Dangerous Lady (2pc)

Starring:Jason Isaacs, Susan Lynch, Sean McGinley, David Calder, Roy Marsden, Sheila Hancock, Cal Macaninch, Owen Teale, John Thomson, James D. White, RenÃ© Zagger
Director: John Woods (II)
Studio: Bfs Entertainment
Product Type: DVD

Film Noir Classic Collection, Vol. 3 (Border Incident / His Kind of Woman / Lady in the Lake / On Dangerous Ground / The Racket)

Average customer rating:

awesome noir
A must-have
Good copies of good films
Film Noir Classics of the second rank, Very Good indeed
Noir 3 Collection

Film Noir Classic Collection, Vol. 3 (Border Incident / His Kind of Woman / Lady in the Lake / On Dangerous Ground / The Racket)
Starring: Film Noir Classics Collection
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Warner Bros. Pictures Tough Guys Collection (Bullets or Ballots / City for Conquest / Each Dawn I Die / G Men / San Quentin / A Slight Case of Murder)
Film Noir Classic Collection, Vol. 2 (Born to Kill / Clash by Night / Crossfire / Dillinger (1945) / The Narrow Margin (1952))
I Wake Up Screaming (Fox Film Noir)
Double Indemnity (Universal Legacy Series)
Fallen Angel (Fox Film Noir)

ASIN: B000FI9OCW
Release Date: 2006-07-18

Amazon.com

Two peak achievements by as many top noir directors ... a customized vehicle for one of noir's premier icons ... an oddball experiment in making a truly "private eye" movie ... and a Howard Hughes remake of his earliest contribution to the gangster genre. Such are the five titles corralled for Warner Home Video's third box set of film noir classics.

For eye-popping dynamism coupled with ferocious intensity, no noir director matched Anthony Mann. Border Incident (1949) was Mann's and cinematographer John Alton's first film for MGM following a string of darkly dazzling low-budget beauties at Eagle-Lion (T-Men, Raw Deal, The Black Book, et al.). In structure it's virtually a remake of T-Men, transposed from the shadowy city where a Secret Service team battled counterfeiters, to California's Imperial Valley where the Immigration Service sets out to infiltrate a gang exploiting--and often murdering--Mexicans eager to work the farms. From the opening night scene of three laborers trying to recross the border and meeting a grisly end, the movie relentlessly imagines ways the human body can merge with the earth. Visually stunning, and replete with memorable villains (headed by Howard Da Silva, a past master at making affability lethal), this is one of Mann's strongest noirs and surely his most inventive. Its neglect can be explained only by people's assumption that nothing worthwhile could come of a movie top-billing Ricardo Montalban and George Murphy (as the government agents). Wrong, wrong, wrong.

After a scalding first reel in big-city night streets, Nicholas Ray's On Dangerous Ground (RKO, 1951) likewise forsakes familiar noir terrain for the countryside--the mountains and snowfields where city cop Robert Ryan seeks a psychotic killer. For both the actor and the director, Ryan's character is an exemplary creation: a man with personal demons whose overzealous pursuit of criminals has pushed him into sadism. His passage from urban darkness into the silent white mountain country becomes a redemptive journey, thanks largely to his interaction with a blind woman (Ida Lupino) in an isolated farmhouse whose younger brother may be the quarry he's after. Ray developed the screenplay with A.I. Bezzerides under the supervision of producer John Houseman (for whom Ray had made his feature debut, They Live By Night). The film boasts a thrilling music score by Bernard Herrmann, anticipating his great soundtrack for North by Northwest.

His Kind of Woman (also RKO, 1951) is a vehicle for both RKO's reigning bad boy, Robert Mitchum, and Howard Hughes' definitive coup of distaff engineering, Jane Russell. Their characters cross paths en route to a seaside Mexican resort, where she aims to continue her gold-digger pursuit of Hollywood ham Vincent Price, and Mitchum will figure in a plot to get deported mobster Raymond Burr back into the U.S.A. The slow-brewing romance between this dauntingly tall, broad-shouldered pair gives off little heat, but the players' good-natured, weary-pro rapport as they go through their mostly preposterous paces makes for very good fun. Still more is supplied by Price, who just about steals the movie when he gets to extend his sub-Errol Flynn screen heroism into real life--all the while supplying his own florid running commentary on the action. The urbane director John Farrow filled the movie with one delicious, what-the-hell-is-going-on-here scene after another (highlight: a bored Mitchum ironing his money), but that wasn't enough for studio boss Hughes. Richard Fleischer was brought in to stretch the climactic melodrama aboard Burr's yacht in the harbor, and the picture grew to an overblown two hours in length. Not that you're likely to regret a minute of it.

Robert Montgomery directed and played Phillip Marlowe in Lady in the Lake (MGM, 1947), Raymond Chandler's novel as adapted by Steve Fisher (I Wake Up Screaming). The gimmick is that, apart from a few scenes of private detective Marlowe chatting us up in his office, everything is viewed through his eyes, with Marlowe himself remaining unseen unless he glances in a mirror. This literal-minded conceit is more curious than compelling; the camera simply doesn't see the way the human eye does, and the artificiality constantly calls attention to itself. Montgomery, a suave actor who enjoyed playing it coarse and obnoxious on occasion, makes his screen Marlowe more smartass than any other ("dumb, brave, and cheap"). With him cracking wise off-camera, much of the movie is really carried by Audrey Totter, a swell late-'40s dame who has to stand up under more relentless scrutiny than even her shifty character deserves.

