Angel of Death

Starring:Mira Sorvino, Olivier Martinez, FÃ©odor Atkine, Luis Tosar, Alida Valli, FermÃ Reixach, Jorge Bosch, Peter Berling, Alex O'Dogherty, Tobias Oertel, Pablo Rojas, Antonio Mayans, Vanessa Spiro, JosÃ© MarÃa Blanco
Director: Pepe Danquart
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Product Type: DVD

Average customer rating:

Reminiscense
Fantastic score... wish they left the oldies stuff off
Always
Always
Always

Always
Starring: Richard Dreyfuss , Holly Hunter , Brad Johnson (II) , John Goodman , and Audrey Hepburn
Director: Steven Spielberg
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00000IQW5
Release Date: 1999-07-20

Amazon.com

Considered by many to represent a low point in Steven Spielberg's career, 1990's Always did suggest something of a temporary drift in the director's sensibility. A remake of the classic Spencer Tracy film A Guy Named Joe, Always stars Richard Dreyfuss as a Forest Service pilot who takes great risks with his own life to douse wildfires from a plane. After promising his frightened fiancée (Holly Hunter) to keep his feet on the ground and go into teaching, Dreyfuss's character is killed during one last flight. But his spirit wanders restlessly, hopelessly attached to and possessive of Hunter, who can't see or hear him. Then the real conflict begins: a trainee pilot (Brad Johnson), a likable doofus, begins wooing a not-unappreciative Hunter--and it becomes Dreyfuss's heavenly mandate to accept, and even assist in, their budding romance. The trouble with the film is a certain airlessness, a hyper-inventiveness in every scene and sequence that screams of Spielberg's self-education in Hollywood classicism. Unlike the masters he is constantly quoting and emulating in Always, he forgets to back off and let the movie breathe on its own sometimes, which would better serve his clockwork orchestration of suspense and comedy elsewhere. Still, there are lovely passages in this film, such as the unforgettable look on Dreyfuss's face a half-second before fate claims him. John Goodman contributes good supporting work, and Audrey Hepburn makes her final screen appearance as an angel. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

Reminiscense.......2007-04-11

I leanded how to pilot a plane at Hemet Ryan Field in Hemet, CA and I know that the PBY in this film belonged to Venable Flying Serive and that MAKES this film more special to me than anything........

Fantastic score... wish they left the oldies stuff off.......2007-03-20

I would have preferred more of the etherial Williams music and less of the oldies and country stuff. It's a very good score... very sedate stuff for the most part (and hushed, too... you have to crank the music to hear some of Williams' music)

Always.......2007-03-11

Wonderful movie. Great flying scenes and a love story the ladies will love!

Always.......2007-03-11

This movie is a great story of love and loss. If you liked Ghost, then you'll love this flim its the aviator version of that story. This film has an alstar cast Richard Dreyfuss, Holly Hunter, John Goodman,Audrey Hepburn. Always is about daredevil firefighter pilots that fly planes to help put out forest fires.

Always.......2007-01-22

I haven't gotten to watch this movie yet but it is movie my husband and I have always enjoyed. I am so glad just to have it.

Average customer rating:

Transient Identity....
Oh Dear
intense but annoying
Stunning young Jack Nicholson
an unhappy marriage

The Passenger
Starring: Jack Nicholson , Maria Schneider , Jenny Runacre , Ian Hendry , and Steven Berkoff
Director: Michelangelo Antonioni
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000E33W0I
Release Date: 2006-04-25

Amazon.com

The Passenger is one of those movies that is all about the vision of the director, in this case, screen legend Michelangelo Antonioni. Starring none other than Jack Nicholson, and featuring a plot billed as an international romantic thriller, The Passenger defies expectations by turning the genre on its head, making the characters and the story secondary to theme and tone. London-based Journalist David Locke (Nicholson) is working in North Africa when a fellow traveler by the name of David Robertson, who looks remarkably like him, happens to die suddenly. Burned out and depleted, Locke decides to assume the dead man's identity, drops everything, and starts again as a new man with a new life. With no idea of who Robertson was or what he did for a living, Locke uses Robertson's datebook as a guide as he travels through Europe and Africa, takes meetings with people he finds out are gun runners, and ends up falling for a beautiful young woman (Maria Schneider). As Robertson, David Locke thinks he has found an exhilirating new freedom, but the fact is he's in over his head: there are people looking for him and his life could be in danger.

The movie is a thriller in structure only. While designed for suspense, it's just a premise for Antonioni to explore on themes of identity, humankind's seemingly futile relationship to the world around us, and isolation. For Antonioni, the action is the means by which the image unfolds, and not the other way around. The actors and the plot are set pieces, simply smaller means to a larger end, and the image and atmosphere supersede all else. A slow pace, long, lingering shots, a focus on emptiness, and a detached, almost brutally objective point of view are the trademarks on full display here. Especially notable is the stunning seven-minute long shot in the final scene, one of the most famous in cinema history, which Nicholson, in his commentary, tags as an "Antonioni joke." It caps a crowning achievement by one of the big screen's most visionary directors.

On the DVD:
The commentaries are most definitely welcome guides, and those looking for a way into the movie and into Antonioni's head will really enjoy them. Jack Nicholson provides one commentary track where he generously shares his memories of the shoot, his thoughts on the movie thirty years on, and lets out the secret of how they managed to get the camera through the bars on the window for that seven-minute shot in the last scene. On the second commentary track, journalist Aurora Irvine and screenwriter Mark Peploe offer more of a wide-angle lens view of the movie and its place in history. Both are insightful narratives—Nicholson's is particularly enjoyable--and make excellent additions to the DVD. --Daniel Vancini

Description

A burned-out journalist assumes the identity of a dead man and embarks on a dangerous charade, including meetings with gun runners and an affair with a mysterious young woman.

Originally released in 1975, Sony Pictures Classics re-releases Antonioni's suspenseful and haunting portrait of a drained journalist whose deliverance is an identity exchange with a dead man. He embarks on a treacherous journey through Africa, Spain, Germany, England, Spain.

Customer Reviews:

Transient Identity...........2007-04-16

Michaelangelo Antonioni takes as a starting point a plot that could have easily made a standard or even quite good thriller, and quietly dismantles nearly all of its thriller tropes to create a strange and moody meditation on the fragile veneer of identity, and the danger both psychic and real from stepping off from the known and familiar into the unknown and mysterious.

