Review: Columbia Noir #1
Blu-ray: Columbia Noir #1 (1945 – 58)
Another great blu-ray box set from Powerhouse Films in their Indicator series of releases, Columbia Noir #1 (#2 is due for release in February 2021) features 6 noir movies, each from a different director:
- ESCAPE IN THE FOG (Budd Boetticher, 1945)
- THE UNDERCOVER MAN (Joseph H Lewis, 1949
- DRIVE A CROOKED ROAD (Richard Quine, 1954)
- 5 AGAINST THE HOUSE (Phil Karlson, 1955)
- THE GARMENT JUNGLE (Vincent Sherman and Robert Aldrich, 1957)
- THE LINEUP (Don Siegel, 1958)
All 6 films are presented for the first time on Blu-ray in the UK, with The Undercover Man and Drive a Crooked Road making their world Blu-ray premieres. Also included is a 120-page book, and the set is strictly limited to 6,000 numbered units.
I’d never watched any of the movies in this set before, and so it was a treat to sit back and watch all 6 with no knowledge whatsoever about them.
Considering that all of them are over 60 years old now, the picture quality is sharp and vibrant, while the original mono audio soundtracks are crisp and clear.
Of the 6 movies only 1 really disappointed me: The Undercover Man. Which, despite only being 85 minutes long (all 6 are around 85-ish minutes long), seemed to drag with its narrative stretched out and nothing much happening for long periods of its running time. A lot was due to a rather bland performance by Glen Ford, and even the presence of the mob (a staple of noir movies) couldn’t raise any palpable excitement as the narrative played out to its inevitable conclusion.
This seemed at odds with the other movies in the collection, where there was much more substance and danger to the proceedings.
Escape in the Fog sets the intrigue from the very beginning, where a woman has a premonition about a murder, which then becomes reality as pieces of a puzzle slowly come together, all involving Nazis and an atmospheric fog drenched atmosphere.
Drive a Crooked Road (possibly my favourite in the set, though it’s a close run thing between this and The Lineup) has Mickey Rooney as a lovestruck car mechanic who unwittingly gets drawn in to be the “wheelman” in a bank robbery, while 5 Against the House also has a robbery as the focus of its narrative, but this time pits 4 college students (the oldest looking college students you’ll ever see!) and a cabaret singer with trying to rob a casino in Reno. Naturally, neither go as planned.
The Garment Jungle once again has the mob at the heart of everything, this time taking protection money from a garment manufacturer owner, who, when his son returns to the business, begins to see the error of his ways. Unfortunately for him, the mob and its greedy boss aren’t so sympathetic to the views expressed by the owners son, and so harsh lessons have to be taught.
Finishing off the set is The Lineup, directed by the great Don Siegel.
Dancer (Eli Wallach) and Julian (Robert Keith) are gangsters who have to retrieve heroin packages carried by unsuspecting travellers who arrive back in America from foreign countries.
Once again, the best laid plans do not always run smoothly, and watching the slow descent into madness by Eli Wallach was an absolute joy.
Whether you’ve seen the movies before or not, the visual/audio presentation of them in this set makes it well worth buying, and that is without even mentioning the wealth of special features included too.
Commentaries, documentaries, interviews and short films all add incredible value, plus informative entertainment, to this 1st Indicator Columbia Noir set.
I wait in anticipation of set #2 in February next year.
