Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Well, "Noirist", I understand your frustration with Amazon for not listing the contents of this collection. These public domain film noirs have been released countless times already, but never have so many been offered for such a small price. Keep in mind that they ARE public domain movies, so don't expect perfection in picture or sound quality, although on this collection they're offered in 5.1 Surround Sound (which is nice).
Disc 1 on this 3-disc collection contains "Too Late For Tears", "The Man Who Cheated Himself", and "The Stranger".
Bonus features on this disc are a photo gallery & vintage film noir poster gallery (I LOVE those classic posters!). I'm a little puzzled by the various "Casablanca" posters being included in the film noir poster gallery, though!
"Too Late For Tears" (1949) stars Lizabeth Scott (one of the best femme fatales!) & Dan Duryea & is a great tale of greed and murder.
"The Man Who Cheated Himself" (1950) stars Lee J.Cobb & Jane Wyatt and is a forgettable low-budget crime drama. The picture and sound quality in this movie were simply awful.
"The Stranger" (1946) stars Orson Welles (in a wonderfully sinister role!), Loretta Young, and Edward G. Robinson (in a rare good guy role) & is truly a great classic.
Disc 2 contains "The Strange Love of Martha Ivers", "The Hitch-Hiker", and "Quicksand". Included on this disc is a featurette "About Film Noir" (which isn't very impressive).
"The Strange Love of Martha Ivers" (1946) is one of my favorite noirs of all time, and stars Barbara Stanwyck (in an unforgettable femme fatale role!), Van Heflin, Kirk Douglas (in his debut, I believe), and Lizabeth Scott. It's about a woman with a troubled past that eventually catches up with her.
"The Hitch-Hiker" (1952) is directed by the great Ida Lupino and stars Edmund O'Brien, Frank Lovejoy, and William Talman. It's a suspenseful tale of a psychotic hitchhiker who holds two men captive.
"Quicksand" (1950) stars baby-faced Mickey Rooney, Jeanne Cagney, and Peter Lorre (who gets too little screen time) and is an adverage but enjoyable tale of a good guy who's led astray by a femme fatale.
Disc 3 contains "Detour", "The Scar", and "D.O.A.". There are also a few theatrical trailers on this disc.
"Detour" (1945) stars Tom Neal & Ann Savage and represents ultra low-budget noir at its best! It's yet another tale of a man who's downfall is brought on by a deadly woman. By the way, I've compared this with my Alpha dvd of "Detour" and this IS a better restored version.
"The Scar" A.K.A. "Hollow Triumph" (1948) stars Paul Henreid (one of the stars of 1942's "Casablanca") and Joan Bennett, and is a depressing tale of a mobster on the run who finds out (the hard way) that changing identity was not a good escape!
"D.O.A." (1949) is one of the best examples of ultra low-budget film noir, and stars Edmond O'Brien, Pamela Britton, and Luther Adler. A man is poisoned and tries to solves his own murder before he dies!
If you haven't already bought these movies on other dvd editions, this is the best deal and I highly recommend it to all fans of classic film noir.
Click Here to see more reviews about:
Classic Film Noir 9 Movie Pack (1949)
Click here for more information about Classic Film Noir 9 Movie Pack (1949)
