New DVDs: Fox Film Noir takes a hike

Film noir in Cinemascope? Yes and no, but what an oxymoron.

The mostly reliable Fox Film Noir series seems to be running low on shadows-and-light, based on the latest trio of releases. None fits the classic profile of films noir, but all three exhibit some of the genre's spirit and atmospherics.

"Black Widow," the best of the lot, is a murder mystery that sees our hero beat a retreat from the cops in order to solve a killing and save his skin. There's a femme fatale in the mix and a relentless cop. So far so good for noir status -- except for Cinemascope's color-saturated widescreen picture (2.55:1) and the elaborate upscale Manhattan sets.

I'm a big fan of the key art, with a blonde bombshell who looks nothing like any of the characters draped across the bottom of the image.

Van Heflin, Ginger Rogers, Gene Tierney and George Raft star -- an interesting foursome of actors whose criss-crossed fortunes are discussed in the docus and commentary.

Van Heflin stars in the 1954 film as a theater producer who befriends a bratty blonde writer (Peggy Ann Garner) while his wife is away. The girl turns up dead in his apartment, an apparent suicide. But the police investigator (Raft) has the producer pegged as a killer.

Rogers, no longer a hoofer, plays the mean-spirited celebrity upstairs, while troubled actress Tierney holds it together long enough to play the shell-shocked wife.

A "Rashomon" plot device keeps the solution in play until the last minute. Good stuff. Noir historian Alan Rode does the commentary, OK but too heavy on trivia and cast biographies. A docu on Tierney, "Final Curtain for a Noir Icon," tells some of that fine actresses' sad story.

The 1947 Joan Crawford starrer "Daisy Kenyon" is a women's melodrama with no apparent connection to noir other than its hard shadowy photography by Leon Shamroy. And Crawford's lone-wolf attitude. "It (just) seems like a noir universe," one of the DVD noir experts says.

Nonetheless, the tale of a gritty love triangle should satisfy mystery fans who don't mind being a bit of domestication. Noir regular Dana Andrews and a young Henry Fonda compete for the love of a mid-40s Crawford (a dynamic that should prove mystery enough for modern man).

Otto Preminger brings in some brave social elements for the era, such as child abuse, institutional racism and the psychological damages of warfare.

"In its own way, the film was fairly avant garde for its time and dealt with fairly scandalous material," the director's daughter Victoria Preminger notes. Noir writer Foster Hirsch makes it all sound pretty interesting in the commentary. The docus cover Preminger's tenure at Fox and the making of "Daisy."

"Dangerous Crossing" (1953), the leakiest of the three, was shot in 19 days on Fox sets that had seen action in the old "Titanic" and "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes." The lovely Jeanne Crain stars as a newlywed whose husband vanishes at the start of an ocean voyage. Did she just imagine the husband or are evil shipmates doing away with the guy? It's the old Mrs. Froy plot, with Michael Rennie aboard ship to figure everything out.

All of these films look elegant with almost no wear. The extras get the job done, as they have throughout the Fox series. Let's just hope next time it's back to fall guys and deadly dames.

"No Country for Old Men" also surfaces this week. I raved about the Coen brothers film a few weeks back, leaving Spin Doctor somehow in total agreement with the Oscars. The movie is just as good the second time around. Sony's Blu-ray version is crisp and artful, a real treat.

Also circling the DVD blog's players this week are the fun, charming and romantic "Dan in Real Life," earning double bonus points for bringing Juliette Binoche to these shores; "Gattaca: Special Edition," which really has to be seen on Blu-ray (more to come); and the dumb-but-cool zombie action movie "Outpost," about some mercenaries who tangle with the Nazi undead.

Pick of the week: No Country for Old Men
Dog of the week: Bachelor Party 2

New and notable:

And Justice for All (Sony)
Appleseed Saga: Ex Machina (Warner)
Bee Movie (DreamWorks)
Black Widow (Fox Film Noir)
Dangerous Passage (Fox Film Noir)
Daisy Kenyon (Fox Film Noir)
Bobby Deerfield (Sony)
Dan in Real Life (Disney)
Five Days (HBO)
Gattaca: Special Edition (Sony)
Hitman (Fox)
Lil' Bush: Resident of the United States (Paramount)
Love American Style, first season, Vol. 2 (Paramount)
The Mod Squad, first season, Vol. 2 (Paramount)
No Country for Old Men (Miramax)
Outpost (Sony)
Sands of Oblivion (Anchor Bay)
Sleuth 2007 (Sony)
South Park: Imaginationland (Paramount)
Stargate: The Ark of Truth (MGM)

Complete list of today's releases on my pal Harley's site, onvideo.org

Comments

[Liz]

The definition of "film noir" has definitely expanded for marketing purposes. In any case, it's good to see some lesser-known older movies finally get the releases they deserve.

[Glenn]

Good point, Liz. I would not have enjoyed the first two of these movies had they not been in this series.

Noir's like that old art thing, you just know it when you see it.

In "Street With No Name: A History of the Classic American Film Noir," Andrew Dickos lists these as some of the key elements in noir.

* An urban setting or influence

* Lack of comic structure

* An assertion of individuality as defined by a killing, in violation of modern social mores and the law.

* The femme fatale (or homme fatale)

* Unsavory characters, such as thieves, boxers and crooked cops

* Amnesia often plays a role.

To which I would add:

* An existential search for justice, often outside the system

* A wrongly accused man on the run.

And of course the famed noir lighting schemes, taken largely from the German expressionists.

So "Black Widow" passes most of this test, "Daisy" would not (except for the lighting), and "Dangerous Crossing" gets a point or two for the semi-amnesia plot point.

[Liz]

We studied film noir in a class I took a few years ago, and I learned all about the real stuff. But the term "film noir" has become very trendy, like "vintage" on eBay. It's going to be used as a selling point if it even vaguely applies. "Old Movie Collection" doesn't sound as sexy.

[L.A. Observer]

Amnesia? Oh yeah, like in the noir "Full House" episode, where Michelle bumps her head horseback riding. Or even better, the "Gilligan's Island" where Gilligan whacks the Skipper on the head, causing amnesia, which he later cures by accidentally whacking him again.

That was a noir riot!

[Brendan]

Can anyone tell me the name of the 16th title in the Fox Film Noir series? (The numbers are on the binding of the DVD case.) I have from 1 to 22 and am trying to locate the title of this missing one.

Thanks for any help you can give.

[Glenn]

I have these and don't have a #16. A mystery ... Anyone else?

[Glenn Abel]

Fox just let loose with No. 16 -- It's "Boomerang" with Dana Andrews. It's about the rush to justice in the killing of a priest.

[moe]

Little late to the party, maybe...have there been any further developements regarding the release of Boomerang? I know it got dropped from the release schedule a few years ago, but does anyone have any idea when (or if) it's going to be available?