Noirs only available on R2 DVD

[Nighthawk]

I'm compiling a list of film noirs that have not, as of yet, received a proper R1 DVD release and can only be found in markets outside of the United States (in all cases in this instance, on R2 DVD). Here are the films I have so far:

Beyond a Reasonable Doubt
The Blue Dahlia
Caught
Cry of the City
The Dark Mirror
Desert Fury
Odd Man Out
The Reckless Moment
While the City Sleeps
The Woman on the Beach
You and Me

Any corrections and/or updates to this list would be much appreciated.

[mcash007]

The Glass Kelly R2 (UK).

Part of the problem is some of these releases have terrible transfers or they are not progressive.
Case in point "The Women On the Beach" has terrible "ghosting" on it.
It is part of the Editions Montparnasse line, they release RKO films in France. and in all honesty they are very hit & miss. "Blood on the Moon" a noir western looks great, while others not so much.

"Cry of the City" R2 (UK) looks like it came from a 16mm public domain print, while the German R2 copy of it looks very good.

"The Reckless Moment" & "While the City Sleeps" R2 UK are very good quality.

"The Blue Dahlia" & "The Glass Key" R2 UK are pretty good prints, not great, but they aren't that expensive and much better than a bootleg.

I hope that Warner Archive will get around to all the RKO noir & westerns they are sitting on, because there are well over 20 that I am waiting for.

[Nighthawk]

Thanks for "The Glass Key" addition.

I agree about the transfer issue--why some of these films, especially films like "The Blue Dahlia" and some of Fritz Lang's noirs, haven't been properly released in the US is beyond me. I agree about the Warner Archive collection as well--they've been releasing a lot of noir films at a fairly steady clip, so I hope it keeps up in the future. A remastered copy on DVD-R is better than no copy at all.

[mcash007]

I agree that a cleaned up DVD-R is better than nothing, and better then a PAL speed’d up R2 DVD with bad PQ. I back up the DVD-R's when they arrive, then if they get scrathed make another (Already happened a few times).

Part of the problem with these releases is who owns the rights to them. Sometimes the rights in Europe are different then North America, making it easier to release some movies.

Other times it is the studio. Warner which I believe will get to the remaining RKO, MGM, Warner movies they own through their MOD program. This also holds true for Columbia (Sony), and to some degree MGM which owns United Artists features from the 50's and newer.

But when you look at Universal, Fox, and Paramount, it is like pulling teeth to get them to release anything. All you get is Alfred Hitchcock re-packaged for the hundredth time (not that Hitchcock is bad). Unfortunately a majority of the films you find in R2 are from these three. And even worse nowhere at all.

Sometimes there are other rights issues involved with a particular feature: multiple owners, etc.

But in the end it is still frustrating.

[SuperDanX]

The bfi release Cry of the City is fine. God knows what version your refering to? Only a 2 min section that was cut from the original release looks poor. The rest of it is as good as most non public domain releases. The Phantom Lady is another for your list op.

[mcash007]

Good call on the Phantom Lady, I had forgotten about that one.


I was referring to the BFI it has poor contrast and is washed out. When you compare it to the UFA German R2 release, it is much sharper and has better black levels. Plus it is also the longer cut.

I think DVDBeaver has a nice comparison of the various release versions of Cry for the city.

[SuperDanX]

Yes I read that before I bought the bfi version, I haven't seen the German release I admit, but I don't see what the fuss is about, I seen a lot worse. Looking pretty solid to my eyes. Great film whatever version you see.

[mcash007]

I had the BFI originally, but when I got the German release I noticed a substantial difference. Also it could be my system, or I'm just too damn picky.

Anyway, I'm sure we both could agree that a R1 release would be better than any R2 release!

I went back and looked and I had some other R2 French RKO releases.

A woman's secret
Follow Me Quietly
The Clay Pigeon
Journey Into Fear
They won't Believe Me

where they are all noirs is debatable, but thought I'd throw them out there.

[Nighthawk]

I forgot to include Phantom Lady. Thanks for the reminder.

[Steve-O]

The Noir of the Week this week is only on R2 (as I mentioned)

[Nighthawk]

I've never actually heard of "He Ran All the Way." It sounds interesting--another title to add to my growing wish list.