A free-lance TV journalist forlornly trying to get some inside film on a North African rebel group abruptly switches identities with a look-alike stranger, dead of a heart attack, in the same run-down provincial hotel where both are staying. The remoteness of the locale, their close resemblance, and the unsophisticated institutions of this dismal country allow the journalist's impulsive caprice to succeed, and he begins an examination of both the life he's left behind and a search to answer the riddles of the identity he has stolen.

All of this is told in unconventional fashion, 70's style, with wide vistas, deliberately leisurely pace, enigmatic dialogue or no dialogue at all, with a great attention to the visual space the characters inhabit and a mimimum of explanation as to what these characters are feeling. There is some very clever work with time shifts done within continuing single shots, and of course, in the celebrated finale that elapses without dialogue and brings the film full circle in a single, justly famous, continuous shot.

This film will try the patience of many a 21st.Century viewer. Antonioni was all about breaking conventional screen story-telling devices, no less so than here, although this is actually one of his more accessible works. I have found some of his other films impenetrable.

Jack Nicholson's commentary is very welcome, less in recalling the shoot, however interesting, but more in his pointed comments as to how and where Antonioni breaks with traditional narrative. An intriguing look at the zeitgeist of the 70's from Antonioni's very European perspective.

Oh Dear.......2007-01-11

I bought the DVD as a Xmas present for my son - hence the delay between purchase and discovery. Unfortunately the DVD sent was not of the correct configuration for UK DVD players - so he hasn't yet seen it. Cannot comment on the product otherwise. What should I do?

intense but annoying.......2007-01-03

The acting is decent & intense, but the pace of the story is annoying. And the motivation of the female lead is very questionable.

Stunning young Jack Nicholson.......2007-01-03

Yep an early iconographic movie with Jack at his best - yet different!

an unhappy marriage.......2006-12-17

This might have been another great Antonioni-movie but for the presence of Jack Nicholson. It's hard to say, though, if Nicholson doesn't fit into Antonioni's great Italian concept, or if Antonioni doesn't serve Nicholson's great American talents well.

Whatever view you prefer, it's clear the two of them make an unhappy marriage. 'The Passenger' is another great, slow-paced Antonioni-movie requiring a somewhat pensive & reflective lead. So at times Jack Nicholson is forced to put the brakes on his quicksilvery, active trademark-way of playing.

Apart from these tensions 'The Passenger' is great. Its plot about changed indentities keeps you interested throughout, while its picturing shows the usual Antonioni-excellence: always emphasizing on architecture, this time on the world-famous Gaudi-buildings in Barcelona.

The last characteristic worth mentioning is 'The Passenger's very seventies-setting. In a career spanning seven decades, Michelangelo Antonioni always touched the right nerve of his times.

Average customer rating:

Classic Movie !
Best Western
morena de mi corason
A Modern Classic
A Violent But Entertaining Film!

Desperado (Special Edition)
Starring: Antonio Banderas , Salma Hayek , Joaquim de Almeida , Cheech Marin , and Steve Buscemi
Director: Robert Rodriguez
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B0000A2ZU1
Release Date: 2003-08-26

Amazon.com

It's Sergio Leone meets Sam Peckinpah meets Quentin Tarantino in this ultraviolent, mythological shoot-'em-up by auteur Robert Rodriguez. In Desperado, Rodriguez creates larger-than-life, genre-tweaking stock characters and puts them through their paces. As they stride bravely through an Old West lightly dusted with camp humor, they're periodically called upon to nimbly dodge bullets and fireballs through outrageously choreographed displays of Hollywood pyrotechnics. In this bigger-budget semi-remake/semi-sequel to Rodriguez's indie sensation, El Mariachi (made, famously, for $7,000), Antonio Banderas is the darkly charismatic El Mariachi, the Mysterious Stranger in town; Steve Buscemi is perfectly cast as his weasely, motor-mouth Comic Sidekick, laying the groundwork for El Mariachi's entrance by spinning saloon stories to build up his legend; Cheech Marin is a standout as the Bartender, who really knows how to handle a toothpick; and gorgeous Salma Hayek is, well, the Girl--treated to the kind of full-blown, slow-mo introduction the movies traditionally lavish on beautiful new stars. It doesn't add up to much, but it's a kick. Be careful not to blow out your speakers with the DVD's Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. --Jim Emerson

Description

In this continuation of "El Mariachi," a traveling musician looking for work gets mistaken for a hitman and is thereby entangled in a web of love, corruption, and death. This leads to a very high body count, involvement with a beautiful woman who works for the local drug lord, and finally, the inevitable face-to-face confrontation and bloody showdown. Stars Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek. Deluxe Edition packed with special features! Featurette: "Sneak Peak: Once Upon A Time in Mexico. Featurette: "10 More Minutes: Anatomy of a Shootout." Audio Commentary with Director Robert Rodriguez.

Customer Reviews:

Classic Movie !.......2007-05-27

This movie is great; brilliant dialogue, a ridiculous number of gun fights, obscene amounts of blood and guts, great soundtrack and the best sex scene ever ..... just classic!

Best Western.......2007-04-23

When I watched this movie, I could not believe the difference between it and El Mariachi. Not because the man from the first one looked nothing like Antonio Banderas, but becuase in el Mariachi, the effects were decent, but in Desperado, the effects were fantastic. Not only were the effects dazzling, but the cast was great as well as all of Robert's Movies. I give this movie 5 stars and higly recommend it for any QT or Robert Rodriguez fan.

morena de mi corason.......2007-01-27

Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek - a perfect match. Maybe because of hair, cause with long hair Banderas looks like real spanish macho.

The main line of movie is very simple and entertaining. Antonio performance on guitar in beginning of movie is excellent.

Antonio bandras takes the lead role and deserves an Oscar. The violent shoot outs and action scenes are very well staged, offering something diffrent. The plot isn't convincing but it's quite original and so who cares?!

The cast is good, the script is well written and the overall film is good enough to be directed by Quentin Tarintino.

A Modern Classic.......2007-01-21

This movie loses a little steam near the end, but I have nothing but good things to say about this over the top, ultraviolent, pulp western...Say what you will about Banderas, but he was born to play this part. Plus we get to see Danny Trejo, Steve Buscemi, Quentin Tarantino(his joke is hilarious...), and Salma Hayek in early or first film roles; Rodriguez is a master film technician in every way, and this movie is filled with innovative firefights and camerawork, all furiously put together with his usual trademark editing. The story is pretty bare bones, but it's the creative energy and on-the-mark performances that make this one of my top 10 favorites. Best bar shoot-out ever!! Sure, it's B-grade stuff...but classic nonetheless.

