The Black Book

Movie is a great story but quality of film is poor due to age of film. You have to take the good with the bad

This completely unorthodox, unusual film, demonstrates that in the hands of brilliant talent even seemingly screwy ideas can be realized into marvelous entertainment and even art. Anthony Mann and his cinematographer, John Alton, took all the trappings of film noir and made a period piece about the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution and, on an obviously very slim budget, created a fast paced, exciting, thriller. It rips along with incredible tension and atmosphere created by a fine cast and the skill of the two aforementioned gentlemen. The limits in scope due to budget contraints, is more than made up for by the film noir elements: all light and shadow, camera angles and focus. And it works marvelously, the deep blacks and slanted light fitting perfectly for the mood of terror for the eponymous era.The cast is uniformly excellent, with Richard Basehart a nicely fanatical Robespiere, Arlene Dahl stunningly gorgeous, a stalwart Bob Cummings, and most especially Arnold Moss, as a slyly duplicitous Foucher. Other fine performers are here in small rolls: Norman Lloyd, Buleah Bondi, Charles McGraw etc. There is enough actual history to ground the fictional melodrama in reality, and the violence and fear of the era is certainly captured.This fine, strange film has finally gotten an acceptable transfer in this Sony addition. The prior DVD release of this title, as many have pointed out, was atrocious. This version is a vast improvement. Slightly grainy at times on BluRay player/big screen but perfectly viewable. And unless they create a BluRay version, this is likely the best we're going to get. I would give it 4 stars for the limitations of the film, but I give it 5 here because Mann and Alton did so much with so little, and it is like no other film you're likely to see.

After reading disgruntled reviews of two other DVDs of this classic film, I decided to take a chance on one that had not been reviewed. While the intensity of the excellent acting holds interest, and the atmosphere, start to finish, is suitably jarring, suggestive of that particularly horrific period in French history, black-out breaks in the action (original to the film, or the result of splicing and editing--hard to tell which)detract from the presentation a bit. In the climatic conclusion, when the arch villain gets his comeuppance, we see him addressing the angry mob, hoping to bluff his way out of the situation. In the complete version, Robespierre is shown getting shot in the throat, but in this cut, in an instant, he goes from speech to speechless, a bandage wrapped about his neck sans visual explanation. If I had not seen the full scene on a TV broadcast, I would not have known what happened. Still, the image is easy on the eyes. Facial expressions and other details are clear and readable. Overall, a good effort to preserve all of the elements of the original film.Jim O'DellCamarillo, CA

This movie is a masterpiece of black and white compositions. Given that, you want to avoid the inferior Alpha Video release, which has an overly-contrasty and off-center picture and buzzy sound, and try to get the Sony release, which is lovely in every way. Bob Cummings, usually a light comic actor, does a fine job as the driven adventurer hero; Arlene Dahl is lovely and mysterious; and Richard Basehart is great as Robespierre, whose "black book" of enemies destined for the guillotine is the McGuffin everyone's looking for. But the real star here is director Anthony Mann, whose black-and-white compositions are clever and striking--one wonders if William Cameron Menzies, who's credited as producer, had some say in the look of the film. Also known as "Reign of Terror".

Why this cinema gem, "The Black Book" (aka Reign of Terror 1949) has been hidden so long from general circulation is disturbing. I can only reason that its director, Anthony Mann, is on someone's black list, or they're afraid it would dislodge "Citizen Kane" from its ranking. Never mind these postulations, buy this title and be amazed what others have said, this is a historical adventure film of the highest order shot in unmatched blacks, whites and silvers. This is high drama recorded as fine art in each frame. The plot contains unsurpassed intrigue and betrayals to restore freedom to France in her darkest moment. The cast is superb: Robert Cummings, Arlene Dahl, Richard Basehart (Robespierre) and the most duplicitous, cunning fiend in this film, Arnold Moss(evil Foucher)with Norman Lloyd, Charles McGraw (well-disguised) and Beulah Bondi in supporting parts. This is an incredible, suspenseful adventure story with a touch of romance that burns dimly at first, later to thrive. This is absolutely thrilling high art. See and believe.

