:
Robert Mitchum,
Ricardo Montalban,
Ida Lupino,
more...
:
John Cromwell,
Joseph Losey,
Anthony Mann,
more...
see all cast/crew...
: Not Rated
: Warner Home Video
: Film Noir, Drama, Crime
: English
: English, Spanish, French
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Border Incident (1949)
As far removed from a "typical" MGM picture as it was possible to get back in 1949, Border Incident is a gritty, realistic crime melodrama. The story concerns the efforts by both the Mexican and American governments to stop the smuggling of Mexican migrant workers across the border. Representing Mexico is special agent Pablo Rodriguez (Ricardo Montalban), while Jack Bearnes (George Murphy) works on behalf of the US. Screenwriter John C. Higgins and producer/director Anthony Mann refuse to pull any punches, as witness the surprising mid-film murder of one of the major characters. Highlights include a harrowing episode involving a plowing machine and a climactic shootout in a quicksand swamp. The uniformly well-chosen supporting cast includes Howard da Silva, Arnold Moss, Alfonso Bedoya and Charles McGraw, "film noir" veterans all. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Film Noir Classics Collection Vol. 3 (Bonus Disc) (1945)
His Kind of Woman (1951)
His Kind of Woman directed by veteran John Farrow, is a convoluted mystery thriller which tries unsuccessfully to combine slapstick comedy with excessive violence, resulting in a film that depends more on stereotypes than on plot development. Nick (Raymond Burr), is a deported gang boss who needs to get back to the United States to run his operation. Dan Miller (Robert Mitchum) is a hard-up guy, who is persuaded, both by a series of beatings and a substantial sum of money, to sell his identity to Nick. Lenore (Jane Russell) a singer, poses as a heiress, trying to marry a millionaire. They all meet up in a resort in Mexico where Nick intends to have plastic surgery to alter his looks. There, a number of double-crosses, shootings, and chases all culminate in an exciting confrontation aboard ship. His Kind of Woman, a Howard Hughes production designed to be a showcase for Jane Russell, is entertaining when viewed as a comedy. As a serious film-noir thriller, it lacks suspense and depth. However, the film has its moments, and Robert Mitchum is in his element as the loner anti-hero. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
Lady In The Lake (1946)
Robert Montgomery is the director and star of the film noir mystery Lady in the Lake, adapted for the screen by source novelist Raymond Chandler. Montgomery plays detective Philip Marlowe, a private eye who just wants to publish his own crime stories. Kingsby Publications editor Adrienne Fromsett (Audrey Totter) meets with Marlowe, but offers him a job as a detective instead of a writer. She wants him to find the missing wife of her boss, Mr. Kingsby (Leon Ames). (Adrienne wants them to proceed with their divorce so she can marry Kingsby herself.) Marlowe accepts the job and goes looking for clues at the home of the wife's sometime lover, Chris Lavery (Dick Simmons). When Marlowe gets knocked out and picked up for drunk driving, he decides to drop the case. He is drawn back in, however, when Adrienne suggests that Kingsby's wife is responsible for the murder of a mysterious lady in the lake. Lloyd Nolan and Tom Tully play two police detectives also on the case. Lady in the Lake is remembered as being filmed with a subjective camera -- almost entirely from Marlowe's point of view -- and subsequently hyped by an MGM ad campaign. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
On Dangerous Ground (1951)
Robert Ryan plays Jim Wilson, a tough police detective embittered by years of dealing with low-life urban scum, in Nicholas Ray's moving film noir. After severely beating several suspects, Jim is assigned to a case far from the city to find the killer of a young girl. Joining the manhunt, in snow-covered terrain, Wilson finds himself paired with the victim's father, Walter Brent (Ward Bond), who plans to shoot the killer himself. When the two men come upon a cabin occupied by Mary Malden (Ida Lupino), a blind woman who is also the killer's sister, Wilson's life is changed forever. Mary, a generous and loving person who has cared for her mentally ill brother Danny (Sumner Williams) since the death of their parents, convinces Wilson to protect Danny from Brent. Wilson also promises to get help for Danny if he surrenders to him. Inspired by Mary's courage and recognizing Brent's rage as the mirror image of his own, Wilson gains the insight to free himself from his own blindness. The film includes a memorable score by Alfred Hitchcock favorite Bernard Herrmann. ~ Steve Press, All Movie Guide
The Racket (1951)
The Racket was based on a play by Bartlett Cormack, first filmed as a silent in 1928. The storyline was updated to include references to Estes Kefauver's Senate Crime Investigating Committee: otherwise, the plot (and much of the dialogue) was lifted bodily from the Cormack play. Racketeer Robert Ryan has managed to get several government and law-enforcement higher-ups in his pocket. But Ryan can't touch the incorruptible police officer Robert Mitchum, who refuses all attempts at bribery. Ryan pulls strings to get Mitchum transferred to a series of undesirable precincts, but Mitchum will not be dissuaded. The battle of wills between cop and criminal comes to a head when mob-connected nightclub singer Lizabeth Scott turns on her former protector Ryan. The Broadway version of The Racket starred Edward G. Robinson as the racketeer; the 1928 film version featured Louis Wolheim in the Robinson role and Thomas Meighan as the upright cop. Both the silent and sound versions of the property were personally produced by Howard R. Hughes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
GreenCine Says:
"Perhaps the most anticipated DVD release of the day, at least in Region 1," notes DK Holm on the GC Daily, "is Warner Home Video's Film Noir Classic Collection Vol 3." The set ($37.74) includes such rare treasures as Robert Montgomery's first-person-POV-noir Lady in the Lake and His Kind of Woman, along with a bonus disc containing a set of noir shorts.
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| Film Noir Classics Collection Vol. 3 (Bonus Disc) (1945) |
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| This'll Hit Your Face Like a Cold, Hard Slap . . . of Nirvana
by JPielaszczyk
September 19, 2006 - 12:59 PM PDT
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I thought I'd be hittin' the dregs of my noir habit, the bottom of the barrel, with dis recent release. Nothin' doin'! That dame's got the moves down cold: the arched eyebrow, the body language. It's temptin', almost too temptin', to leak a few dialogue spoilers here. But nothin' doin'! Robert Montgomery's actin's ok, but his direction and voice come from many years in Gutter University, if you know what I mean. See, his Marlowe character mostly doesn't appear onscreen . . . his dialogue partners (or victims) talk to the camera . . . you know, like Bogart's in Dark Passage.
Here's two big payoffs . . . that could be yours for the click of a mouse! That receptionist babe . . . she always appears while Marlowe's sufferin' from his advanced case of Male Pattern Retinal Babe Magnetism Syndrome (or MPRBMS, as the boys call it). She got me real good too! Talk about phenomenas deserving further study! Anyway, the other payoff is the razor edge these guys waltz on: is dis a real noir, or is it a parody? My brain says one thing, and my laughter-sore belly says another. Sheesh. |
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