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
This picture looks as modern and radical as anything from Italy in the 1960s, yet it’s a tough-talking take on hardboiled crime caper fiction. In three pictures Stanley Kubrick went from amateur to contender: now he has a like-minded producer, a top-flight cast, and the help of the legendary pulp author Jim Thompson. Sterling Hayden, Marie Windsor, Elisha Cook Jr., Coleen Gray, Vince Edwards peg the cynical film noir style, and Kubrick maintains the source book’s splintered chronology for the tense racetrack heist. All Hollywood took notice — at least that part of the industry looking out for daring, progressive storytelling. Now in 4K, Kubrick’s superb B&w images look better than ever.
The Killing
4K Ultra HD
Kl Studio Classics
1956 / B&w / 1:66 widescreen / 84 min. / Street Date July 26, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 39.95
Starring: Sterling Hayden, Marie Windsor, Elisha Cook Jr., Coleen Gray, Vince Edwards, Jay C. Flippen,...
The Killing
4K Ultra HD
Kl Studio Classics
1956 / B&w / 1:66 widescreen / 84 min. / Street Date July 26, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 39.95
Starring: Sterling Hayden, Marie Windsor, Elisha Cook Jr., Coleen Gray, Vince Edwards, Jay C. Flippen,...
- 7/30/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Gotta love that title! Producer Walter Mirisch’s small-scale Monogram noir was once assumed lost, but now it’s making its home video debut on Blu-ray. A luckless young entertainer finds himself neck deep in murder trouble, when an unbreakable string of circumstantial evidence points directly at him. As the date of his execution nears, the only way his desperate wife can help him is to encourage the detective on the case to think he has a chance with her. Taken from a Cornell Woolrich story, the show tries hard despite its low budget — we can almost feel Mirisch behind the scenes, making sure the picture has heart and sincerity.
I Wouldn’t Be in Your Shoes
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1948 / B&w Color / 1:37 Academy / 71 min. / Available at Amazon.com / Street Date July 20, 2021 / 21.99
Starring: Don Castle, Elyse Knox, Regis Toomey, Charles D. Brown, Rory Mallinson, Robert Lowell, Dorothy Vaughan, Steve Darrell,...
I Wouldn’t Be in Your Shoes
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1948 / B&w Color / 1:37 Academy / 71 min. / Available at Amazon.com / Street Date July 20, 2021 / 21.99
Starring: Don Castle, Elyse Knox, Regis Toomey, Charles D. Brown, Rory Mallinson, Robert Lowell, Dorothy Vaughan, Steve Darrell,...
- 7/13/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
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
The Film Noir Foundation has helped revive yet another difficult-to-see noir gem — the murder cover-up tale begins with a shooting in a mansion and races across San Francisco to a finale given classic lines by director Felix Feist. And the casting: Saggy Lee J. Cobb as a romantic leading man? Sunny Jane Wyatt as a duplicitous killer? Bring it on!
The Man Who Cheated Himself
Blu-ray + DVD
Flicker Alley
1950 / B&W / 1:37 Academy / 81 min. / Street Date September 25, 2018 / 39.95
Starring: Lee J. Cobb, Jane Wyatt, John Dall, Lisa Howard, Harlan Warde, Tito Vuolo, Charles Arnt, Marjorie Bennett.
Cinematography: Russell Harlan
Film Editor: David Weisbart
Production Design: Van Nest Polglase
Original Music: Louis Forbes
Written by Philip MacDonald, Seton I. Miller from his story.
Produced by Jack M. Warner
Directed by Felix E. Feist
In the late ’40s film noir was the default vehicle for ambitious filmmaking — after producing two early Anthony Mann noirs,...
The Man Who Cheated Himself
Blu-ray + DVD
Flicker Alley
1950 / B&W / 1:37 Academy / 81 min. / Street Date September 25, 2018 / 39.95
Starring: Lee J. Cobb, Jane Wyatt, John Dall, Lisa Howard, Harlan Warde, Tito Vuolo, Charles Arnt, Marjorie Bennett.
Cinematography: Russell Harlan
Film Editor: David Weisbart
Production Design: Van Nest Polglase
Original Music: Louis Forbes
Written by Philip MacDonald, Seton I. Miller from his story.
Produced by Jack M. Warner
Directed by Felix E. Feist
In the late ’40s film noir was the default vehicle for ambitious filmmaking — after producing two early Anthony Mann noirs,...
- 9/15/2018
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
I tell you it’s rough out there on Frisco Bay, especially when you say the word ‘Frisco’ within earshot of a proud San Francisco native. This Alan Ladd racketeering tale could have been written twenty years earlier, but it has Warner Color and the early, extra-wide iteration of the new movie attraction CinemaScope.
Hell on Frisco Bay
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1955 / Color / 2:55 widescreen Academy / 98 min. / Street Date , 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Alan Ladd, Edward G. Robinson, Joanne Dru, William Demarest, Paul Stewart, Perry Lopez, Fay Wray, Nestor Paiva, Willis Bouchey, Anthony Caruso, Tina Carver, Rod(ney) Taylor, Jayne Mansfield, Mae Marsh, Tito Vuolo.