The Racket (RKO, 1951) is the second film version of a 1920s play about municipal corruption, gangsterism, and the attempt to squash an honest police precinct captain. John Cromwell had acted in the original Broadway production, which may help explain why, as director, he let so much of this movie turn back into a play. Eventually studio boss Howard Hughes, who had produced the 1928 film version (directed by Lewis Milestone), once again called in another director to do salvage work.

That was Nicholas Ray, whose scenes include police captain Robert Mitchum's pursuit of the man who has just bombed his home. Mitchum's fellow cast members include Robert Ryan as the ultra-paranoid gangster; husky-voiced noir blonde Lizabeth Scott as a nightclub thrush romanced by Ryan's brother; future Perry Mason D.A. William Talman as a dedicated street cop; and Ray Collins and William Conrad as two municipal officials negotiating a delicate dance with morality and expediency. --Richard T. Jameson

Description

Five more film noir classics lined up with genre stars such as Robert Mitchum, Robert Montgomery, Robert Ryan, and Jane Russell, are now available in Volume 3 of the Film Noir Classics Collection series. The new 6-Disc DVD set is only available as a collection and includes a bonus documentary disc on the Noir genre.

Customer Reviews:

awesome noir.......2007-04-20

like the other 2 volumes in this series vol 3 outshines even them. found all dvd's compelling viewing,well remastered for excellent sound and picture quality. if film noir from the 40's and 50's is your penchant then look no further than these releases. i have only one question, when or where are we getting volume 4? Jim Boggan, Dublin, Ireland

A must-have .......2007-03-23

The Noir genre appears as the most original cinematographic legacy of the American cinema along the Century.

Unlike the Western whose emblematic epic feature (with their few exceptions), the Noir is supported by the unbearable lightness of the being in which twists of fate, ironic designs, existential instability, lack of center, cosmic nasty tricks hovered by an irrational universe in which nobody is like it seems.

This manifest incapacity of distinguishing what's right or what's wrong, the awful sensation of diffidence respect your beloved couple, the new friend you met last night, was systematically enhancing with new visions, fed by the plethora of European filmmakers that certainly had experienced his particular fears and anguishes with the dark shadows of a raising Nazism and the emerging void's perception that you could feel and even breath in your environment.

All this set of new factors, enriched, enhanced and expanded the vision of many layers of a society, seers, salesmen, boxers, gangsters, false policemen, doctors, sideshow performers, psychologists or depressive characters.

The WW2 in good measure, renovated the internal demons of the alcoholism, gangster's rivalries, corruption, sexual frustrations or the figure of the classic antihero of the thirties ( The petrified forest or High Sierra) frequently ex cons or orphans youngsters whose parents died in the WW1 or committed suicide during the great Depression.

Good copies of good films.......2007-01-13

An excellent product, good copies of some really good films

Film Noir Classics of the second rank, Very Good indeed.......2007-01-06

Lady in the Lake is the weakest and On Dangerous Ground/The Racket are the strongest Border Incident and His Kind of Woman quite good as well. The other two volumes are as good or better but where can you see good prints of these exciting noir movies for a great price? The only other set to recommend to those new to the genre is the Kino's noir set with star performers (and some non-star performers) with great directors. Don't miss out on these four sets, they're terrific entertainment (after a noir movie, we watch a Charley Chase, Keaton or Lloyd short). Great night at home watching these movies before our time (born 1956).

Noir 3 Collection.......2007-01-05

Border Incident and Lady in the Lake are particularly important films in the noir tradition. Though they are all B films, Lady carries the imprint of Raymond Chandler.

The collection is worth having if one is interested in studying noir films, but don't expect any great films here...or even really good ones.

Average customer rating:

classically erotic
funny movie
Above average erotica - worth keeping
FOR THOSE THAT LIKE A SOFTER TOUCH
Classic Softcore

Young Lady Chatterley
Starring: Harlee McBride , Peter Ratray , William Beckley , Ann Michelle , and Joi Staton
Director: Alan Roberts
Manufacturer: Monterey Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00005QZ7J
Release Date: 2001-11-13

Customer Reviews:

classically erotic.......2007-03-25

Very sexy and erotic movie. Harlee McBride is adorable as are the other women in the movie. Though it starts out a bit slow this helps to build the anticpation and the later scenes are worth the wait.

funny movie.......2006-03-24

Pretty funny movie. It was odd to see Adam West not in his Batman role.

Above average erotica - worth keeping.......2005-08-05

This one's a keeper - pleasant, scenic, naughty, fun, humorous, and a sweet girl. I like. What better flick for Summer?

This movie has some truly hot scenes, and is more than Just Erotica (has an actual story!)

Dig the playful, enlightened (for the '70s) view about sex, class, and marriage. Admire the empowered, yet very feminine, leading lady, who gets her way, without resorting to hurting or harming men in the process.

FOR THOSE THAT LIKE A SOFTER TOUCH .......2004-10-28

This movie is pretty sexy for sure.But like most softcore it si more tease then please. Filmed very nicely for its time. The eroticism comes right through and gets you interested however due to the fact it is softcore it does tend to get a bit silly and a bit teasing. Over all not bad and those that like there films with a more softer sexual tone this is a movie for you.

