Film Noir Classic Collection, Vol. 3 (Border Incident / His Kind of Woman / Lady in the Lake / On Dangerous Ground / The Racket)

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Two peak achievements by as many top noir directors ... a customized vehicle for one of noir's premier icons ... an oddball experiment in making a truly "private eye" movie ... and a Howard Hughes remake of his earliest contribution to the gangster genre. Such are the five titles corralled for Warner Home Video's third box set of film noir classics.

For eye-popping dynamism coupled with ferocious intensity, no noir director matched Anthony Mann. Border Incident (1949) was Mann's and cinematographer John Alton's first film for MGM following a string of darkly dazzling low-budget beauties at Eagle-Lion (T-Men, Raw Deal, The Black Book, et al.). In structure it's virtually a remake of T-Men, transposed from the shadowy city where a Secret Service team battled counterfeiters, to California's Imperial Valley where the Immigration Service sets out to infiltrate a gang exploiting--and often murdering--Mexicans eager to work the farms. From the opening night scene of three laborers trying to recross the border and meeting a grisly end, the movie relentlessly imagines ways the human body can merge with the earth. Visually stunning, and replete with memorable villains (headed by Howard Da Silva, a past master at making affability lethal), this is one of Mann's strongest noirs and surely his most inventive. Its neglect can be explained only by people's assumption that nothing worthwhile could come of a movie top-billing Ricardo Montalban and George Murphy (as the government agents). Wrong, wrong, wrong.

After a scalding first reel in big-city night streets, Nicholas Ray's On Dangerous Ground (RKO, 1951) likewise forsakes familiar noir terrain for the countryside--the mountains and snowfields where city cop Robert Ryan seeks a psychotic killer. For both the actor and the director, Ryan's character is an exemplary creation: a man with personal demons whose overzealous pursuit of criminals has pushed him into sadism. His passage from urban darkness into the silent white mountain country becomes a redemptive journey, thanks largely to his interaction with a blind woman (Ida Lupino) in an isolated farmhouse whose younger brother may be the quarry he's after. Ray developed the screenplay with A.I. Bezzerides under the supervision of producer John Houseman (for whom Ray had made his feature debut, They Live By Night). The film boasts a thrilling music score by Bernard Herrmann, anticipating his great soundtrack for North by Northwest.

His Kind of Woman (also RKO, 1951) is a vehicle for both RKO's reigning bad boy, Robert Mitchum, and Howard Hughes' definitive coup of distaff engineering, Jane Russell. Their characters cross paths en route to a seaside Mexican resort, where she aims to continue her gold-digger pursuit of Hollywood ham Vincent Price, and Mitchum will figure in a plot to get deported mobster Raymond Burr back into the U.S.A. The slow-brewing romance between this dauntingly tall, broad-shouldered pair gives off little heat, but the players' good-natured, weary-pro rapport as they go through their mostly preposterous paces makes for very good fun. Still more is supplied by Price, who just about steals the movie when he gets to extend his sub-Errol Flynn screen heroism into real life--all the while supplying his own florid running commentary on the action. The urbane director John Farrow filled the movie with one delicious, what-the-hell-is-going-on-here scene after another (highlight: a bored Mitchum ironing his money), but that wasn't enough for studio boss Hughes. Richard Fleischer was brought in to stretch the climactic melodrama aboard Burr's yacht in the harbor, and the picture grew to an overblown two hours in length. Not that you're likely to regret a minute of it.

Robert Montgomery directed and played Phillip Marlowe in Lady in the Lake (MGM, 1947), Raymond Chandler's novel as adapted by Steve Fisher (I Wake Up Screaming). The gimmick is that, apart from a few scenes of private detective Marlowe chatting us up in his office, everything is viewed through his eyes, with Marlowe himself remaining unseen unless he glances in a mirror. This literal-minded conceit is more curious than compelling; the camera simply doesn't see the way the human eye does, and the artificiality constantly calls attention to itself. Montgomery, a suave actor who enjoyed playing it coarse and obnoxious on occasion, makes his screen Marlowe more smartass than any other ("dumb, brave, and cheap"). With him cracking wise off-camera, much of the movie is really carried by Audrey Totter, a swell late-'40s dame who has to stand up under more relentless scrutiny than even her shifty character deserves.

The Racket (RKO, 1951) is the second film version of a 1920s play about municipal corruption, gangsterism, and the attempt to squash an honest police precinct captain. John Cromwell had acted in the original Broadway production, which may help explain why, as director, he let so much of this movie turn back into a play. Eventually studio boss Howard Hughes, who had produced the 1928 film version (directed by Lewis Milestone), once again called in another director to do salvage work.

That was Nicholas Ray, whose scenes include police captain Robert Mitchum's pursuit of the man who has just bombed his home. Mitchum's fellow cast members include Robert Ryan as the ultra-paranoid gangster; husky-voiced noir blonde Lizabeth Scott as a nightclub thrush romanced by Ryan's brother; future Perry Mason D.A. William Talman as a dedicated street cop; and Ray Collins and William Conrad as two municipal officials negotiating a delicate dance with morality and expediency. --Richard T. Jameson

Description

Five more film noir classics lined up with genre stars such as Robert Mitchum, Robert Montgomery, Robert Ryan, and Jane Russell, are now available in Volume 3 of the Film Noir Classics Collection series. The new 6-Disc DVD set is only available as a collection and includes a bonus documentary disc on the Noir genre.

Customer Reviews:

Lesser known, but still a good set.......2007-09-03

Genre is often hard to define. Even something as simple as the Western has its difficulties. Sure, The Searchers or Once Upon a Time in the West are Westerns, but what about Brokeback Mountain, which has the right setting, or Little House on the Prairie, which has both the setting and the standard time period? If the Western is hard to really set in stone, how much harder is it to define Film Noir, which may not even be a genre but more of a style?

