Call Northside 777

Starring:James Stewart, Richard Conte, Lee J. Cobb, Helen Walker, Betty Garde, Kasia Orzazewski, Joanne De Bergh, Howard Smith, Moroni Olsen, John McIntire, J.M. Kerrigan, George Tyne, Paul Harvey, Michael Chapin, E.G. Marshall, Walter Greaza, Charles Lane, Robert Williams, Helen Foster, Robert Adler
Director: Henry Hathaway
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

The postwar vogue for documentary-style realism, prompted by The March of Time and the critical success of Roberto Rossellini's Open City, cross bred with film noir to create a compelling strain of crime films; this is one of the most low-key and credible, based on the true story of a Chicago reporter (James Stewart) who became convinced of the innocence of a death-row inmate (Richard Conte). Director Henry Hathaway (whose Kiss of Death started the trend) stages the action on the actual Chicago locations, providing a fascinating documentary record of an underfilmed metropolis (the convict's mother is a washerwoman at the Wrigley Building), and leads his cast to appropriately restrained, naturalistic performances. Stewart is just beginning to explore his newfound, postwar maturity here, and there's an undercurrent of obsessiveness in his performance that anticipates the haunted figures he would soon be playing for Anthony Mann and Alfred Hitchcock. --Dave Kehr

Customer Reviews:

Call Northside 777.......2007-06-21

Based on a true story, "Northside" is a triumph of documentary realism and noir storytelling for Hathaway and leading man Jimmy Stewart. Filmed on location and narrated in Movietone-newsreel style, this legal thriller keeps you on the edge of your seat with its detailed attention to such elements as the mechanics of a lie detector. (Even a prototypical fax machine plays an important role.) Stewart is absolutely first-rate as McNeal, and the tremendous supporting cast--especially Conte, Lee J. Cobb (as the cigar-chewing Chicago Times editor), and Betty Garde (as a harridan speakeasy owner)--lend "Northside" further grit and emotional weight. An engrossing urban fable.

Call Northside 777.......2007-03-22

Captivating story and a quality movie. If you liked Twelve Angry Men or State of the Union you'll like this movie.

Go Jimmy Go.......2007-02-03

As you can see by the 5 stars I really liked this movie. It kept my interest. Of course I am a big fan of Jimmy Stewart, and anyone who is a fan of his will like this movie.

Noir-esque cold-case thriller........2006-10-11

Jimmy Stewart and Lee J. Cobb star in this noir-esque cold-case thriller. Stewart plays the hard-nosed big-city reporter in 1942 who is assigned to investigate a cop-killer case from 1932. Stewart becomes involved in the case when he reports on the sad story of the old lady who scrubs floors for a living and saves every dime to get her convict son out of prison. The story is very popular with the news-paper reading public, so Stewart is assigned to investigate the case. Stewart cynically follows the leads, believing that the convict is guilty but following the human interest angle. Ultimately he becomes convinced of his subject's innocence and Stewart is involved in race against the clock to get the falsely accused man out of prison.

This is a classic tale that has since been done many times. Northside 777 suffers from some problems with writing and pace. The solid and charismatic acting job of Jimmy Stewart carries the film, along with the stalwart masculinity of Lee J. Cobb. Stewart plays his patented mumbling, querulous yet emotionally vulnerable professional male with charm and an endearing sexiness. The documentary style of the film-making with the startlingly strident narrator is a little melodramatic but probably quite dramatic during the time period. The resolution to the case presages the forensic investigation style of modern films.

Answering the call at Northside 777.......2006-04-18

A really good film noir from Jimmy Stewart. It has a documentary style that may come off a little stilted today but is still a fine character piece. The film remains suspenseful until the end and has a "good" ending but not necessarily the "happy" ending. The climactic scene has a plot hole you can drive a truck through, but who cares? Jimmy Stewart is in great form as a cynical reporter. There is fine support coming from Lee J. Cobb and Richard Conte. Its a tale of guilt and innocence in gangland Chicago.

