sackheim
Cinematography by Irving Glassberg
Directed by Joseph Pevney
Charles Laughton is a vengeful aristocrat with a secret in the cellar and Boris Karloff is the family servant who holds the key to The Strange Door. Released in 1951, the Universal International period piece stars Laughton as Alain de Maletroit, a bitter reprobate who lures a fugitive into his castle with the promise of sanctuary in exchange for a wedding vow.
There’s a bright side to that peculiar overture – the mystery bride is de Maletroit’s niece, the prim but pliant Blanche played by the low key seductress Sally Forrest.
Laughton’s convoluted plan is a decades-long effort to corrupt Blanche and humiliate her father, Edmond, the man who stole Blanche’s mother from Laughton years before. The fugitive, Denis de Beaulieu,...
Blu Ray
Kino Lorber
1951 / 1:33:1 / 81 Min.
Starring Charles Laughton, Boris Karloff, Sally Forrest
Written by Jerry Sackheim
Cinematography by Irving Glassberg
Directed by Joseph Pevney
Charles Laughton is a vengeful aristocrat with a secret in the cellar and Boris Karloff is the family servant who holds the key to The Strange Door. Released in 1951, the Universal International period piece stars Laughton as Alain de Maletroit, a bitter reprobate who lures a fugitive into his castle with the promise of sanctuary in exchange for a wedding vow.
There’s a bright side to that peculiar overture – the mystery bride is de Maletroit’s niece, the prim but pliant Blanche played by the low key seductress Sally Forrest.
Laughton’s convoluted plan is a decades-long effort to corrupt Blanche and humiliate her father, Edmond, the man who stole Blanche’s mother from Laughton years before. The fugitive, Denis de Beaulieu,...
- 4/30/2019
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
The Anthony Mann – James Stewart crowd-pleaser now comes to Region A Blu-ray. With its bright Technicolor hues, it’s the wagon train movie fans remember first after Red River. Stewart is a good guy with a dark background who tries to atone by helping some settlers. The thorn in his side is an unreformed former outlaw played by Arthur Kennedy in high style. Also shining bright is everyone’s favorite Universal contract player, Julie (Julia) Adams.
Bend of the River
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1952 / Color / 1:37 flat Academy / 91 min. / Street Date April 16, 2019 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: James Stewart, Arthur Kennedy, Julia Adams, Rock Hudson, Lori Nelson, Jay C. Flippen, Stepin’ Fetchit, Henry Morgan, Royal Dano, Chubby Johnson, Frances Bavier, Howard Petrie.
Cinematography: Irving Glassberg
Film Editor: Russell Schoengarth
Original Music: Hans J. Salter
Written by Borden Chase from the novel Bend of the Snake by Bill Gulick
Produced by...
Bend of the River
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1952 / Color / 1:37 flat Academy / 91 min. / Street Date April 16, 2019 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: James Stewart, Arthur Kennedy, Julia Adams, Rock Hudson, Lori Nelson, Jay C. Flippen, Stepin’ Fetchit, Henry Morgan, Royal Dano, Chubby Johnson, Frances Bavier, Howard Petrie.
Cinematography: Irving Glassberg
Film Editor: Russell Schoengarth
Original Music: Hans J. Salter
Written by Borden Chase from the novel Bend of the Snake by Bill Gulick
Produced by...
- 4/13/2019
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Douglas Sirk took our heads off with this intense, thematically adult tale of love and obsession in a Depression-Era flying circus that’s the open air equivalent of the marathon dance craze — pilots die to thrill the crowd. The terrific-looking show provides career-best roles for some deserving actors: Robert Stack, Dorothy Malone, Jack Carson and Robert Middleton … but the newly-minted star Rock Hudson seems miscast.
The Tarnished Angels
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1957 / B&W / 2:35 widescreen / 91 min. / Street Date March 26, 2019 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Rock Hudson, Robert Stack, Dorothy Malone, Jack Carson, Robert Middleton, Alan Reed, Alexander Lockwood, Chris Olsen, Robert J. Wilke, Troy Donahue.
Cinematography: Irving Glassberg
Film Editor: Russell F. Schoengarth
Original Music: Frank Skinner
Written by George Zuckerman from a novel by William Faulkner
Produced by Albert Zugsmith
Directed by Douglas Sirk
Douglas Sirk made his name with big, glossy soap operas starring Jane Wyman and Rock Hudson,...
The Tarnished Angels
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1957 / B&W / 2:35 widescreen / 91 min. / Street Date March 26, 2019 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Rock Hudson, Robert Stack, Dorothy Malone, Jack Carson, Robert Middleton, Alan Reed, Alexander Lockwood, Chris Olsen, Robert J. Wilke, Troy Donahue.
Cinematography: Irving Glassberg
Film Editor: Russell F. Schoengarth
Original Music: Frank Skinner
Written by George Zuckerman from a novel by William Faulkner
Produced by Albert Zugsmith
Directed by Douglas Sirk
Douglas Sirk made his name with big, glossy soap operas starring Jane Wyman and Rock Hudson,...
- 3/12/2019
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
The walls literally close in on those unfortunate enough to find themselves in the dungean of the Sire de Maletroit (Charles Laughton) in 1951's The Strange Door. Co-starring the legendary Boris Karloff and based on a short story by Robert Louis Stevenson, The Strange Door will be opened by Kino Lorber on Blu-ray this April.