The Film Noir Classic Collection Volume 3 provides five more examples of how the "noir" label can be applied to a wide range of movies. The first film in the set, Lady in the Lake, is also the most off-beat. An adaptation of a Raymond Chandler novel with Philip Marlowe, this movie both stars and is directed by Robert Montgomery. What makes this movie unique is it is shot from Marlowe's perspective: only occasionally, such as when he looks in a mirror, do we get to see the character. It's a different approach, and after you get used to it, it even works.

Border Incident is the most topical of the five movies as it deals with illegal immigration, particularly from Mexico. Ricardo Montalban plays the Mexican undercover agent in a joint U.S./Mexico effort to stop a ring of crooks who smuggle in workers and then put them to work under slave-labor conditions. Those who cause trouble disappear.

The Racket is much more of a straight gangster film, with Robert Ryan as the vicious crime boss who doesn't like being part of the Syndicate (which he finds too polite in its criminality). Opposing him is Robert Mitchum as a police captain whose efforts to clean up the town have caused him career damage.

His Kind of Woman is my favorite of the five, with Mitchum as a gambler sent to Mexico as part of a scheme to get a deported gangster (played by Raymond Burr) back into the country. While waiting at a resort, Mitchum befriends the locals, including Jane Russell (who he wants to be more than friends with). What's merely a decent movie becomes highly entertaining in the second half when Vincent Price steals the show as a hammy actor who assists Mitchum with a truly Shakespearean flare.

On Dangerous Ground has Robert Ryan as a brutal, cynical cop who is forced to leave the city to help find a child killer in the snow-covered mountains. Out of his environment, he is forced to rediscover his humanity when he meets the blind Ida Lupino, who is the sister of the killer.

How much any of these movies fit into the film noir category will vary from person to person. Certainly, the strongest argument can be made for the last two movies, with their more complicated characters. To help the viewer make his own determination, this set also includes a nice documentary on film noir; this final disc also includes five of MGMs "Crime Doesn't Pay" shorts. Four of these are so-so, the preachy sort of short subjects that would often lead off a Mystery Science Theater. The best in the bunch - and also the most noirish - is The Luckiest Guy in the World, an ironic tale of a man driven to crime out of desperation.

Each film comes with some nice commentary. Overall, the films rate four stars on average, with some better, some worse (I personally rank them, best to worst, as His Kind of Woman, On Dangerous Ground, Border Incident, Lady in the Lake and The Racket). With all the bonuses, I am pushing my rating up to five stars. These are not the most well-known movies, but if you are a fan of film noir (whatever it is), this is a set worth picking up.

awesome noir.......2007-04-20

like the other 2 volumes in this series vol 3 outshines even them. found all dvd's compelling viewing,well remastered for excellent sound and picture quality. if film noir from the 40's and 50's is your penchant then look no further than these releases. i have only one question, when or where are we getting volume 4? Jim Boggan, Dublin, Ireland

A must-have .......2007-03-23

The Noir genre appears as the most original cinematographic legacy of the American cinema along the Century.

Unlike the Western whose emblematic epic feature (with their few exceptions), the Noir is supported by the unbearable lightness of the being in which twists of fate, ironic designs, existential instability, lack of center, cosmic nasty tricks hovered by an irrational universe in which nobody is like it seems.

This manifest incapacity of distinguishing what's right or what's wrong, the awful sensation of diffidence respect your beloved couple, the new friend you met last night, was systematically enhancing with new visions, fed by the plethora of European filmmakers that certainly had experienced his particular fears and anguishes with the dark shadows of a raising Nazism and the emerging void's perception that you could feel and even breath in your environment.

All this set of new factors, enriched, enhanced and expanded the vision of many layers of a society, seers, salesmen, boxers, gangsters, false policemen, doctors, sideshow performers, psychologists or depressive characters.

The WW2 in good measure, renovated the internal demons of the alcoholism, gangster's rivalries, corruption, sexual frustrations or the figure of the classic antihero of the thirties ( The petrified forest or High Sierra) frequently ex cons or orphans youngsters whose parents died in the WW1 or committed suicide during the great Depression.

Good copies of good films.......2007-01-13

An excellent product, good copies of some really good films

Film Noir Classics of the second rank, Very Good indeed.......2007-01-06

Lady in the Lake is the weakest and On Dangerous Ground/The Racket are the strongest Border Incident and His Kind of Woman quite good as well. The other two volumes are as good or better but where can you see good prints of these exciting noir movies for a great price? The only other set to recommend to those new to the genre is the Kino's noir set with star performers (and some non-star performers) with great directors. Don't miss out on these four sets, they're terrific entertainment (after a noir movie, we watch a Charley Chase, Keaton or Lloyd short). Great night at home watching these movies before our time (born 1956).

Average customer rating:

classically erotic
funny movie
Above average erotica - worth keeping
FOR THOSE THAT LIKE A SOFTER TOUCH
Classic Softcore

Young Lady Chatterley
Starring: Harlee McBride , Peter Ratray , William Beckley , Ann Michelle , and Joi Staton
Director: Alan Roberts
Manufacturer: Monterey Video
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ASIN: B00005QZ7J
Release Date: 2001-11-13

Customer Reviews:

classically erotic.......2007-03-25

Very sexy and erotic movie. Harlee McBride is adorable as are the other women in the movie. Though it starts out a bit slow this helps to build the anticpation and the later scenes are worth the wait.

funny movie.......2006-03-24

Pretty funny movie. It was odd to see Adam West not in his Batman role.

Above average erotica - worth keeping.......2005-08-05

This one's a keeper - pleasant, scenic, naughty, fun, humorous, and a sweet girl. I like. What better flick for Summer?

This movie has some truly hot scenes, and is more than Just Erotica (has an actual story!)