Classic Softcore.......2003-08-02

I am a little irritated. I wrote a lenghty review of this months ago and it was never posted. Now they want me to do another one. Ok, but this is abbreviated and isn't as informative. This is classic, top quality, 70's softcore. This is probably the best softcore flick of all time. Good plot, nice sets, some flesh, but all tastefully done. Harlee McBride is supersexy in a "real" sort of way. She looks like someone you would know, but she is really cute. Sort "naturally hot." Plus, she is a pretty good actress, too. Harlee is an orphan who in her late 20's realizes she has inherited a huge British estate in the middle of nowhere from a long lost relative. The problem is, a huge amount of taxes are owed on it that she cannot afford. Before selling it, she decides to visit it for the weekend. She, well, let's put it this way, "gets to know" a whole lot of people who work on the estate, mostly men, but a few ladies as well. She falls in love with the place and vows not to sell it. What is she to do? Don't worry, our screen heroine figures out a way to keep her estate (and her gardner). Nicely done!

Amazon.com essential video

Legend has it that Orson Welles more or less conned studio boss Harry Cohn over the phone into making this movie by grabbing the title from a nearby paperback. In any case, The Lady from Shanghai is one of Welles's most fascinating works, a bizarre tale of an Irish sailor (Welles) who accompanies a beautiful woman (Rita Hayworth) and her handicapped husband (Everett Sloane) on a cruise and becomes involved in a murder plot. But never mind all that (the aforementioned legend also claims that Cohn offered a reward to anyone who could explain the plot to him). The film is really a dream of Welles's driving preoccupations on- and offscreen at the time: the elusiveness of identity, the mystique of things lost, and most of all the director's faltering marriage to Hayworth. In the tradition of male filmmakers who indirectly tell the story of their love affairs with leading ladies, Welles tells his own, photographing Hayworth as a deconstructed star, an obvious cinematic creation, thus reflecting, perhaps, a never-satisfied yearning that leads us back to the mystery of Citizen Kane. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

Welles' camera seemed almost to caress Rita Hayworth..........2007-01-04

After all, you do not go to an Orson Welles movie to see a nice simple little plot and a burnishing of the image of a happy-ever-after star...

You go to see theatrically heightened characters locked in conflict against colorful and unusual settings, lighted and scored imaginatively, photographed bravely, and the whole thing peppered with unexpected details of surprise that a wiser and duller director would either avoid or not think of in the first place...

As usual, as well as directing, Welles wrote the script and he also played the hero - a young Irish seaman who had knocked about the world and seen its evil, but still retained his clear-eyed trust in the goodness of others... Unfortunately for him, he reposed this trust in Rita Hayworth, whose cool good looks concealed a gloomy past and murderous inclinations for the future... She was married without love, to an impotent, crippled advocate, acted like a malevolent lizard by the brilliant Everett Sloane...

There is a youthful romanticism underlying it all, and this quality came into exuberant play in "The Lady from Shanghai." Before the inevitable happened, Welles escaped - to a final triangular showdown in a hall of mirrors, which has become one of the classic scenes of the post-war cinema ...

Welles did not miss a chance throughout the whole film to counterpoint the words and actions with visual detail which enriched the texture and heightened the atmosphere... His camera seemed almost to caress Rita Hayworth as the sun played with her hair and her long limbs while she playfully teased the young seaman into her web...

Orson Wells and Rita Hayworth Drama.......2006-12-29

In London, Michael O'Hara meets Elsa 'Rosalie' Bannister and decides to introduce himself by offering her a cigerette. Elsa tells him that she doesn't smoke but takes the cigerette and wraps it in a napkin and insert into her purse. Michael hears a scream and sees three men pulling on both of Elsa's arms; Elsa is helpless against her attackers; Michael sees Elsa's purse and the cigerette and grabs it; the attackers are defeated soundly by Michael, who is an efficient fighter; Michaels learns from Elsa that she dropped the purse hoping Michael would see it and rescue her; this is the first clue that Elsa has a grand plot for Michael; Michael tells Elsa that he killed a man in Spain during the war; Michael guides Elsa's horse carriage to her car, a real stylish car; Elsa ask Michael work for her on her husband's boat; Michael tells Elsa that he won't work for a married woman.

Arthur Bannister asks Michael to be the Captain of ship which he plans to sail to San Francisco. Michael and his friends join Arthur in a drinking binge and then Michael decides to join the voyage because of his attraction of Elsa. George, Arthur's gay law partner joins the voyage. George sees Michael kisses Elsa and tells Arthur. Arthur is cruel to Elsa calling her, "lover"; Arthur suggests to Elsa that she would like Michael, a strong and bigger male; Arthur acquired the ship when one of his opponents perjuryed and used money to pay for a maid, who had worked for another law firm; Arthur knows that Elsa wants to murder him and take his money. Arthur is murdered by gun; a gun that Michael has seen Elsa use.

Elsa plot fails when her hired killer, kills George instead of Arthur. Michael forces Elsa to reveal the gun that killed George. At the Chinese fun house, Arthur and Elsa kill each other and Michael says, "sharks feeding on each other" suggesting his repulsion of the super rich and the conceit of the super rich with their feed frenzy arrogance.

