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

ADDITION: Flicker Alley Blu-ray (June 2023): Flicker Alley have transferred 'The Return of Two Lost Noir Classics' - The Guilty and High Tide - sharing a lone dual-layered Blu-ray. It is cited that; "Thanks to the dedication of the Film Noir Foundation, The Guilty has been restored from a 35mm nitrate composite fine-grain master by UCLA Film & Television Archive, and is now presented in this world-premiere edition." Both films are short-ish at 1-hour 11-minutes and have high bitrates. The Guilty is the star looking better after the restoration and High Tide is a shade softer but with pleasingly deep, rich, black levels. Both have texture and are without extensive damage or any marks/speckles at all. No heavy issues with the 1080P. 

NOTE: We have added 92 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Flicker Alley use linear PCM mono tracks (24-bit) in the original English language for both films. The aggressive moments are often off-screen. The score by composer for both films was Rudy Schrager (Sleep, My Love, My Man Godfrey, Fear in the Night), and the uncompressed audio is consistent and authentically flat. Flicker Alley offer optional English (SDH) subtitles on their Region FREE Blu-ray.

The Flicker Alley Blu-ray offer a commentary on both films. For The Guilty by prize-winning noir author and film studies instructor Jake Hinkson (Dry Country) and, on High Tide, by film historian and biographer Alan K. Rode (Charles McGraw: Biography of a Film Noir Tough Guy.) There are also introductions to both films by "noirchaelogist" Eddie Muller (Eddie Muller's Noir Bar: Cocktails Inspired by the World of Film Noir.) Jack Wrather: A Legacy of Film and Friendship was produced by Steven C. Smith and Alan K. Rode, featuring interviews with Chris Wrather and Gretchen (Castle) Bernfeld that runs 23-minutes about the partnership of Jack Wrather, Bonita Granville, and Don Castle. Nightmare: The Life and Films of Cornell Woolrich is an 38-minute documentary by Steven C. Smith and Eddie Muller exploring the life and work of author Cornell Woolrich. John Reinhardt: Direction Without Borders was produced by Steven C. Smith and Alan K. Rode, featuring interviews with critic Dave Kehr, film historian Maria Elena de las Carreras, former child actor Gordon Gebert, and film historian and biographer Alan K. Rode. It runs 18-minutes. Lee Tracy: The Fastest Mouth in the West is a 20-minute profile of the actor by writer and film historian Imogen Sara Smith. The package contains a 24-page 'Souvenir Booklet' containing an essay by Eddie Muller and a wealth of fabulous ephemera. The package has a second disc DVD of the features included.

Both 1947 films, The Guilty and High Tide where directed by John Reinhardt and had screenplays by Robert Presnell Sr., cinematographer Henry Sharp and both had actor Don Castle playing the male lead. More importantly both were independently produced by oil millionaire Jack Wrather who was an old roommate of the struggling thespian Castle and when they reacquainted in Los Angeles, Wrather bought the film rights for Cornell Woolrich's short story "Two Men in a Furnished Room" which served as the adapted story for The Guilty. Filming was completed in eight days and it also starred Wrather's wife Bonita Granville (Nancy Drew) in a 'dual role'. It as the twin sisters idea (good and bad) also used in Robert Siodmak's The Dark Mirror. For High Tide, Lee Tracy (Dinner at Eight) plays the editor of a newspaper who hires a former employee-turned-private-investigator (Castle) to "get the guy who got him". Both films are a lengthy flashback after the first scene. The Guilty is excellent Noir and High Tide is a good companion piece. They make a wonderful 'dark cinema' double feature. The Flicker Alley Blu-ray has the restored image, commentaries, a stack of other supplements with the crème-de-la-crème of Noiristas including an extensive booklet. A absolute must own for Noir fans.

Gary Tooze