Dig the playful, enlightened (for the '70s) view about sex, class, and marriage. Admire the empowered, yet very feminine, leading lady, who gets her way, without resorting to hurting or harming men in the process.

FOR THOSE THAT LIKE A SOFTER TOUCH .......2004-10-28

This movie is pretty sexy for sure.But like most softcore it si more tease then please. Filmed very nicely for its time. The eroticism comes right through and gets you interested however due to the fact it is softcore it does tend to get a bit silly and a bit teasing. Over all not bad and those that like there films with a more softer sexual tone this is a movie for you.

Classic Softcore.......2003-08-02

I am a little irritated. I wrote a lenghty review of this months ago and it was never posted. Now they want me to do another one. Ok, but this is abbreviated and isn't as informative. This is classic, top quality, 70's softcore. This is probably the best softcore flick of all time. Good plot, nice sets, some flesh, but all tastefully done. Harlee McBride is supersexy in a "real" sort of way. She looks like someone you would know, but she is really cute. Sort "naturally hot." Plus, she is a pretty good actress, too. Harlee is an orphan who in her late 20's realizes she has inherited a huge British estate in the middle of nowhere from a long lost relative. The problem is, a huge amount of taxes are owed on it that she cannot afford. Before selling it, she decides to visit it for the weekend. She, well, let's put it this way, "gets to know" a whole lot of people who work on the estate, mostly men, but a few ladies as well. She falls in love with the place and vows not to sell it. What is she to do? Don't worry, our screen heroine figures out a way to keep her estate (and her gardner). Nicely done!

Customer Reviews:

HD-DVD version.......2007-06-22

Okay folks, I am guessing you have seen this movie as it is quite a few years old now so I will not bother going into the details of it. If you wish to know more about the plot then check it out on imdb.

The big question is, how did it fare being transfered to HD-DVD? Well to sum it up I would say brilliantly. The video transfer is crisp and detailed, it does suffer a tad with film artifacts but this is the best we are ever going to see it that is for sure.

The audio transfer is absolutely superb.

You want HD-DVD? Well this is as good as it gets for this title.

Average customer rating:

Dont rent from Amazon
Great action
A earth shattering brake through!!!!
DTS does work - Great Movie!
A Classic Dragon Fantasy Film

Dragonheart - Collector's Edition
Starring: Dennis Quaid , David Thewlis , Pete Postlethwaite , Dina Meyer , and Jason Isaacs
Director: Rob Cohen
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: 0783225814
Release Date: 1998-03-31

Amazon.com essential video

In the closing paragraph of his 1996 review of Dragonheart, noted critic Roger Ebert summed up this adventurous fantasy quite nicely: "While no reasonable person over the age of 12 would presumably be able to take it seriously, there is nevertheless a lighthearted joy to it, a cheerfulness, an insouciance, that recalls the days when movies were content to be fun." That's precisely the quality that makes Dragonheart so appealing, despite the fact that it didn't exactly take flight and breathe fire at the box office. The movie takes itself seriously without sacrificing the wit and cleverness that make it so entertaining. It's about the last of the great dragon slayers, Bowen (Dennis Quaid), who teams up with the last of the great dragons, Draco (and voiced by Sean Connery), after they realize that killing each other would put them both out of business! So they devise a bogus dragon-slaying act that's a huge hit as they tour from village to village. Later, they must rouse the peasantry against the loutish Prince Einon (David Thewlis), whose life was once saved by Draco, but who now violates the "Old Code" of honor with a ruthless reign of terror. As Ebert rightly noted, Dragonheart is no masterpiece, and its story (which was originally conceived as a darker, more serious drama) isn't likely to capture everyone's heart (dragon or otherwise). But it's full of exciting action, witty dialogue, and gallant heroism, and in the presentation of a realistic talking dragon it's a milestone in computer-generated special effects, far surpassing the breakthroughs of Jurassic Park three years earlier. --Jeff Shannon.

Customer Reviews:

Dont rent from Amazon.......2007-01-12

I rented this, and once downloaded it stated that my client license was up. Tech support couldnt help me, and instead just refunded my money. It was nothing but a waste of time.

Great action.......2006-02-14

While not as good as the Mummy, this movie is really great because of the violent action. Kicks the quinn out of the kiddie kid kid sequel.

A earth shattering brake through!!!!.......2006-02-13

I thought it was great!! What I mean to say is, that I thought computerziation was at its best,(to a certain excetent). Like in that one secen, when Draco was trying to eat Bowen; but besides that, I thought it pretty good!!

DTS does work - Great Movie!.......2006-01-21

To get to the DTS encoding you must click on the 5.1 selection instead. It then jumps to DTS. I discovered this after a little experimentation. It's just a glitch in the DVD, but DTS DOES work! The move has superb visual effects and sound. Well worth the price!

A Classic Dragon Fantasy Film.......2005-08-05

Plot: In a revoltion by the village against his father/the King, Enion -- the young Prince and apprentice of knight Bowen (Dennis Quaid) -- is injured. As the injury could be fatal, the Queen rushes him to a dragon with the request of it's healing power. To do so, the dragon must give half of his heart to the Prince (and, of course, he does). Yet once Enion bcomes King, he disregards any teachings of the Old Code from Bowen and becomes a cruel and corrupt young man, bringing only choas to his time of reign. From here, feeling that the dragon is the reason for Enion's rebellion, Bowen vows to slay every single dragon left in existence. But once he comes upon the last dragon left (Sean Connery with vocal duties only, as the dragon is CGI), he finds him impossible to defeat. They resort to friendship instead, and Bowen gives the dragon a name: Draco (after the constellation). They team up, traveling village to village, having Bowen to pretend he slays an evil dragon (Draco) that is inhabiting whichever current village they are working (this humorous scam being done for money, of course). But soon, the past catches up to both of them and they run into the old village now cruelly run by Enion. They, with the assistance of the villagers, decide to over-run Enion and his small army. With the help of Draco, it seems possible. But Enion ends up capturing Draco. Bowen must kill Enion and save Draco, but discovers a connection between the two that makes such a task much more difficult than he'd imagined. I've given most of the plot here, but I won't say too much about this part, because it is indeed the center of the climatic drama. All I can say is that Bowen must choose between two very difficult decisions!