A Violent But Entertaining Film! .......2006-10-20

This is a film for required tastes only. It will probably not appeal to the vast audience out there. First of all, the film is very violent. And when I say violent, well, I think half the towns Antonio Banderas visited in the film were depleted of the entire male population. However, it's also very funny at the same time. Not comedy funny, but dark-comedy. A guitar playing, gun wielding Mariachi player on the hunt for the man who wronged him is not a film you see everyday. OK, I know the film is bloody and violent, but that is the nature of this film. I found it entertaining and amusing at the same time. Especially the character of Steve Buscemi: the sometime confidant and messenger to Antonio Banderas.

As I wrote in the beginning, the film is very violent and bloody, therefore, this film might not be up your alley. And I must admit, the first time I saw the film I really didn't care for it. However, on a second viewing I did. This film will not appeal to all audiences. However, if you like silly movies with no real plot but interesting characters and some funny dialogue, then this film is for you. Moreover, I found the film funny and outrageous: Especially the idiots who work for the drug Lord Bucho, played by Joaquim de Almeida. There are many parts of the film which made me laugh. Especially in the beginning of the film, when Steve Buscemi makes conversation with the bar owner (Cheech Marin) of the drug house he is visiting. The film is recommended with extreme caution.

Average customer rating:

Mirren Breathes New Life into this Torrid Williams Tale
PRIMAVERA 2000 .....
"Youth Is a Cruel Gift"
It should have been better
"When the time comes I can't be desired for myself, I would rather not be desired at all."

The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone
Starring: Helen Mirren , Olivier Martinez , Anne Bancroft , Rodrigo Santoro , and Brian Dennehy
Director: Robert Allan Ackerman
Manufacturer: Showtime Ent.
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0001906VS
Release Date: 2004-03-23

Description

A beautiful cinematic adaptation of Tennessee Williams' first novel, The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone, tells the emotional story of Karen Stone (Mirren), an aging American actress who falls for a young Italian gigolo of captivating beauty (Martinez) after the untimely death of her husband, Tom (Dennehy). In typical Tennessee Williams fashion, Mrs. Stone finds romance, but ultimately loses control and steps into a dangerous world of chaos.

Customer Reviews:

Mirren Breathes New Life into this Torrid Williams Tale.......2007-04-29

The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone
Though THE ROMAN SPRING OF MRS. STONE is not the greatest of Tennessee Williams' works, nor is this film version perfect, it is well worth seeing just for the pleasure of watching Helen Mirren work her magic as an actress. In terms of the film proper, the pacing is far too fast and Olivier Martinez, though dashing in his way, is rather unappealing as a "gigolo." It is hard to see what Mirren's Karen Stone sees in this lad, but c'est la vie. In terms of Helen Mirren's performance, it is nothing less than superb. Her Karen Stone is both elegant and simple, vulnerable and powerful, brilliant and dim. She shines like a beautiful sunrise and her work surpasses all the work of the other actors in this piece. All I wished for was that the camera would linger on her for much longer and give her the chance to communicate, as she does exceptionally well, in silence.

PRIMAVERA 2000 ............2007-03-08

RODRIGO SANTORO encapsulates it all by urinating in public in front of Karen Stone, played with appropriate angst by HELEN MIRREN -[come a long way from "Caligula" and "Savage Messiah"]. The rest? Typical decaying Rome - but then again, being the eternal or infernal city - it always seems to discard the excrement and bloom forth anew.

Fun moments with the ravenous Anna Bankcroft - paracitically living off everything within reach - reminded me strongly of the 'mother son' con artists [Sante something??]

Even Brian Dennehy shines through the moments allowed, gowns and glam abound, but there's always that slight erotic stench left behind ....as someone enters or leaves a scene .......

Forget Paolo Karen - the unwashed waif is far more interesting - and can be moulded .....

[Would be fun to see a future version with Karen played by George Clooney ....... "When In Rome" ......

"Youth Is a Cruel Gift".......2007-02-17

Karen Stone (Helen Mirren) is an over-the-hill actress who has just bombed in a stage production of "Romeo and Juliet." She, along with her husband, who is not "physical" with her, travels to Rome for a much needed vacation. While there, the husband dies; and Mrs. Stone goes through a series of young Italian gigolos furnished to her by the cruel and penniless Contessa (Anne Bancroft) culminating with the humpy Paolo (Olivier Martinez.) All three actors get right into their roles, giving it their all. Bancroft is at times a bit over the top. Mirren, as always, gives a flawless performance as we watch her lighten her hair, then darken it, then add lots of makeup in a futile effort to hang onto Paolo. She certainly goes into this relationship with her eyes wide open and finally does get up the courage to put him to flight. She cuts off his money, opines that "youth is a cruel gift" and calls the Contessa a female pimp. The film has a strange cryptic open-ended ending that lends itself to several interpretations.

Tennessee Williams-- the movie is based on a story of his by the same title-- writes about the fragile, older woman who falls for the younger, super-masculine worthless male over and over ("Sweet Bird of Youth"); but does it very well. His stories and plays usually translate very well to the screen. "The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone" is no exception.

It should have been better.......2006-06-19

Perhaps the admiration I have for both Helen Mirren and Anne Bancroft led me to expect more; but Bancroft seems to be reduced to a cartoon character procuress. Mrs. Stone is more fully rounded, but the limitations of a faithful translating of William's story to the film are very dominant. (I doubt if he could ever have conceived of a middle-aged woman having a fling with a younger man and having it NOT end badly!) I wished that I could have seen a greater self-awareness in Mrs. Stone; occasionally it began to rise up in Helen Mirren's eyes, then faded away, leaving me repeatedly disappointed. The background music was extraordinarily annoying, and I could have used at least a little exposition as to the significance of the beggar.

"When the time comes I can't be desired for myself, I would rather not be desired at all.".......2006-05-08

It's always interesting to do a comparison of the old and the new. Watching the latest version of The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone starring Helen Mirren, one can see how the social mores of the time can have a profound effect on what we actually end up watching on the screen. I was well prepared to rubbish this particular version, but in many respects this newer and sexier version, achieves a depth of story and character that the older version could never hope to achieve.