Special features for The Strange Door (1951) Blu-ray have yet to be announced, but you can read the official announcement from Kino Lorber below, and stay tuned to Daily Dead for further updates.
From Kino Lorber Studio Classics: "Coming April 2019 on Blu-ray!
The Strange Door (1951) Starring Charles Laughton, Boris Karloff, Sally Forrest, Richard Wyler, Alan Napier and Michael Pate - Shot by Irving Glassberg - Screenplay by Jerry Sackheim (The Black Castle) - Based on the Story "" by Robert Lewis Stevenson - Directed by Joseph Pevney."
Synopsis (via Blu-ray.com): "The Sire de Maletroit (Charles...
Special features for The Strange Door (1951) Blu-ray have yet to be announced, but you can read the official announcement from Kino Lorber below, and stay tuned to Daily Dead for further updates.
From Kino Lorber Studio Classics: "Coming April 2019 on Blu-ray!
The Strange Door (1951) Starring Charles Laughton, Boris Karloff, Sally Forrest, Richard Wyler, Alan Napier and Michael Pate - Shot by Irving Glassberg - Screenplay by Jerry Sackheim (The Black Castle) - Based on the Story "" by Robert Lewis Stevenson - Directed by Joseph Pevney."
Synopsis (via Blu-ray.com): "The Sire de Maletroit (Charles...
- 1/15/2019
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
Douglas Sirk's All That Heaven Allows (1955) is showing April 16 - May 16, 2018 in the many countries around the world as part of the series In the Realm of Melodrama: A Douglas Sirk Retrospective."The studio loved the title All That Heaven Allows. They thought it meant you could have everything you wanted. I meant it exactly the other way round. As far as I am concerned, heaven is stingy."—Douglas SirkUntil very recently, Douglas Sirk remained in a kind of critical limbo. In the last couple of years some valuable and novel material has appeared, covering many aspects of his work. The most important element so far left unstudied is Sirk’s relationship to the melodrama, the genre he most used during both his German period (1935-37) in feature films, and in his second American period, at Universal (1950-58).Two reasons, certainly, have contributed to the neglect of Sirk. One...
- 5/3/2018
- MUBI
The second Anthony Mann / James Stewart western displays excellent direction and impressive Technicolor location photography high in the high mountains of Oregon. A matinee staple, it delivers everything — Stewart’s mostly good hero and Arthur Kennedy’s mostly bad hero spar and tangle and eventually fight to the death near the timber line. Handsome Rock Hudson receives prime billing for flashing his ‘Dazzledent’ smile.
Bend of the River
All-Region Blu-ray
Explosive Media (Germany)
1952 / Color / 1:37 flat full frame / 91 min. / Meuterei am Schlangenfuss, Where the River Bends / Street Date August 10, 2017 / Amazon.de Eur 17,99
Starring: James Stewart, Arthur Kennedy, Julia Adams, Rock Hudson, Lori Nelson, Jay C. Flippen, Stepin’ Fetchit, Henry Morgan, Royal Dano, Chubby Johnson, Frances Bavier, Howard Petrie.
Cinematography: Irving Glassberg
Film Editor: Russell Schoengarth
Original Music: Hans J. Salter
Written by Borden Chase from the novel Bend of the Snake by Bill Gulick
Produced by Aaron Rosenberg
Directed by Anthony...
Bend of the River
All-Region Blu-ray
Explosive Media (Germany)
1952 / Color / 1:37 flat full frame / 91 min. / Meuterei am Schlangenfuss, Where the River Bends / Street Date August 10, 2017 / Amazon.de Eur 17,99
Starring: James Stewart, Arthur Kennedy, Julia Adams, Rock Hudson, Lori Nelson, Jay C. Flippen, Stepin’ Fetchit, Henry Morgan, Royal Dano, Chubby Johnson, Frances Bavier, Howard Petrie.
Cinematography: Irving Glassberg
Film Editor: Russell Schoengarth
Original Music: Hans J. Salter
Written by Borden Chase from the novel Bend of the Snake by Bill Gulick
Produced by Aaron Rosenberg
Directed by Anthony...
- 1/13/2018
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
★★★☆☆ An adaptation of William Faulkner's 1935 novel Pylon (and considered by Faulkner to be the finest of all screen adaptations of his work), Douglas Sirk's haunting and inherently sad The Tarnished Angels (1957) has been given the Blu-ray treatment by The Masters of Cinema, a label known for cherishing the more challenging and notable notches in cinema's lifespan. While Sirk didn't believe it to be his greatest work, it's perhaps best-known for being his most personal, ambitious and starkly cynical film; far removed from the more distinguishable, Technicolor-infused melodramas of that peppered his career.
Whilst visually dissimilar to the more intoxicating Written on the Wind (1956) - a spiralling and perversely glorified soap opera - Sirk (whilst collaborating again with screenwriter George Zuckerman) retains a large portion of that film's main cast and, indeed, its subversive themes regarding post-war infatuation and obsession. Set in, and effectively evoking, Depression-era New Orleans, the...
Whilst visually dissimilar to the more intoxicating Written on the Wind (1956) - a spiralling and perversely glorified soap opera - Sirk (whilst collaborating again with screenwriter George Zuckerman) retains a large portion of that film's main cast and, indeed, its subversive themes regarding post-war infatuation and obsession. Set in, and effectively evoking, Depression-era New Orleans, the...
- 8/27/2013
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
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