Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and The Film Foundation partner once again to bring five films to DVD for the first time, fully restored and remastered, in Columbia Pictures Film Noir Classics II. In this second volume, renowned directors Fritz Lang, Phil Karlson, and Irving Lerner are joined by Jacques Tourneur and Richard Quine in proving that lust, adultery, greed, and revenge all adds up to cold, calculated murder. Film Noir Classics II takes you on a dark journey among lowlifes and mobsters, cops and gun molls, and the dimwitted, hapless pawns who forever changed the landscape of cinema, and whose doomed paths are as disturbing today as when they were first committed to film. Return to the realm of smoke and shadows for Columbia Pictures Film Noir Classics II, five largely overlooked stories of doomed heroes and double-dealing ladies, featuring the likes of Kim Novak, Fred MacMurray, Glenn Ford, Anne Bancroft, and legendary femme fatale Gloria Grahame, and each making their DVD debut. The top pick of the set is arguably 1957′s Nightfall, a tense adaptation of David Goodis’s novel by suspense master Jacques Tourneur (Out of the Past) that benefits from strong chemistry between leads Aldo Ray as the regular Joe pursued by bank robbers and Anne Bancroft as the model who falls for him, and an elastic story structure that keeps the viewer as disoriented as Ray in its frequent flashes to the past. Some, however, may argue the case for The Brothers Rico (1957) from Phil Karlson (The Phenix City Story)–like Martin Scorcese, who praises the film in one of the set’s extras–with Richard Conte as a former Mob accountant forced to return to the organized crime world in order to save his brothers (Paul Picerni and James Darren), or Fritz Lang’s Human Desire (1954), which reunited Lang with his Big Heat (1953) star, Glenn Ford, in a remake of Jean Renoir’s La bête humaine (1938) that offers a sterling showcase for Gloria Grahame as the seductress who lures Ford into a plot to murder her husband (Broderick Crawford). The set is rounded out by Pushover (1954), a modest revamp of Double Indemnity with that film’s star, Fred MacMurray, again displaying his knack for understated drama as a cop who falls for Kim Novak (in her movie debut), the girlfriend of the bank robber he’s staking out, and City of Fear (1958), an entertaining B-thriller from Irving Lerner, who re-teams with his Murder by Contract star, Vince Edwards, as a tough con who unwittingly steals a canister of radioactive material and spreads death to everyone he meets.
Extras are light but informative; in addition to the three-minute Scorsese chat, there are brief discussions of noir style and tropes with actress Emily Mortimer and director Christopher Nolan (Inception), who riffs on themes of paranoia in noir and his appreciation for City of Fear. Original theatrical trailers for all five films are also included. –Paul Gaita
Rating: 
(out of 7 reviews)
List Price: $ 59.95
Price: $ 42.83
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July 24, 2010
#1
Review by Derek
Rating:
I wanted to correct the 2 previous reviewers. In a Lonely Place IS NOT in this collection. If you notice the art work for the set you will see the title HUMAN DESIRE. I looked up the press release for this set on the web and it lists Human Desire, NOT In a Lonely Place. I gave this set 5 stars because I really like Human Desire which reunites Gloria Grahame and Glenn Ford who costarred together in The Big Heat. I will preorder this set just for that title. Please verify your information before posting a review; people do read them you know!!
July 24, 2010
#2
Review by turtley
Rating:
I was very impressed by the 1st volume that Columbia released of their Film Noir titles: Columbia Pictures Film Noir Classics, Vol. 1 (The Big Heat / 5 Against the House / The Lineup / Murder by Contract / The Sniper) This set promises just as much!
This Columbia set features 5 films (each on it’s own separate disc):
*FAV* Human Desire (1954) 91 minutes
directed by Fritz Lang (ONE OF THE MASTERS!)
starring: Glenn Ford Glenn Ford & Gloria Grahame
The Brothers Rico (1957) 92 minutes
directed by: Phil Karlson
starring: Richard Conte, Dianne Foster, Kathryn Grant, Larry Gates
*FAV* Nightfall (1957) 78 mins
directed by: Jacques Tourneur (one of the masters!)
starring: Aldo Ray, Brian Keith, Anne Bancroft, Jocelyn Brando
City of Fear (1959)| 81 mins
directed by: Irving Lerner
starring: Vince Edwards, Lyle Talbot, John Archer, Steven Ritch
*FAV* Pushover (1954) 88 mins
directed by: Richard Quine
starring: Fred MacMurray, Philip Carey, Kim Novak, Dorothy Malone
If you’ve never seen a Columbia Film Noir before – here is what to expect: they are gritty, psychological; distinctive in a dark and claustrophobic visual style, their narrative are often come from deep rooted-anxiety, desperation and entrapment; they are focused on the crime itself. These are *Hard-boiled Detective Stories*
Compared to more familiar Fox Film Noirs (Laura (Fox Film Noir), Nightmare Alley (Fox Film Noir), Shock (Fox Film Noir), Where the Sidewalk Ends (Fox Film Noir), & Whirlpool (Fox Film Noir) which are very sleek & surround a central character: a “Dame”; Fox Film Noirs are twisted with themes of suspicion, betrayal, paranoia. The crime usually being an after-effect of greed and desires in a world whose morals have become unattractive and distorted or even disappeared altogether. Fox Film Noirs are sexy, hot ….with some crime thrown in.
