John Alton Film Noir Collection (T-Men / Raw Deal / He Walked by Night) - The ClassicFlix Restorations on Blu-ray

Cinematographer John Alton’s work was nothing short of “groundbreaking.” Working for the poverty row studios, such as Republic and Eagle-Lion in the late 40s, Alton’s camera work proved as important as or even more critical than the director in creating the mood now known as film noir. Working with directors Anthony Mann and Alfred Werker with low budgets and quick schedules in these films, Alton helped create a genre and is revered even today.In the film noir style, the low-key acting is matched by low-key lighting. Key to the noir mood and tension, Alton's lighting expresses surprising depth.He Walked by Night is a procedural manhunt film that could have too bland or pedestrian with Alton’s contribution. I appreciate T-Men more for its grittier portrayals but the richest, darkest and best of Alton's 1948 crop is Raw Deal.The acting is superb in these low-budget gems as well. Dennis O’Keefe, star of both T-Men and Raw Deal was an outstanding tough guy/good guy and He Walked by Night’s Richard Basehart, known for his Shakespearean voice, went on to become an acting legend.Outside of this collection, fans should check out Alton’s work with director Vincente Minnelli and on The Big Combo and Elmer Gantry.Finally, the black and white resolution on these restorations is outstanding. However, the features on these 2 discs are non-existent. Some background material, expert commentary and other special features would have completed this collection nicely.

I watched the 2005 Dvd version of Raw Deal yesterday while I was ripping the Blu-ray to a hard drive in MKV. Tonight I put this on and the improvement in quality was incredible! We all know the jump from Dvd to Blu-ray is usually worth a notch or two in improvement but this big of a jump is due to the outstanding restoration work done on this film.

The films are all great examples of the American Film Noir. T-Men is a great yarn about how two Treasury Agents track down counterfeiters. He Walks At Night is another 'procedural' story about LA Police tracking down an ingenious, psychotic criminal thief. Raw Deal wraps its narrative structure around the narration of one of its two femme fatales. In all, three fantastic examples of classic film noir story tropes with strong direction and masterful photography.One thing to note is that this 3-in-1 package has the films only. Very good transfers, but no 'extras,' as found on the individual discs from the same publisher. You can save about 75% if you are only interested in good prints. For the commentaries and features, you need to purchase the individual discs. In all honesty, I found the prints and films so good that I will buy the individual discs in the very near future.

Hopefully you are buying this because of John Alton!This is the best available representation of his work which is very best Film Noir cinematography.Absolutely stunning imagery that will make you smile and occasionally sigh.

Some of the film Noir movies from the 40's in America were enhanced by the inventive black and white cinematography of John Alton.This 3 film collection contains some of his most well known movies.Although T-Men and Raw Deal directed by Anthony Mann were more well know, I foundHe Walked by Night more intense and well written and directed.

While this is an utterly no-frills package (not even page for selecting individual chapters, although there are chapter stops) it's the right price for these nicely shot, beautifully restored and honestly mediocre films. He Walked By Night is the best of the three, although having seen it a number times, I still have no idea what the motivation is for Richard Basehart's killing spree. Raw Deal is something like Cry Danger, but not nearly as good and T-Men is like a beautifully lit episode of Dragnet.They're all fun, and there are much worse noir films but there's only so much you can do with dramatic lighting. Definately worth it at this price but not top tier like Out Of The Past.

In the annals of film noir, the collaborations of the cinematographer John Alton and the director Anthony Mann are legendary: T-MEN and RAW DEAL represent high points for these artists. The films in this package have been handled with care, but not with the full-scale restoration which has to come with the accompaniment of pristine source materials. Here, the original source materials are as good as possible, but there are still slight flaws. Still, this is a fine package, and the addition of HE WALKS BY NIGHT (credited as directed by Alfred Werker, but understood as having had Anthony Mann come in to help finish the film; again, the cinematographer was John Alton) makes another reason to pick up this package.

The films all come on one disc. The quality of the movie’s restorations are excellent; it captures John Alton’s subversive lighting and camera angles very well. Overall I cannot recommend enough for those who love Film Noir. I do wish that they had opted for a second disc with all the special features from the special editions of three solo films released by ClassicFlix. It would have been nice to have the background info from those features as well as the written essays that come in the booklets with the special editions. However the movies are what count and the quality is excellent.

Three great movies with excellent quility image transfers. Very impressed. If you're going to base a series on John Alton (one of the great cinematographers, and an icon of the noire era) then great picture quality is a must, and this bluray delivers. Unfortunately, while T-Men, and Raw Deal have excellent sound and picture, there was consistent and distracting audio distortion on He Walked by Night.Never-the-less I am very happy with the purchase.