| PRODUCT DETAILS | | Film Noir Classic Collection, Vol. 2 (Born to Kill / Clash by Night / Crossfire / Dillinger (1945) / The Narrow Margin (1952)) |  | |
Film Noir Classic Collection, Vol. 2 (Born to Kill / Clash by Night / Crossfire / Dillinger (1945) / The Narrow Margin (1952))
Hollywood's legendary tough guys and femme fatales collide again in The Film Noir Classic Collection Volume Two. The Collection includes five smoldering classics, all new to DVD and all digitally remastered: Born to Kill, Clash By Night, Crossfire, Dillinger and The Narrow Margin. The movies star film noir icons Robert Mitchum, Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Ryan, Lawrence Tierney and Claire Trevor, among others, and feature commentaries from film historians and directors including Robert Wise on Born To Kill Peter Bogdanovich, with archival contributions from Fritz Lang, on Clash By Night; John Milius on Dillinger and William Friedkin and Richard Fleischer on The Narrow Margin.
Manufacturer: Warner Brothers
Price Range: $28.10 - $49.98
 Film Noir Classic Collection, Vol. 2 (Born to Kill / Clash by Night / Crossfire / Dillinger (1945) / The Narrow Margin (1952))
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| User Reviews |  | Not the ultimate but still good
rating: 4
Compared to the outstanding Volume 1 in the collection, Volume 2 is not as exciting. However, it's still worth having.
Each movie in this box set has something unusual to contribute, so even though some of the titles aren't textbook noir, they have enough noir elements to give them a toehold on the genre. I hope future volumes (I have #3 already) will include more intriguing titles. My preference would be for Angelface, Desperate, Conflict, Dead Reckoning, and The Big Heat. That said, I don't regret adding Volume 2 to my collection.
Born To Kill has all the classic elements an admirer of the genre craves and more. From the title one thinks the story will chronicle the destruction (and inevitable self-destruction) wrought by Laurence Tierney's one-track, menacing psychopath, and it does. But the original working title, Deadlier Than the Male, reveals the real story: Claire Trevor's composed detachment and icy self-possession as she takes over Tierney and assumes control of their situation. She manipulates people and events as though conducting moves in a game. She is utterly amoral, unlike Tierney's maniac who is organically bad; she has a choice whether to be bad or not, and simply doesn't care. The nice twist here is that in the toughguy chauvinism of noir, the woman proves more cunning and dangerous than any man.
Clash By Night has the telltale moodiness and self-destruction of noir, but without the moral ambiguity and lawless element. There is plenty of violence but not in the physical sense. Here it mainly takes place in the emotional upheaval of the characters, thus setting apart this title in a niche of its own.
Crossfire is an important piece for its groundbreaking treatment of bigotry, specifically anti-Semitism. Released slightly sooner than Gentleman's Agreement, an argument can be made that this movie paved the way for the social commentary that would mark much of postwar cinema.
Dillinger is a great example of how skimpy budgets helped create the look of what would come to be known as film noir. Not a lot of pennies went into this one, but neither was a single penny misspent. Every scene is spare and tight and the entire story moves along with the singlemindedness of a getaway car.
The Narrow Margin is all sharp angles and sharp dialogue, and even has a sharp detective in a tight spot. All in all, a sharp little movie, but what really sets it apart is the complete lack of a music score. The director replaces strings and brass with locomotives to punctuate what might otherwise be a typical suspense-on-a-train yarn. The rushing rhythm of the tracks enhances the rapid pace of the story and unrelenting pursuit of the antagonists, while whistles and screeches mirror the shrill unpleasantness of a reluctant witness escorted by an even more reluctant protector. Claustrophobes beware--the train interiors give this one a real sense of restriction and entrapment.
There are not a lot of extra features in this set but each title does include a commentary track. I especially liked the ones on Born To Kill and Crossfire.
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Disappointing follow up to vol. 1
rating: 3
I had high hopes for this set after being quite impressed with vol. 1. All the movies were top notch & they all looked excellent (probably restored). Then came the Gangsters box set, which, while not all 5 star movies, made up for that fact by also including introductory news reels, cartoons & featurettes for each film. After watching all of these films, I must say it seems like WB has rushed this one onto the market. No extras like the Gangsters box set and the prints used for this set weren't restored. "Crossfire" in particular looks really bad, with all kinds of spots & cuts. The movies were also a mixed bag. Despite its title, "Dillinger" was particularly dull, a rather formulaic bank robbery movie. "Crossfire" had potential, but it's social commentary becomes a little preachy in the end, though it may be of interest to film historians. "Clash By night" was the biggest surprise in its dark view of married life. Hopefully WB will put at least a little bit more effort into vol. 3.