In this adaptation, the sets, locations and costumes are lavish - although there are less exterior shots in Rome in this one, perhaps because the City no longer resembles the setting of the original story. Director Robert Ackerman and writer Martin Sherman have obviously traded scene for deeper character development, highlighting the sexual intimacy that takes place between Paolo and Karen Stone.

While the basic structure of the first movie has been retained, certain elements have been shifted around and expounded upon. Karen's best friend Meg is now Christopher (Roger Allam) an effete man who is presumably modeled on Williams himself. Karen's husband Tom (Brian Dennehy) has a larger part to play, and his apology to her that he hasn't been that good in the "physical" department is a nice addition, as it makes Karen's middle-aged sexual awakening all the more justified.

Perhaps the biggest asset is the casting of Olivier Martinez as Paolo (covered up tattoo aside). Although Warren Beauty was good, Martinez just seems more compelling and authentic and he fits the role of the hot young gigolo as smoothly as the tailored suits that his client buys for him. And Anne Bancroft's turn as the Contessa, reduced to the position of procurer for wealthy old American widows, is a much more overtly mercenary and nastier, than Lotte Lenya's.

Mirren's Karen isn't as neurotic and fearful as Vivian Leigh's portrayal, but she is just as fixated on getting older, if not more so, and she comes across as much more sensual, and also willing to explore that darker side of her nature. Because this version was made in 2003, we get a lot more sex, which is good, because it's important to the story, and to the development of the relationship with Karen and Paolo.

Karen basically gets quickie sex whether she wants it or not - on the lounge in her rooftop apartment, in the front seat of a car on the way to a picnic, and up against a wall of a nightclub whilst she is bedecked in jewels and fur. There's some obligatory nudity, particularly shots of Mirren's bust, you get to see Martinez' taught, tight body.

The sex is steamy, if not a bit choreographed, and Paolo always initiates it before he ever hits her up for money. Of course, Karen falls for him and deludes herself into thinking he cares for her. The last part of the film is pretty much by the book - she obviously knows it will end, but she allows her heart to feel otherwise.

Another interesting emphasis is the decline of the Italian aristocracy and the bitter anti-American feeling. The Contessa and Paulo are proud people, they come from nobility, yet they have lost everything in the war - you get the sense that Paulo hates being a gigolo and that the Contessa hates pimping him out. In a later scene, the Contessa even cites the bombing and invasion of Italy by the Americans as the source of her destitution.

Overall, while made for the small screen, this version of the Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone really manages to capture the heart and desperation of Williams' work. He really seemed to like spinning these tales of once-beautiful, aging women, desperate for love and addictively pursuing affection, literally at any cost. This film - buoyed by Mirren's sensual performance and Martinez' earthy and sexy charisma - is a fine contemporary addition to the series of films showing the power and emotion of William's literary legacy. Mike Leonard May 06.

Prokofiev - Romeo and Juliet / Corella · Ferri - Kenneth MacMillan (Teatro alla Scala 2000)

Average customer rating:

Splendid!
i never get tired of it
Angel Corella and Alessandra Ferri shine as the star-crossed lovers!
Corella and Ferri...A great couple!!
Ferri and Corella shine in Prokofiev's ballet... but

Prokofiev - Romeo and Juliet / Corella · Ferri - Kenneth MacMillan (Teatro alla Scala 2000)
Starring: Alessandra Ferri , and Angel Corella
Manufacturer: Euroarts
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Ballet & Dance | Musicals & Performing Arts | Genres | DVD | Video

( P ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

General | Classical | Styles | Music
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ASIN: B0000TWMNY
Release Date: 2003-11-25

Description

The revival of the classically choreographed version of Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet by senior choreographer Kenneth MacMillan enjoyed a phenomenal success at La Scala in January 2000; it was the first time that Alessandra Ferri and Angel Corella, the acclaimed stars of the American Ballet Theatre, had danced together on stage. Hailed by the Italian press as the "new star couple," they both brought to their roles the youthfulness and innocence reflected in Prokofiev's music: Juliet, the young, inexperienced adolescent girl who puts all her faith in her feelings of love and undergoes the heights of passion as well as the depths of despair, and Romeo, the carefree young man certain of his feelings as a lover, ready to turn the established order on its head as a result, and knowing no bounds in his love for Juliet. The intensive role-play of the two protagonists turns the lovers' tragic end into a disaster we experience with them, transcending the conventions of the story's familiar close.

Customer Reviews:

Splendid!.......2007-05-07

I have watched this ballet at least a dozen times. Corella and Ferri are spectacular of course. The music is mesmerizing. Ferri does seem to have lost a little of her edge since her pairing with Eagle years ago, but she is still wonderful and the best Juliet that I've ever seen. Who can say anything bad about Corella? He did seem to struggle a little with one part where he lifted her over his shoulders, but still, GREAT. Anyone wanting to see a truly great version of Romeo and Juliet should have this in their collection.

i never get tired of it.......2006-04-16

As a musician and serious fan of all things Prokofiev, I was familiar with the music long before the dancing. To see the MacMillan choreography, with the la Scala company, and Corella and Ferri, AND this glorious music makes for an artistic event beyond compare! The acting is wonderful. Corella and Ferri will rip your heart out, aided by the score, of course. The swordplay is thrilling and sooooo fast. The balcony and bedroom scenes are almost unbearably lovely--and will make you remember your youth. And the death scene: well, see if you don't feel a howl rising up from within your ribcage just like Juliet when she discovers Romeo's body. Every. time. you. watch. it. You can't ask more of art than that!

Angel Corella and Alessandra Ferri shine as the star-crossed lovers! .......2006-03-14

WOW! This DVD of La Scala's Romeo and Juliet (2000) is worth every cent. I cannot stop watching it. Though several of the lesser characters are without interest, that does not take away from me the sheer joy I receive when watching Angel Corella and Alessandra Ferri... was there ever a better casting than this? I think not! Angel Corella, one of the best dancers the world has ever seen, plays his Romeo with just the right amount of boyish naïvety and innocence... after all, Romeo is a dreamer. And Ms. Ferri never fails to impress me, her stunning line and beautiful feet are just amazing. But what makes this R & J work for me is the high level of Ferri and Corella's acting abilities, which really come through at this performance.

Corella and Ferri...A great couple!!.......2005-08-01

Hi..
This is an amazing ballet which includes great romantism and love, great emotion, great dance, great coreography and great music!

