Classic
Film Noir Volume 3: The Amazing Mr. X
(1948)/Reign
Of Terror
(1949/VCI
DVD)
Picture: C Sound: C Extras:
C+ Films: C+
PLEASE
NOTE:
Amazing
Mr. X
has been issued (13 years later!) on Blu-ray by Film Detective and
you can read more about it at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/15999/Amazing+Mr.+X+(1948/Film+Detective+Blu-ray)/D
VCI
continues to dig up B-movie Film Noirs produced by smaller companies
and put them out on DVD, this time picking two films shot by the
great cinematographer John Alton (A.S.C.): The
Amazing Mr. X
(a.k.a. The
Spiritualist)
and period piece Reign
Of Terror.
They are unusual in that the first wants to suggest the supernatural
world in any way, fraud or not, while the latter is more a Noir
period work than actual Film Noir, but both as still key films to
have available.
Richard
Carlson is one of the few familiar faces in X
and the film has some good moments, but it does eventually become a
simple revenge/blackmail flick with some fancy decoration. Reign
(a.k.a. The
Black Book)
is set in the French Revolution and that is a dark time, but does not
have the dark things to say and show Noirs are known for. Still,
thanks to Alton, longtime directing partner Anthony Mann and a cast
including Robert Cummings, Richard Basehart and Arlene Dahl, the film
is more watchable than expected and that makes this set a nice
surprise.
The
1.33 X 1 black and white image in both cases comes from older
material that can look very dated and worn, but VCI has done their
best to fix up what they had. Alton's work even comes through in the
substandard moments. The lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is also very
dated and both films show their age, but VCI did try to clean these
up. Extras include stills for both films, three trailers for other
Noirs, Jay Fenton Commentary on X,
an essay by Fenton on a paper pullout in the case and Alan
Rade/Arlene Dahl commentary on Reign.
- Nicholas Sheffo
