Film Noir Classic Collection, Vol. 2 (Born to Kill / Clash by Night / Crossfire / Dillinger (1945) / The Narrow Margin (1952))

Amazon.com

Film noir is such a rich cinematic zone that second-tier specimens compel nearly as much fascination as the classics. At a glance, Volume 2 of Warner Bros.' (ever-expanding, we hope) Film Noir Collection is a distinct step down from Volume 1--inevitable when you've launched your series with five landmark titles, including three outright noir masterpieces (The Asphalt Jungle, Gun Crazy, Out of the Past). But linger beyond that first glance, because the second set is a flavorful mix of sleazoid iconography (two vehicles for B-movie bad boy Lawrence Tierney), an offbeat outing for a major director (Fritz Lang in his Howard Hughes RKO period), Poverty Row production circumstances that encourage aggressively peculiar, verging-on-radical filmmaking (the strange mélange that is Monogram's Dillinger), and two pressure-cooker suspense pictures that are landmark films in their own right (Crossfire and The Narrow Margin).

Jean-Luc Godard dedicated Breathless to Monogram Pictures, and Dillinger (1945) was probably the main reason why. With an Oscar-nominated script credited to Philip Yordan (abetted by his friend William Castle, director of Monogram's excellent When Strangers Marry), Max Nosseck's 60some-minute account of the Depression-era outlaw's brashly improvisatory career is a hypnotic mix of bargain-basement filmmaking (lotsa stock footage and minimalist sets), astute ripoff (the rain-and-gas-bomb robbery sequence from Lang's You Only Live Once), and Brechtian bravura. The major Hollywood studios had taken a vow of chastity when it came to glorifying gangsterism; Monogram ignored the embargo and barreled ahead to unaccustomed popular and critical success. The storyline actually scants the ultraviolence (no Bohemia Lodge shootout) and all-star supporting cast (no Pretty Boy Floyd, no Baby Face Nelson) of Dillinger's real life--likely a matter of cost-cutting rather than abstemiousness. Newcomer Lawrence Tierney nails the guy's coldblooded freakiness and animal magnetism, and the supporting cast includes such éminences noirs as Marc Lawrence, Eduardo Ciannelli, and Elisha Cook Jr. Producers Maurice and Frank King would make Gun Crazy four years later.

Born to Kill (1947) is the second helping of Tierney, playing a psychotic drifter who's irresistible to women ("His eyes run up and down ya like a searchlight!" breathes housemaid Ellen Colby, just about the only female he doesn't bother targeting). A number of people end up dead by his hand, but the kicker is that he crosses paths with a woman--socialite-divorcee Claire Trevor--just as heartless as he, and even more treacherous. The script makes less sense with each passing reel, but there are ripe character turns by Walter Slezak, as a philosophical private eye who operates out of a diner; Elisha Cook Jr., as Tierney's more level-headed partner; and Esther Howard, as a hard-bitten old bat who flirts with Cook in a nightmarish nocturnal wasteland outside San Francisco.

Three Roberts--Young, Mitchum, and Ryan--costar in Crossfire (1947), one of only a handful of noirs to be sanctified with Academy Award nominations: best picture, director Edward Dmytryk, screenwriter John Paxton, and supporting players Ryan and Gloria Grahame. The film unreels during a single sweaty, post-WWII night when one among a squad of GIs on leave in Washington, D.C., murders a nice Jewish man (Sam Levene) because he doesn't like "his kind." The audience knows who's guilty before the cops do, and Ryan's portrayal of the bigot will make the hair on your neck rise. Police detective Robert Young plays with his pipe too much and makes one speech too many, but the atmosphere is memorably taut and surreal.

Robert Ryan may be even scarier in Fritz Lang's Clash by Night (1952), a rare noir without any criminal aspect: all its bitterness and savagery is emotional, psychological, and--preeminently--sexual. Barbara Stanwyck, slightly past her stellar peak but in her prime as an actress, plays a married woman in a New England fishing town who knows what a bad idea it is but falls anyway for a vicious, misogynistic movie projectionist. Sample Clifford Odets dialogue, Stanwyck to Ryan: "What do you want to do to me? Put your teeth in me? Hurt me?" Clinching ensues. (All this and Marilyn Monroe, too.)