Dragonheart succeeds in not only a humorous and fantastic movie, but also a heart-warming one. The ending (supported by the wonderful score) brought tears to my eyes, and the story is one that will stick with any viewer for quite some time. Although the CGI dragon is a turn-off to some, be assured that for the effects available at the time, these guys used the best. Also, as for the DVD, there are some great special features including inside looks at Draco, the effects, the story, etc. This is an adventure/fantasy film perfect for almost any age and I would certainly recommend at least a rental. If you're into dragons or just fantasy in general, Dragonheart is a must-see!

Average customer rating:

Welles' camera seemed almost to caress Rita Hayworth...
Orson Wells and Rita Hayworth Drama
Still, it IS Welles. . .
enticing sexy dip into film noir waters
"It's a bright, guilty world"..."I told you...you know nothing about wickedness"

The Lady from Shanghai
Starring: Glenn Anders , Steve Benton , Vernon Cansino , Al Eben , and Edythe Elliott
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
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ASIN: B00004W229
Release Date: 2000-10-03

Amazon.com essential video

Legend has it that Orson Welles more or less conned studio boss Harry Cohn over the phone into making this movie by grabbing the title from a nearby paperback. In any case, The Lady from Shanghai is one of Welles's most fascinating works, a bizarre tale of an Irish sailor (Welles) who accompanies a beautiful woman (Rita Hayworth) and her handicapped husband (Everett Sloane) on a cruise and becomes involved in a murder plot. But never mind all that (the aforementioned legend also claims that Cohn offered a reward to anyone who could explain the plot to him). The film is really a dream of Welles's driving preoccupations on- and offscreen at the time: the elusiveness of identity, the mystique of things lost, and most of all the director's faltering marriage to Hayworth. In the tradition of male filmmakers who indirectly tell the story of their love affairs with leading ladies, Welles tells his own, photographing Hayworth as a deconstructed star, an obvious cinematic creation, thus reflecting, perhaps, a never-satisfied yearning that leads us back to the mystery of Citizen Kane. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

Welles' camera seemed almost to caress Rita Hayworth..........2007-01-04

After all, you do not go to an Orson Welles movie to see a nice simple little plot and a burnishing of the image of a happy-ever-after star...

You go to see theatrically heightened characters locked in conflict against colorful and unusual settings, lighted and scored imaginatively, photographed bravely, and the whole thing peppered with unexpected details of surprise that a wiser and duller director would either avoid or not think of in the first place...

As usual, as well as directing, Welles wrote the script and he also played the hero - a young Irish seaman who had knocked about the world and seen its evil, but still retained his clear-eyed trust in the goodness of others... Unfortunately for him, he reposed this trust in Rita Hayworth, whose cool good looks concealed a gloomy past and murderous inclinations for the future... She was married without love, to an impotent, crippled advocate, acted like a malevolent lizard by the brilliant Everett Sloane...

There is a youthful romanticism underlying it all, and this quality came into exuberant play in "The Lady from Shanghai." Before the inevitable happened, Welles escaped - to a final triangular showdown in a hall of mirrors, which has become one of the classic scenes of the post-war cinema ...

Welles did not miss a chance throughout the whole film to counterpoint the words and actions with visual detail which enriched the texture and heightened the atmosphere... His camera seemed almost to caress Rita Hayworth as the sun played with her hair and her long limbs while she playfully teased the young seaman into her web...

Orson Wells and Rita Hayworth Drama.......2006-12-29

In London, Michael O'Hara meets Elsa 'Rosalie' Bannister and decides to introduce himself by offering her a cigerette. Elsa tells him that she doesn't smoke but takes the cigerette and wraps it in a napkin and insert into her purse. Michael hears a scream and sees three men pulling on both of Elsa's arms; Elsa is helpless against her attackers; Michael sees Elsa's purse and the cigerette and grabs it; the attackers are defeated soundly by Michael, who is an efficient fighter; Michaels learns from Elsa that she dropped the purse hoping Michael would see it and rescue her; this is the first clue that Elsa has a grand plot for Michael; Michael tells Elsa that he killed a man in Spain during the war; Michael guides Elsa's horse carriage to her car, a real stylish car; Elsa ask Michael work for her on her husband's boat; Michael tells Elsa that he won't work for a married woman.

Arthur Bannister asks Michael to be the Captain of ship which he plans to sail to San Francisco. Michael and his friends join Arthur in a drinking binge and then Michael decides to join the voyage because of his attraction of Elsa. George, Arthur's gay law partner joins the voyage. George sees Michael kisses Elsa and tells Arthur. Arthur is cruel to Elsa calling her, "lover"; Arthur suggests to Elsa that she would like Michael, a strong and bigger male; Arthur acquired the ship when one of his opponents perjuryed and used money to pay for a maid, who had worked for another law firm; Arthur knows that Elsa wants to murder him and take his money. Arthur is murdered by gun; a gun that Michael has seen Elsa use.

Elsa plot fails when her hired killer, kills George instead of Arthur. Michael forces Elsa to reveal the gun that killed George. At the Chinese fun house, Arthur and Elsa kill each other and Michael says, "sharks feeding on each other" suggesting his repulsion of the super rich and the conceit of the super rich with their feed frenzy arrogance.

Still, it IS Welles. . ........2006-11-10

I must confess at the outset that I am an Orson Welles fan. This is not to say that I am unaware of or wish to minimize his faults. What I mean is that, for me, his work possesses a set of characteristics, not all of them completely definable even yet, which are nonetheless rich and compelling. Furthermore, I maintain that enough (all?) of this "Welles aesthetic fingerprint survives the tribulation, sometimes extreme, to which his work was all too often subjected at the hands of others, to render even his lesser efforts very worthy of serious attention rewarded by enjoyment.

