Classic Film Noir (The Man Who Cheated Himself / The Hitchhiker / Detour / D.O.A / Too Late for Tears / The Stranger / Strange Love of Martha Ivers / Quicksand / The Scar)

Classic Film NoirSt. Clair Entertainment GroupIn an era when most CD movies are plain silver discs requiring an electron microscope to decipher the movie title, viewers will appreciate the easy legibility of this well packaged and presented group of films from St. Clair Entertainment Group that come with full credits as to year, running time, and major stars, although curiously, Disc 3 does not list Edmund O'Brien or Pamela Britton as staring in the Rudolph Maté thriller D.O.A.Disc OneToo Late For TearsThe first of two films featuring perhaps the badest bad girl of noir, Lizabeth Scott. It takes a lot to survive a relationship with her character, Jane Palmer; even as the movie ends another man is said to meet his demise at her hands. The script lets you know she was her own industry by the time this film was made in 1949. A purloined bundle of cash is the real main character; holding onto it brings out Jane's unwavering avarice. "Don't change, Tiger. I don't know if I'd like you with a heart," her partner Danny, played convincingly by Dan Duryea, tells her. When Don Blake, played by Don Defore, thinks he has found some answers, he watches nervously as Jane's fingers move toward her handbag. "What's in the purse?" he demands. "Lipstick" she replies. "Colt or Smith & Wesson?" he asks. Technical glitches and splices gone awry impair this film, although as a vehicle for the femme fatale motif and for its insights into the career of Lizabeth Scott, the picture is still valuable.The Man Who Cheated Himself is a sardonic title about the corrupting influence of money, with Felix Feist directing Lee J. Cobb in the title role of Detective Ed Cullen, an experienced San Francisco gumshoe who should have known better than sacrifice his career for socialite Lois Frazier, played to perfection by Jane Wyatt. Cobb is paired with John Dall, as his neophyte brother Andy who is just learning the sleuthing business. While Ed has fallen into a coziness of routine accompanied by an even laxer morality, Andy is laser focused on solving the murder of Frazier's husband regardless of where the evidence points. Contains some fine cinematography and a Hitchcockesque scene involving Lois' languidly floating scarf that evokes the vanishing nature of the dream she and Ed shared.The StrangerEdgar G. Robinson plays a determined investigator, Mr. Wilson, who works for a UN War Crimes Tribunal determined to break up a ring of former Nazis and bring them to justice. The trail leads Wilson to a small Connecticut town where he must convince Mary Longstreet (Loretta Young) that she has married his prime suspect. Noteworthy for its probe into the predictive power of behavioral psychology and the influence of the subconscious. Contains many of the features that made an Orson Wells film special: interplay between light and dark, tight camera angles, understated articulation of deep philosophical principles. A slip up by the copyright holders allowed this film to fall into public domain.Disc 2Strange Love of Martha Ivers doesn't suffer from the abruptness of D.O.A.'s ending, in fact, it has the kind of shocking finale that makes a movie unforgettable. The film is made even more intriguing by the fact that Van Hefflin, as Sam Masterson - Martha's childhood playmate who returns to town after an 18 year hiatus, survives even though he breaks a cardinal rule of noir cinema: never turn your back on Barbara Stanwyck. This film is well made from beginning to end, and also features a compelling performance by Lizabeth Scott in a role that has become taboo for contemporary cinema: the female ex-con.The Hitchhiker is a didactic piece of cinema attempting to warn travelers of the dangers inherent in hitchhiking. Indeed, the film's marketing campaign asks "Who Will Be His Next Victim: You?" The didactic genre was fairly common in the 1940's and 1950's and has its extension in a film like The Sniper, which is not included in the current package. There is even a message from the producers as the film begins. The shortcoming of this movie lies in the unrelenting brutality of its psychotic protagonist, so much so that I found myself fast forwarding through the film to the point of the villain's eventual capture.QuicksandMickey Rooney as auto mechanic Dan Brady can't catch a break and gets shaken down time after time for bigger and bigger stakes in another didactic classic intended to show "what a tangled web we weave when at first we do deceive." Ironicly, his luck changes for the better when he pulls a gun on a motorist who turns out to be a kindly lawyer. When he ditches femme fatale Vera Novak (Jeanne Cagney) and reunites with his loyal admirer Helen (Barbara Bates), we know there's hope down the road and he'll get the shortest prison sentence possible. Valuable for the display of almost hyperkinetic energy Rooney give the film.Disc 3D.O.A. is a film that is flawed by its ending, which is much too abrupt, although that shortcoming is more than offset by the brilliant cinematography which features some of the best hard bop jazz committed to film. Academy Award winner Edmund O'Brien (The Barefoot Contessa) as victim Frank Bigelow and Pamela Britton as his needy and vulnerable paramour Paula achieve a connection on film that is honest and believable. It is the performances of the actors, and the camera work, not the script, that raises this film from the level of ordinary it might otherwise have been consigned to. Director Rudolph Mate uses bus scenes, night life and especially Bigelow's romp through San Francisco streets to achieve a verisimilitude on city life.The ScarPeople earn the fate they deserve in this story of attraction, murder and double identity starring Paul Henreid as John Muller and Joan Bennett as tough minded but still vulnerable Evelyn Hahn who falls in love with a man having a dubious past. His ambition to reintegrate himself into society after a lengthy prison term leads him to take unsanctioned shortcuts. A subsequent detour into netherworlds and Evelyn's accompaniment almost mirror the details of Joan Bennett's real life in which her husband Walter Wanger, shot her film agent, Jennings Lang.DetourWith its hitchhiking theme, Detour is paired well in this package, yet it too suffers from the same drawback as The Hitchhiker, an unrelenting brutality, this time from a female character, and the effect is the same: a monochromatic performance bordering on unwatchable. Detour at least, is redeemed by a story line more complex than Hitchhiker but ends abruptly with no real solution to the concepts it introduces.