We've saved the best for last. Narrow Margin (1952) is the kind of trim, beautifully paced movie people have in mind when asking, "Why don't they make 'em like that anymore?" Two cops have to guard a gangster's widow against assassination as she rides the Golden West Limited sleeper train from Chicago to give evidence in L.A. Soon there's only one cop (gravel-voiced Charles McGraw, usually a villain), and he's finding the sharp-tongued widow (Marie Windsor) as obnoxious as she is endangered. Nothing goes quite as you'd expect in this exemplary train thriller, which rattles and rocks toward its destination without a music track or a wasted moment. --Richard T. Jameson

Description

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.

Customer Reviews:

Not the ultimate but still good.......2006-08-28

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.

Disappointing follow up to vol. 1.......2006-06-30

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.

An Interesting Mix.......2006-03-31

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.

A Worthy Sequel..........2005-11-05

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.

Almost as good as Volume 1.......2005-09-21

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.

Average customer rating:

Train to Asylum
You're tall!
Lame, lamer, lamest
maybe not as good as the first but still very slick
A witness to a murder, a lethal train journey, and Gene Hackman to make it interesting

Narrow Margin
Starring: Gene Hackman , Anne Archer , James Sikking , J.T. Walsh , and M. Emmet Walsh
Director: Peter Hyams
Manufacturer: Lions Gate
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: 0784011699
Release Date: 1998-11-10

Amazon.com

Back in 1952, during the waning days of film noir, director Richard Fleischer made The Narrow Margin, a cheaply produced, tightly structured B movie thriller about a cop forced to protect a gangster's widow while on a train. While it's no work of art, Fleischer's noir features a shocking climax of mistaken identity, an ominous, claustrophobic atmosphere, and tough, nearly unlikable protagonists screwed by fate, who spout sharp-witted dialogue and feel little more than contempt for each other. When Hollywood remakes itself, all the understatement and charm is usually lost when the filmmakers try to "modernize" the subject matter. This is one of many problems with writer-director Peter Hyams's remake (given the slightly shorter title Narrow Margin). He's dumped the surprising plot twist (it's now an action set piece atop a moving train) and softened the characters (now played with sleepwalking intensity by Gene Hackman and Anne Archer) with preposterous motivations. All that seems to be intact is the train premise, but Hyams is more interested in its action potential than any kind of menacing atmosphere. He's dropped the ambiguous relationships and smart dialogue in favor of pumping up the action sequences and daredevil stunts to ridiculous levels. Instead of adding excitement, all Hyams's expensive tricks do is drain Narrow Margin of any tension it might've retained from the original. --Dave McCoy

Customer Reviews:

Train to Asylum.......2007-08-14

This is one of the best movies Gene Hackman has made. An excellent thriller. He plays the part of a deputy D.A. trying to bring a witness back to court in the U.S. but is being tracked by killers. Some beautiful scenery in Canada as he spirits his witness from a cabin and takes her to the train that will wind through the countryside. The action is non-stop with a helicopter chasing them shooting machine guns to the men hunting them on the train. A game of cat and mouse aboard the train is tense. It has you wondering who exactly is after her, and who are just passengers. Great cast with many familiar faces. Reminds you a little of a Hitchock style like "The Lady Vanishes". I highly recommend it. The DVD doesn't have much in the way of features but subtitles. Good quality picture and sound. If you enjoyed this be sure to catch "The Package" and "Enemy of the State".

You're tall!.......2007-07-15

Has Gene Hackman ever made a film that did not, in some way, result in a bruised forearm?

Here, he must bring a reluctant (read: ain't-gonna-do-it-no-how-no-way) witness from the Canadian Rockies to LA, by train, to testify against a BAD DUDE. Seems she may have seen a murder take place.

But the fun is watching him stick to his guns long after the guns appear to have been emptied.

I won't spoil the ending... but "You're tall!" takes on a whole new meaning.

Lame, lamer, lamest.......2007-07-13

I saw this film in a theater during its original run, years ago. At the time, I wasn't much impressed. Recently, I stumbled on this DVD version and decided to compare it with the classic 1952 original.