"The Lady from Shanghai" illustrates the above very clearly. Welles made the film at a very serious juncture in her career. His "boy wonder" reputation was fading rapidly. His political views were becomming less popular as the country began to move toward the right. His radio work had begun to dry up. His finances were a shambles. In desperation, he turned to Harry Cohn, a man he had contemptuously attacked, to support his latest project. He meant "The Lady from Shanghai" to restore his reputation as a viable filmmaker, proof that he could make a film that would be "aminstream" enough to pay off at the box office, and yet not represent artistic capitulation to commercial Hollywood. It was also to be a both a starring vehicle and a "stretch" performance for his then-wife, Rita Hayworth.

Unfortunately, the film proved typical of most of Welles work in one significant way: it was taken out of his hands in post-production, and as a result, was, when released, by no means the film Welles had in mind.

I inssist, however, that it does manage to succeed to a great extent as an intelligent, originally handled thriller. Welles's genius for visual elements -- location, lighting, camera angles, etc, retain their fascination and beauty. A certain viewpoint still pervades the handling of plot and character -- satiric, bitter, increasingly surreal. And, I maintain, Rita Hayworth does "stretch" as an actress, creating, with, admittedly, a lot of help from her husband and his camera, a memorable femme fatale. The high quality of her performance is uniform with the rest of the cast, such as the very fine Everett Sloane.

The is a film not only for fans of Welles, such as myself, but for anyone who enjoys an intelligent film noir,

enticing sexy dip into film noir waters.......2006-09-27

The Lady from Shanghi's reputation is secure as a classic of film noir but then this genre is notoriously disrespected probably because many film noirs are based on dime novels and sound like it; in order to appreciate a film noir, therefore, you have to be able to enjoy the kitschy quality of snappy dime-novel dialogue. But kitsch alone is not what makes (some) film noirs great. What really sets film noir apart from other genres is its striking, even elegant, visual style which often contrasts sharply with its stark subject matter. Film noir has a way of glamourzing corruption, and giving corruption a unique aesthetic allure all its own. Film noir probably owes something to the German Expressionist film masters (Murnau, Lang, Von Stroheim) and the Hollywood grotesques of the 20's and 30's but it absorbs and evolves these influences into a highly refined style of its own. Orson Welles is the undisputed master of the high noir style. All of his films after Magnificent Ambersons mobilize film noir methods and techniques and so Welles' reputation rises and falls with that genre that he did not create but that he perfected.

Film noir came of age during WWII and like many film noirs Lady from Shanghai is about anxieties over race, class, sexuality, and identity and, in this particular noir film, negotiating racial, social, cultural and sexual difference in an increasingly globalized world. The film takes place in several international (Acapulco) and exotic (Chinatown) settings and these strange locales allow Welles to examine how his characters respond to a diverse array of atmospheres and social/cultural settings. Welles himself plays the central character in the film, Michael O'Hara, and to do so he affects an Irish accent (another international touch) that, some critics argue, is supposed to sound false/inauthentic. O'Hara has a way of talking that sounds a bit too self-consciously literary; and though he affects a working class worldliness his yarns sound like they come straight out of Conrad (O'Hara echoes many of Conrad's colonial concerns) and Hemingway (O'Hara echoes Hemingway's anti-Franco sentiments) and so we suspect that this character has spent more time reading and writing stories than in actually working. Whether we believe Michael's Irish brogue is authentic or not we know that he is fond of creating fictions and this casts suspicions on his identity as well as on his version of events that we hear on the voiceover. Furthermore, we can see that his obsession with literature has given him a taste for the romantic and the typically masculine posturing of his favorite literary heroes and instead of making him worldly wise this just makes him all the more gullible when a pretty lady and the promise of a new adventure come along.

Elsa (played by Welles' then-wife Rita Hayworth)identifies Michael as an easy mark the first time they meet. Unlike Michael Elsa actually is worldly and we can tell she's seen and experienced a lot and that she knows a lot about the world (not just read a lot about it) and she sees through Michael's pseudo-brogue and bravura right away and knows exactly how to exploit his romantic tendencies. She sums him up and plays him from the first moment they exchange knowing glances (hers much more knowing than his). Michael prides himself on his independence and his integrity but he just can't help falling for Elsa's pretend innocence and helplessness--its just too good to resist-- and he can't help wanting to come charging to her rescue even though there are signs everywhere that indicate that Elsa is in no need of rescuing. At first Michael resists her job offer but she is a woman who always gets her way and soon Michael is one of her employee/servants just like all of the other men in the film. Michael just can't tear himself away from Elsa's dangerously seductive & corruptive charms that he willingly and perhaps willfully misinterprets as innocence and helplessness only because that version of her makes him feel better about his own true motives. Michael has been hired on as an extra hand on Elsa's husband's yacht and as soon as he steps foot on deck everyone else aboard sizes him up and begins figuring how they can use him to further their own plots. Elsa's husband Bannister is a famous lawyer and both he and his partner Grisby are, like Michael, under Elsa's spell and trying to plot their way out of captivity. As the yacht pulls out of harbor we see the word "Circe" written in bold letters on the yacht's hull.

Elsa's past is a secret only hinted at (all we know is that she was born on an island somewhere in the east & spent some time in Shanghai). She looks like the penultimate American blonde but she is not from America and her cultural reference points are decidely eastern in contrast to Michael's western points of reference; to Michael she represents the unknown and perhaps the unkowable, and this is part of her allure and also what makes her so dangerous. "Elsa" is the prototypical femme fatale and the conventions of the film noir genre tell us that things will not end well for anyone that gets too close but she's just too enticing. The most famous scene of the film has Elsa in a sleek black bathing suit diving off some perilous rocks as if she were accustomed to such danger and as if danger was her natural element. But then she lays down to sunbathe on the rocks and from the relative safety of the boat Michael looking on, anxiously aware of how dangerous she is, can allow himself the comforting illusion that she is vulnerable and that she needs saving and that only he can save her not only from all the other male predators on board, but save her from her own eastern imbued fatalistism.

