On the one hand, this film has been impossible to find, so finally getting a release is nice. On the other hand, Alpha is the company releasing it, so you know they'll be putting absolutely no work into presenting a decent transfer. It will probably look like garbage.Originally Posted by Ashirg
The Warner Archive Collection will be releasing a remastered edition of the neo-noir film The Split (1968) on March 6: http://www.wbshop.com/Split-The/1000...gid=ARCHIVEPRE
Women in Danger: 1950s Thrillers from Universal/TCM exclusive to Movies Unlimited and TCM Shop to be released June 4.
Titles include: Woman in Hiding (1950), Female on the Beach (1955), The Unguarded Moment (1956), The Price of Fear (1956)
Expect this set to ship at some point in mid-July.
Last edited by Nighthawk; 03-06-2012 at 10:51 PM.
I'm laughing through my tears... Noir Classics 3 will now be shipping to me 20 March (fingers crossed). Not that I received an email or anything.
Guess I will ask Santa for Women in Danger.
You guys are cracking me up!!!!
I learned my lesson, I will be ordering from movies unlimited!
It is great to see some Universal noir getting some releases. God knows they are sitting on a gold mine!
Wow. Some rare ones too. I've seen all but The Unguarded Moment. Woman in Hiding and The Price of Fear are OK. Female on the Beach is campy to a point of being hard to watch. I like it though (the DVD set, not Female on the Beach)! and great job with that pulpy DVD cover!Women in Danger: 1950s Thrillers from Universal/TCM exclusive to Movies Unlimited and TCM Shop to be released June 4.
Titles include: Woman in Hiding (1950), Female on the Beach (1955), The Unguarded Moment (1956), The Price of Fear (1956)
Edit: Unguarded Moment is in technicolor with Ester Williams (of all people). While the other 3 may be noir (Female on the Beach is a stretch... the other two certainly are); I think The Unguarded Moment isn't.
Trailer:
mmm... now that I look at the trailer it may indeed be a bit noir. Looks like the plot for The Accused with Loretta Young.
When it comes to "women in danger" movies from the '50s, I am partial to A Cry in the Night with Natalie Wood and Raymond Burr. I don't think that one's on DVD yet.
Did you know The Split is based on a Richard Stark/Parker novel... just like Point Blank. I like The Split the movie even though Jim Brown is put into the Parker role and renamed (just like Lee Marvin in Point Blank).
Badge 373 is being released on Blu-ray in April.
http://www.olivefilms.com/films/badge-373-blu-ray/
The Split is based on Richard Stark's The Seventh, one of my personal favorite Parker novels. I've never seen The Split, but I'd like to.
The Devil Thumbs a Ride region 2 DVD release (from Spain) http://www.dvdgo.com/dvd-amenaza-dia...1961875/160150
A new HD transfer of The French Connection released on blu-ray. A Best Buy exclusive.
http://blu-ray.com/news/?id=8328
DVDBeaver review of No Man of Her Own is now posted: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film3/dvd_r...of_her_own.htm
Looks like another excellent transfer from Olive Films.
Here's quite a review on the Film Noir Classics III box set
http://film.thedigitalfix.com/conten...ssics-iii-html
Am I the only one here to be decidedly underwhelmed by the content of TCM's Film Noir Classics III box?
I thought My Name Is Julia Ross and The Mob were both fine entries... but the rest felt like scraping the bottom of the barrel -- at least in terms of what is NOIR and what isn't. Drive A Crooked Road was interesting and felt tense in certain parts, but the resolution felt deflated. I had previously seen The Burglar and thought it a very decent noir... but reviewing it again, I found myself feeling mostly bored and unattached.
Comments?
To me, it came off like an exercise by an overly-earnest film student trying really hard: a few elaborate set-pieces (often homages to Welles, it appears) in between scenes that went on way too long and destroyed any narrative propulsion. Low point was the long conversation between Duryea and Vickers in her apartment, which in its scripting and Vickers' acting had me thinking Ed Wood. A bit of Peter Capell's characterization would have leant an interesting flavor, but again it went on and on and wound up just being irritatingly repetitive without adding much of any narrative value.
DRIVE A CROOKED ROAD and THE MOB were the high points for me (I never thought I'd say that about any film with Mickey Rooney in it!) and both felt genuinely noir. I found them completely satisfying. MY NAME IS JULIA ROSS is very well done and perfectly entertaining but seemed more like a Hitchcock knock-off than noir. TIGHT SPOT was okay but not something I'm likely to revisit, and definitely not noir. THE BURGLAR, on the other hand, definitely is noir but is also a disaster.
Final verdict: an acceptable enough set which perhaps because it lacks any really high-profile films seems not as exciting as its predecessors.
Granted this is pure fantasy, but Sony would go out on a noir high note if they were to put together a last Noir Classics box with Losey's M, THE RECKLESS MOMENT, JOHNNY O'CLOCK, BETWEEN MIDNIGHT & DAWN, UNDERCOVER MAN, and FRAMED. Too bad Eddie M says no more noir on real DVDs is likely from the Columbia catalogue, though (plus there's rumors of legal complications with M and THE RECKLESS MOMENT).
Last edited by Arthur Bannister; 03-18-2012 at 01:13 PM.
I wouldn't recommend TCM's (Columbia Pictures) Film Noir Classics III to anyone. I liked the THE MOB, but that was about it. I haven't seen THE BURGLAR as that disc won't play, and I'll be waiting most likely for months before a replacement is received. The problem with this boxset for me is that the films aren't very noir, but rather police crime dramas and one film (Julia Ross) which is something completely different.
I enjoyed every film in Film Noir Classics III set-to varying degrees. Broderick Crawford is terrifically entertaining in The Mob -it got a great audience response at Noir City Chicago. If you cannot get over the idea of Mickey Rooney in a noir, you probably won't like Drive a Crooked Road. I had never seen him in much before and I thought he did a good job in playing his role. Sure, it's sunny most of the time, but there are dark noir themes present. I've seen "true noir" with much happier (and annoying endings). I also enjoyed seeing Kevin McCarthy as such a scoundrel. My Name is Julia Ross may be more mystery/suspense than noir, but it's close enough for me. Besides, it's a taut, well-made, entertaining thriller worth seeing whether you consider it noir, noirish, or not noir at all. This was the first time I had seen The Burglar and thought it was a decent movie. Duryea was solid as always. I suppose Vickers is kinda annoying. Tight Spot was new to me as well. Kinda like Narrow Margin set in a hotel room. Ginger Rogers did a pretty good job, but at times was a little over the top with her world-weary, seen-it-all attitude. Brian Keith is okay. To me he's a poor man's Robert Mitchum-he's got the droopy eyes, but he sure doesn't have a lot of charisma. A serviceable performance. The plot twist at the end really boosted my overall enjoyment of what otherwise was just an okay film.
This set is not something I would recommend a new noir enthusiast run out and buy-there's so much more to see first. But if you're reading this thread because you are constantly looking to buy noir DVD's you don't have-this set might be for you. To me, it would be worth it for Crooked, Julia, and The Mob. Picture and audio are good. A couple of short Scorcese introductions are included.
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