Let me now be perfectly clear. If you wish to retain any vestige of respect for this film, DO NOT view it in conjunction with the original!

With the single exception of Gene Hackman (who at least struggles to make some bricks, despite an acute lack of straw), this remake is lame in every possible respect. Every line of dialogue, every plot point, every set-up, every individual frame is not only inferior to the original but clearly designed to be so by the writers, technical staff, director and producer.

The single-minded crumminess of this effort can only have arisen from some shared, manic delusion that they, each and all of them, were making improvements on the old film noir thriller. Hooboy, were they wrong!

How does this sort of thing happen? Exactly why does someone who has chosen to spend millions of dollars on remaking a movie decide to scrap everything that was good in the original and replace it with intellectually and artistically shabby merchandise? Why, in short, would anybody exchange a taut, tense little thriller on a train with a big, dumb, clumsy action flick that largely takes place ON TOP of a train?

For those impressed by the scenery in which this locomotive catastrophe is imbedded, I feel obliged to report that I have taken that train on that very route. The movie managed to muck that up, too.

A waste of Gene Hackman. A waste of Canadian scenery. A waste of your time and money.

maybe not as good as the first but still very slick.......2007-03-01

In every movie that he does gene hackman gets one scene where he quotes from the bard and one of his more famous plays, and this movie has that scene in it also. Now in some of these scenes (uncommon valor , targets, and hoosiers), this scene is is very moving and has some weight to it, and in some (loose cannons, lucky lady, and yes, superman the movie), this scene is just silly and is there so mr. hackman can feel like he's really acting. that said, the scene in this movie is very effecting and gives the part a nice spin. mr. hackman and annie archer make a great odd couple and the tense train ride is very well done . so if you like your thrillers with a little meat, and your heros a little bit more well read then this fine little movie will suit you just fine.

A witness to a murder, a lethal train journey, and Gene Hackman to make it interesting.......2006-09-02

So what if some critics say that Peter Hyams' Narrow Margin is filled with improbable coincidences, train-hunt cliches, characters who obviously may not be good guys, and the strenuous activities of a 60-year-old star which would lead to heart attacks for the rest of us. With all that I still think that the film is a lot of fun, a satisfying adventure that relies successfully on two things: First, the proven attractiveness of a murderous, extended hunt in the confines of a moving train; and second, the skill and personality of Gene Hackman.

The movie is based on 1952's The Narrow Margin. It shares the title and the basic plot idea with the earlier film, but in tone and style it's as different as a Chicago hot dog is from a Beverly Hills steak. A wise man can enjoy both.

Carol Hunnicut (Anne Archer) witnessed a mob hit where Mr. Big, Leo Watts, was present. She wasn't noticed, but she knows that if anyone discovers what she saw she'll become a target for killing. She flees to an isolated cabin in the Canadian Rockies. Unknown to her, she left a fingerprint on a glass, and now L. A. Assistant District Attorney Robert Caulfield (Hackman) not only knows what she saw, he has been able to learn where she's hiding. But when he shows up to convince her to testify, a hail of bullets tears through her cabin. They flee in a truck and barely make it to a small town just as a train is pulling up. Caulfield finagles a private compartment and off they go...followed by the two hit men who had originally followed Caulfield to the cabin. For the rest of the movie we're up to our necks in a polite and lethal cat-and-mouse game as the hit men attempt to locate Hunnicut, whom they've never seen, through Caulfield. He tries to call up reinforcements, but they do, too. He is slow to realize that there may be more than two killers on the train. Close escapes happen in dimly lit train hallways, smiling bribes are offered in the club car, a character winds up with a bullet hole in his forehead and a water pistol comes in handy. And all the while, the train barrels along through the night, swaying back and forth with the clickety-clack of iron wheels on iron tracks. At the climax, after a strenuous battle on top of the moving train as it roars over high passes and through tunnels, Caulfield has the chance to say these memorable lines, "You know what I like about you? You're tall."