Still, it IS Welles. . ........2006-11-10

I must confess at the outset that I am an Orson Welles fan. This is not to say that I am unaware of or wish to minimize his faults. What I mean is that, for me, his work possesses a set of characteristics, not all of them completely definable even yet, which are nonetheless rich and compelling. Furthermore, I maintain that enough (all?) of this "Welles aesthetic fingerprint survives the tribulation, sometimes extreme, to which his work was all too often subjected at the hands of others, to render even his lesser efforts very worthy of serious attention rewarded by enjoyment.

"The Lady from Shanghai" illustrates the above very clearly. Welles made the film at a very serious juncture in her career. His "boy wonder" reputation was fading rapidly. His political views were becomming less popular as the country began to move toward the right. His radio work had begun to dry up. His finances were a shambles. In desperation, he turned to Harry Cohn, a man he had contemptuously attacked, to support his latest project. He meant "The Lady from Shanghai" to restore his reputation as a viable filmmaker, proof that he could make a film that would be "aminstream" enough to pay off at the box office, and yet not represent artistic capitulation to commercial Hollywood. It was also to be a both a starring vehicle and a "stretch" performance for his then-wife, Rita Hayworth.

Unfortunately, the film proved typical of most of Welles work in one significant way: it was taken out of his hands in post-production, and as a result, was, when released, by no means the film Welles had in mind.

I inssist, however, that it does manage to succeed to a great extent as an intelligent, originally handled thriller. Welles's genius for visual elements -- location, lighting, camera angles, etc, retain their fascination and beauty. A certain viewpoint still pervades the handling of plot and character -- satiric, bitter, increasingly surreal. And, I maintain, Rita Hayworth does "stretch" as an actress, creating, with, admittedly, a lot of help from her husband and his camera, a memorable femme fatale. The high quality of her performance is uniform with the rest of the cast, such as the very fine Everett Sloane.

The is a film not only for fans of Welles, such as myself, but for anyone who enjoys an intelligent film noir,

enticing sexy dip into film noir waters.......2006-09-27

The Lady from Shanghi's reputation is secure as a classic of film noir but then this genre is notoriously disrespected probably because many film noirs are based on dime novels and sound like it; in order to appreciate a film noir, therefore, you have to be able to enjoy the kitschy quality of snappy dime-novel dialogue. But kitsch alone is not what makes (some) film noirs great. What really sets film noir apart from other genres is its striking, even elegant, visual style which often contrasts sharply with its stark subject matter. Film noir has a way of glamourzing corruption, and giving corruption a unique aesthetic allure all its own. Film noir probably owes something to the German Expressionist film masters (Murnau, Lang, Von Stroheim) and the Hollywood grotesques of the 20's and 30's but it absorbs and evolves these influences into a highly refined style of its own. Orson Welles is the undisputed master of the high noir style. All of his films after Magnificent Ambersons mobilize film noir methods and techniques and so Welles' reputation rises and falls with that genre that he did not create but that he perfected.

Film noir came of age during WWII and like many film noirs Lady from Shanghai is about anxieties over race, class, sexuality, and identity and, in this particular noir film, negotiating racial, social, cultural and sexual difference in an increasingly globalized world. The film takes place in several international (Acapulco) and exotic (Chinatown) settings and these strange locales allow Welles to examine how his characters respond to a diverse array of atmospheres and social/cultural settings. Welles himself plays the central character in the film, Michael O'Hara, and to do so he affects an Irish accent (another international touch) that, some critics argue, is supposed to sound false/inauthentic. O'Hara has a way of talking that sounds a bit too self-consciously literary; and though he affects a working class worldliness his yarns sound like they come straight out of Conrad (O'Hara echoes many of Conrad's colonial concerns) and Hemingway (O'Hara echoes Hemingway's anti-Franco sentiments) and so we suspect that this character has spent more time reading and writing stories than in actually working. Whether we believe Michael's Irish brogue is authentic or not we know that he is fond of creating fictions and this casts suspicions on his identity as well as on his version of events that we hear on the voiceover. Furthermore, we can see that his obsession with literature has given him a taste for the romantic and the typically masculine posturing of his favorite literary heroes and instead of making him worldly wise this just makes him all the more gullible when a pretty lady and the promise of a new adventure come along.

Elsa (played by Welles' then-wife Rita Hayworth)identifies Michael as an easy mark the first time they meet. Unlike Michael Elsa actually is worldly and we can tell she's seen and experienced a lot and that she knows a lot about the world (not just read a lot about it) and she sees through Michael's pseudo-brogue and bravura right away and knows exactly how to exploit his romantic tendencies. She sums him up and plays him from the first moment they exchange knowing glances (hers much more knowing than his). Michael prides himself on his independence and his integrity but he just can't help falling for Elsa's pretend innocence and helplessness--its just too good to resist-- and he can't help wanting to come charging to her rescue even though there are signs everywhere that indicate that Elsa is in no need of rescuing. At first Michael resists her job offer but she is a woman who always gets her way and soon Michael is one of her employee/servants just like all of the other men in the film. Michael just can't tear himself away from Elsa's dangerously seductive & corruptive charms that he willingly and perhaps willfully misinterprets as innocence and helplessness only because that version of her makes him feel better about his own true motives. Michael has been hired on as an extra hand on Elsa's husband's yacht and as soon as he steps foot on deck everyone else aboard sizes him up and begins figuring how they can use him to further their own plots. Elsa's husband Bannister is a famous lawyer and both he and his partner Grisby are, like Michael, under Elsa's spell and trying to plot their way out of captivity. As the yacht pulls out of harbor we see the word "Circe" written in bold letters on the yacht's hull.