Ferri is a gifted ballerina...Her fragile appearance makes her the greatest juliet! With her strong techinuque, this fragile appearance seems more realistic. Her way of telling things with her body language is extremely enthusiastic and reliable.. The first dance with Paris(Act 1-15) shows her innocent happiness and excitement. Julliet is not experienced and Ferri shows that clearly. Then in the 3rd Act there is hopelessness, anxiety, again an "innocent" hate,and a desperate dance. This is the same dance but with totaly different emotions. The way Ferri acts especially in these two dances is amazing!

And Corella!! First of all he is an amazing dancer with amazing acting ability.. There is this immature, childish side of Romeo which makes us see Angel Corella's ability to act..His way of holding Rosaline is innocent but passionate..The way he holds Julliet is as if he knew her, like she will never leave him and he trusts her with his deepest honesty and love! And he loves and respects her for the familiar feeling that burns his heart. Angel with his great technique, has both sides of Romeo's personality: innocence versus passion.

There are 4 parts of the ballet that SHOULD be watched. The first is the bedroom scene. They have this passionate connection between them. The love scene(22) is the perfection itself. The first combination makes me feel like there is the sun rising and their love is blessed with God's light!

The 2nd is the bedroom scene. Ferri does an arabesque then Corella pulls her and then she turns and hugs him with hope/hopelesness,passion/innocence,trust/fear..She asks God "why" with her hands and the desperate look on her face while both of their faces are brightened up...

The 3rd one is the one at Friar Laurence's. It is all about music and love...

And the 4th scene is the death of Juliet(51/52)...Corella performs exceptionally in these episodes...After the great scenes of love, hate, selfishness, and jealousy, this is the greatest end!

The coreography is based on music,innocence and emotions.. I watched it as a ballet and as a movie.. If more details are wanted Nureyev's coreography should be watched as well.

Lastly.. The music is just great! With the libretto, it is the perfection itself. The sarcastic tone of the music gives the clues to the end..And its importance lies in the irony during the most important parts of the ballet while the music is laughing and crying at the same time...

Every ballet lover should watch it!

(Note: Nureyev's coreography is just great with its details and extremely passionate scenes.. Manuel Legris(!) and Monique Loudieres's ballet is worth watching!)

Ferri and Corella shine in Prokofiev's ballet... but.......2005-01-04

This DVD features Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet performed at the La Scala in 2000. It has all the ingredients to make a superbly entertaining video with Alessandra Ferri and Angel Corella starring as the principal dancers. It also has great scenery, fine costumes and better than average filming and editing.

However, to me, it has one glaring drawback, that being the music (not the way the music was played for this performance but rather the composition itself)...let me explain

To have great ballet, I associate thoughts of outstanding dancing and beautiful music that go together; things that compliment one another, things that seem to be made for and could simply not exist without the other. Such is not the case here (with the exception of the two pas de deux mentioned below).

To be honest, I'm not sure this music is meant for ballet. It's got a symphonic quality that is heavy and ponderous; it's just not "pretty"! For instance, in Act I there is a lot of festive activities going on featuring the corps de ballet: they are happy and smiling but its hard to understand why, with the decidedly cheerless music that they must dance to. Even the audience seemed to feel restrained during this entire presentation: their applause consistently subdued and short.

On the plus side there is Ferri and Corella!

Ferri seems to have blossomed into one of the better actress/ballerinas of our time; her facial expressions and body language compliment her gifted dancing abilities. She and Corella carry this performance from beginning to end; they have two outstanding Pas de deux during this ballet, that being the "Balcony Scene" at the end of Act I and then the "Bedroom Scene" starting Act III. Other than these two magnificent dances, Sir Kenneth Macmillan (the choreographer) has done about as much as possible to "fill in " the rest of music with a ballet performance. Even under ideal circumstances it must be an arduous task to try to choreograph dance to music that, dare I say, is a challenge to become enthusiast about; one can only compliment him in completing this difficult endeavour.

All in all, a 5 star presentation in all things but the music. If not for Ferri and Corella I probably would have given this disc a 1 or 2 star rating; in fact, if not for Ferri and Corella I'd have regretted buying this DVD at all. However, that being said, the two Pas de Deux ARE worth the price of this disc and the menu allows you the option to go directly to these scenes should you wish.

Average customer rating:

yes, a great film
Unappreciated Film Noir With A Difference
"The richest guy in America presents the coolest guy in America"
A face only a stepmother could hate (recommended)
A great film noir classic

Angel Face
Starring: Robert Mitchum , Jean Simmons , Mona Freeman , Herbert Marshall , and Leon Ames
Director: Otto Preminger
Manufacturer: Turner Home Ent
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Fallen Angel (Fox Film Noir)

ASIN: B000JLTREK
Release Date: 2007-01-23

Amazon.com

Robert Mitchum was already a dab hand at film noir when he stepped into the delicious trap of Angel Face, Otto Preminger's 1952 addition to the genre. Here Mitchum plays an amazingly seducible guy who falls under the spell of spoiled rich girl Jean Simmons; a former race-car driver, he'd like to open his own sports-car garage, and her money would come in awfully handy. But she's got a few quirks to work out first, including her hostility for her stepmother, who doesn't stand a chance against this poker-faced vixen. True to its title, the film has an absolutely deadpan approach to this material, as Preminger's calm style recalls more the clinical courtroom proceedings of Anatomy of a Murder than the perverse lushness of Laura. Mitchum's in absolutely top form, and Jean Simmons has just right amount of intensity behind her porcelain beauty. The supporting cast is led by Herbert Marshall, as Simmons' father, a writer who's been sponging off his wife for years, and Leon Ames does a skillful turn as a crafty lawyer. The ending is as pre-ordained as can be, and the film moves toward its sinister conclusion without turning its head to explore other options. But that's why we love film noir. --Robert Horton

Description

Otto Preminger, who showed how to mix a beautiful woman with murder in the landmark Laura, directs this tale of a passion gone haywire. Frank's a regular guy with a steady girl and a dream of owning his own garage when he crosses paths with Diane. She wants him. Or does she want a fall guy to blame when Diane's stepmother plunges off a high cliff and leaves her fortune to Diane? Alibis, betrayals, courtroom thrills and the fire of a woman too dangerous to trust and too alluring to resist make Angel Face a film-noir classic.