Sure, the movie wouldn't amount to much without Hackman...but with Hackman the movie becomes an exciting duel between Caulfield and the obstacles he has to overcome to save Hunnicut. Hackman has probably made more B movies seem like candidates for A status than any other Hollywood actor. Three fine character actors also add a lot of interest to the film, even though their roles are brief. M. Emmet Walsh plays a good-guy detective sergeant with gum-chewing, wise-mouth quality. J. T. Walsh plays a mob numbers man who made the mistake of skimming off the top. Harris Yulin plays Leo Watts, the mob boss, with cold ruthlessness and a fine disdain.

As an added incentive to see the movie, it's a good advertisement for one of the world's great train rides, VIA Rail Canada's rail journey on the Canadian from Toronto to Vancouver (or the other way). With a private compartment, you can't beat the scenery, the service or the cuisine.

The DVD picture is just fine. There are one or two inconsequential extras, such as cast lists.

Average customer rating:

Classic tough guy film noir from 1952
Who will cry for Sarah?
Narrow Margin is great film noir!
"The Narrow Margin (1952) ... Charles McGraw ... RKO Radio Pictures Film Noir"
McGraw and Windsor, The Natural Noir Pair

The Narrow Margin
Starring: Charles McGraw , Marie Windsor , Jacqueline White , Gordon Gebert , and Queenie Leonard
Director: Richard Fleischer
Manufacturer: Turner Home Ent
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00097DY1G
Release Date: 2005-07-05

Amazon.com

This gem of a B-picture from RKO is the kind of trim, beautifully paced movie people have in mind when asking, "Why don't they make 'em like that anymore?" Two cops have to guard a gangster's widow against assassination as she rides the Golden West Limited sleeper train from Chicago to give evidence in L.A. Soon there's only one cop (gravel-voiced Charles McGraw, usually cast as a villain), and he's finding the sharp-tongued widow (Marie Windsor in excelsis) as obnoxious as she is endangered. Nothing goes quite as you'd expect in this exemplary train thriller, which rattles and rocks toward its destination without a music track or a wasted moment. The bad guys include a most distinctive, elegantly garbed hitman (Gordon Gebert); a soft-spoken, "Be reasonable, Sergeant" negotiator (the vulpine Peter Brocco); and possibly the fat man (Paul Maxey) who keeps blocking up the train corridor at just the wrong time. Detour writer Martin Goldsmith worked on the story, which was nominated for an Academy Award, and George E. Diskant's black-and-white cinematography is as sharp as the work he was doing for Nicholas Ray around the same time. Director Richard Fleischer went on to bigger things--but he never made a better movie. --Richard T. Jameson

Description

Pack your bags for one of movie history's greatest trips, a nifty film noir thriller that Time deemed "worthy of being bracketed in the select group of train thrillers headed by Alfred Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes." The tracks run direct from Chicago to L.A. The OscarO-nominated* story, directed by Richard Fleischer (The Boston Strangler) and scripted by his frequent collaborator Earl Felton, zigzags with surprise turns. Film noir favorite Charles McGraw plays a cop guarding a gangster's moll (fellow genre icon Marie Windsor) as she travels west to testify before a grand jury. Also riding the Pullmans: determined hitmen who know the moll is on the train?but don't know what she looks like. All aboard!

Customer Reviews:

Classic tough guy film noir from 1952.......2007-07-13

Some time ago, I saw the remake of this film with Gene Hackman. I wasn't much impressed. Recently, I stumbled on a DVD version of the remake and decided to compare it with this 1952 classic.

Let me now be perfectly clear. If you have any wish to retain even a vestige of respect for the remake, DO NOT view it in conjunction with this brilliant original! With the single exception of Gene Hackman (who at least struggled to make some bricks, despite an acute lack of straw), the remake was lame in every possible respect. Every line of dialogue, every plot point, every set-up, every individual frame was not only inferior to the original but clearly designed to be so by the writers, technical staff, director and producer. The single-minded crumminess of the 1990 effort can only have arisen from some shared, manic delusion that they, each and all of them, were making improvements on the old film noir thriller. Hooboy, were they wrong!