Elsa is so beautiful that she has all of the men in the film believing exactly what she wants them to believe and all of them believing that they've actually got a chance with her. And the men all slowly lose their head around her. Some of the men talk down to her but still they do what she says and she has all of them plotting against each other while lighting her cigarettes. The film has been criticized for having an impossibly tangled plot but I think the point of the film is that you are never supposed to be certain or not whether Elsa is merely defending herself against the men who want to control her or if Elsa has been in control of all of them (just like she has been in control of Michael) from the start. Even at the end we still want to believe that Elsa is a victim of something, perhaps something from her past that she just can't escape, but since we don't know what her past was we have no ultimate insight into what has been driving her all along nor for that matter do we have any insight into what originary crime or sin has been driving the men all along; all we know is that the sexes and the races and the classes are at odds. Elsa remains an unknown all the way through and Michael once ensnared must realize that he too is an unknown because under her influence he has been forced to act against what he perceived to be his own true nature.

The Lady from Shanghai offers some of the most stunning visuals of any film noir I know of. The Acapulco scenes are especially exciting as the danger and unpredictability of a foreign woman is made especially inviting and exciting in a foreign land. In this film Welles offers the ultimate noir vision of anxiously uncertain men and women attracted to each other but also repelled by what they find themselves attracted to and what they find themselves doing in the name of desire. Its a film noir and that means that the film follows certain recognizable conventions but it does more than simply follow those conventions, it pushes those conventions as far as they have been pushed and explores the nature of those conventions in a more thorough way than any noir before or, arguably, since. By the end of the film the characters have become lost in their own plots and no longer know who they are and this is conveyed brilliantly with Welles use of masks & mirrors in the celebrated and luridly twisted funhouse scene which feels a bit like the famous Dali sequence in Hitchcock's Spellbound but is even more disorienting & disconcerting (Spellbound was released in 1945 so it is possible, even likely, that Welles had seen it and that it influenced his own film that was made in 1946 and released in 1948). [In the extra featurette that follows the film we learn that Welles himself painted much of the funhouse props and set.]

There are a lot of bad noirs out there and these give the genre a bad name but the few good ones are among the best films ever made. Welles' reputation would be greater if film noir were better understood and appreciated not as a genre that is as cheap as the dime novels that inspired it but a genre where cinema explores its own methods and techniques. The great directors from Lang & Von Stroheim to Welles & Hitchcock to Godard & Chabrol and the other new wave auteurs have all been attracted to noir for this reason.

A brilliant film. After this film (which was a commerical flop) Welles didn't work in America for ten years and when he did return to America he made Touch of Evil (another brilliant noir film). Touch of Evil also failed to generate revenue and effectively ended Welles career as a mainstream director even though he continued to make independently financed small pictures like Othello, Macbeth, The Trial & Chimes at Midnight.

"It's a bright, guilty world"..."I told you...you know nothing about wickedness".......2006-09-16

"The Lady from Shanghai" crackles with Welles' energy and intelligence inspite of the tampering done during post-production by Columbia with the film. Welles ended up working his advesary Harry Cohn the head of Columbia on this unusual, imaginatively photographed (by the late great Rudolph Mate)noir thriller. This "Lady" is memorable if for nothing else than the amazing fun house scene at the conclusion of the movie.

Michael O'Hara (Welles)is immediately smitten with Rosalie (Rita Hayworth)the wife of the super wealthy Arthur Bannister (Everett Sloane in a terrific performance). He ends up employed by Bannister on his yacht putting him close to his wife and making sparks fly with the amoral Rosalie. Money seduces Michael into participating in a faked murder of Bannister's law firm partner Grisby (a great performance by Glenn Anders)which turns from fantasy to reality and making Michael the primary suspect.

Welles' film is full of brilliant visuals, witty dialogue and lovely location work (particularly the sequences set in 1948 San Francisco). The last sequence in the funhouse full of mirrors is brilliant realized. Like Hitchcock Welles' liked to take genre conventions and turn them on their head with inventive, intelligent plots and visual sequences. Where the film goes wrong is in post-production. With the exception of "Citizen Kane" Welles ended up abandoning his babies or had them taken away from him and messed with by studio heads. "The Lady from Shanghai" is not an exception. Welles uses extremely close ups to make us feel as uncomfortable as Michael does about his employers and the situation he finds himself in when he realizes he's been duped.

From the insistence that Welles go back and shoot glamor shot close ups of his soon to be ex-wife Rita Hayworth to meddling in the editing room and the misbegotten musical score (a pity Welles didn't have Bernard Herrmann working on this film)enforced on the film "The Lady from Shanghai" ended up being compromised. A pity that Columbia hasn't tried to dig up the cut footage (if it exists) along with the temp score (they could recreate that based on Welles' notes)that Welles used to help "guide" Heinz Roemheld (who totally ignored Welles' notes and the temp soundtrack) It still manages to a classic Welles film despite all the interference. Roemheld's forte was scores more like the one he composed for "Yankee Doodle Dandy" and he was totally out of his element here.

Columbia includes a fascinating commentary track by Peter Bogdanovich and vintage advertising to compliment this release. I just wish that Columbia had gone the route of Warner with "Citizen Kane" but the extras are pretty good overall. I'd highly recommend this now if Warner would get around to releasing "The Magnificent Ambersons" on DVD I'd be a happy camper...