This is the second "Restored in High Definition" DVD I have purchased from Film Chest. It will be the last. The picture quality is poor and the audio quality worse. There are times you cannot understand what is being said. The film itself is well worth watching if only because of its unique story. I will not bore you with the plot details since you are likely aware of the plot. Considering the limited budget the behind-the-scenes creative team and the cast are to be commended for giving us a unique story well-told. I have given this DVD version of the film a 1-star rating because, like many of you, I am tired of companies pawning poor-quality transfers with what, in my opinion, are misleading claims. Also, Amazon does not permit 0-star ratings. Since reviewing the Film chest "restoration" of The Black Book I have received and viewed the SPE release of The Black Book that can be found here  The Black Book  . The SPE transfer is the ONLY version of this film worth buying. It is vastly superior to any other copy of this film I have viewed. Unless someone decides to release a Blu-ray version, the SPE is likely going to be the best we ever seee of The Black Book.

If you appreciate film noir and, in particular, the distinctive camera work of John Alton, for me this was an undiscovered gem. There is not a mis-step in the entire movie and I'm surprised The Black Book (aka Reign Of Terror) does not appear in greatest movies lists but, as I said, it's an undiscovered gem. It's not quite Citizen Kane but it comes very close!This movie is now available on Blu-ray in the Noir Archive Volume 1 but, if like me, you don't need the other minor noirs in Volume 1, this Sony DVD is from the same master and looks and sounds great. Get it while you can!!

It must be quite a thrill, making out your death list every night.The Black Book (AKA: Reign of Terror) is directed by Anthony Mann and written by Aeneas MacKenzie and Phillip Yordan. It stars Robert Cummings, Richard Basehart, Richard Hart, Arlene Dahl, Charles McGraw and Arnold Moss. Sol Kaplan scores the music and John Alton is the cinematographer.Late 18th century France and the republic is in chaos as the French Revolution continues to rage. Scheming bad boy Maximillian Robespierre (Basehart) spies an opportunity for a dictatorship, within 48 hours he will seize control and rule France with a rod of iron. But there is hope in the form of a resistance freedom fighter named Charles D'Aubigny (Cummings), if only he can locate the secret Black Book belonging to Robespire then he can curtail the tyrant's plan.Before he would make his name in Adult Westerns and Period Epics, Anthony Mann made a considerable mark on film noir. From the mid 1940's to the beginning of the 50's, he made a number of film noir movies that marked him out as a considerable talent. Of that cluster the most odd one is The Black Book, an historical period thriller done out in film noir clobber. Forget history and approach the film as a piece of entertainment only, a film rich in film noir visuals and no small amount of quality drama. It has problems, namely it has a fakeness about it that's hard to shake off, while Cummings is weak and Dahl serves only to be a plot point in the final reel. But Alton and Mann's stunning sense of mood and visual atmospherics save the day, while there's value to be had in the performances of Basehart (dastardly), McGraw (menacing) and Moss (slimey). 7/10Footnote: Sadly the only DVD available for the film is an appalling transfer, both in picture and sound. It's advised to watch it during day light hours and with the headphones on.

Sony's MOD dvd is a must own for fans of classic cinema. Directed by Anthony Mann & shot by frequent collaborator (legendary director of photography John Alton) this unusual film continues to shine.On paper it really shouldn't work. A period film noir, taking place during the French Revolution? But it does, largely thanks to the taut direction of Mann and John Alton's camera, which literally thrusts the action at the screen.Another factor in its favour are the uniformly excellent performances including an almost unrecognisable Richard Basehart as Maximilian Robespierre (wonderful as the creepy cop killer in Manns ' He Walked By Night [DVD] [1948] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC ]' shot the previous year) and Arnold Moss as the slithery Fouché. Great character performers also feature in the cast, including gravel voiced Charles McGraw and Norman Lloyd (ex-Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre.)While some UK viewers may find the US accents grate (for a period film taking place in France) once the movie starts at a cracking pace, you'll soon forget and get swept up in the drama. While it's available in other editions, this Sony MOD edition is the one to own. Just waiting for someone to produce a definitive blu-ray edition.... He Walked By Night [DVD] [1948] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC

This is one of those public domain driven copies obviously made from horrendous sources. It looks like a well-worn and damaged 16mm television print badly telecined (the framing is clearly askew) and then copied to VHS (?) and this copy is made from that. Blurry, bumpy and scratchy, terrible sound. The movie is hard to find but this may not be the copy you would want to invest in.

Good