ViewAskewbian

I've recently taken out a slew of Noir titles on VHS from the library, most of them being public domain. So, with a bunch of sets out there I am wondering what are some of the better ones to snag for cheap.

Anybody have any of these. If so, a mini review would be most welcome:

LINK

LINK

LINK

Cameron

i have seen the first and last set...quality is as good as most Public domain tiltes from that period....prints are a bit scratchy, looks like they were transfered from vhs....and the sound can be a bit muffled...wouldn't spend more than about ten bucks for a set of these....watchable, but not outstanding

ViewAskewbian

Cam,

I was thinking of snagging the last set listed above due to the rather cheap price (even if the prints stink on a few of them it still is only $11) due to reading that this is one of the best prints of Detour out there. That and I really want The Stranger and D.O.A. as well as few others in the set. I haven't seen about 4 of the films listed and am really on a Noir kick since the Warner release.

How are the films, from a NOIR fan like yourself, in that final set?

Cameron

DOA is a good movie, and the stranger is a good movie, but not a great print. The Strange Love of Martha Ivers is not to be missed. Hitchhiker is also a great movie...not exactly a stand out in historical film noir but it is a good watch, and you should enjoy it. The others are good enough for the price, but are forgetable...

The third set is the best buy of the bunch...and if you have a sam goody/suncoast/media play it can be had for 7.99 in store. They have a big box display that has a few set similar to this for tv shows, john wayne, and hitchcock.

If you enjoy the Stranger. I suggest picking up Citizen Welles. It has The Stranger Remastered and it looks very nice. It also includes The Trial (nonanamorphic but still the best looking version on the market) and a Welles short Hearts of Age...

kingtopher

Don't listen to people who say the third set is the best one. In fact, the second one, "5 Film Noir Killer Classics" from Questar is a fantastic boxed set. It's really nicely packaged, and each film there is approximately as good as the other available versions out there. Scarlet Street is still pretty bad, but there has never been a decent release for it. But anyway, it also comes with a bonus features disc which has a couple of short featurettes about noir and a 40-minute noir trailer feature, which is fantstic. I can't recommend getting "5 Film Noir Killer Classics" from Questar enough. It's a great way to fill in some gaps in your noir collection, and end up with as good of copies of the five that exist. A couple look great, a couple look decent, and one looks only ok (but it is watchable - and very worth watching, too).

Cameron

40 minutes of trailers has me sold... do you have the upc code for this one...so i can search for it on a few sites

RevKarl

You might want to hold off on Citizen Welles.

Both DVD Savant and Digitally Obsessed slammed the "restored" video in their reviews…

http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s390welles.html
http://www.digitallyobsessed.com/sho...w.php3?ID=2797

…and DVD Beaver wasn't much kinder; here are links to his examinations of various DVD releases of the two Welles films:

The Stranger
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDCompare2/stranger5.htm
The Trial
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDCompare8/trial.htm

Not being a "PAL"-kinda guy, I have the Roan version of The Stranger and the Image/Milestone OOP version of The Trial. Both look okay, not great. Because I already had The Stranger, I passed on the Questar's Killer Classics (UPC Code: 033937035012, per request) and picked up Image's Detour and Roan's D.O.A. for about the same total price as that set. Here are DVD Beaver's DVD comparision links for those two films:

Detour
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDCompare3/detour.htm
D.O.A.
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDCompare7/doa.htm

ViewAskewbian

King,

I've been reading about the Questar set and one site stated that the transfers on these were about as good as what is already out there (with the except of the mentioned Scarlet Street which is terrible). One site that reviewed it stated that the 9 film set had a better version of Detour. Have you seen the versions of the films in the 9 disc set. I'm currently more apt to go that route as it gives me 4 more films to fill those gaps and if the bulk fo the transfers out there are rather lousy, for $11 bucks (in this case instead of $39 for the Questar set) it doesn't set me back too much while waiting for better prints. In other words, if they are watchable then I don't mind so much.

Cameron

i think the stranger on citizen welles looked good...it is a little dark, but its better than the washed out scratched up copy of a copy from vhs...the trial is not anamorpic (as stated) but looks as good as Images release....it really needs a re-release.

RevKarl

ViewAskewbian: I don't know where you're getting the price for Killer Classics, but DDD & Digital Eyes have it for $16-18.

ViewAskewbian

I'm getting it from Canada which is where I live. Damn GST/PST.
The cheapest I have been able to find it has been from Columbia House Canada for $29 but they have insane shipping for box sets that would add another 10 bucks to that. Amazon.ca lists it at $33.44.

Hence why, in this case, the better value for a noir flirt like me seems to be the cheaper $11 (CDN) St. Clair Vision set.

ViewAskewbian

Cam,

Quick question: I just saw The Stranger today for the first time on a VHS copy from the library (had a double feature with D.O.A. which I also saw for the first time...probably why I am interested in the above set...both of these films were amazing!). My question is about The Stranger...to not ruin the film I will place it in spoiler tags:

Cameron

that about sums it up...and that movie is considered Welles trying to do a commercial picture...It has style, but it quiet different from other films he directed or played in....it was also welles only money maker upon initial run. Other notes on this film it was the first feature film after WW2 to show Holocaust footage.

for a good rundown on that specific film...check out This Article it is pretty thorough and takes an in depth look at what welles was doing at the time.