INDICATOR LIMITED BLU-RAY EDITION BOX SET SPECIAL FEATURES:
ESCAPE IN THE FOG
- 2K restoration
- Original mono audio
- Audio commentary with film historian Pamela Hutchinson (2020)
- The Fleet That Came to Stay (1945, 22 mins): World War II documentary, compiled by Budd Boetticher from original combat footage captured during the Battle of Okinawa, and released shortly after Escape in the Fog
- You Nazty Spy! (1940, 18 mins): World War II comedy starring the Three Stooges, in which the trio satirise the Third Reich and help publicise the Nazi threat to American audiences
- Image gallery: publicity and promotional material
- New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
- UK premiere on Blu-ray
- 2K restoration
- Original mono audio
- Audio commentary with writer and film programmer Tony Rayns (2020)
- Man on a Bus (1945, 29 mins): short film directed by Joseph H Lewis for the United Jewish Appeal, featuring a star-studded cast, including Walter Brennan, Broderick Crawford, Ruth Roman, and Lassie
- Income Tax Sappy (1954, 17 mins): comedy starring the Three Stooges, in which the trio come under the scrutiny of the US Treasury Department when they get creative with their tax returns
- Image gallery: publicity and promotional material
- New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
- World premiere on Blu-ray
- High Definition presentation
- Original mono audio
- Audio commentary with film critic Nick Pinkerton (2020)
- The Guardian Interview with Mickey Rooney (1988, 83 mins): archival audio recording of the much-loved actor in conversation with Tony Sloman at the National Film Theatre, London
- Introduction by Martin Scorsese (2012, 2 mins)
- Screen Snapshots: ‘Mickey Rooney, Then and Now’ (1953, 10 mins): Columbia Pictures promotional short featuring the famed performer looking back at one of his childhood roles
- Higher Than a Kite (1943, 18 mins): comedy starring the Three Stooges, in which the trio play mechanics who find themselves in a situation that’s way out of their control
- Original theatrical trailer
- Image gallery: publicity and promotional material
- New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
- World premiere on Blu-ray
- High Definition presentation
- Original mono audio
- Audio commentary with film critic David Jenkins (2020)
- The Guardian Interview with Kim Novak (1997, 67 mins): archival video recording of the celebrated actor in conversation with David Robinson at the National Film Theatre, London
- Sweet and Hot (1958, 17 mins): comedy starring the Three Stooges, in which the trio team up with a female singer in the hope of finding fame and fortune in the big city
- Original theatrical trailer
- Image gallery: publicity and promotional material
- New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
- UK premiere on Blu-ray
- 2K restoration
- Original mono audio
- Audio commentary with film historian Kevin Lyons (2020)
- It’s a Jungle Out There (2007, 20 mins): archival interview with actor Robert Loggia, conducted by Alan K Rode of the Film Noir Foundation following a screening of The Garment Jungle
- Law of the Jungle (2020, 15 mins): writer and film programmer Tony Rayns discusses Robert Aldrich and The Garment Jungle
- Rip, Sew and Stitch (1953, 17 mins): comedy starring the Three Stooges, in which the trio play tailors who find themselves caught up in criminal activities
- Original theatrical trailer
- Image gallery: publicity and promotional material
- New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
- UK premiere on Blu-ray
- High Definition remaster
- Original mono audio
- Audio commentary with author James Ellroy and the Film Noir Foundation’s Eddie Muller (2009)
- Audio commentary with film historian David Del Valle and author and screenwriter C Courtney Joyner (2020)
- The Influence of Noir (2009, 7 mins): appreciation by filmmaker Christopher Nolan
- The Streets of San Francisco (2020, 7 mins): video essay guide to the locations of The Lineup
- Three episodes of The Lineup radio series: ‘The Candy Store Murder’ (1950, 30 mins), written by Blake Edwards; ‘The Case of Frankie and Joyce’ (1951, 31 mins); and ‘The Harrowing Haggada Handball Case’ (1951, 26 mins), written by Edwards and Richard Quine
- Tricky Dicks (1953, 16 mins): comedy starring the Three Stooges, in which the trio send up the police procedural
- Original theatrical trailer
- Trailer commentary: short appreciation by A History of Violence screenwriter Josh Olson
- Image gallery: promotional and publicity materials
- New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
- UK premiere on Blu-ray
Columbia Noir #1 is released 30th November by Powerhouse Films.
Review by Dave from discs kindly supplied by Powerhouse Films.