Average customer rating:

Good escapism
Another Man and Another Woman 36 Years Later
Good fun, great music
Unambitious but entertaining fluff
It takes an iron will to sit through this one

And Now Ladies & Gentlemen
Starring: Jeremy Irons , Patricia Kaas , Thierry Lhermitte , Alessandra Martines , and Claudia Cardinale
Director: Claude Lelouch
Manufacturer: Paramount
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ASIN: B0000UJLF0
Release Date: 2004-01-13

Amazon.com

Claude Lelouch may never be the most profound director in the world, but he sure knows how to whip up a catchy distraction. And Now Ladies & Gentlemen finds Lelouch in a skippy, unpredictable mode. Jeremy Irons, who seems to be enjoying himself enormously, is a thief who sets out on a sailing voyage, only to fetch up in Morocco after he blacks out at the helm. There he meets sultry singer Patricia Kaas (her first acting role); it turns out they both might have brain tumors. Did someone say this is a romantic comedy? It is, complete with musical numbers (Kaas glides through a cozy cross-section of French pop music, including the theme from A Man and a Woman, Lelouch's '60s smash). The movie's all over the place, and it spins its wheels for the final half-hour, but there are certain kinds of romantics who will find this sort of thing irresistible. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews:

Good escapism.......2007-05-30

Just a short line to say I enjoyed this, quirky as it was.

Another Man and Another Woman 36 Years Later.......2006-10-17

Claude Lelouch's "And Now... Ladies and Gentlemen" ... (2002) tries to
be a lot of things. It has the elements of romance, thriller, and drama
and much more. It could be called "Another Man and Another Woman 36
years later" and it takes us to London, Paris, and Morocco. A
successful and creative jewel thief Valentin (Jeremy Irons) sails alone
around the world. The fate brings him to Morocco where he meets a night
singer Jean (Patricia Kaas) who hopes to escape from the heartache of
the failed affair. They both suffer from blackouts and amnesia that may
be caused by brain tumors - of course, they were meant to meet. They
will seek the way to save their lives and then change them.

The movie is beautiful to look at, and the songs that Patricia Kaas
sings are wonderful, the best asset of the movie. I read that Kaas's
album "Piano Bar", a hand-picked collection of the popular love songs
inspired Lelouch to make this movie where Kaas debuted as an actress.
I've heard her singing before and I like her a lot. I also think that
her screen debut was successful. Her songs kept the movie together
because there were too many stories intermingling and even though they
were all interesting and compelling, it was not just easy to keep track
of all them.

There was one bitter-sweet moment when I realized that the actress who
played a countess in Morocco's hotel and whose jewels were stolen in a
very manner Valentin would do, was Claudia Cardinale, yes, The Claudia
Cardinale. She is still a beautiful woman but the first thought that
came to my mind was, "What does time do to all of us?"

"And Now... Ladies and Gentlemen" was fun while it lasted. I don't
think I'll want to see it again any time soon but I am going to order
Patricia Kaas's CD and I'll be listening to it often.

Good fun, great music.......2006-05-04

This film may not be as powerful and profound as Lelouch's incredible 1995 "Les Miserables", but it's highly enjoyable and intelligent. It entertains with stories of jewel thefts and amnesia, while at the same gently poking fun at the romanticisation of melancholy. The restrained brooding of the main characters is a sharp contrast to the gorgeous landscapes around them and the cheerfulness of others, and somehow you can't help but chuckle at the antics of these two as they meander their way into a romance. The witty, nonlinear storytelling keeps you guessing to the end, and the wonderful music makes the journey all the more fun. A perfectly lovely way to spend two hours.

Unambitious but entertaining fluff.......2006-02-25

Sometimes it's a director's least ambitious films that are their most satisfying. And Now... Ladies and Gentlemen... may just be a piece of romantic fluff from Claude Lelouch, but it's entertaining romantic fluff that doesn't outstay its welcome even at the 128-minute mark. Lelouch is a talented director whose ambition is only rarely matched by his material, usually overcompensating with impressive technique that fails to hide the thinness of the story and characters. While no-one could ever mistake And Now... for having any depth, it's a pure audience pleaser (albeit possibly for a middle-aged cinema audience that no longer exists) that genuinely pleases. It's rarely laugh out loud funny and it's not one of the great screen romances, but it is a charming and engaging number skilfully crafted.

It's styled after those glossy widescreen 60s romantic comedies about glamorous people in faraway places, usually involving light comic banter and (possibly) wrongly accused gentlemen jewel thieves. Jeremy Irons, so often a hard actor to warm to, is surprisingly likeable here and shows a real gift for comedy in the jewel robbery scenes (the first of which nods amiably to Lelouch's earlier La Bonne Annee). As is his wont, Lelouch casts yet another popular French singer in the other lead, this time Patricia Kass, who turns out better than initially expected. The two are eventually drawn together by the same neurological symptoms, which cause him to dream of returning his ill-gotten gains and her to forget her lyrics while coming over all monochrome, finding themselves in Morocco and en route to a healing shrine and possible romance. With the exception of Thierry L'Hermitte, Amidou and Claudia Cardinale, most of the cast of familiar faces from French cinema have little to do but make an appearance, but they never overbalance the film in the way that the top-heavy casting so often does in the director's other films. Extremely likeable.

It takes an iron will to sit through this one.......2006-01-30

Jeremy Irons makes this worth a look, but it takes 45 minutes too long to get where it's inevitably going. There are some good comedic bits, but most of the movie is given to French characters reciting their lines in ennui-laden tones. A lot of screen time is spent on lounge singing numbers; it might be more pleasant to listen to the soundtrack than watch the movie.