Customer Reviews:

yes, a great film.......2007-05-16

After reading the comments by those here, I placed the film in my "Wish List" here on Amazon. Last night on Turner Classic Movies they showed this movie. It was really wonderful. I enjoyed the whole cast and I agree that Robert Mitchum and Jean Simmons were perfect in these roles. While her deadly deed plays out, she sits there emotionless with cold eyes and porcelain beauty. It was somewhat chilly. Simmons usually played the sweet wife or love roles in movies. I loved seeing her in a completely different role. I definitely recommend this movie. And what a surprise ending! OMG!

Unappreciated Film Noir With A Difference.......2007-04-09

Angel Face was directed in 1952 by: Otto Preminger (Laura, 1944; Anatomy Of A Murder, 1959). Otto Preminger's `Laura' is now rightly regarded as one of great film noir masterpieces, however he made some less appreciated noirs like Fallen Angel (1945); Whirlpool (1949); Where The Sidewalk Ends (1950) and this film Angel Face. Upon it's release critics and public alike had seen perhaps far too many of this type of film hence the negative reviews. However I feel that this film is deserving of some rehabilitation. The theme is a familiar one of the Femme Fatale attempting to get some chump to assist in a murder. Angel Face is slightly different in that the Femme Fatale's (performed by Jean Simmons (Great Expectations, 1946; Hamlet, 1948; The Black Narcissus, 1947)) motivation is not the standard killing for money but for love. This makes it similar to the Ellen Berent character played by Gene Tierney in `Leave Her To Heaven' (1946, John M. Stahl). Generally in noir's guys kill for the girl and girls for the money. Robert Mitchum (Out Of The Past, 1947; Crossfire, 1947; Night Of The Hunter, 1955) gives a wonderful performance of a guy who is not so stupid as to get suck into her trap. He also has some great dialogue that one wish's they could always have at hand to deliver in those situations. Along with Humphrey Bogart and Burt Lancaster, Mitchum has to rank as one of the great noir actors. Cinematography was by Harry Stradling (A Streetcar Named Desire, 1951; Johnny Guitar, 1954; A Face In The Crowd, 1957)

This DVD comes with a wonderful audio commentary by Eddie Muller and is well worth a listen. In 1964 Jean-Luc Godard placed this film at no. 8 in his list of the greatest American films of the sound era. That alone should be good enough reason to investigate this film. It also has one of the great endings.

"The richest guy in America presents the coolest guy in America".......2007-04-03

The title of this piece is a paraphrase of an observation offered by the man on the commentary track. This is an RKO picture, a Howard Hughes production--there are details about that statement that make the commentary track well worth hearing. It stars Robert Mitchum. I had never quite formulated that particular thought, but having heard it, I immediately realized it was perfectly true: Robert Mitchum WAS the coolest guy in America.

He was so cool that on screen he could act like a perfect chump from first frame to last and still seem cool. He was so cool that in an America where Lucy and Ricky could not share a bed, he could get busted for possession of marijuana, take all the heat and all the publicity without whimper or complaint, then go right on being as big a movie star as ever, and still the coolest guy in sight.

The previous Amazon reviews have been impressively sound in describing this picture. I have nothing to add beyond endorsing their high ratings. This is an unpretentious little noirish film. It boasts a fine cast from Jean Simmons in an uncharacteristic role, to Herbert Marshall in a characteristic one, to Kenneth Tobey and Mona Freeman in fine supporting performances. Otto Preminger was a wonderfully skilled (if wholly obnoxious) director. This movie works, satisfying in ways that some more famous films do not.

This DVD of "Angel Face" offers a good film, a good print and not much in the way of bells and whistles beyond a useful (for once) commentary. You won't go wrong with it.

Five appropriately cool stars.

A face only a stepmother could hate (recommended).......2007-02-25

Ambulance driver Frank Jessup (Robert Mitchum) who aspires to own a high-performance car garage meets beautiful antisocial femme fatale Diane Tremayne (Jean Simons) in the house of questionable suicide-attempt victim Catherine Tremayne (Barbara O'Neil). Diane's relentless pursuit of Frank leads to spellbinding danger for anyone coming between her and her obsessive emotional attachments.

Mitchum is great in every film I've seen. In ANGEL FACE he plays the level-headed voice of reason battling an emotional vortex of compulsive admiration. Baring a strong resemblance to Audrey Hepburn, Jene Simmons has a slight stature and attractive girl-next-door appearance. This made me quite unprepared for the diabolical plotting and tormented conscience she so artfully portrayed. She crys; she lies; she is cold, calculated, and dangerous. With so many facets of her personality, you don't know what to expect when coming face to face with her. I first saw Simmons in ELMER GANTRY (1960) as a Bible thumping revivalist. Based on the title, her 1952 role is perhaps an appropriate prelude to that later role. You will think twice before trusting another beauty after ANGEL FACE -- highly recommended!

Movie quote: "You don't hate me, really. You couldn't hate anybody that loves you as much as I do."

A great film noir classic.......2007-02-13

An excellent film. Very little known until now but, I would say, is one of the best films in its genre. Simmons is a perfect femme fatale here. It is also a film full of misogynist quips: "The only bad thing about America is that women get spoiled"; or "...even a woman can do it". Yeah, it's gonna be a lot of fun for your feminist friends.

It's a fine movie to watch, easy to follow plot, no complications, it's fast. goes to the point and it's a thriller; in only 90 minutes approx; it goes in a blink of an eye. I wish they made all like this one.

The end is one of a kind, don't miss it.

Average customer rating:

The future
"Something to really think about."
My Inspiration
Deep...Deep...Deeep

Brother John
Starring: Sidney Poitier , Will Geer , Bradford Dillman , Beverly Todd , and Ramon Bieri
Director: James Goldstone
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00007CVRT
Release Date: 2003-01-07

Amazon.com

Brother John is a fascinating example of the social-issue cinema that flourished in the early 1970s. This subtly engrossing drama posits the second coming of Christ as an Alabama-born black man named John Kane (Sidney Poitier)--a prodigal son, savior, and quiet peacemaker who can still kick ass when he needs to. Screenwriter Ernest Kinoy's clever strategy is to embrace near-total ambiguity, injecting just a hint of divinity into Kane's personal belongings. Director James Goldstone (a veteran, along with cinematographer Gerry Finnerman, of TV's original Star Trek) maintains a crucial balance of faith and uncertainty that inspires one of Poitier's most underrated performances; at times he really seems to be carrying the burdens of humankind in his weary, compassionate heart. Is he God, bidding farewell on the verge of doomsday? Only the doctor who birthed him (Will Geer, at his best) surmises the truth. A fine score by Quincy Jones with then-trendy harmonica soloist Toots Thielemans makes this a '70s gem to savor. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

The future.......2007-04-11

The movie was reflecting how this man saw the world. He saw every nation in trouble because they forgot how to value life. People were leaping to the stars because they knew where salvation was. They made it. Each death he came to he knew because he was the death angel. The scene where the factories was about the pollution here on the earth. Man is killing himself and the words of the end we all should remember we will not be judged by what we are we will be judged by what we have become on judgement day. The wind is the result of force, a current. The atom in our lives is slow the current created from our movement is quick and powerful. We need to make sure it is a good current. This story is about John the harbinger and in modern days. A few more good words to remember there is no time.

