criterionforum.org

As far as expectations go, I was perhaps most disappointed with Desperate though this is not to say that it is a very solid film and still superior (unfortunately) to half the other titles. None of the 8 films strikes me as genuinely great although Cornered comes close, and Armoured Car Robbery was very strong also. Phenix City Story has an awful prologue and it's perhaps a bit too blunt in its black-and-white characterisation but it's one of the darkest and most atmospheric films in the set, and its violence is still shocking today.

I love Cornered, and although it's far from a perfect film I've never really been struck by any clumsiness in the structure - as in D.O.A., I'm always too caught up in the frenzied, relentless journey of the protagonist, an archetypal 'man with nothing to lose', to bother analysing whether the whole thing makes sense or not. And I adore Walter Slezak in this!

Crossfire, on the other hand, just never quite pulled me in, perhaps because of the 'tokenness' of the leads, as David put it. (I do agree it's the small parts that make the film special, Paul Kelly most of all.)

david hare wrote:Yes, Paul Kelly, Gloria Grahame, Sam Levene as the Jew/homosexual and George Cooper as the "lost" boy. Ryan's just superb in this of course -the first of his three great complex gay characters, followed by Sandy in the Fuller and Claggart in Billy Budd.

Mine is a distinctly minority opinion on Crossfire, I realize.

I was surprised by how good 'Crossfire' is, when I re-watched it about 6 months ago; for the first time in about 20 years.
I was expecting a very dated, and overly talky film, but, aside from Ryan's dominating performance, I thought it excitingly paced, and the tension was well-maintained throughout.
In fact it was largely my positive revision of it that has caused me to give 'Cornered' another look, because I was definitely underwhelmed by it
(and then of course I was pleasantly surprised by 'The Sniper', and that inspired final frame)

I also thought Crossfire was a very solid piece, but I can understand how some don't see it the same way.

I'm a bit surprised at how popular Cornered seems to be, probably because I had never heard of it, but I did find it a very enjoyable, with its memorable suspects and excellent finale. Parts of it might be too slow paced for some, given that its more of a mystery than a straight crime-noir.

DVD Talk review of Volume 5 is rather lukewarm about most of the films - "not an out-and-out winner among them," "very little to distinguish Cornered" and The Phenix City Story dismissed as "boring to watch", although the set is still "Recommended". Judging from the Final Thoughts, this reviewer's preferred films are Crime in the Streets, Dial 1119, and Deadline at Dawn.

Jonathan S wrote:DVD Talk review of Volume 5 is rather lukewarm about most of the actual films - "not and out-and-out winner among them," "very little to distinguish Cornered" and The Phenix City Story dismissed as "boring to watch", although the set is still "Recommended". Judging from the Final Thoughts, this reviewer's preferred films are Crime in the Streets, Dial 1119, and Deadline at Dawn.

'Crime In The Streets' is definitely not one of the films I need to revisit: its dull and worthy, Period.
(and thats speaking as a big fan of Siegel's 50's output)
So that reviewer immediately blew whatever credibility he might have had.

DVD Savant is still my reviewer of choice at DVD Talk (not for technical qualities, but for movies themselves), but he also gave thumbs up to Crime In The Streets, so some people must be questioning his credibility as well. (I haven't seen it myself yet, so I don't have an opinion about this film).

Ashirg wrote:DVD Savant is still my reviewer of choice at DVD Talk (not for technical qualities, but for movies themselves), but he also gave thumbs up to Crime In The Streets, so some people must be questioning his credibility as well. (I haven't seen it myself yet, so I don't have an opinion about this film).

He's usually quite good; and his commentaries are quite enjoyable.

Ah well,.....even Homer nods!

I like Savant as well but I'm surprised too at his championing of Dial 9111, Deadline at Dawn and especially Crime in the Streets. Not Siegel's finest hour (ahem). If anyone wants to get Cornered and Armoured Car Robbery without paying for the other titles, they're available in Spain (they may well have forced Spanish subs though). Starcafe is a good etailer.

From the Volume 4 set, I'm having playback problems with the Illegal/The Big Steal disc.

If I try to play "Illegal" it's fine. But if I try to play "The Big Steal" the screen freezes, and errors occur. I've tried a few players and they all have problems. Anyone else?

I watched the disc last year and I believe the same thing happened to me initially, but then it worked fine on another player.

By pure random chance, I just got around to watching The Big Steal within the last week. I didn't have any problems when I played it.

So what's the reason for Volume 2 being out of print?

Jonathan S wrote:DVD Talk review of Volume 5 is rather lukewarm about most of the films - ...The Phenix City Story dismissed as "boring to watch", although the set is still "Recommended".

A sordid but true story, the style reflects that. Nothing boring about it at all, I thought it was excellent.

It was one of Jonathan Rosenbaum's 100 "alternative" American films in response to the AFI 100, and he seemed partial to it for its portrayal of the South, where Rosenbaum also grew up.

"Phil Karlson’s noirish 1955 docudrama about organized crime is authentically seedy, shot in Alabama with adept use of many locals and an unusual candor about racist violence." Rosenbaum writes more here.

Phenix City Story is probably the single best film in the entire series of Warner Film Noir sets. The DVDTalk reviewer should probably stop masturbating immediately prior to watching movies.

I was about to say the same thing (well, your first sentence anyway), until I remembered about Out of the Past.

FWIW, I saw Elmer Gantry for the first time the other night, and it was great to see Edward Andrews and John McIntire sharing a scene or two. I think the first time I really noticed those two actors was in Phenix City Story - their roles in that film may very well be their best film performances.

Apologies for the bump, but what does Cathy O'Donnell silently mouth at 101:55 of They Live By Night, after watching Granger speed off?

This is really weird as both boxes were available last week, but volumes two and three aren't available in the WBshop anymore. Are they OOP now or can we expect a reprint?

Jean-Luc Garbo wrote:This is really weird as both boxes were available last week, but volumes two and three aren't available in the WBshop anymore. Are they OOP now or can we expect a reprint?

Volume 2 has been out of print for quite some time (years), I thought. 3 seems to be in stock at Amazon.

Seems like (TCM exclusive) Columbia Pictures Film Noir Classics III is not available at the moment as well.

The Warner Film Noir Classic Collection Volume 2 seems to be back in print on Amazon.ca. Of course earlier today I paid a higher priced new edition on eBay thinking it was OOP over the past few years.

The Volume 4 set is OOP? If so then damn I missed it while available.

Does anyone know if the documentary "Film Noir: Bringing Darkness to Light" that was included as an extra disk in the 6-discs Warner Film Noir Classic Collection Vol. 3 has been included on any subsequent release? Perhaps on one of the Criterion Warner sourced noirs?

I'd like to get the docu, but not that keen on buying this OOP set.

Thanks

Marwood wrote: Mon Jul 20, 2020 9:32 am Does anyone know if the documentary "Film Noir: Bringing Darkness to Light" that was included as an extra disk in the 6-discs Warner Film Noir Classic Collection Vol. 3 has been included on any subsequent release? Perhaps on one of the Criterion Warner sourced noirs?

I'd like to get the docu, but not that keen on buying this OOP set.

Thanks

It's on the Gun Crazy Blu-ray

It's on the Gun Crazy Blu-ray

Wow, thanks so much. Going to upgrade my DVD of this ASAP!