Film Noir Classic Collection, Vol. 3

James Ellroy spells out the central theme of noir at the start of Bringing Darkness to Light, the first-rate documentary that is included in Warner's latest box set of dames, cigarette smoke, and trenchcoats: "You're fucked." I couldn't say it better. I'm sure folks can argue back and forth as to which titles should have been included in this collection but, as mixed bags go, this one shakes out pretty well. Things start off well with action ace Anthony Mann's Border Incident, a film that has actually come back into topicality with its grim recounting of the situation facing illegal migrant workers coming into the U.S. from Mexico. Ricardo Montalban effectively erases any thoughts of Corinthian leather with his impassioned performance as an undercover federale and Mann's gifts for taught suspense are plenty evident in a bravura finale set in the rocks and crevasses along the Southern border.

Another highlight of the set is Nicholas Ray's On Dangerous Ground. While I have to admit I've really been waiting for Ray's first noir, They Live By Night to turn up on DVD, this will do as consolation for now. Robert Ryan's performance as a brutal cop who falls for a blind waif (Ida Lupino) drives this rough-as-rocks police procedural.

His Kind of Woman is interesting for its mash-up of completely different tones. On the one hand, it's full of sadistic violence and shady characters, but on the other, there's a great deal of playful entendre between stars Robert Mitchum, Jane Russell and (in a comic turn) Vincent Price that completely changes the nature of the movie whenever the veteran frightmaster turns up as a hammy forties male movie diva. Amazingly, though, this actually all works and manages to hold together.

Mitchum and Ryan team up for The Racket and, while this combo of two noir icons should have really set the screen on fire, the result is the weakest film in the set. This could have been a film that did in the '50s what Michael Mann's Heat did in the '90s when it paired De Niro and Pacino against each other, but The Racket is saddled with pedestrian direction and the feeling of a very meddlesome hand from the studio.

A welcome inclusion in the set is Robert Montgomery's film of Raymond Chandler's "The Lady In the Lake." This film is best remembered for its gimmick of being shot almost entirely from the point-of-view of the Philip Marlowe character (there are a few moments in which Montgomery, playing Chandler, directly addresses the camera). This is a feast for noir gourmands with untrustworthy dames, knockout punches, and some of the strongest violence seen in the era of the production code (one tracking shot that grimly concludes in a shower is still shocking today).

Commentaries are included on each disc and most have trailers. The bulk of the extras, for those who buy the set, are included on a sixth disc that includes a number of MGM's "Crime Doesn't Pay" short subjects. Some of these are very well executed and feature early work by some interesting directors (notably Fred Zinneman and Joseph Losey). Their inclusion in the set is a nice touch. -- Christopher Hyatt