Cinematography: John F. Seitz
Film Editor: Folmar Blangsted
Stunts: Paul Baxley
Original Music: Max Steiner
Written by Martin Rackin, Sydney Boehm from a book by William P. McGivern
Produced by George C. Berttholon, Alan Ladd
Directed by Frank Tuttle
Alan Ladd had always been...
Hell on Frisco Bay
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1955 / Color / 2:55 widescreen Academy / 98 min. / Street Date , 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Alan Ladd, Edward G. Robinson, Joanne Dru, William Demarest, Paul Stewart, Perry Lopez, Fay Wray, Nestor Paiva, Willis Bouchey, Anthony Caruso, Tina Carver, Rod(ney) Taylor, Jayne Mansfield, Mae Marsh, Tito Vuolo.
Cinematography: John F. Seitz
Film Editor: Folmar Blangsted
Stunts: Paul Baxley
Original Music: Max Steiner
Written by Martin Rackin, Sydney Boehm from a book by William P. McGivern
Produced by George C. Berttholon, Alan Ladd
Directed by Frank Tuttle
Alan Ladd had always been...
- 10/21/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Found: a must-see Film noir in all its brutal glory, restored to a level of quality not seen in years. Anthony Mann and John Alton made their reputations with ninety minutes of chiaroscuro heaven — it’s one of the best-looking noirs ever. With extras produced by Alan K. Rode.
T-Men
Blu-ray
ClassicFlix
1947 / B&W / 1:37 flat full frame / Special Edition / 92 min. / Street Date October 10, 2017 / 39.99
Starring: Dennis O’Keefe, Alfred Ryder, Wallace Ford, Charles McGraw, Jane Randolph, Art Smith, Herbert Heyes, Jack Overman, John Wengraf, June Lockhart, Keefe Brasselle, James Seay, Tito Vuolo, John Newland, Reed Hadley.
Cinematography: John Alton
Film Editor: Fred Allen
Original Music: Paul Sawtell
Written by John C. Higgins, story Virginia Kellogg
Produced by Aubrey Schenck, Edward Small
Directed by Anthony Mann
Wow — I’ve seen T-Men many times, but never like this. It’s always listed as a significant success, a trend-starter, a career-launcher, but only...
T-Men
Blu-ray
ClassicFlix
1947 / B&W / 1:37 flat full frame / Special Edition / 92 min. / Street Date October 10, 2017 / 39.99
Starring: Dennis O’Keefe, Alfred Ryder, Wallace Ford, Charles McGraw, Jane Randolph, Art Smith, Herbert Heyes, Jack Overman, John Wengraf, June Lockhart, Keefe Brasselle, James Seay, Tito Vuolo, John Newland, Reed Hadley.
Cinematography: John Alton
Film Editor: Fred Allen
Original Music: Paul Sawtell
Written by John C. Higgins, story Virginia Kellogg
Produced by Aubrey Schenck, Edward Small
Directed by Anthony Mann
Wow — I’ve seen T-Men many times, but never like this. It’s always listed as a significant success, a trend-starter, a career-launcher, but only...
- 10/14/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Robert Siodmak’s superb noir classic pits two graduates of Little Italy against one other: a crook who can deceive relatives and seduce strangers into helping him, and the cop who wants to put him out of business. Starring the great Richard Conte, with Victor Mature in what might be his best role.
Cry of the City
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1948 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 95 min. / Street Date November 15, 2016 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring Victor Mature, Richard Conte, Fred Clark, Shelley Winters, Betty Garde, Berry Kroeger, Tommy Cook, Debra Paget, Hope Emerson, Roland Winters, Walter Baldwin, Mimi Aguglia, Kathleen Howard, Konstantin Shayne, Tito Vuolo.
Cinematography Lloyd Ahern
Original Music Alfred Newman
Written by Richard Murphy from the novel The Chair for Martin Rome by Henry Edward Helseth
Produced by Sol C. Siegel
Directed by Robert Siodmak
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Perhaps because of a legal or rights issue, Robert Siodmak...
Cry of the City
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1948 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 95 min. / Street Date November 15, 2016 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring Victor Mature, Richard Conte, Fred Clark, Shelley Winters, Betty Garde, Berry Kroeger, Tommy Cook, Debra Paget, Hope Emerson, Roland Winters, Walter Baldwin, Mimi Aguglia, Kathleen Howard, Konstantin Shayne, Tito Vuolo.
Cinematography Lloyd Ahern
Original Music Alfred Newman
Written by Richard Murphy from the novel The Chair for Martin Rome by Henry Edward Helseth
Produced by Sol C. Siegel
Directed by Robert Siodmak
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Perhaps because of a legal or rights issue, Robert Siodmak...
- 12/3/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
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