November, when we feel the nights drawing in with a vengeance – an ideal time to take in some dark cinema. Arrow Academy are putting out a very attractive-looking set of noir movies on dual format Blu-ray/DVD packed with extra features on Nov. 20, and now up for pre-order here.
Film noir has had many influences. Long before the term was even coined, we had atmospheric studio-shot detective thrillers, whose characters gradually became more ambiguous, and whose locations started to take in the world outside (notably New York City). This collection showcases some classic examples.
In The Dark Mirror (1946), directed by Robert Siodmak (The Killers), a man is murdered and there’s an obvious suspect, but she has an identical twin sister (both played by Olivia de Havilland, Gone with the Wind), and one of them has a cast-iron alibi. The perfect crime? A psychologist with a specialist interest in twin psychology delves into the heart of the mystery, at considerable risk to himself. In Secret Beyond the Door (1947), Fritz Lang (The Big Heat) adapts the Bluebeard legend with a dash of Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca. Shortly after their marriage, Celia (Joan Bennett, Suspiria) begins to suspect her architect husband Mark (Michael Redgrave, Dead of Night) of having a secret past, and wonders about the reason behind multiple rooms in his self-designed home, one of which is kept permanently locked. In Abraham Polonsky’s Force of Evil (1948), an unscrupulous lawyer (John Garfield, The Postman Always Rings Twice) scents a personal fortune when he concocts a plan to merge New York City’s numbers rackets into a single powerful and unbreakable operation, but reckons without his brother, who’d rather stay independent. And in Joseph H. Lewis’ ultra-stylish The Big Combo (1955), Lieutenant Diamond (Cornel Wilde, The Naked Prey) is determined to bring down mob boss Mr Brown (Richard Conte, Thieves’ Highway). But Brown feels the same way, and is far less constrained by the law, leading to some wince-inducing set pieces (some involving a pre-stardom Lee Van Cleef).
This collection showcases many of the genre’s major names on both sides of the camera. In addition to the directing and acting talent mentioned above there are cinematographers Stanley Cortez (The Night of the Hunter) and John Alton (An American in Paris), composers Dmitri Tiomkin (High Noon) and Miklós Rósza (The Killers) and writers Nunnally Johnson (The Woman in the Window) and Philip Yordan (Johnny Guitar). It’s little wonder that directors such as Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino were so struck by them.
Seeing as I’ve written about, and enjoyed, three of these movies myself (The Big Combo, The Dark Mirror, Secret Beyond the Door) I’m certainly looking forward to what promise to be the definitive editions of these films.
Riding the High Country 
An awesome looking set (white cover is a great idea). I already have the region A blu releases of COMBO and FORCE and the Koch edition of MIRROR admittedly, but am fairly certain I will double dipping here 😀
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I only have the Siodmak title from Germany so it’s all very attractive to me. Still, given the range of supplements on offer, I can definitely see it tempting people to double dip.
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Great news! I’m especially looking forward to DARK MIRROR, one of Olivia de Havilland’s best performances.
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Yes, it’s a great little movie nowhere near as celebrated as it should be. And that’s a good part of what I really appreciate about these bells and whistles releases – the attention they bring to films which have become somewhat neglected.
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Thanks for the heads up on this, Colin. It looks a terrific package, with attractive special features and a book included, and I have pre-ordered it. Best regards, Steve.
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You know, Arrow are one of only a handful of labels (Indicator, Warner Archive etc) I feel fairly confident about ordering stuff from without hearing what reviewers have to say – as such, it’s nice to see these films coming from a largely dependable outfit.
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I’ve only seen Force of Evil and didn’t much care for it at the time, but almost anything’s worth a revisit and reevaluation. Arrow do put out such lovely sets, too. A definite (three-quarters-)blind buy for me.
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Actually, I think there’s a nice bit of variation in this set, so there ought to be something to appeal to most tastes included.
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I see this is limited to 2000 copies. Arrow sets sell quite quickly, so best to jump in soon. Arrow also do re-release titles, but second time round you won’t get the hardback book with it.
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Exactly, Mike. If anyone wants the bells and whistles edition, then it’s worth noting that it is a limited run. For those who just want the films, the option is there to wait for the later pressings.
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Colin – Thanks for the post. FORCE OF EVIL is a great film. (Was Garfield ever less than great?). And SECRET BEYOND THE DOOR is a Lang picture I have not seen. Something to look forward to.
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Yeah, I’m a big fan of Garfield’s work too and his brand of intensity fits very well with noir.
The Lang movie isn’t perfect, and, apparently, nobody was happy working on it. Having said that, I like it well enough (there’s no much to dislike in Lang’s Hollywood stuff, in my opinion) and feel there’s plenty to keep one’s interest – at the very least, I’d recommend checking it out for yourself.
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Just caved and ordered it – had 3 of them on Blu already but with the all the extras I just could not stop myself!
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Lots of unexpected and rather heavy expenses in the last few months meant I’ve not had the opportunity to indulge myself yet, but I will at some point. Should make a nice Xmas present for yourself.
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That is very much what I was thinking – won’t look at it until the hols that’s for sure 🙂
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