Average customer rating:

Excellent All Around
Great acting
Wow.
Wow!! Very impressive!!
Everything a mini-series should be

Dangerous Lady (2pc)
Starring: Jason Isaacs , Colin Bennett , Susan Lynch , Catherine Terris , and Sean McGinley
Director: John Woods (II)
Manufacturer: Bfs Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00006L920
Release Date: 2002-10-08

Customer Reviews:

Excellent All Around.......2006-10-04

Great acting, a compelling storyline and well-rounded characters make this one of the most enjoyable movies I've ever seen. I don't usually like gangster movies, but this is definitely an exception. Many scenes in Dangerous Lady stayed with me long after the movie ended. Several characters, Michael in particular, struck at the heart. Many of these characters are more than what they seem. Notable performances by Susan Lynch, Owen Teele, and Jason Isaacs. Excellent all around.

Great acting.......2006-10-03

I really enjoyed this movie!
Loved Jason Isaacs and Susan Lynch.
Definately worth seeing.

Wow........2006-05-21

I stayed up until 2 a.m. last night watching this mini-series, because Jason Isaac's performance as Michael Ryan, an ambitious, violent thug who has been the primary caretaker of his large family since he was a child, is so mesmirizing that I simply could not stop watching. Although the performances of the whole cast range between very good and outstanding, my favorite scenes were all about Michael's relationship with his mother. I loved every single scene between them, even the most painful and contentious of their encounters. Michael is so strong, so resolute, so self-sufficient and self-confident, and yet his mother still has the power to undo him completely. An Irish mother is a powerful being, a living Madonna, and an Irish son can never completely escape his desire for her good regard and affection. When Mrs. Ryan finally turns Michael out of her house, the disbelief and despair on his face is simply heartbreaking.

Susan Lynch is wonderful as Maura, and I think the mini-series was supposed to be primarily her story, as opposed to her brother's, but Jason's performance of Michael is too powerful. It is the showpiece role of the production, and it prompts me to ask this question: Why the hell isn't Jason Isaacs a bigger star?

I highly, highly recommend this one, even though the DVD doesn't include much in the way of extras.

Wow!! Very impressive!!.......2006-01-18

I really wasn't sure what to expect from this mini-series. I'm not a big fan of British television but I had heard good things about this so I watched it. I'm glad I did.

The acting was first-rate. Susan Lynch (as Moara) was very good - as was everyone in the cast. Jason Isaacs (as Michael) was truly outstanding - his portrayal as a 'violent perverted bender' was chilling (but also sympathetic). I've never seen an actor that can convey more emotions with tiny changes in his expression. His scenes with 'Joe-the-fish' were exceptional.

This movie is well worth watching more than once. I'll be honest - the accents threw me a bit and I had to watch it several times to catch all the words. But that's not a fault of the film - it made it more authentic.

All in all, a great movie. And a must-have for any Jason Isaacs' fan.

Everything a mini-series should be.......2003-03-06

When I heard the words "british TV miniseries", I was admittedly not expecting much. I was very pleasantly surprised.

This miniseries had everything a quality production should have: good cinematography, an excellent script, fully-drawn three-dimensional characters, and a fine slate of actors. Pay particular attention to Jason Isaacs as Michael "Mickey" Ryan. Mr. Isaacs, and the movie, were outstanding.

Average customer rating:

A solid first look at the black bird from 1931, but quite a let-down in 1936

The Maltese Falcon (1931) & Satan Met a Lady (1936) - Authentic Region 1 DVD from Warner Brothers starring Bette Davis, Warren William, Bebe Daniels & Ricardo Cortez. BONUS DISC INCLUDED.

Manufacturer: Warner Brothers
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Hell's House

The Bride Came C.O.D.

Michael Shayne Mysteries Vol. 1 (Michael Shayne: Private Detective / The Man Who Wouldn't Die / Sleepers West / Blue, White, and Perfect)

The Anniversary

Product Features:

Release Date: October 3, 2006

Titles are: Maltese Falcon (1931) & Satan Met a Lady (1936)

Extras include Theatrical trailers;The Maltese Falcon: One Magnificent Bird documentary,

Robert Osborne Hosts Becoming Attractions: The Trailers of Humphrey Bogart; Studio Blooper Reel.

ASIN: B000J6E0T2

Product Description

These two DVD's are the second and third DVD's that were released as part of the Maltese Falcon 3-Disc Special Edition on October 3, 2006. They include The Maltese Falcon (1931) & Satan Met a Lady (1936) along with many bonus features. Among them are: Theatrical trailers; The Maltese Falcon: One Magnificent Bird documentary; Robert Osborne Hosts Becoming Attractions: The Trailers of Humphrey Bogart; Studio Blooper Reel; Three radio show adaptations featuring the movies original stars including a version starring Edward G. Robinson.

Customer Reviews:

A solid first look at the black bird from 1931, but quite a let-down in 1936.......2006-10-19

--The Maltese Falcon (1931)
Anyone with ambition to be a film writer could do far worse than to watch Roy Del Ruth's The Maltese Falcon, made in 1931, and then watch John Huston's The Maltese Falcon filmed ten years later. The plot is the same, the characters are the same, the situations and motivations are the same. The 1931 film is good. It suffers from the kind of clunky acting common to early talkies, particularly from Ricardo Cortez as Sam Spade. Still, the story is so strong with all those double crosses, obsession with the black bird and vivid characters that the movie holds up.

So why watch the two to learn about writing for films? You won't learn much about writing if you read a poor effort and compare it with a good effort. You can learn much from reading a good effort and comparing it with an excellent effort. Here's what I mean. Take the scene when Spade is meeting Caspar Gutman for the first time in Gutman's hotel room. (In 1931 the Gutman character is played by Dudley Diggs; in 1941, by Sidney Greenstreet.) Gutman invites Spade to sit down and offers him a drink. Then Gutman looks him over, a picture of bonhomie.

From 1931: "You're a close-mouthed man, sir!" says Gutman with a friendly smile. "No, I like to talk," says Spade. Gutman chortles and says, "We'll talk if you like. And I tell right now I am a man who