In my opinion the simplest comparison I could make would be Columbia Film Noirs are more like the meat & potatoes of Film Noir; ie: Double Indemnity (Universal Legacy Series).. (the actual planning & tension in execution of the crime not the fast double talk) which was an Universal Studios release. vs. Fox Film Noir as a flambé dessert such as “The Postman Always Rings Twice”: slick and sexy (a MGM/Warner Bros release).
They are both wonderful products – just with different style.
Film Noir was huge in the 40′s – it was dark & edgy, something people could really sink their teeth into during the post-war era. The production code was being a bit more lenient after the horrors shown to the world during the war.
For your further study please consider looking up:
Great Noir Directors; Fritz Lang, Otto Preminger, Michael Curtiz, Jules Dassin, Orson Welles, Jacques Tourneur, Billy Wilder, Robert Siodmak, Rouben Mamoulian & one people don’t think of much as a NOIR Director but he certainly was one of the best: Alfred Hitchcock.
Noir Literary sources: Dashiell Hammett, James M. Cain, Raymond Chandler, and W. R. Burnett.
examples of their work:
Hammett= The Maltese Falcon
James M. Cain= Double Indemnity (1944), Mildred Pierce (1945), The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946), and Slightly Scarlet (1956)
Raymond Chandler= Murder, My Sweet (1944; adapted from Farewell, My Lovely), The Big Sleep (1946), and Lady in the Lake (1947)–he was an important screenwriter in the genre as well, producing the scripts for Double Indemnity, The Blue Dahlia (1946), and Strangers on a Train (1951)
W. R. Burnett= Little Caesar (1929), During the classic era, his work, either as author or screenwriter, was the basis for movies now widely regarded as three of the most famous film noirs; High Sierra (1941), This Gun for Hire (1942), and The Asphalt Jungle (1950).[40]
If you go to [...] and search for year 1946 you can see the top movies released in 1946 – you’ll actually see ALL the movies released and just how many of them were Noirs/ crime dramas! It’s really impressive and may just turn you on to making a list of movies to watch!
Do this for 1956 or 1957 also to see more Columbia releases.
I hope my review has been useful especially to new fans of Noir and seasoned fans who were unsure of spending so much money on this box set; it really is worth it! If you are still uncertain – Give the first volume a try Columbia Pictures Film Noir Classics, Vol. 1 (The Big Heat / 5 Against the House / The Lineup / Murder by Contract / The Sniper)- it can be found for a little bit less ($39) & then you’ll be hooked on Columbia Film Noir, I know I am!
*FAV* before movie title denotes favorite film in set!
July 24, 2010
#3
Review by calvinnme
Rating:
This set contains 5 films and no extra features have been announced. The set is due to go on sale November 3 along with a volume 1 of film noir from Sony on the same day. Sony continues to hit it out of the park with classic sets being announced rather regularly. The films in volume two are as follows:
The Film Noir Collection, Vol. 2
Pushover (1954) – directed by Richard Quine and stars Fred MacMurray as a detective who gets mixed up with the girlfriend (Kim Novak) of a suspected bank robber. The girlfriend wants the detective to kill her bank robbing boyfriend and then the two can take the money. This is difficult since MacMurray’s detective has both the girlfriend and the robber under surveillance along with a bunch of other detectives.
Nightfall (1957) – directed by Jacques Tourneur and starring Aldo Ray, Brian Keith, and Anne Bancroft. A man falsely accused of robbery and murder goes on the run, persuading the woman he loves and an insurance investigator to help find the real culprits and clear his name. Great cinematography in this low budget thriller.
The Brothers Rico (1957) – directed by Phil Karlson and starring Richard Conte and Dianne Foster. A former Mafia accountant is going straight and starting a business with his new wife. He is pulled back into the dangerous world of organized crime when he learns that the Mob and the cops are looking for his younger brother who is still in the dark world he left.
City of Fear (1959) – directed by Irving Lerner and starring Vince Edwards, Lyle Talbot, and John Archer. An escaped convict comes into possession of a cannister of deadly radioactive material. The cops know this and are trying to track down the convict and the cannister. The film gets many facts about radiation poisoning just plain wrong, but it is still an enjoyable little film joining the elements of noir and the nuclear age.