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An Interesting Mix
rating: 4
This set illustrates the diversity of Noir films. Crossfire and Narrow Margin develop plot complexities handled in very dynamic ways that propel the film. Born To Kill, Dillinger, and Clash center on strong but flawed personalities and the viewer watches them self destruct over the course of the film. The filming of Clash strongly suggests the stage play from which it came. Individual performances are fascinating. Barbara Stanwyck in Clash is delightfully hard edged and cynical. Marie Windsor in Margin is gorgeous and a very good actress. Robert Young in Crossfire is unexpectedly forceful. Robert Ryan is always threatening and relentless. Robert Mitchum plays the somewhat weary, seen it all before character of many of his early films. Lawrence Tierney is perhaps the stiffist actor to ever be filemd. Two of his films is one too many.
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A Worthy Sequel...
rating: 5
Beautiful, just beautiful! I was floored by WB's 1st "classic noir" boxed set, and this one is just as good.
The films are not as well known, and may not be in the same tier as the ones in the first set (how can you top "Out of the Past"?.. okay, you CAN'T), but they are all truly great noir flicks, with absolutely stellar digital transfer. The commentary is also just so cool on these films. Did you like the 1st set? Do you like noir? Do you simply like a great, entertaining movie? If the answer is 'yes' to any of these questions, then by all means buy this (priced right) set immediately, and buy the "Volume 1 set". Watch and enjoy, and wait, with baited breath, for when WB releases the next volume of this series. Incredible set, and I can't recommend it highly enough.
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Almost as good as Volume 1
rating: 5
The first set of the Film Noir Classic Collection was chock full of great movies, so I was naturally looking forward to the second set. Volume 2, happily, is also a good collection, not quite at the par of the first set but still with five decent-to-great movies. And if they play a little faster and looser with the definition of film noir in this set, that doesn't deprive the collection of its value.
First viewed (I tried watching them in chronological order) is Dillinger, a fictional biography of the real-life criminal John Dillinger. This movie stars Lawrence Tierney as the title character, a generally cold-hearted killer who is a cunning bank robber. For those most familiar with Tierney from his role as a crime boss in Reservoir Dogs, this is a showcase for the actor in his prime. The movie itself is more of an old-fashioned gangster movie (similar to the ones in the Warner Gangster Collection) than a true noir movie, but it is nonetheless good, though too much the B movie to be great.
Second is Crossfire, a more true noir film dealing with anti-Semitism. Starring three Roberts - Ryan, Young and Mitchum - it gets somewhat preachy towards the end which makes it merely good instead of great. Although the focus of the story shifts from character to character, the true star is Ryan as a hateful psychopath. Mitchum is good but underutilized and Young is competent but relatively boring.
The gem of the collection is Born to Kill, with Lawrence Tierney and Claire Trevor in a tale of classic film noir complete with femme fatales, murder and plenty of shady characters. Tierney plays a man on the lam after killing his girlfriend and her date (an ill-conceived attempt to get Tierney jealous). Soon he meets Trevor, but finding her engaged, woos and marries her wealthy step-sister. That doesn't stop Trevor and Tierney from their own star-crossed romance and soon enough there is more death. Directed by Robert Wise (also responsible for The Set-Up, and in other genres, The Day the Earth Stood Still, West Side Story and Sound of Music), this is one of the classics of the noir genre.
Almost as good is Narrow Margin, the one movie with lesser stars such as Charles McGraw and Marie Windsor. The story is about a cop escorting a reluctant witness on a train ride from Chicago to Los Angeles; also aboard the train are killers who don't know what the witness looks like, but are certain that McGraw is protecting her. This leads to mix-ups and plot twists that are ironic but rarely comic. This is one of the great "train thrillers," a neat sub-genre that includes such classics as The Lady Vanishes and North by Northwest.
Finally, there is Clash by Night. Although the use of lighting and dialogue is noirish, this movie is not film noir but rather a soap opera with a romantic triangle of Barbara Stanwyck as the woman with the past, Paul Douglas as her benevolent but rather simple husband and Robert Ryan as the callous friend who insinuates himself into her life. Marilyn Monroe has a small role but as always, steals her scenes. Playing her boyfriend is Keith Andes, a guy who was supposed to be the next big thing but never made it.
All the discs come with commentaries that are often illuminating. Born to Kill and Narrow Margin are five-star flicks; the others are four stars. That averages to 4.4, but I will round up because of the extras. Even if these are not all truly film noir, this is a great collection and well-worth the viewing if you enjoy classic movies.
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Film Noir Classic Collection, Vol. 2 (Born to Kill / Clash by Night / Crossfire / Dillinger (1945) / The Narrow Margin (1952))
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