"Something to really think about.".......2007-04-03

This movie really makes you stop and think, about how you live your life and how others live theirs. Every person's life has a purpose. Each of us has to find out what that purpose is. Many don't know it, but you can live out your purpose and still enjoy life at the same time, affecting other people in the positive. This movie almost seemed to be from the mind of a pessimist, but some may say a realist. I think it reflects the moral conscious of that day. I have seen a good number of Sidney Poitier movies, and it amazes me how he can always keep that poker face in every tough seen (one calling for little to no expression when giving someone critical information). He ranks right up there with all of the leading men of Hollywood of old, great actors of back in the day.

My Inspiration.......2002-12-01

This is simply the greatest film work ever done and greatly overlooked. It is the inspiration for one of my books and is a timeless masterpiece.

It's unbelievable how much this story is overlooked.

Deep...Deep...Deeep.......1999-10-15

This movie is filled with a since of righteousness and the importance of human respect. Although it is set in the termoil of the late 60's early 70's the story line is timeless. The film brings into focus, through the life of John (Sydney Poitier), a since of destiny for the human race. Truly an excellent work.

Average customer rating:

just a flick
Good story. Acting left a little to be desired.
Peaks and lows!
Decent Mob affiliated movie !
Who's afraid of Nicolas Cage?

Kiss of Death
Starring: David Caruso , Samuel L. Jackson , Nicolas Cage , Helen Hunt , and Kathryn Erbe
Director: Barbet Schroeder
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B00020HAX8
Release Date: 2004-06-01

Amazon.com

This remake of a 1947 film noir casts David Caruso (freshly escaped from TV's NYPD Blue) in the role originally played by Victor Mature. He plays Jimmy Kilmartin, a reformed criminal struggling to keep straight and keep his wife (Helen Hunt) from going back to the bottle. But a favor for his cousin lands him back in the clink, and when his wife dies, he comes out ready to make a deal with the D.A. He becomes an informant, joining the crew of Little Junior Brown (Nicolas Cage), a pumped-up, asthmatic psycho who weightlifts strippers for amusement. Eventually, Jimmy finds himself forced to keep his radar up for treachery from both the criminals he's finking on and the cops he's working for. This film, directed by Barbet Schroeder, didn't do much business, despite a powerful but controlled performance by Caruso and a scarily splashy one by Cage. --Marshall Fine

Description

In Barbet Schroeder's gritty thriller, David Caruso is an ex-con who's lured back into a life of crime for one last heist. When a detective (Samuel L. Jackson) offers him his freedom in return for turning on a gangster (Nicolas Cage), he becomes a reluctant pawn caught between federal agents and the mob. Helen Hunt, Stanley Tucci and Michael Rapaport co-star in this stylish, streetsmart film noir.

Customer Reviews:

just a flick.......2006-11-11

kiss of death was ok not an award winner although nicolas cage was great as a villian.. get this if your just in the mood to watch something but remember it is not anything too great just above the entertainment level

Good story. Acting left a little to be desired........2006-08-02

Frankly I enjoyed this film. I love Helen Hunt and Samuel L.Jackson. I thought that Nicholas Cage seemed a little bit amateur but as this film is 11 years old, perhaps he was at the time or perhaps it was just the psychotic role that he was interpreting. On the whole, I found it engrossing and quite exciting.

Peaks and lows!.......2005-09-16

Based on the colossal and unbeatable homonymous film of 1947, Schroeder seems to be more interested to remark the personal double tragedy experienced by Caruso, jailed and widow in the first the third part of the movie and his painful redemption to fight against the bureaucracy and try to convince the gang headed by Junior and Omar.

Helen Hunt despite her brief performance, gets involve us with her undeniable talent and charisma. Stanley Tucci shone as the implacable agent behind the traces of Kilmartin. This is the actor that (in my personal opinion would have reached the peak performance as Gerard Lieutenant in The Fugitive despite the fact Tommy Lee Jones won the Oscar). Tucci has been underestimated by most directors in films like this. Imagine a film with Tucci and Chezz Palmitieri together in a mob movie. Well there is still time to do it.

Nicholas Cage looked extremely overacted, Vig Rhames is far to convince too. These two performances demerit the dramatic balance of the film, pitifully. I know the comparisons are hateful but please, watch the gradual transformation of emotions experienced by Al Pacino in previous films such Godfather II , Carlito 's way or Donnie Brasco, for instance. The rage must emerge gradually through a wide number of emotion layers.

Decent Mob affiliated movie !.......2004-05-21

At the time of it's release it was the best Mob movie since Goodfellas.But by no means can you even compare Kiss of Death to either Goodfellas , King of New York or Casino.It's a decent mob movie w/ great actors such as Nicholas Cage and Samuel L. Jackson who plays a cop that gets shot in the face by Dave Caruso in the opening minutes.If you haven't heard of this movie and if your a Nic Cage fan watch this movie you won't be disappointed and you can't beat the price.

Who's afraid of Nicolas Cage?.......2000-06-15

All right, so he's not the most convincing goon. It's still amusing to see him in this role. I'd say these nay-sayers need to lighten up. As a poor country boy unfamiliar with the urban crime cliches and plot twists, I can honestly say I enjoyed this movie. No, it's no masterpiece, but it is entertaining enough to be worth seeing, even buying at such a reasonable price. Caruso and (as they all admit) a fine supporting cast do very well with a now conventional plot that is at least not as droll as they say. This is probably the first time I've rated something higher than others. Strange.