Elsa's past is a secret only hinted at (all we know is that she was born on an island somewhere in the east & spent some time in Shanghai). She looks like the penultimate American blonde but she is not from America and her cultural reference points are decidely eastern in contrast to Michael's western points of reference; to Michael she represents the unknown and perhaps the unkowable, and this is part of her allure and also what makes her so dangerous. "Elsa" is the prototypical femme fatale and the conventions of the film noir genre tell us that things will not end well for anyone that gets too close but she's just too enticing. The most famous scene of the film has Elsa in a sleek black bathing suit diving off some perilous rocks as if she were accustomed to such danger and as if danger was her natural element. But then she lays down to sunbathe on the rocks and from the relative safety of the boat Michael looking on, anxiously aware of how dangerous she is, can allow himself the comforting illusion that she is vulnerable and that she needs saving and that only he can save her not only from all the other male predators on board, but save her from her own eastern imbued fatalistism.

Elsa is so beautiful that she has all of the men in the film believing exactly what she wants them to believe and all of them believing that they've actually got a chance with her. And the men all slowly lose their head around her. Some of the men talk down to her but still they do what she says and she has all of them plotting against each other while lighting her cigarettes. The film has been criticized for having an impossibly tangled plot but I think the point of the film is that you are never supposed to be certain or not whether Elsa is merely defending herself against the men who want to control her or if Elsa has been in control of all of them (just like she has been in control of Michael) from the start. Even at the end we still want to believe that Elsa is a victim of something, perhaps something from her past that she just can't escape, but since we don't know what her past was we have no ultimate insight into what has been driving her all along nor for that matter do we have any insight into what originary crime or sin has been driving the men all along; all we know is that the sexes and the races and the classes are at odds. Elsa remains an unknown all the way through and Michael once ensnared must realize that he too is an unknown because under her influence he has been forced to act against what he perceived to be his own true nature.

The Lady from Shanghai offers some of the most stunning visuals of any film noir I know of. The Acapulco scenes are especially exciting as the danger and unpredictability of a foreign woman is made especially inviting and exciting in a foreign land. In this film Welles offers the ultimate noir vision of anxiously uncertain men and women attracted to each other but also repelled by what they find themselves attracted to and what they find themselves doing in the name of desire. Its a film noir and that means that the film follows certain recognizable conventions but it does more than simply follow those conventions, it pushes those conventions as far as they have been pushed and explores the nature of those conventions in a more thorough way than any noir before or, arguably, since. By the end of the film the characters have become lost in their own plots and no longer know who they are and this is conveyed brilliantly with Welles use of masks & mirrors in the celebrated and luridly twisted funhouse scene which feels a bit like the famous Dali sequence in Hitchcock's Spellbound but is even more disorienting & disconcerting (Spellbound was released in 1945 so it is possible, even likely, that Welles had seen it and that it influenced his own film that was made in 1946 and released in 1948). [In the extra featurette that follows the film we learn that Welles himself painted much of the funhouse props and set.]

There are a lot of bad noirs out there and these give the genre a bad name but the few good ones are among the best films ever made. Welles' reputation would be greater if film noir were better understood and appreciated not as a genre that is as cheap as the dime novels that inspired it but a genre where cinema explores its own methods and techniques. The great directors from Lang & Von Stroheim to Welles & Hitchcock to Godard & Chabrol and the other new wave auteurs have all been attracted to noir for this reason.

A brilliant film. After this film (which was a commerical flop) Welles didn't work in America for ten years and when he did return to America he made Touch of Evil (another brilliant noir film). Touch of Evil also failed to generate revenue and effectively ended Welles career as a mainstream director even though he continued to make independently financed small pictures like Othello, Macbeth, The Trial & Chimes at Midnight.

"It's a bright, guilty world"..."I told you...you know nothing about wickedness".......2006-09-16

"The Lady from Shanghai" crackles with Welles' energy and intelligence inspite of the tampering done during post-production by Columbia with the film. Welles ended up working his advesary Harry Cohn the head of Columbia on this unusual, imaginatively photographed (by the late great Rudolph Mate)noir thriller. This "Lady" is memorable if for nothing else than the amazing fun house scene at the conclusion of the movie.

Michael O'Hara (Welles)is immediately smitten with Rosalie (Rita Hayworth)the wife of the super wealthy Arthur Bannister (Everett Sloane in a terrific performance). He ends up employed by Bannister on his yacht putting him close to his wife and making sparks fly with the amoral Rosalie. Money seduces Michael into participating in a faked murder of Bannister's law firm partner Grisby (a great performance by Glenn Anders)which turns from fantasy to reality and making Michael the primary suspect.

Welles' film is full of brilliant visuals, witty dialogue and lovely location work (particularly the sequences set in 1948 San Francisco). The last sequence in the funhouse full of mirrors is brilliant realized. Like Hitchcock Welles' liked to take genre conventions and turn them on their head with inventive, intelligent plots and visual sequences. Where the film goes wrong is in post-production. With the exception of "Citizen Kane" Welles ended up abandoning his babies or had them taken away from him and messed with by studio heads. "The Lady from Shanghai" is not an exception. Welles uses extremely close ups to make us feel as uncomfortable as Michael does about his employers and the situation he finds himself in when he realizes he's been duped.

