Search - Legends of Hollywood: Film Noir - The Dark Side of Hollywood on DVD

Films in this set.

Michael C. Glancy | Clinton,OK United States | 07/28/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Here's a list of the films in this set:
THE STRANGER (Orson Welles)
THE GREEN GLOVE (Glenn Ford)
HE WALKED BY NIGHT (Richard Basehart)
CALL IT MURDER (Humphrey Bogart)
THE HITCH-HIKER (Edmond O'Brien)
D.O.A. (Edmond O'Brien)
DETOUR (Tom Neal)
THE BIG COMBO (Cornel Wilde)
SCARLET STREET (Edward G. Robinson)
THE HOODLUM (Lawrence Tierney)

I don't know about audio and video quality."

It's always darkest before the disaster

Annie Van Auken | Planet Earth | 10/14/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Film noir (or dark cinema) was popular from the mid-1930s to the mid-50's. In this genre, happy endings are non-existent-- the protagonist often ends up humiliated, defeated or even dead.

The ten still popular movies on BCI's FILM NOIR - THE DARK SIDE OF HOLLYWOOD are contained on five double-side recorded DVDs. Transfer quality of these unrestored vintage prints is mostly good.

Also scattered thoughout are theatrical trailers for: The Accused (1949), The Big Clock (1948), The Big Sleep (1946), The Bribe (1949), Detective Story (1951), Double Indemnity (1944), Fingers at the Window (1942), Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye (1950), Lady in the Lake (1947), Lady Killer (1933), The Man I Love (1947), Mildred Pierce (1945), Private Hell 36 (1954), The Roaring Twenties (1939), Strange Triangle (1946), They Drive By Night (1940), The Third Man (1949), This Gun for Hire (1942), and A Touch of Evil (1958).
(A few of these appear more than once.)

SYNOPSES--

BIG COMBO-- Excellent crime drama about a police lieutenant trying to get at a mobster by using the man's girlfriend. Great cast in a fast-moving story.

CALL IT MURDER-- Humphrey Bogart has only a small part in a story of a woman sentenced to the electric chair who may not be guilty of murder.

DETOUR-- To avoid police suspicion, a cross-country hitchhiker assumes the identity of the driver who suddenly dies. He offers a ride to a woman stranded at a gas station. She knew the dead man, and blackmails him.

D.O.A.-- Riveting drama about a man poisoned with a "luminous toxin" who hopes to catch the perpetrators before he dies.

GREEN GLOVE-- Ex-WWII G.I. returns to France in search of a priceless religious artifact: a gem-encrusted gauntlet.

HITCH-HIKER-- Two fishing buddies pick up a hitcher who says he'll kill them both before they reach their destination. (Watch for movie series Cisco Kid sidekick Martin Garralaga as a Mexican bartender.)

HE WALKED BY NIGHT-- Semi-documentary account of the investigation that led to the capture of an L.A. cop killer features Jack Webb in a familiar role.

HOODLUM-- Sociopathic ex-jailbird destroys all relations with his family then masterminds an armored car heist. The Tierney boys (Larry and Ed) portray brothers here.

SCARLET STREET-- Calculating dame tries to chisel money from lonely middle-aged store clerk that she believes to be a wealthy painter.

STRANGER-- Director Welles portrays Franz Kindler, the Holocaust's mastermind now living under an assumed name in Connecticut. Robinson is the investigator trying to apprehend Kindler.


ST. CLAIR's CLASSIC FILM NOIR VOL. 3 offers ten fine and not-widely-available films, as well as some interesting extras.


Parenthetical numbers preceding titles are 1 to 10 viewer poll ratings found at a film resource website.

(7.6) The Big Combo (1955) - Cornel Wilde/Richard Conte/Brian Donlevy/Jean Wallace/Robert Middleton/Lee Van Cleef/Earl Holliman
(5.4) Call it Murder ("Midnight") (1934) - Sidney Fox/O.P. Heggie/Henry Hull/Margaret Wycherly/Lynne Overman/Katherine Wilson/Richard Whorf/Humphrey Bogart
(7.4) Detour (1945) - Tom Neal/Ann Savage/Claudia Drake/Edmund MacDonald/Tim Ryan/Esther Howard/Pat Gleason
(7.4) D.O.A (1950) - Edmond O'Brien/Pamela Britton/Luther Adler/Beverly Garland/Neville Brand/Frank Gerstle (uncredited: Hugh O'Brian/Peter Leeds)
(6.5) The Green Glove (USA/France-1952) - Glenn Ford/Geraldine Brooks/Cedric Hardwicke/George Macready/John Dehner (narrator)
(7.1) The Hitch-Hiker (1953) - Edmond O'Brien/Frank Lovejoy/William Talman (uncredited: Martin Garralaga)
(7.4) He Walked by Night (1948) - Richard Basehart/Scott Brady/Roy Roberts/Whit Bissell/James Cardwell/Jack Webb (uncredited: John Dehner/Ann Doran/Reed Hadley-narrator)
(6.5) The Hoodlum (1951) - Lawrence Tierney/Allene Roberts/Marjorie Riordan/Lisa Golm/Edward Tierney
(7.9) Scarlet Street (1945) - Edward G. Robinson/Joan Bennett/Dan Duryea/Margaret Lindsay (uncredited: Clarence Muse)
(7.6) The Stranger (1946) - Edward G. Robinson/Loretta/Orson Welles/Philip Merivale/Richard Long"