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

ADDITION: Imprint Blu-ray (December 2023): Imprint have transferred four films fro their Essential Film Noir Five Blu-ray package. The films are: Island Of Doomed Men (1940) with Peter Lorre, the 1949, anti-communist film, The Red Menace, The Burglar from 1957, with Dan Duryea and Jayne Mansfield plus, lastly, 13 West Street (1962) with Alan Ladd and Rod Steiger. The Red Menace is cited as being from "a 4K Scan of the 35mm Nitrate Original Negative". We have compared, below, this to Olive Film's 2014 bare-bones Blu-ray release of The Red Menace, reviewed HERE. We have also compared The Burglar to the Columbia's 2012 DVD set Film Noir Classics III, reviewed HERE.

Each of 1080P with high bitrates. Being the oldest, Island Of Doomed Men, has softness, but can inconsistently shows decent grain textures and stronger contrast on the outdoor sequences. It handles the darkness adeptly. It looks okay - not stellar. This new transfer of The Red Menace is a step above the older Olive quality with slightly riche black levels giving the perception of a sharper image. This is an improvement - albeit a small-ish one. The Burglar is also superior to the previous digital image (in this case a DVD.) It really show extensive grain and decently balanced contrast. 13 West Street is also pleasing with both texture and instances of depth. There are some vertical scratches - but rare and the overall HD presentation was appreciation (Alan Ladd!)  

NOTE: We have added 180 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Imprint use a linear PCM dual-mono tracks (24-bit) in the original English language for all four films. There is violence from torturous beatings in Island Of Doomed Men and speeding cars, and swarming in 13 West Street. It is mostly flat with modest bass. The score on Island Of Doomed Men was credited to Gerard Carbonara (King of Chinatown, Among the Living, Union Pacific, The Monster and the Girl, Dr. Cyclops, Abilene Town) and of course the classic piano being played by Lorraine (Rochelle Hudson). On The Red Menace by Nathan Scott (Hoodlum Empire, Driftwood, Singing Guns, Wake of the Red Witch.) On The Burglar, the score was by Sol Kaplan (711 Ocean Drive, Trapped, Deadline USA, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, Seven Wonders of the World, Niagara, The House on Telegraph Hill) and while Gladden (Jayne Mansfield) and Charlie (Stewart Bradley) dance at the club in Atlantic City, You Are Mine is sung by Vince Carson. On 13 West Street the score was by George Duning (Two Rode Together, The Eddy Duchin Story, 3:10 to Yuma, Jeanne Eagels, The Shadow on the Window, My Sister Eileen, The Mob, Affair in Trinidad, Tight Spot, Johnny O'Clock, The Dark Past, Convicted, Zombies of Mora Tau, and Between Midnight and Dawn etc.) I had no strong issues with the audio transfers - all clean and consistent, and the scores supportive. Imprint offer optional English (SDH) subtitles on their Region FREE Blu-ray.

The Imprint Blu-ray package offers almost of its extras on The Red Menace Blu-ray starting with a new audio commentary by film historian Samm Deighan where she immediately identifies it as a low-budget 'B' movie. While advertised as a thriller it really focuses on the grassroots of a conspiracy. She talks about Poverty Row and Republic Pictures and their 'set genres', cliffhanger serials, mysteries, thrillers and 'film-noir adjacent' content. The Red Menace would fit the latter. She talks about paranoia, censorship the McCarthy era and much more also seeing sexism in the description of the characters. It's quite interesting hearing her take on The Red Menace. Also included is Hollywood on Trial - a 1976 documentary directed by David Helpern. It runs 1 3/4 hours and analyzes the dark period in Hollywood's history - the 'Red Scare' of the 1940's and 50's. Actors, writers and directors were persecuted and investigated by the House of Un-American Activities Committee - suspected of committing unpatriotic acts or maintaining sympathy for the communistic party through their work. Also added as a supplement is John Berry's 1950, 1/4 hour short entitled "The Hollywood Ten". Berry was named a communist by fellow director and former party member Edward Dmytryk, and was unable to find work again in Hollywood after 1951, and eventually left for France. It provides an overview of The Hollywood Ten, charged with contempt of court after challenging the House of Anti-American Activities. It features Alvah Bessie, Herbert J. Biberman, Lester Cole, Edward Dmytryk, Ring Lardner Jr., John Howard Lawson, Albert Maltz, Samuel Ornitz, Adrian Scott and Dalton Trumbo. Shamefully enlightening. There is a brief introduction by Martin Scorsese for The Burglars (same as on Columbia's old DVD) and a trailer. 13 West Street only has a trailer. There is no booklet but the four transparent cases are in a hard case - limited to 1500 copies. 

I had never seen Island Of Doomed Men with Peter Lorre as a psychopathic tyrant, but I was expecting similar to Anna May Wong's Island of Lost Men - exotic location with evil-doings but it is hardly noir. The anti-communist propaganda film The Red Menace remains a fascinating time capsule and has thriller and nourish elements. Take away?: Cute gals might turn you into a Commie! The Burglar was quite interesting with Dan Duryea as a conflicted jewel thief and Jayne Mansfield as his, frequently rejected love interest. Yes, it's natural to suspect he has a mental-health issue. The Burglar has a keen heist and happenstance characters - including a corrupt cop and femme fatale - all connected to a necklace swiped from a phony spiritualist. It was written by David Goodis (Dark Passage, Nightfall, Street of No Return.) Lastly, I really liked 13 West Street which seemed like a timeless plot where poor Alan Ladd is a victim of a "swarming" attack by spoiled Los Angeles teens one late night. Without much help from the Detective (Rod Steiger) he develops an unhealthy obsession with finding them - especially after they return to scare his lovely wife (played by Dolores Dorn - Underworld U.S.A.) and give him a second beating. So there was some social commentary but Ladd (playing rocket engineer Walt Sherrill) revenge-focused is definitely worth a spin for his fans. Imprint's Essential Film Noir Five Blu-ray package is a decent one with the Duryea / Mansfield bona-fide Noir and Alan Ladd taking on some ruthless teens. Gimmee more. Light on extras but still has a Deighan commentary and two educational documentaries. Yes, I will be keeping in the 're-watchables' section. 

Gary Tooze