These 3-disc film noir packs are going for two-three bucks per DVD disc. Are they worth it? Remember when you passed up a public domain movie on the local access channel because the print was so dark and blurry? Or maybe you're old enough to have seen "It's a Wonderful Life" or "Citizen Kane" in any number of inferior duplicate prints (often duplicates of duplicates)?Fortunately, both of the latter films have been replaced by new editions struck from the original masters. But what's inescapable is the proliferating amount of product (film, books, records) and the inability of technology to keep up with its preservation (even digitalized "texts" are not exempt--if not from the ravages of time, from constantly changing technologies that can't "read" previous technologies).The films are watchable, the scripts are mostly fail-safe examples of the genre, the actors and acting are more than equal to the task. It's the cinematography that suffers. So turn up the brightness (and sharpness) control on your set to maximum and enjoy these now and then (Lizabeth Scott and Dan Duryea make for a terrific opening act--a credible variation on Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck in "Double Indemnity"). And perhaps it's good to be reminded that even though "It's a Wonderful Life" and "Citizen Kane" are now available in crisp, detailed and vivid prints, the general public seems to have little more interest in the fresh prints than the old dark and blurry ones (the former film is once again fading from memory, and I've seen the priceless new edition of "Kane" offered for less than ten bucks.)

I have not had time to see all 13 hours, but the 3 or 4 movies that I have seen were as expected. The quality was not up to the "restored" sets with the higher price, but they were the same as you would see on late night TV in the old days. It was quite fun to watch these as they may have been shown years ago. I am pleased with the set and think it was well worth the price.

Lately I've been on a Film Noir kick. So I was delighted to see The Classic Movie Pack listed. First off it states "Over 13 Hours". The film durations are listed with the majority coming in around 99 minutes or less.It is not over 13 Hours of viewing pleasure. Secondly the quality of the prints for the vast majority of the films are abysmal. The are a "few" exceptions. The Stranger, Strange Love Of Martha Ivers and possibly The Scar have decent transfers. The first film I watched was "Too Late For Tears". Here again the print was awful. Also the majority of the films do not adhere to the definition of Film Noir....shadows or plot.

WOW! What great movies. Not a bad one in the entire pack, in my opinion. The Mickey Rooney one almost seems a little out of place, but once you watch the entire thing, it too is a good film. These are excellent examples of 'Film Noir' movies, and are a wonderful treat to watch. As far as I am concerned, all of the films in this 9 pack are more than worth the money....which is a good value to begin with. If you like 'Film Noir', buy it! If you don't know 'Film Noir', buy it! You won't be disappointed.

At the beginning (after the FBI piracy warning), the DVD has a caveat that "over the years the original copes of movies deteriorate with time. And 'St. Claire Media' hopes you'll forgive the poor quality". Well it's not just poor quality, it's REALLY poor quality. With white lines running across the screen and more than half the time the picture is too dark to see what's happening. I wished they'd played their warning before I purchased this DVD. I know there are better copies out there. I've seen them!

This is a great intro to some of the more over looked films of the Classic Noir style. For the money you cant beat it, only a few of the titles are available in significantly better quality prints. The current listing of the plot summaries incorrectly lists The Adventuress (I See a Dark Stranger) w/Debroah Kerr when in fact it is The Stranger w/Orsen Welles.