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Elegantly directed by Hollywood veteran Roy William Neill (best known for his 11 Sherlock Holmes films starring Basil Rathbone), Black Angel is an underappreciated film noir treasure, adapted from a novel by the acclaimed crime writer Cornell Woolrich (Phantom Lady).

When the beautiful singer Mavis Marlowe (Constance Dowling) is slain in her chic apartment, the men in her life become suspects. There is Martin Blair (Dan Duryea, Scarlet Street), her alcoholic musician ex-husband, nursing a broken heart; there is the shady nightclub owner Marko (Peter Lorre, Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon) who has been sneaking around her place, and there is Kirk Bennett (John Phillips), the adulterer who found his mistress’s dead body and fled the scene. When Bennett is convicted and sentenced to death, his long-suffering wife Catherine (June Vincent) joins forces with the heartbroken pianist Martin Blair to uncover the truth...

Black Angel is a consummate 1940s crime thriller which boats a suspenseful narrative, strong performances and atmospheric, meticulously lit cinematography. Roy William Neill’s film is presented here in a sumptuous restoration, with several illuminating new extras.

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS

• Brand new restoration from original film elements by Arrow Films
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
• Uncompressed Mono 1.0 PCM audio soundtrack
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• New audio commentary by the writer and film scholar Alan K. Rode
• A Fitting End, a new video appreciation of the film by the film historian Neil Sinyard
• Original trailer
• Gallery of original stills and promotional materials
• Reversible sleeve featuring two artwork options
FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film by author Philip Kemp

Arrow's track record of licensing the lamest noirs continues forward unabated

I watched this for the 40s project pretty recently and for most of its runtime I didn’t think it was bad so much as completely uninteresting. At least those uneven noirs that take more frustrating turns make an effort often into weird terrain that’s amusing to watch, but this just sits comfortably in an uninvolving plateau. That is until it reveals itself to be a precursor to the gimmicky alcoholic blackout mystery, which is where the film tanks. It’s even more disappointing with captivating fervent actors like Duryea, Lorre, and Crawford all phoning in muted performances against the grain of expectations. Lame is the right adjective.

Imagine if Arrow stopped releasing boring film noir and instead released Murder By Contract.

I did think Pickup Alley was pretty good

I actually think this a good one and much better than the Sony ones they have licensed!

If you’re going to release Universal noir, where the hell is CRISS CROSS?

Yeah you would assume that either Arrow and/or Indicator have both of Criss Cross and This Gun For Hire since both have 4k masters.

Br.com review stats that this is in an odd 1.28:1 ratio??

nitin wrote: Thu Dec 26, 2019 2:11 am Br.com review stats that this is in an odd 1.28:1 ratio??

There will be a replacement programme to fix that.

*** BLACK ANGEL REPLACEMENT DISC PROGRAMME***

Due to a technical glitch during the authoring of our BLACK ANGEL release, the film’s original 1.33:1 aspect ratio image was mistakenly altered to appear within a 1.28:1 ratio. This is incorrect and has resulted in a slight vertical compression to the image. The fist screen grab is from the uncorrected version and the second is the corrected version.

Our initial stock is being dispatched, so whilst we will fix this on future pressings, we will be setting up a disc replacement service for anyone who has already pre-ordered this release. The new encode is now ready so we anticipate that replacement discs will be available shortly. We will of course follow up with another post once the replacement disc programme is live so please do keep an eye on our page for updates.

Many thanks for your understanding and continued support!

Good to see.

I plan on ordering this at some point soon. Does anyone know if there will be a way to tell if I have the corrected version (a way that doesn't involve my tv, a measuring tape, and a calculator)?

I know some of you folks are experts who can eyeball these things; I most certainly am not.

I believe in most cases like this the disc will have something on the disc art clearly noting it as second printing or something like that

I ordered this item directly from Arrow UK to avoid getting the uncorrected version. I received it a couple of days ago. I cannot find anything on the packaging indicating that it is the revised version, and the faces look vertically stretched to me.
If Arrow shipped the defective version after the problem was well-known, that is bad behavior. If anyone figures out how to distinguish between the versions, please let us know, so that I can confirm that what I got is the uncorrected version. Also, please let us know how the replacement is going to be handled.

The replacement programme is now open.

Arrow haven't been terribly clear about this, but I'm assuming the entire first pressing (ie every copy with a booklet) will have the faultily encoded disc, even if you ordered it from Arrow direct. Their initial Facebook post on the matter said:

Our initial stock is being dispatched, so whilst we will fix this on future pressings, we will be setting up a disc replacement service for anyone who has already pre-ordered this release.

"Future pressings" suggests they aren't altering the first pressing in any way. If you ordered direct, they're saying you don't have to do anything as they'll use whatever address they sent your most recent order to and post a replacement disc to you. They advise not contacting them unless you haven't received it by May 1st.

I'm gonna go ahead and not accept any mailings containing "Black Angel" while there's a plague circulating, thank you very much

I’ve ordered this in the current sale - am I right to think that correct aspect ratio = no booklet?