Average customer rating:

Film Noir Boxed Set
remember...no 16 Boomerang is still missing
better price (than list) to start your collection, but not the best deal on noir
Don't Forget This One Too.........
An indispensable series for aficionados of film noir

Film Noir Boxed Set
Starring: Gene Tierney , Dana Andrews , Clifton Webb , Vincent Price , and James Stewart
Director: Henry Hathaway , and Otto Preminger
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Crime & Criminals | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Classics | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Film Noir | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

Classics | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

Drama | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

Mystery & Suspense | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

( F ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Film Noir Classic Collection, Vol. 2 (Born to Kill / Clash by Night / Crossfire / Dillinger (1945) / The Narrow Margin (1952))
Film Noir Classic Collection, Vol. 3 (Border Incident / His Kind of Woman / Lady in the Lake / On Dangerous Ground / The Racket)
Film Noir Classic Collection, Vol. 1 (The Asphalt Jungle / Gun Crazy / Murder My Sweet / Out of the Past / The Set-Up)
Where the Sidewalk Ends (Fox Film Noir)
The Dark Corner (Fox Film Noir)

ASIN: B000MDH6RK
Release Date: 2007-03-01

Amazon.com

This 17 film collection includes some of the best in film noir from 1944 - 1955, with 12 Oscar nominations between them. These are the films that defined the genre and the style of film-making. Mystery, Suspense, Murder, this collection has it all! Films Included: Call Northside 777, Laura, Panic in the Streets, House of Bamboo, Nightmare Alley, Street with no Name, House on 92nd Street, Somewhere in the Night, Whirlpool, Dark Corner, Kiss of Death, Where the Sidewalk Ends, Fallen Angel, The House on Telegraph Road, No Way Out, I Wake Up Screaming and House of Strangers

Customer Reviews:

Film Noir Boxed Set.......2007-03-28

I have watched about half of these movies & so far all of them have been very good, in fact, much better than I expected. I find Dana Andrews to be a very compelling leading man & the actresses in all of these are superb as well. I hope Fox will resolve their issues with "Boomerang" which is #16 in the set, (which is not included with your purchase) so that I can add this one to the collection. My only complaint is that this collection is not really a boxed set. It is simply 17 great film noir DVD's shrink-wrapped together. However, this is a great value & lots of these titles are being released for the first time in this set. Highly recommended for those who like the genre.

remember...no 16 Boomerang is still missing.......2007-03-18

This set misses out no.16 "Boomerang". It got recalled at the eleventh hour by Fox because of a legal tangle.
You can find it on sale for $45.00 on amazon marketplace, because it was actually printed and ready to go.
Clearly a few boxes have found their way out the back door!!!!
But despite that wee dissapointment you'll love the rest.
Hopefully Fox will sort out the mess soon..... and then you can plug the gap without having to shell out silly money.

better price (than list) to start your collection, but not the best deal on noir.......2007-03-12

I haven't yet purchased these titles & was just about to, until I checked up on what's included with the current bundle (March 1 2007) that Amazon is offering. As previously mentioned, this is not a box set (misleading description from Amazon), but rather a bundle of the first 17 titles in Fox's noir series. I purchased the Warner Bros.' boxes 1-3 (and reviewed them there) which I thought were an excellent value for the money (when on sale, roughly 6 - 7$ per disc). I've held off on these since the price is higher. This bundle discounts the titles to about $8 per disc, which is better than the usual price for each, but a local retailer often sells these titles for 7.50 - 10.00 (with a buy 3 get 1 free sale). Still I would have jumped on this price had this been a bonafide box set with the slimmer DVD cases, but these regular dvd's will take up quite a bit of real estate in my storage. Moreover, the more recent titles aren't included (missing titles: Boomerang, 14 Hours, Shock, Vicki, all released last year). If Fox would release all the titles to date (plus the next releases: Hangover Square & The Lodger) in slim cases & a box at a comparable price I'll jump, otherwise I'm holding out for a better deal.

Don't Forget This One Too................2006-03-05

For some reason the Fox Noir release Dark Corner (Mark Stevens, Lucille Ball, Clifton Webb, William Bendix) doesn't get much coverage under the typical outlets for obtaining these Fox Noir titles, Amazon included. I didn't even know the title was even out there, but it is, and it is quite a Noir gem. I say this without hesitation because I was never a Lucy fan at all. But in this one, she's actually pretty cool. Too bad she went goofy in later life (I guess it paid the bills).
If you like the Fox Noir series and Noir in general, don't forget this one too. I got mine from Tower Records (seems hard to find for some reason). The famous "peering through the venetian blinds" scene that you see stills of all the time, that's Mark Stevens. A somewhat overlooked actor in Noir circuit, but he can hold up to any of the other more noted ones in my opinion. Check it out.

