The Indicator Blu-ray set  Universal Noir #2 with Singapore is compared HERE

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Kino Blu-ray (May 2022): Kino have transferred three films for their sixth edition of Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema series to Blu-ray. This has Singapore (1947), Johnny Stool Pigeon (1949) and The Raging Tide (1951). They are cited as being from "Brand New 2K Masters". They are on single-layered discs, in 1080P, and generally look very pleasing with rich texture - the only drawback were the frequent speckles on much of, the thicker looking, Johnny Stool Pigeon. They exist on all three transfers but the contrast is on the impressive-side. Singapore and The Raging Tide often show depth. I really didn't have any big concerns.

NOTE: We have added 144 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-rays, Kino use a DTS-HD Master dual-mono tracks (24-bit) in the original English language - for each film. There is sporadic violence throughout - but it is generally tame with hardly any guns firing - just a lot of pointing it as a threat. There is minor bass response but everything is authentically flat. The wonderful score for Singapore is by Daniele Amfitheatrof (The Capture, An Act of Murder, The Last Hunt, I'll Be Seeing You, Edge of Eternity, The Lost Moment, The Desperate Hours, Human Desire, Letter From An Unknown Woman.) In Singapore there is uncredited music by Nacio Herb Brown - Temptation - used throughout the movie as a leitmotif for Ava Gardner's character Linda Grahame. On Johnny Stool Pigeon the music is credited to Milton Schwarzwald (Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town, Bud Abbott Lou Costello Meet the Killer Boris Karloff) and on The Raging Tide we get a score by Frank Skinner (Back Street, The Sleeping City, The World in His Arms, Arabian Nights, The Lady Gambles, The Appaloosa, Madame X, Magnificent Obsession, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, All That Heaven Allows, Thunder Bay, and The Naked City) with Warf and fishing boat sounds as part of the film. Kino offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

The Kino Blu-ray package offers a new commentary for each of the three films. On Singapore the commentary is by film historians Kat Ellinger and Lee Gambin who immediately talk about the rich complex musical score by Daniele Amfitheatrof and discuss the careers of Fred MacMurray and Ava Gardner - their contributions to the dark cinema cycle, the director John Brahm - his films The Lodger, Hangover Square and some his prodigious TV work (The Twilight Zone etc.) with the film leaning more to an exotic romance with some noirish conventions. It's wonderful. The commentary on Johnny Stool Pigeon is by film scholar Jason A. Ney - he breaks down the significance of specific scenes, where the film fits into the careers of Howard Duff, Shelley Winters and Dan Duryea as well as the director William Castle. He identifies various shooting locations, films shot via the 'Treasury Department' milieu and why Universal turned out so many of these crime-drama films in the 40s and 50s. He quotes from Philippa Gates' book Detecting Men: Masculinity and the Hollywood Detective Film. On The Raging Tide the commentary is by David Del Valle (author of Lost Horizons Beneath the Hollywood Sign) and producer Miles Hunter who discuss how the best scene of the film occurs right at the beginning - as per many film noir titles. They talk about the great cast of Shelley Winters, Richard Conte, Stephen McNally, Charles Bickford - the director George Sherman, the Ernest K. Gann novel and screenplay plus much more. David is becoming one of my favorite commentarists. There are also trailers for Singapore and The Raging Tide.

I really enjoyed all three films; 'Singapore', 'Johnny Stool Pigeon' and 'The Raging Tide' although the first is more of a mysterious romance in an exotic locale and less 'dark cinema' themes. The trio of films have plots involving amnesia, unrequited love, smuggling, convicts, evading the law, a quasi Police procedural and, ultimately, redemption. Two of the film have Shelley Winters - less of a femme fatal than an weary, loyal, girlfriend trapped by circumstance. I loved Charles Bickford in The Raging Tide (cinematography my Russell Metty!) and Dan Duryea in Johnny Stool Pigeon. These are all good! We can see that the Kino are continuing with even more Dark Side of Cinema sets on Blu-ray... and we are very appreciative. The commentaries are all edifying and a solid bonus to the package. This is absolutely recommended!

Gary Tooze