How does this sort of thing happen? Exactly why does someone who has chosen to spend millions of dollars on remaking a movie decide to scrap everything that was good in the original and replace it with intellectually and artistically shabby merchandise? Why, in short, would anybody exchange a taut, tense little thriller on a train with a big, dumb, clumsy action flick that largely takes place ON TOP of a train?

After venting on the iniquities of the recent generation of film makers, I shall now turn to an absolutely more congenial subject, an excellent film noir. This is the twenty-sixth Amazon review. Twenty-four earlier reviewers have described the merits of the film (and one bozo has scattered spoilers, each with a dull thud.) I commend readers who wish information on the plot set-up and cast of "The Narrow Margin" to those twenty-four earlier reviews. As for myself, I'll add only that this film is one of those low-budget, program pieces that sometimes popped out of the American studio system and unexpectedly committed real and unquestionable art.

Even though it originates somewhat late in the era of the film noir, "The Narrow Margin" is one of its finest exemplars. It is taut, intense, single-minded, ruthless, and just a bit grimy--everything, in short, that a film noir ought to be. Charles McGraw and Marie Windsor are just about perfect in their roles: all tough, hard surface and, appropriately, neither one of them obviously trustworthy.

This film is 72 minutes of pointed, lean, mean drama that covers about as much ground as one today's bloated two-and-a-half hour epics. Every shot in it is a testimonial to what was good about the old studio system.

For those in any doubt whatsoever about the true nature of film noir, the magnificently planned, lit and shot sequences in the grungy Chicago apartment building will serve at once as an introductory seminar and as a master class.

The quality of the print is first-rate, particularly when compared with the fuzzy, darkened, nth-generation trailer.

The commentary track is good on the effect "The Narrow Margin" had on the following generation of film makers, but a bit generic in regard to the film itself. Still, I've experienced far worse with other DVDs.

This is a small classic: five hard-edged stars.

Who will cry for Sarah?.......2007-06-10

I am embarrassed and ashamed that I, The Queen, had not seen this excellent noir before. I am also thrilled to learn that there are still undiscovered (to me) gems out there!! Two detectives are assigned to protect the wife of a mobster during her travel to LA, in order to provide the police with her husband's list of co-conspirators. The detectives wonder what kind of woman would marry a mobster? Well they find out, and how! Marie Windsor shows them the meanest, nastiest most shrewish woman this side of Ann Savage's Vera. As a counterpoint, Jacqueline White provides the bland and boring Mrs Sinclair with...bland boringness. The movie moves right along with unexpected action right up front, and it doesn't let up right until the ending. Clever plot twists and interesting, high style B&W photography keep the interest levels high. Definitely a keeper! The Queen commands you to attend to this often overlooked noir thriller.

Narrow Margin is great film noir!.......2007-05-18

this is one of the best film noir movies
but with more of an action feel to it.
most of the movie takes place on the train
with the mob looking for a witness in route
to testify and there is no place to run. if
you saw the version with Gene Hackman and
liked it then you'll like this just as much.
I love both movies and they both are different
but the story is almost the same except for a
few twist. I highly recommend this movie.

"The Narrow Margin (1952) ... Charles McGraw ... RKO Radio Pictures Film Noir".......2007-03-18

RKO Radio Pictures present "THE NARROW MARGIN" (1952) (70 mins/B&W) (Dolby digitally remastered) --- Starring Charles McGraw, Marie Windsor, Jacqueline White & Queenie Leonard --- Directed by Richard Fleischer and released in May 4, 1952, our story line and film, When a mobsters wife decides to testify against his evil deeds she goes undercover to avoid being killed. Now that he's coming to trial she has to be escourted across country via train in order to testify. Cop Walter Brown and his partner are assigned the task, but the mob are on their trail ... this film has the distinction of being considered the best "B" movie of all time - fast paced, well acted and impressively shot in claustrophobic settings ... Academy Award Nomination for Best Motion Picture Story.