ViewAskewbian

Thanks for the article. Reading now. The original intent certainly would have made for an interesting perspective shift.

unclehulot

Try and catch The Stranger on Turner Classic Movies, and you'll see a preview of what a dvd should look like on this title. Can't say I agree on The Trial, it's way to washed out looking. There IS a very good R2 disc around, if you want to spend the bucks. I really object to the claims of "restoration" by the makers of this "Citizen Welles" set. It's complete BS, which somehow fooled the NY Times writers back when it came out... not that their video coverage has ever been very good!

bboisvert

Strong disagreement. There are other editions of these films that look MUCH better. I thought the Citizen Welles set looked like absolute crap, and their claims of 'restoration' are a joke.

chemosh6969

you can download many of these films in various formats at http://www.archive.org/movies/collec...=feature_films

kingtopher

Well obviously they're all public domain prints so none of them are going to look fantastic. I've seen a couple of prints of Detour and this one looked about as good as any of them. However, if you have to pay that much for it, don't get the Questar. You should maybe consider importing it from the U.S. (not sure what places ship internationally though). I got it during a DDD sale for like 12 bucks or something. You shouldn't pay much more than $17 or 18 US dollars for it (or any public domain stuff). Supposedly the Image transfer for D.O.A. is slightly better than the Questar, but since that one disc would cost more than this entire set, I passed and picked this one up. I believe that the transfer of Killer Bait/Too Late For Tears is supposedly the best one out there right now. Plus, the packaging is really slick, and nicely done, and having a nice presentation like that always makes me feel a bit better about it too. As far as I'm concerned the Questar box is a step above most PD sets.

Also, I think I was wrong about the trailers. If my memory serves me correctly, it's not 40 minutes of trailers, but around 40 trailers (give or take a few) themselves. I believe the running time for those is more like 80 minutes. A few aren't really noirs, but I love trailers from the time period regardless.

Johnny Zhivago

Not much to add here, but... The Questar box is worth picking up, if you feel like laying out the extra cash. The transfers are OK, nothing great, but they'll satisfy the curiosity... Keeping in mind that these were "b" flicks to begin with and the source elements aren't in the best of condition. That said, I may pick up the Image version of D.O.A. with my next CH enrollment... It's bound to be an improvement over the version in the Questar box. Also worth noting, as Savant mentions in his review, > http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s140detour.html < the original elements for Detour are most likely gone forever. Not sure when or if a quality transfer will ever come along... And that's a shame, it's a great flick.

The extras disc with the trailers is pretty cool... But be aware, there are no individual chapter stops for each preview. IIRC, there are 5 or 6 stops over the entire running time, so you'll have to let it play all at once if you want all of the previews. (and yeah, some of the trailers towards the end are not noir) Slightly annoying. Like kingtopher said, the packaging is pretty slick (a lot like the case used for the Panic Room SE, if you've seen that one). The Questar set really is a notch above for a PD release.

Cameron

so what would you guys consider the best region 1 dvd for the stranger? THe Ereka looks good in those still shots, but it looked scratchy when playing it. Picture quality aside, the comentarry by Jeffrey Lyons is nice...a bit dry in spots, and not a ton of new info if your as well versed as certain member (Savant for instance) but it is a good listen on welles history. The docs are nothing to special...but if your a welles completist then you have to have it for hearts of age (1934)...its the only region 1 release as of right now.

If there is a better copy out i would buy it, i just have not seen it....i'll take the wash out over the scratches myself....but open to suggestions.

ViewAskewbian

Well, against some of the posters comments here, I went ahead and ordered the 9 film (3 DVD set), the last one above, instead of the Questar due mainly to price. I won't be getting it until sometime the first week in June (as I have tacked it on to my James Dean Collection pre-order to get $10 off from an old Amazon coupon). When I do I will post here how the prints stand up. I also found out that that set also has a trailer gallery, poster collection and a short documentary abou the genre. The package, I will admit, certainly isn't as snazzy as the Questar but for $11 (CDN) I really can't complain.

ViewAskewbian

So, finally purchased the third set linked above and I have to say I am pretty impressed. Of course I wasn't expecting steller transfers but some of these are quite good. I site The Hitchhiker, Detour and D.O.A. as being very well done but the Many Loves of Martha Ivers is on par with some of the Warner releases. All in all, for $10, I got a little more then expected. The films are great, dripping with blacks and dangerous women, you get a few extras (the poster gallery is a nice addition) and the transfers are not as bad as I expected.

Cameron

glad to hear you liked it...

bigsugar316

I have the first set, Film Noir 10 Movie Set . For the price you can't go wrong. There's some true classics in there. The transfers vary in quality, but overall they've been pretty decent for what you pay. For like $2 a movie you really can't go wrong. I'd definitely recommend picking it up.

naitram

I'm going to have to snag that then, it sounds pretty good. Too bad I have some of those titles already with the second set, but I haven't seen some of the other movies and really want The Many Loves of Martha Ivers. More film noir is good.