In a Lonely Place (1950) – directed by Nicholas Ray and starring Humphrey Bogart and Gloria Grahame. A novelist is out of ideas when a hat check girl gives him a story for his next book. Later that night she is murdered and Bogart’s Dixon Steele is a prime suspect. His strange ways aren’t helping any with the police when his neighbor gives him an alibi. A romance starts up between the two, but the neighbor is still having doubts about the true nature of the man she saved. The best film in the bunch, in my opinion.
The preceding descriptions come from a combination of the press release for this set and my own memories of these films, some distant and some very recent.
July 24, 2010
#4
Review by K. Reynolds
Rating:
Those looking for a classic film noir such as “Laura” (1944), “Rebecca” (1940), “The Maltese Falcon” (1941) or “The Third Man” (1949) might be disappointed but that doesn’t mean you won’t be entertained. Although most of these play more like police procedurals of the ’50s, the stories are intense, the drama extreme and everyone is complicated. There isn’t a straight do-gooder in the bunch.
Each film in this 5-disc collection has its own trailer. Three have short featurettes, the best of which is Christopher Nolan talking about “Pulp Paranoia” in “City of Fear.”
The look of these films is different from the classics, too. In a short featurette for “The Brothers Rico,” Martin Scorsese explains how the Columbia Collection is made up of “flat screen” movies. “These films were destined for broadcast on TV,” he says. “Even Hitchcock’s `Psycho’ was filmed by his own TV crew.”
Flat or not, that crisp black and white look is eyecatching and, while the shadows might not be as deep or the highlights as stark, there’s an otherwordliness that captures the imagination.
“City of Fear” (1959)
Directed by Irving Lerner (“Murder by Contract,” 1958), screenplay by Robert Dillon and Steven Ritch, stars Vince Edwards, Lyle Talbot, John Archer and Patricia Blair. The trailer blares in great graphics: “This man is wanted by the police and their mobster foes because he holds in his hands the lives of three million people!” Well that’s because ex-con Edwards has stolen a canister of the highly radioactive Cobalt 60, which he happens to think is a very marketable heroin. Includes an intriguing featurette, “Pulp Paranoia with Christopher Nolan,” (“Memento,” 2000; “The Dark Knight,” 2008) who discusses instances of film noir in his own work and how some dark storylines appeal to viewers trying to make sense of “negative things that happen in society.” He offers examples of films – and scenes – from `50s films that fit the category.
“Pushover” (1954)
The trailer lays it out: “A cold blooded guy, a hot blooded woman” and you just know there’s going to be trouble! Directed by Richard Quine, stars Fred MacMurray and Kim Novak. When a robber’s girlfriend has an affair with a man who turns out to be a cop, her next step is to bring him over to the dark side. Extra: Trailer
“Human Desire” (1954)
Directed by Fritz Lang (“Metropolis,” 1927; “M,” 1931) from a novel by Èmile Zola, stars Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame and Broderick Crawford. “She knows it’s wrong” the trailer shouts but, lordy, she does it anyway. “Born to be bad … to be kissed … to make trouble!” A guy falls in love with his co-worker’s wife but, since he knows the couple committed a murder together, what can hubby do? Includes a featurette, “Terror and Desire with Emily Mortimer” (“Pink Panther,” 2006; “Lars and the Real Girl,” 2007) who dishes on those scary and seductive noir ladies. Wow.
“Nightfall” (1957)
Directed by Jacques Touneur (“Night/Curse of the Demon,” 1957) from a story by David Goodis and a script by Sterling Silliphant, stars Aldo Ray, Brian Keith and a smokin’ hot Anne Bancroft. Accused of robbery and murder, a man goes on the run but persuades the woman he loves – and an insurance agent! – to find the real killer and clear his name. Extra: Trailer
“The Brothers Rico” (1957)
Directed by Phil Karlson from a story by Georges Simenon who wrote the Inspector Maigret novels, stars Richard Conte. What is it with Mob accountants? Do they live in some kind of dreamworld until Real Life catches up with them and the bodies start to drop? Eddie Rico tries to save his brothers, their families, himself and his wife but those hip boots just aren’t long enough. The disc includes a brief presentation by Martin Scorsese, who talks about film’s realism. “Brothers Rico” is still the weakest of the set – perhaps because we’ve seen this story so many times.
July 24, 2010
#5
Review by mousey gray
Rating:
I had been looking forward to watching these great old movies but none of the 5 discs would play. Amazon sent me another set right away now those will not play either. All my other movies play ok. Wondering if anyone else had trouble with this set? I saw HUMAN DESIRE and PUSHOVER many years ago and have just been thrilled to be able to buy them on dvd. PLEASE POST IF ANYONE ELSE HAD TROUBLE PLAYING THEM. THANKS!