Call Northside 777 (Fox Film Noir)

Buy This Item Call Northside 777 (Fox Film Noir)  List Price: $14.98  Available from Amazon  $13.49  on 11-27-2008     Features Actors: James Stewart, Richard Conte, Lee J. Cobb, Helen Walker, Betty Garde Directors: Henry Hathaway Format: Closed-captioned, Black & White, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC Language: English, Polish Subtitles: English, Spanish Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.) Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Number of discs: 1 Rating: Studio: 20th Century Fox DVD Release Date: March 15, 2005 Run Time: 111 minutes Average Customer Review:   38 Reviews 5 star:  (17) 4 star:  (14) 3 star:  (6) 2 star:  (1) 1 star:    (0) See all 38 customer reviews...   (38 customer reviews) Reader Reviews Once in a while the writer gets to be the hero. In Henry Hathaway's classic film noir thriller Chicago Times editor Brian Kelly (Lee J. Cobb) sends investigative reporter P. J. McNeal (Jimmy Stewart) to investigates a 1933 murder when he comes across a classified ad offering a reward for info on the case. Although skeptical at first about the innocence of convicted cop killer Frank Wiecek (Richard Conte), all the mysterious dead ends McNeal encounters convinces him that the might be something to the story. Never garnering the critical acclaim or following of other directors, Henry Hathaway ("True Grit", "Nevada Smith", "Kiss of Death") created a series of worthwhile thrillers, westerns and action films. Sadly much of Hathaway's work has been overlooked because he was viewed as little more than a workman-like film director. Although Hathaway doesn't fit into the French auteur theory that made stars of film directors like Orson Welles, John Ford, Alfred Hitchcock and Michael Powell, his films always feature strong performances, well written and intelligent scripts. "Calling Northside 777" ranks as a strong film noir based on a true story (much like Hitchcock's well regarded thriller "The Wrong Man") and many of the exteriors were shot on location a rarity at the time. This unusual film straddles the line between docudrama, Italian neorealism and film noir much like Anthony Mann's minor classic film "T-Men" (1947). The crisp, intelligent script by Jay Dratler ("Laura") and Jerome Cady ("Wing and a Prayer" sadly Cady died shortly after the film premiered) rings true with dialogue that doesn't sound dated despite the passage of nearly 60 years. A sharp, crisp looking transfer highlights "Calling Northside 777" making it another outstanding release in Fox's Film Noir Series of vintage classics. The cinematography of Joseph MacDonald with its rich use of shadows and unusual lighting schemes looks exceptionally rich with solid blacks. The mono sound doesn't suffer from hiss or any of the usual problems from a film made in the late 40's. Fox has expanded the sound a bit using an artificial stereo mix that sounds quite good. Fox has generously provided a "Fox Movietone News" for the film's premiere. Although it runs a little less than a minute this vintage peak into Hollywood's past is much appreciated. It would have been nice to have one of the A&E Biography segments on the actors involved in the production whether it be about Stewart or Lee J. Cobb. We also get the original theatrical trailer which is a blast to have and compare to the overblown theatrical trailers we have today. Finally we get film trailers for other Fox Film Noir Classic titles "House of Bamboo", "Laura", "Panic in the Streets" and "The Street with No Name". Featuring a trivia filled commentary track by film historians and authors James Ursini and Alain Silver, we learn quite a bit about the real case that inspired the film and also quite a bit about the shortcuts the producers took to dramatize the story. What's most fascinating is to note how Jimmy Stewart's performance here changes compared to the two previous films he made; "Magic Town" and "It's a Wonderful Life" weren't big hits and they were also the last two films where Stewart played on his boyish persona. Here Stewart plays a much more hard bitten cynical character with compassion at the core of his character. This persona would be put to excellent use in the films that Stewart made for Anthony Mann, Hitchcock and other directors. "Calling Northside 777" was really the first major change that Stewart made to his screen persona in some time. As the authors point out what motivated Stewart to make the change were these film failure but also the fact that Stewart was about to turn 40. This mid-life/mid-career crisis shifted Stewart into some of his most rewarding film roles of his career. A terrific and overlooked movie, "Call Northside 777" finally gets its due on this DVD. Although the extras could be a bit more generous with biographies of the main actors/production staff, the commentary track makes up for this short fall with trivia about the production of the film and the year it was made. The sharp image quality of the DVD and solid mastering make this an essential purchase for noir fans.  Comment | Permalink |  function showYesNoCommunityResponse(uId,result,value) { var msgLayer = getElement("thanks" + uId); if ( result == "SUCCESS" ) { msgLayer.innerHTML = "Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided to other Amazon.com readers and reviewers. Your vote will be counted and will appear on the product page within 24 hours."; } else { showVoteErrorResponse(msgLayer,result,value); } } (Report this)

Call Northside 777 (Fox Film Noir) List Price: $14.98 Available from Amazon Price: $13.49 Updated on 11-27-2008.

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