Under Richard Fleischer (Director), Stanley Crea Rubin (Producer), Earl Felton (Screenwriter), Earl Fenton (Screenwriter), Martin G. Goldsmith (Screenwriter), Jack Leonard (Screenwriter), George E. Diskant (Cinematographer), Robert Swink (Editor), Albert S. D'Agostino (Art Director), Jack Okey (Art Director), Darrell Silvera (Set Designer), William L. Stevens (Set Designer) - - - - the cast includes Charles McGraw (Walter Brown), Marie Windsor (Mrs. Neall), Jacqueline White (Ann Sinclair), Gordon Geberl (Tommy Sinclair), Queenie Leonard (Mrs. Troll), David Clarke (Kemp), Peter Virgo (Densel), Don Beddoe (Gus Forbes), Paul Maxey (Jennings), George Sawava (Reporter), Franklin Parker (Telegraph Attendant), Mike Lally (Taxi Driver), Napoleon Whiting (Redcap), Jasper Weldon (Porter), Don Haggerty (Detective Wilson), Harry Harvey (Train Conductor), Donald Dillaway (Reporter), Howard Mitchell (Train Conductor), Tony Merrill (Officer Allen), Milt Kibbee (Tenant), Will Lee (Newsstand Owner), Johnny Lee (Waiter) - - - - - Film noir has sources not only in cinema but other artistic mediums as well...the low-key lighting schemes commonly linked with the classic mode are in the tradition of chiaroscuro and tenebrism, techniques using high contrasts of light and dark developed by 15th- and 16th-century painters associated with Mannerism and the Baroque...film noir's aesthetics are deeply influenced by German Expressionism, a cinematic movement of the 1910s and 1920s closely related to contemporaneous developments in theater, photography, painting, scultpture, and architecture...opportunities offered by the booming Hollywood film industry and, later, the threat of growing Nazi power led to the emigration of many important film artists working in Germany who had either been directly involved in the Expressionist movement or studied with its practitioners...Directors such as Fritz Lang, Robert Siodmak, and Michael Curtiz brought dramatic lighting techniques and a psychologically expressive approach to mise-en-scène with them to Hollywood, where they would make some of the most famous of classic noirs. Lang's 1931 masterwork, the German M, is among the first major crime films of the sound era to join a characteristically noirish visual style with a noir-type plot, one in which the protagonist is a criminal (as are his most successful pursuers). M was also the occasion for the first star performance by Peter Lorre, who would go on to act in several formative American noirs of the classic era ... featuring top performances from the '40s and '50s with outstanding drama and screenplays, along with a wonderful cast and supporting actors to bring it all together ... another winner from the vaults of almost forgotten film noir gems

SPECIAL FEATURES BIOS:
1. Charles McGraw (aka: Charles Butters)
Date of Birth: 10 May 1914 - New York, New York
Date of Death: 30 July 1980 - Studio City, California

2. Marie Windsor (aka: Emily Marie Bertelsen)
Date of Birth: 11 December 1919 - Marysvale, Utah
Date of Death: 10 December 2000 - Beverly Hills, California

3. Richard Fleischer (Director)
Date of Birth: 8 December 1916 - Brooklyn, New York, New York
Date of Death: 25 March 2006 - Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California

Hats off and thanks to Les Adams (collector/guideslines for character identification), Chuck Anderson (Webmaster: The Old Corral/B-Westerns.Com), Boyd Magers (Western Clippings), Bobby J. Copeland (author of "Trail Talk"), Rhonda Lemons (Empire Publishing Inc), Bob Nareau (author of "The Real Bob Steele") and Trevor Scott (Down Under Com) as they have rekindled my interest once again for Film Noir, B-Westerns and Serials --- looking forward to more high quality releases from the vintage serial era of the '20s, '30s & '40s and B-Westerns ... order your copy now from Amazon where there are plenty of copies available on VHS, stay tuned once again for top notch action mixed with deadly adventure --- if you enjoyed this title, why not check out VCI Entertainment where they are experts in releasing B-Westerns and Serials --- all my heroes have been cowboys!

Total Time: 70 min on DVD ~ Turner Home Video ~ (7/05/2005)

McGraw and Windsor, The Natural Noir Pair.......2007-02-18

Some film historians call the 1952 release "The Narrow Margin" the finest low budget noir triumph ever. Others opt for "Detour" and Martin Goldsmith was involved in the writing of both.

