This collection features three film noir classics. THE MYSTERY OF MARIE ROGET (1942) â The Mystery-Masterâs Spine-Clutching Classic of the Phantom Mangler of Paris! The haunting film adaptation of Edgar Allan Poeâs pioneering detective story The Mystery of Marie RogĂȘt paints the future âQueen of Technicolorâ Maria Montez (Cobra Woman, Tangier) in stunning shades of noir. A successful actress in the City of Light, Marie RogĂȘt (Montez) has a sinister dark side: she is plotting the death of her younger sister. When Marie goes missing and the maimed corpse of a young woman is discovered, Rue Morgue sleuth Dr. Paul Dupin (Patric Knowles, O.S.S.) works to track down the killer. Filled with suspense and intrigue, this gripping classic (also known as Phantom of Paris) was inspired by the real-life unsolved murder case of Mary Rogers. Featuring Maria Ouspenskaya (The Wolf Man), John Litel (Pitfall), Edward Norris (The Man with Two Lives) and Lloyd Corrigan (The Chase).
CHICAGO DEADLINE (1949) â Was She Good or Evil? Ladd Provides the Answer. From noir king Lewis Allen, director of The Uninvited, Desert Fury, So Evil My Love, and Appointment with Danger, comes a twist-filled mystery headlined by screen greats Alan Ladd (Lucky Jordan, O.S.S.) and Donna Reed (Itâs a Wonderful Life, Backlash). In a cheap hotel room on Chicagoâs South Side, hard-nosed newspaperman Ed Adams (Ladd) finds the body of a dead girl, Rosita Jean dâUr (Reed). Her address book leads to a host of men frightened by her death but claiming never to have known her. The more questions Ed asksâŠthe more he uncovers the shocking truth. June Havoc (No Time for Love), Irene Hervey (Play Misty for Me), and Arthur Kennedy (Bright Victory) add strong support to the smoldering suspense of Chicago Deadline.Â
IRON MAN (1951) â Heâs All Man in the Ringâor Anywhere! Jeff Chandler (Man in the Shadow, The Tattered Dress) stars as a coal miner who turns to professional boxing in the knock-out noir Iron Man. In a small Pennsylvania mining town, Coke Mason (Chandler) is a man with simple life ambitions: he endeavors to marry Rose (Evelyn Keyes, 99 River Street) and own a small business. But his gambling brother George (Stephen McNally, The Raging Tide) has plans to take advantage of Masonâs intense rage and turn him into a professional boxer. Worried that his âkiller instinctâ may prove to be too much in the ring, Mason must cope with the pressures of his newfound success in this blistering boxing drama from noir master Joseph Pevney, director of Flesh and Fury, Foxfire and Female on the Beach. Featuring future Hollywood legend, Rock Hudson (Manâs Favorite Sport?), and TV legends James Arness (Gunsmoke) and Jim Backus (Mister Magoo, Gilliganâs Island).
For thoughts on Film Noir: The Dark Side Of Cinema XVI, please check out our discussion on The Video Attic:
Video Quality
The Mystery of Marie RogĂȘt, Chicago Deadline, and Iron Man come to Blu-Ray with the three films each given their own disc. These films share many of the same qualities, so I will mostly be judging them as a group while pointing out noticeable differences when necessary. All three films have presumably been given a new master from a 2K scan of the 35mm Fine Grain, although Chicago Deadline does not have that designation on its back cover despite what can be gleaned from the website. For the most part, these transfers provide a perfectly pleasant viewing experience. The quality amongst these three remains consistently good even with some minor downturns here and there. The films show off a small bit of underlying print damage, but anyone who has been following the series for this long knows about what to expect from their efforts.
The natural film grain remains intact as it resolves consistently and naturally with only small moments of variable grain. Even when things get a bit noisy, nothing ever appears exceptionally blotchy or unnatural. There is a welcome amount of detail present throughout with clear textures within the environments, clothing, and production design. Specks and scratches occasionally show up, but these sources have been given a fine clean-up. Where we suspect Chicago Deadline may not have gotten the same level of remaster is when it comes to the contrast. The contrast of the other two features is firm with only a fleeting amount of flickering and density fluctuation in the print, but Chicago Deadline has quite a bit more flicker that does distract a bit. Outside of this, the black-and-white photography is a treat in high definition debut. Black levels show some variance, but none of them experience significant black crush or compression artifacts. Kino Classics continues to churn out favorable transfers.Â
Audio Quality
The Blu-Ray set comes with DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio tracks for each of these three films which exhibit signs of age but deliver an acceptable listening experience. The three scores that accompany these films never outshine the dialogue or other important information, but they can sound a little fragile or shrill at the highest peaks. The deficiencies can be noticed most in the faint humming and crackles that more than likely date back to the conditions of the source elements. Dialogue emanates clearly without sounding muffled or thin. Quick exchanges interact well with the environmental elements so information is firmly defined in the mix. These tracks hold up as well as you would expect for films from this era. There are optional English SDH subtitles included for all feature films.
Special Features
- Audio Commentary for The Mystery of Marie RogĂȘt #1: Film Historians Tom Weaver, Gary L. Prange, and Tom Zimmerman (The Author of THE QUEEN OF TECHNICOLOR: MARIA MONTEZ IN HOLLYWOOD) deliver a stitched-together commentary track in which they discuss the production history of the picture, the careers of the talent involved, the legacy of the film and more.
- Audio Commentary for The Mystery of Marie RogĂȘt #2: Novelist/Critic Kim Newman and Writer/Editor Stephen Jones deliver a second commentary track that gets a bit more lively as the two bounce off of one another while still delivering a ton of great information.Â
- Audio Commentary for Chicago Deadline: Author/Film Historian Alan K. Rode provides a swell commentary track in which he discusses the production history, the tone of the feature, how this fits into the era in which it was released, the backgrounds of those in front of and behind the camera, the legacy of the film and more.Â
- Audio Commentary for Iron Man: Film Historian/Screenwriter Gary Gerani provides a very knowledgeable commentary track in which he discusses the production history of the picture, where this fits in the history of boxing pictures, the work of filmmaker Joseph Pevney, how this differs from other adaptations of the source material, the careers of the talent involved, the legacy of the film and more.Â
- Trailers: There are trailers provided for The Mystery of Marie RogĂȘt (1:55) and Chicago Deadline (2:14). There are also trailers provided for Tangier, Human Desire, Lucky Jordan, China, Calcutta, O.S.S., Desert Fury, So Evil My Love, A Bullet For Joey, Female On The Beach, Foxfire, Man In The Shadow, The Tattered Dress, Raw Wind In Eden, and 99 River Street.
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Final Thoughts
The Film Noir: The Dark Side Of Cinema XVI collection is a step up from the previous installment simply for the fact that no entry stands out as a lesser effort. The Mystery of Marie RogĂȘt does stand out from the other films in this set, but not to it being inferior in quality. It does not neatly fit into the film noir tenets that many think of, but it is a very good and engaging film. The other two are likewise different flavors of film noir that allow the set to feel particularly well-rounded. You can watch these three back-to-back and never feel like things are getting stale. Kino Classics has released a Blu-Ray set featuring a good A/V presentation and a decent array of commentary tracks. This set keeps this series rolling along with some strong entries. RecommendedÂ
Film Noir: The Dark Side Of Cinema XVI [The Mystery of Marie RogĂȘt/ Chicago Deadline/Iron Man] is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray.Â
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: Kino Classics has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.