From the insistence that Welles go back and shoot glamor shot close ups of his soon to be ex-wife Rita Hayworth to meddling in the editing room and the misbegotten musical score (a pity Welles didn't have Bernard Herrmann working on this film)enforced on the film "The Lady from Shanghai" ended up being compromised. A pity that Columbia hasn't tried to dig up the cut footage (if it exists) along with the temp score (they could recreate that based on Welles' notes)that Welles used to help "guide" Heinz Roemheld (who totally ignored Welles' notes and the temp soundtrack) It still manages to a classic Welles film despite all the interference. Roemheld's forte was scores more like the one he composed for "Yankee Doodle Dandy" and he was totally out of his element here.

Columbia includes a fascinating commentary track by Peter Bogdanovich and vintage advertising to compliment this release. I just wish that Columbia had gone the route of Warner with "Citizen Kane" but the extras are pretty good overall. I'd highly recommend this now if Warner would get around to releasing "The Magnificent Ambersons" on DVD I'd be a happy camper...

Asian Action Deadly Dolls: Lady Terminator/Dangerous Seductress

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Asian Action Deadly Dolls: Lady Terminator/Dangerous Seductress
Starring: Asian Action Deadly Dolls Double Pack
Manufacturer: Mondo Macabre
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The Films of Alejandro Jodorowsky (Fando y Lis / El Topo / The Holy Mountain)
42nd Street Forever, Vol. 1
This Film Is Not Yet Rated
Kidnapped (A.K.A. Rabid Dogs)
Ubalda, All Naked and Warm

ASIN: B000GI3KQW
Release Date: 2006-08-29

Average customer rating:

Excellent All Around
Great acting
Wow.
Wow!! Very impressive!!
Everything a mini-series should be

Dangerous Lady (2pc)
Starring: Jason Isaacs , Colin Bennett , Susan Lynch , Catherine Terris , and Sean McGinley
Director: John Woods (II)
Manufacturer: Bfs Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Customer Reviews:

Excellent All Around.......2006-10-04

Great acting, a compelling storyline and well-rounded characters make this one of the most enjoyable movies I've ever seen. I don't usually like gangster movies, but this is definitely an exception. Many scenes in Dangerous Lady stayed with me long after the movie ended. Several characters, Michael in particular, struck at the heart. Many of these characters are more than what they seem. Notable performances by Susan Lynch, Owen Teele, and Jason Isaacs. Excellent all around.

Great acting.......2006-10-03

I really enjoyed this movie!
Loved Jason Isaacs and Susan Lynch.
Definately worth seeing.

Wow........2006-05-21

I stayed up until 2 a.m. last night watching this mini-series, because Jason Isaac's performance as Michael Ryan, an ambitious, violent thug who has been the primary caretaker of his large family since he was a child, is so mesmirizing that I simply could not stop watching. Although the performances of the whole cast range between very good and outstanding, my favorite scenes were all about Michael's relationship with his mother. I loved every single scene between them, even the most painful and contentious of their encounters. Michael is so strong, so resolute, so self-sufficient and self-confident, and yet his mother still has the power to undo him completely. An Irish mother is a powerful being, a living Madonna, and an Irish son can never completely escape his desire for her good regard and affection. When Mrs. Ryan finally turns Michael out of her house, the disbelief and despair on his face is simply heartbreaking.

Susan Lynch is wonderful as Maura, and I think the mini-series was supposed to be primarily her story, as opposed to her brother's, but Jason's performance of Michael is too powerful. It is the showpiece role of the production, and it prompts me to ask this question: Why the hell isn't Jason Isaacs a bigger star?

I highly, highly recommend this one, even though the DVD doesn't include much in the way of extras.

Wow!! Very impressive!!.......2006-01-18

I really wasn't sure what to expect from this mini-series. I'm not a big fan of British television but I had heard good things about this so I watched it. I'm glad I did.

The acting was first-rate. Susan Lynch (as Moara) was very good - as was everyone in the cast. Jason Isaacs (as Michael) was truly outstanding - his portrayal as a 'violent perverted bender' was chilling (but also sympathetic). I've never seen an actor that can convey more emotions with tiny changes in his expression. His scenes with 'Joe-the-fish' were exceptional.

This movie is well worth watching more than once. I'll be honest - the accents threw me a bit and I had to watch it several times to catch all the words. But that's not a fault of the film - it made it more authentic.

All in all, a great movie. And a must-have for any Jason Isaacs' fan.

Everything a mini-series should be.......2003-03-06

When I heard the words "british TV miniseries", I was admittedly not expecting much. I was very pleasantly surprised.

Product Description

These two DVD's are the second and third DVD's that were released as part of the Maltese Falcon 3-Disc Special Edition on October 3, 2006. They include The Maltese Falcon (1931) & Satan Met a Lady (1936) along with many bonus features. Among them are: Theatrical trailers; The Maltese Falcon: One Magnificent Bird documentary; Robert Osborne Hosts Becoming Attractions: The Trailers of Humphrey Bogart; Studio Blooper Reel; Three radio show adaptations featuring the movies original stars including a version starring Edward G. Robinson.