An indispensable series for aficionados of film noir.......2006-01-10

The Fox film noir collection is an "Amazon.com exclusive" consisting of 9 DVDS in their individual cases (alas including individual shrink wrap, which one tediously has to remove) presented in one blister pack. The nine titles are:
*** BATCH 1 (DVDs released 3/05): Call Northside 777 (1948); Laura (1944); Panic in the streets (1950)
*** BATCH 2 (DVDs released 6/05): House of bamboo (1955); Nightmare alley (1947); Street with no name (1948)
*** BATCH 3 (DVDs released 9/05): House on 92nd Street (1945); Somewhere in the night (1946); Whirlpool (1949)

The film restorations are superbly done. The DVD cases are in uniform format, being part of the "Fox film noir" series. Each title has a film commentary (Laura has two) plus other extras, minimally a trailer. In addition, each title has a 4-page booklet with these sections: "the lineup," "the look," "the scoop," "the story," and "scene selection."

The DVDs list for $14.95 each and currently Amazon sells them for around $10 each. Amazon sells the 9-DVD collection for $74.99, which works out to $8.33 for each DVD. Certainly, not all titles are of the caliber of Laura (1944), but this collection is a must-have for the firm-noir aficionado.

Incidentally, BATCH 4, was released 12/05 and consists of: The dark corner (1946); Kiss of death (1947); Where the sidewalk ends (1950). BATCH 5 will be released in 3/06: Fallen angel (1945); House on Telegraph Hill (1951); No way out (1950)

Alain Silver & Elizabeth Ward's "Film noir: An encyclopedic reference to the American style" (1992, 3rd ed.) lists 32 noir titles by Fox. Hence we can probably expect from Fox another 20 or so titles in the "Fox film noir" series. If these 32ish titles all materialize in this excellent series, it will be a big chunk both out of one's purse and DVD shelf space.

Average customer rating:

Call Northside 777
Call Northside 777
Go Jimmy Go
Noir-esque cold-case thriller.
Answering the call at Northside 777

Call Northside 777
Starring: James Stewart , Richard Conte , Lee J. Cobb , Helen Walker , and Betty Garde
Director: Henry Hathaway
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Film Noir | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $9.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( C ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Panic in the Streets (Fox Film Noir)
The Street With No Name (Fox Film Noir)
Laura (Fox Film Noir)
Nightmare Alley (Fox Film Noir)
Where the Sidewalk Ends (Fox Film Noir)

ASIN: B0006UYNSO

Amazon.com

Description

In 1932, a cop is killed and Frank Wiecek sentenced to life. Eleven years later, a newspaper ad by Frank's mother leads Chicago reporter P.J. O'Neal to look into the case. When he begins to investigate he meets increased resistance from authorities unwilling to be proved wrong.

Customer Reviews:

Call Northside 777.......2007-06-21

Call Northside 777.......2007-03-22

Captivating story and a quality movie. If you liked Twelve Angry Men or State of the Union you'll like this movie.

Go Jimmy Go.......2007-02-03

As you can see by the 5 stars I really liked this movie. It kept my interest. Of course I am a big fan of Jimmy Stewart, and anyone who is a fan of his will like this movie.

Noir-esque cold-case thriller........2006-10-11

Answering the call at Northside 777.......2006-04-18

Heartbeat "Ginger Rogers" / Made for Each Other "James Stewart" / Penny Serenade "Cary Grant" / Our Town "William Holden" {4 DVD Package}

Average customer rating:

Heartbeat "Ginger Rogers" / Made for Each Other "James Stewart" / Penny Serenade "Cary Grant" / Our Town "William Holden" {4 DVD Package}

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Product Description

INTERACTIVE MENUS with SCENE SELECTION

DVD:

DVD

DVD

DVD

The Lord Of The Rings - The Motion Picture Trilogy (Full Screen Edition)

Grand Slam

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (REGION 1) (NTSC)

DVD: Bride of the Wind

Bis 5 nach 12