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
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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:

A Real Noir Gem
Excellent noir touches
"That's What You Get When You Set Love So High. . . . ."
Loads of fun
A Forties Noir Programmer, And Not Bad At All

Black Angel (Universal Noir Collection)
Starring: Dan Duryea , June Vincent , Peter Lorre , Broderick Crawford , and Constance Dowling
Director: Roy William Neill
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00023P4G0
Release Date: 2004-07-06

Customer Reviews:

A Real Noir Gem.......2007-02-01

The period immediately following World War Two produced a treasure trove of great film noir efforts. Many of these passed quickly from the scene at the time without making the kind of splash they deserved, enhanced by the fact that so many films were being made as Americans flocked to theaters and spent their money freely in the glittery economic period that followed a tumultuous conflict.

Roy Neill, who directed some of the Sherlock Holmes films starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, turned in a gem of a film with the 1946 noir mystery "Black Angel." Stunning blonde June Vincent demonstrates in this film how wrong Hollywood was not to give her more starring assignments.

When Vincent's husband is arrested for a crime he insists he did not commit, the death of blackmailer-singer Constance Dowling, June turns detective in an effort to prove her husband's innocence before he faces an impending execution at San Quentin Prison's gas chamber.

The basic plot is very much like that of another great noir film of the forties, "Phantom Lady", when secretary Ella Raines seeks to prove that her boss and the man she loves, Allen Curtis, is innocent of the murder charge that leaves him awaiting execution at New York's Sing Sing Prison.

The similarity is not surprising in that each film was adapted from a Cornell Woolrich novel, as was also Alfred Hitchcock's "Rear Window." Roy Chanslor turned in a screenplay containing the admirable story twists and turns that result in great mystery.

When Vincent, in her detective endeavor, seeks help from deceased Dowling's former husband, her former pianist and songwriter, played by Dan Duryea, the plot takes all kinds of interesting plot turns that keep viewers guessing until the film's final scene.

Duryea suspects that nightclub boss Peter Lorre, who was involved with Dowling, might be the guilty party. As a means of obtaining an opportunity for Vincent to gain evidence to use against Lorre, Duryea breaks Vincent in as a singer and gets a job for both of them at Lorre's club.

One moment the onus of suspicion points toward Lorre, and the next in a different direction that astounds Vincent. Meanwhile dogged police investigator Broderick Crawford, a few years from his Oscar winning appearance in "All The King's Men," continues to search and ask questions.

The suspense never lets up and thankfully "The Black Angel" in this new age of film noir appreciation is getting the credit that it so rightfully deserved.

Excellent noir touches.......2006-06-19

Right from the opening sequence we know we're in real deal noir territory: it's night in a large city, the busy street, two men waiting ominously in a car, the ambulance racing by with the siren blasting, the classy camera work as it goes from the street up the side of an apartment building and in through a window high up off the street - all classic noir touches. The murder mystery turns out to be pretty routine and involves a nightclub singer (June Vincent) who tries to clear her husband of a murder rap he didn't commit (though he was having an affair with the dead woman, which makes it a little difficult to understand her desire to set him free; perhaps she thinks the gas chamber is too severe a punishment for unfaithfulness - but this is a film noir, don't forget, where such evil thoughts are typical). The real murderer is finally tracked down using a brooch and a hospital ward confession to get to the truth. Nothing spectacular occurs in all of that, but the noir touches are obvious and well done. Fans of the genre will enjoy this picture.

"That's What You Get When You Set Love So High. . . . .".......2006-05-09

"Black Angel" is an unjustly forgotten film noir based on Cornell Woolrich's novel. Dan Duryea, tagged in the preview as "he's no angel again!", adds yet another complex, dark portrayal to his gallery of ambiguous bad guys as Martin Blair, the estranged husband of murder victim Mavis Marlowe (Constance Dowling). Mavis is a devious singer who is blackmailing her married lover, Kirk Bennett (John Phillips). Her immaculately decorated apartment, haunting song "Heartbreak" playing in the background, her sheer black gown highlighting what a bad dame she is. Her blackmailer is shrewd, unscrupulous and will stop at nothing to get her way; Dowling's career never fully took off, most likely because of her unconventional screen presence and her independent mind (coincidentally, her sister, Doris Dowling, also appeared in a similar role in another noir of the same year, playing Alan Ladd's unfaithful lush wife in "The Blue Dahlia"). Since Mavis has made so many enemies for herself, it's not surprising that she ends up murdered. As he had the most apparent reason of anyone to want her dead, Bennett is arrested, charged and convicted (on rather circumstantial evidence) and sentenced to death. His loyal wife, Catherine (June Vincent, another under-appreciated talent), vows to clear her husband and enlists the help of Blair, who had passed out drunk after he last saw Mavis, and the pair team up to investigate nightclub owner Marko (Peter Lorre, exceptional performance), posing as a singing act. However, as with many film noirs, there are many red herrings, and things are not what they appear to be. The ending is a surprise and the killer's identity will keep you guessing to the film's conclusion.

I don't know why this movie is barely remembered. There should have been records of the haunting vocal music. June Vincent, the only surviving cast member, retired from show business relatively early, and it's a shame that she did not progress to more roles like this in A pictures.

The DVD looks very good, although it shows faint signs of wear (which is to be expected for a film of its age), and the only extra included is the original theatrical trailer. Any fans of film noir should enjoy this one.

Loads of fun.......2006-04-07

This cult classic (which is what lesser-known noir films get to be called) offers a juicy setup in its opening scenes, revealing just enough to the audience to show that the man who will take the fall for the murder of a shallow beauty was not the person whodunnit. The film picks up his wife (played by the excellent June Vincent) trying to dig up new evidence to save her husband from execution. At this point in Hollywood history, black and white cinematography had reached its most expressive; the film's evocation of the posh rich and seedy poor is equally creepy. The film this reminded me of the most is PHANTOM LADY (1944, Robert Siodmak), especially in its detailed portrayal of reconstructing a hidden crime. Dan Duryea gives a bravura "lost weekend" performance, possibly influenced by Ray Milland's in the 1945 Billy Wilder Oscar winner. As he did in THE MALTESE FALCON, Peter Lorre plays a homosexual with a sadistic streak (he strikes a match across the back of his put-upon strong-arm man). However, everyone in the film seems a bit twisted; a janitor even forces Duryea to pay a quarter to get out of his room after a bender. The script is bold enough to butt heads with the Production Cod