Customer Reviews:

A solid first look at the black bird from 1931, but quite a let-down in 1936.......2006-10-19

--The Maltese Falcon (1931)
Anyone with ambition to be a film writer could do far worse than to watch Roy Del Ruth's The Maltese Falcon, made in 1931, and then watch John Huston's The Maltese Falcon filmed ten years later. The plot is the same, the characters are the same, the situations and motivations are the same. The 1931 film is good. It suffers from the kind of clunky acting common to early talkies, particularly from Ricardo Cortez as Sam Spade. Still, the story is so strong with all those double crosses, obsession with the black bird and vivid characters that the movie holds up.

So why watch the two to learn about writing for films? You won't learn much about writing if you read a poor effort and compare it with a good effort. You can learn much from reading a good effort and comparing it with an excellent effort. Here's what I mean. Take the scene when Spade is meeting Caspar Gutman for the first time in Gutman's hotel room. (In 1931 the Gutman character is played by Dudley Diggs; in 1941, by Sidney Greenstreet.) Gutman invites Spade to sit down and offers him a drink. Then Gutman looks him over, a picture of bonhomie.

From 1931: "You're a close-mouthed man, sir!" says Gutman with a friendly smile. "No, I like to talk," says Spade. Gutman chortles and says, "We'll talk if you like. And I tell right now I am a man who likes talking to a man who likes to talk."

Now see what John Huston does to the scene. From 1941: "You're a close-mouthed man?" Gutman asks. "Nah, I like to talk," Spade says. Gutman beams and says, "Better and better. I distrust a close-mouthed man. He generally picks the wrong time to talk and says the wrong things. Talking's something you can't do judiciously, unless you keep in practice. Now, sir, we'll talk, if you like. I'll tell you right out, I am a man who likes talking to a man who likes to talk."

From a line of dialogue that is amusing, especially when it drips from Dudley Diggs' lips, Huston creates a whole character that enables Greenstreet to practically slobber with great effect over the oncoming scene.

Or another example, when Spade is telling Ruth Wunderly she's going up the river. In 1931 the scene is extended over several longish lines, and then is extended even further when Spade visits Wunderly in the jail. Huston, in this case, shortened the scene but made it more emphatic, with Spade more obviously torn by what he was doing. And then that was that; no anticlimactic visit to the slammer.

As good a movie as the 1931 version is, there is no doubt that it is dated. Cortez, a matinee idol in the Twenties, plays Spade as a tough lady's man, calling all the women "Honey." His private office with that comfortable couch is obviously a place to do more than take a nap in. Cortez just isn't that good an actor. For a modern audience, when he smiles he looks disconcertingly like Louis Nye. Una Merkel, however, as Spade's secretary, Effie Perrine, is first rate.

The movie is part of the three-disc The Maltese Falcon release which includes the 1941 version as well as 1936's version with variations called Satan Met a Lady. There are a number of extras which I haven't looked at. The 1931 film is a little soft. On balance, though, it looks good.

For those with long memories and can find tapes or CDs of old radio mystery shows, try listening to a few episodes of Sam Spade, Private Eye with Howard Duff in the lead role and Lurene Tuttle as Effie Perrine. Bogart undoubtedly is the gold standard for Sam Spade, but Duff's voice coming from that box on the living room table comes close.

--Satan Met a Lady (1936)
If you believe that old movies don't make classic movies just because they're old, Satan Met a Lady will make your case. It's based more or less faithfully on The Maltese Falcon, the first movie of which was made in 1931. This version stars Warren William as Ted Shayne (Sam Spade), Bette Davis as Valerie Purvis (Ruth Wunderly), Alison Skipworth as Madame Barabbas (Caspar Gutman) and Arthur Treacher as Anthony Travers (Joel Cairo), with Maynard Holmes as Kenny (Wilmer Cook) and Marie Wilson as Miss Murgatroyd (Effie Perrine).

The intent must have been to take the Dashiell Hammett story and turn it into a comedy murder mystery. The music under the opening credits is so jaunty you might expect a musical. Does it work? Sadly, no, not in my opinion. Of the characters, only Arthur Treacher comes off as genuinely interesting. If Treacher is remembered now it's probably only as one of the many stuffy English butlers he played. Here, he's remarkably good, dealing with fast dialogue and, in this movie, what passes for ironic and witty lines. He's a completely different type from Peter Lorre's Joel Cairo, but he's almost as vivid. The highlight of the film, in fact, is when we first meet him ransacking Shayne's apartment, then having some dueling dialogue with Shayne when Shayne unexpectedly appears. This scene is good stuff.

For the rest, some of the actors are competent and some are mediocre. Bette Davis, surprisingly, doesn't make much of an impression; she's just too obviously intelligent and self-centered for the role. You watch her, but you're not much taken by her. Warren William probably comes off weakest, and some of this is not his fault. He had a profile as sharp as the prow of a yacht, a smooth, trained baritone, great diction and a sense of humor. Unfortunately, William is saddled with a trench coat that looks half a size to large for him; the collar gaps noticeably every time he leans over, sits down or is roughed up. He wears what appears to be a black Stetson. The combination makes him look almost silly at times. More damaging, we meet his version of Sam Spade being run out of town, then charming a large lady with jewels, then coming on very strong to Marie Wilson's ditzy, dumb blonde of a secretary, Miss Murgatroyd. The effect is less of a private eye who is a charming seducer than of a sleazy, middle-aged goat. He wears quite a bit of pomade on his hair.

