Film Noir Releases in May 2018

If you’re new to my monthly Film Noir Releases posts, welcome! My goal is to cover all the first-time releases to Blu-ray and DVD, usually passing over reissues unless there’s a good reason to include them. (I also tend to leave out more recent films from the last several years.) Unless otherwise noted, the following are all North American Region A Blu-ray discs. I often use the terms “film noir” and “neo-noir” rather loosely, so while you may quibble with some of my choices, I hope these are films you’ll at least consider. As always, if you know of any film noir or neo-noir films I’ve left out, please let me know in the comments below. And thanks for reading.

Just a few weeks ago, things looked pretty bleak for May releases, but several new titles have been announced in the last few days. More may be on the way; if so, I’ll be sure to update the post. But what we have so far looks pretty interesting… Let’s have a look:

Noirvember 2017, Episode 16: The Dark Mirror (1946)

The Dark Mirror (1946) Robert Siodmak
Olive Blu-ray (1:25)

Watching The Dark Mirror in 1946 was undoubtedly a fascinating experience. First of all you had Olivia de Havilland performing wonderfully as twin sisters, a Nunnally Johnson screenplay, cinematographer Milton R. Krasner, music by Dimitri Tiomkin and, of course, Robert Siodmak directing. Over 70 years later, the film’s impact is far less than it was in 1946, but this has less to do with the people who made the film than our understanding of psychology.

Noirvember 2017, Episode 13: Cry Vengeance (1954)

Cry Vengeance (1954) Mark Stevens
Olive Blu-ray (1:23)

San Francisco Detective Vic Barron (Mark Stevens) was so close to bringing down a gang connected to organized crime… In fact, he was too close: the mob bombed his car in an attempt to make him disappear. Barron survived with a disfigured face, but his wife and child were killed in the blast.

Now, after serving three years in prison, a set-up for a crime he didn’t commit, Barron follows a lead to Ketchikan, Alaska, out to find the man who bombed his family. Along the way, Barron encounters a psycho mob footman named Roxey (Skip Homeier) and maybe more problems than he can handle.

Noirvember 2017, Episode 5: City That Never Sleeps (1953)

City That Never Sleeps (1953) John H. Auer
Olive Blu-ray (1:30)

“Come here, Johnny”

“I’ve been there…”

Movies Watched in May 2017 Part II

Missed Part I? Here it is. Now let’s explore some more films:

Movies and TV Watched in September 2016

September was a bear. Not only was it your typical frantic/insane atmosphere around here, we also suffered an unexpected death in the family, so the number of films watched is far below normal. I also completed one TV series in September and made significant progress on two more. Although some of my entries are very abbreviated, here’s what I watched in September:

Film Noir Releases in July 2016

While July seems a pretty light month, this might be a good time to catch your breath and recover from June, which is turning out to be quite a month for film noir. Unless indicated otherwise, the following releases are Blu-ray, Region A.

Two British Noir Movies

Just a short look today at two British film noir movies:

Film Noir Releases in June 2016

Just a quick word or two about these new releases. I hope you find these monthly lists helpful. If you’ve been following these posts for awhile, you know that some months are pretty slim and others are exploding (like this month). Although I could include releases from many other countries, I’m going to limit myself primarily to those released in the U.S., UK, and France. I know the European discs will (usually) only work for those with a region-free player, but I hope some of these releases will cause you to consider a region-free device. If you know of any releases of interest outside of these three countries, please feel free to add them in the comments section. Thanks, and thanks for reading.

Now, gear yourself up for an amazing June:

Movies Watched in April 2016 Part II

Moving right along, picking up where Part I left off: