330-341 Universal Noir #1 and #2

[domino harvey]

Not holding out much hope for the Durbin film, to the surprise of no one

I was right, this was awful. I appreciate the concern taken with the spoiler tags, but this movie has one of the most obvious red herrings imaginable, so we’re into Jagged Edge territory here. I agree that this is primarily a Durbin vehicle, and the lack of care with which her mooning is contrasted with a hoary murder mystery shows how little anyone involved thought of their audience. And while I too found the “Silent Night” number pretty cringe, the numbers in the nightclub are worse and just too unlikely to reconcile— sure, I bet a big nightclub just lets some rando sing a few numbers, very plausible in a musical comedy, much less so in a Diet Noir. I have the world’s biggest rope for Hollywood studio hokum but c’mon— I know anyone going to see a Durbin film voluntarily is already signaling they’re a sucker, but still

[swo17]

Just now noticing the last two films in Vol. 2 were directed by Michael Gordon aka the director of The Web and Pillow Talk aka Joseph Gordon-Levitt's grandfather

[domino harvey]

Release date for Vol 2 moved to October 23

[MichaelB]

Final specs for Universal Noir #2:



Lady on a Train:



Time Out of Mind:



Singapore:



A Woman's Vengeance:



An Act of Murder:



The Lady Gambles:

[tenia]

It was interesting to go through the set before the specs were updated from "high definition presentations" all across to this variety of workflows. The Lady Gambles clearly looks like a pre-existing (2009) master, while the other movies look much fresher, though all of them could have gone through a more thorough cleaning pass, as they all have retained different levels of dirt and small scratches. I was however surprised by the texture of Time Out Of Mind, whose grain looks video-y at times, reminding me of other Universal restorations where the grain look somewhat vertical and eletronic instead of round and more natural.

Sadly though, the movies were mostly "meh", and after the 1st set, this 2nd one tends to confirm I preferred so far what was included in the Columbia Noir sets.

[domino harvey]

OCD Alert: Volume 1 and Volume 2 are not the same height

[Peacock]

What happened to your clear plastic boxes Dom?!

[therewillbeblus]

Never thought of Wait Until Dark as a noir, but that does make it more interesting

[Maltic]

So much stuff still in plastic wrap. I don't have the willpower myself, it usually comes off before I've entered the front door.

[domino harvey]

What happened to your clear plastic boxes Dom?!

I upgraded!

[domino harvey]

Time Out of Mind is a terrific gothic-tinged romantic melodrama, but it is absolutely 100% not a noir by any definition other than “Something something shadows”. My flabber is fully gasted at it being included in this set, but it’s also better than any film in this set, so…

[ChunkyLover]

I’ve been working my way through the titles that I haven’t seen from the first box set (I’ve only seen “The Web” and “Kiss the Blood Off My Hands”). Honestly, I kind of liked “Naked Alibi” way more than I expected. It’s definitely not a hidden-gem but the first half of the film just feels like a borderline Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker sketch with how over-the-top it is (especially Sterling Hayden).

[ChunkyLover]

Started the second set this week. "Singapore" is terribly dull, dumb and forgettable. "Lady on a Train" is also just bad and, even at 95 minutes, a slog. Honestly, I'm not surprised that Indicator haven't been in a rush to release another noir box from the Universal library, like they did with Columbia/Sony, initially, because between these two sets, along with some of the stuff I've watched from the Kino noir boxes, most of it is either dreadful or mediocre.

[Ashirg]

I wonder if the missing numbers between 341 and 354 means there's 2 more volumes of Universal Noir in the work.

[ChunkyLover]

I wonder if the missing numbers between 341 and 354 means there's 2 more volumes of Universal Noir in the work.

I would assume so. They would match for two-six film sets. Like I've said before, however, I'm not surprised that Indicator aren't in a rush to push out more of these Universal sets.

[domino harvey]

There are good titles left to plunder from the vaults, they just need to prioritize better films over those with more star value

[DeprongMori]

I wonder if the missing numbers between 341 and 354 means there's 2 more volumes of Universal Noir in the work.

There are still a fair number of Columbia films from the various US DVD box sets that haven’t found their way to Blu-ray, if Indicator wanted to issue further Columbia Noir boxes. I count 8 from the TCM sets, but there might be others like Joe Macbeth (1955) and Miami Exposé (1956). Haven’t seen any of them to know whether they’re worth upgrading. I am surprised at the absence of The Burglar (1950).

Columbia Film Noir Classics III
- The Burglar (1957)

Bad Girls of Film Noir 1
- Two of a Kind (1951)
- Bad for Each Other, aka Scalpel (1954)
- The Glass Wall (1953)

Bad Girls of Film Noir 2
- Night Editor, aka The Trespasser (1946)
- One Girl’s Confession (1953)
- Women’s Prison (1955)
- Over-Exposed (1956)

There are lots more Columbia Noir if Indicator wanted to further raid the Kit Parker three Blu-ray volumes of Noir Archive films. Of these, I count 19 that aren’t released on Blu-ray by Indicator, Eureka, Arrow, or Criterion. Indicator has only released 5 Against the House, The Lineup, Escape in the Fog, 711 Ocean Drive, Footsteps in the Fog, The Crimson Kimono.

[ChunkyLover]

There are still a fair number of Columbia films from the various US DVD box sets that haven’t found their way to Blu-ray, if Indicator wanted to issue further Columbia Noir boxes.

I recall that there is at least one more Columbia Noir set planned from their current Sony deal. However, it would be odd for volume seven to have it's spine numbers before The Whistler set. 342-353 are very likely Universal-noir sets.