Satan Met a Lady is a curiosity piece, nothing more. It's amusing to compare it to the 1931 version but it's probably nothing one would want by itself. The DVD transfer is a bit soft but otherwise looks fine.

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers - Lady of Burlesque

Average customer rating:

NEWLY REMASTERED

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers - Lady of Burlesque
Starring: Judith Anderson , Walter S. Baldwin , Roman Bohnen , Charles D. Brown , and Catherine Craig
Director: Lewis Milestone
Manufacturer: Marengo Films
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Crime & Criminals | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Classics | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $7.49 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( S ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B000IJ7AG0
Release Date: 2006-11-21

Description

The strange love of martha Ivers: Barbara Stanwyck plays the part of a young cold-hearted heiress who murders her strangely sadistic grandmother. In doing so she sweeps a young companion in as a co-conspirator to help her cover up her crime. Flash forward a number of years and we find she has become the icy matriarch of the city aptly named after her family, Iverstown. She literally runs the community with an iron fist. Lady of Burlesque: Based on Gypsy Rose Lees G String Murders Lady of Burlesque takes us back stage into the seedy world of burlesque. Rising star Dixie Daisy is the headliner in the troupe and actually steals the show with her terrific song and dance routines.

Customer Reviews:

NEWLY REMASTERED.......2006-12-13

Marengo Films is proud to announce the release of these two fine movies. We did a complete sound design and color correction for The Strange Love of Martha Ivers and believe it is now the finest print of this movie on the market. The Lady of Burlesque - an older film - was a little worn but the print was put through an extensive remastering process including color correction and sound design. We feel that this too is now the finest print of this movie on the market.

Average customer rating:

so so

Dangerous Lady
Starring: James Aubrey , Evelyn Brent , Greta Granstedt , Neil Hamilton , and Kenneth Harlan
Director: Bernard B. Ray
Manufacturer: Alpha Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Horror | Genres | DVD | Video

Mystery | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

Detectives | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

Classics | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

Drama | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

Drama | Independently Distributed | Stores | DVD | Video

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4-for-3 Drama | 4-for-3 DVD | Stores | DVD | Video

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

The Rogue's Tavern
Mandarin Mystery
TCM Archives - Forbidden Hollywood Collection, Vol. 1 (Waterloo Bridge 1931 / Baby Face / Red-Headed Woman)
The Lady in Scarlet
Cover Up

ASIN: B0009OL8WQ
Release Date: 2005-07-27

Customer Reviews:

so so.......2006-05-09

I had high hopes for this since I love June Storey. Ever since I saw her adorable performance in "In Old Chicago", I've been a fan. This was one of the few ventures outside of the Gene Autry territory for her. It's too bad it's mediocre.
June Storey and Neil Hamilton play married detectives a la Thin Man but they don't have the chemistry that William Powell and Myrna Loy supplied. The plot concerns them proving Evelyn Brent's innocent of murder. It's kind hard to follow. Even with only being a hour long this movie dragged. Film quality also left much to be desired.
I hope her movie Dance Hall with Carole Landis gets released one day.

Average customer rating:

Funny Adult Movie!

The Lady in Blue
Starring: Kira Reed
Director: Michael Paul Girard
Manufacturer: York Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

DVDs Under $14.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

All Deals | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( L ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

General | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video
ASIN: B00005UQA8
Release Date: 2002-02-12

Customer Reviews:

Funny Adult Movie!.......2002-09-07

I saw this movie back in 1997, about a year after it's initial release. It is one of the very few "soft" adult movies that I have seen in a long time that I really like. The plot consists of a lady police officer that is trying to solve a case of a love triangle. The lead character (Kira Reed) is so funny in her demeanor and narration throughout the movie. The sex scenes could be edited from this movie and it would still be funny to watch! If you like adult movies that aren't too graphic, and with tongue-in-cheek humour thrown in, then this movie is for you!

Average customer rating:

Great story and photography by Rodrigo Prieto

Dama de Noche (Lady of the Night)
Starring: Boris Peguero , Lisa Owen , Rafael Sánchez Navarro , Salvador Sánchez , and Loló Navarro
Director: Eva López Sánchez
Manufacturer: Desert Mountain
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Art House & International | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Crime & Criminals | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

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Francisca
Por Si No Te Vuelvo a Ver (If I Never See You Again)
Lucia, Lucia

ASIN: B00008H2HU
Release Date: 2003-04-22

Description

Bruno, a down and out writer, comes to the rescue of his former lover, Sofia, who is devastated in Veracruz, after the accidental death of her elderly boyfriend. Like the hero in one of his adventure novels, Bruno leaves Mexico city immediately to save Sofia. The story unravels as he proposes to get rid of the body, triggering increasingly outrageous incidents; leading to a tragic end.

Customer Reviews:

Great story and photography by Rodrigo Prieto.......2004-12-05

A graet thriller about a woman who is unable to take the threads to her life, calls a friend to help her and they both get taken away by their own worries. The setting is Veracruz. Actors and music are fantastic. Highly recommended!

DVD:

DVD

Mary Higgins Clark: Mystery Movie Collection [6 Discs] (REGI

DVD: Andromeda - Season 1 Collection

David Blaine – Mystifier