"The Narrow Margin" provided Richard Fleischer with an opportunity to strike out into the ranks of up and coming young directors and he took advantage of his opportunity, moving on from there to direct such memorable high budget films as "The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing", "Compulsion" and "The Boston Strangler."

In this brilliant 72-minute classic two of the truly memorable film noir performers were united and viewers emerge as the winners. Charles McGraw, who was under contract to Howard Hughes for some time before getting his break at RKO, had the no nonsense expression and manner, rugged build, and gravelly voice to make a hit in noir films. While appearing often as a gangster, McGraw made the transition to tough, incorruptible, no nonsense cop in "The Narrow Margin."

The acid-tongue one-liners flow like vintage wine when McGraw is entrusted to guard tough noir veteran Marie Windsor to Chicago, where she is needed to testify in a trial that figures to blow open a major crime syndicate.

Windsor, who was tough as nails as the woman who belittles and bullies her loving husband Elisha Cook in Stanley Kurbrick's "The Killing", is perfectly matched in toughness and determination with McGraw as they hurl verbal darts while he does his best to protect her from mob guns hired to kill her on the train back to Los Angeles.

McGraw is rendered in an even more nasty and angry, albeit controlled, mood after his partner is gunned down at the Chicago apartment building where the Los Angeles detectives have gone to pick up Windsor.

An ingenious element of the story involves the use of scores of chase sequences in which McGraw and the mob hired guns seek to perform the jobs for which they were hired in the confined area of a train. The confinement is further enhanced by McGraw constantly having to squeeze past an obese Paul Maxey, who turns out to be a train detective.

A fierce fistfight between McGraw and well-dressed hoodlum Gordon Gebert is masterfully done. Despite the narrow confinement in which they battle, the combatants stage a tough and believable donnybrook.

Tired of Windsor's complaints and sarcasm, McGraw is delighted to meet passenger Jacqueline White, a well-dressed, lovely, ladylike blonde. He soon learns that conversing with White has made her a target, as the mobsters believe her to be the woman McGraw is entrusted to guard.

When the well-crafted story spins toward its conclusion Goldsmith and the remainder of the writing team consisting of Earl Felton, Jack Leonard and Stanley Rubin throw a surprise twist in the audience's direction. The film never deviates from its breakneck pacing.

"The Narrow Margin" was remade with successful results in a 1990 release starring talented cinema veteran Gene Hackman.

Action Collector's Pack (Narrow Margin/Air America/CutThroat Island)

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Action Collector's Pack (Narrow Margin/Air America/CutThroat Island)

Manufacturer: Live / Artisan
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: 0784013179
Release Date: 2000-03-15

Average customer rating:

Classic tough guy film noir from 1952
Who will cry for Sarah?
Narrow Margin is great film noir!
"The Narrow Margin (1952) ... Charles McGraw ... RKO Radio Pictures Film Noir"
McGraw and Windsor, The Natural Noir Pair

The Narrow Margin [Region 2]
Starring: Charles McGraw , Marie Windsor , Jacqueline White , Gordon Gebert , and Queenie Leonard
Director: Richard Fleischer
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00005B8VM

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Customer Reviews:

Classic tough guy film noir from 1952.......2007-07-13

Who will cry for Sarah?.......2007-06-10

Narrow Margin is great film noir!.......2007-05-18

"The Narrow Margin (1952) ... Charles McGraw ... RKO Radio Pictures Film Noir".......2007-03-18

McGraw and Windsor, The Natural Noir Pair.......2007-02-18

Average customer rating:

Train to Asylum
You're tall!
Lame, lamer, lamest
maybe not as good as the first but still very slick
A witness to a murder, a lethal train journey, and Gene Hackman to make it interesting

Narrow Margin [Region 2]
Starring: Gene Hackman , Anne Archer , James Sikking , J.T. Walsh , and M. Emmet Walsh
Director: Peter Hyams
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B0002DXEYY

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Customer Reviews:

Train to Asylum.......2007-08-14

You're tall!.......2007-07-15

Lame, lamer, lamest.......2007-07-13

maybe not as good as the first but still very slick.......2007-03-01

A witness to a murder, a lethal train journey, and Gene Hackman to make it interesting.......2006-09-02

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