Blueprint For Murder / Man In the Attic

Description

Disc 1:Blueprint For Murder (B&W) (1953) Disc 2:Man in the Attic (B&W) (1953)

Customer Reviews:

FOX / MGM Do Great Job With New Midnite Movies!!! .......2007-09-13

This title including other Sept 11 07 Midnite Movies titles that are double features are both on seperate DVDs! Not Flippers! This is really good quality coming from FOX! We hope to get many more Midnite Movies including The Incredible Melting Man is a great Idea!

Film Noir Architecture at its Finest!!.......2007-07-26

While I cannot speak to the Jack Palance film, I can say that I am very enthusiastic indeed that Blueprint for Murder is FINALLY coming out in public release. This one never made it to VHS, even, and could only be gotten via bootleg copies on ebay--and happily so! This is a taut little low-budget thriller, with Jean Peters as the step-mom with ice-water in her veins and dollar signs in her eyes; and Joseph Cotten is her earnest, bumbling brother-in-law whose hormones cloud his judgment as to her dark, dark intentions--at least for a little while! Peters is just sensational, embodying a fetching femme fatale who is both seeringly voluptuous and deeply dangerous. She really steals the show here. Cotten is effective in his ineffectiveness, but he proves right in the end. While not of the caliber of Double Indemnity or Out of the Past, owing to a rather flat, stodgy pictorial style and mise en scene, the film is really story/character/actor driven, and is very engrossing. There are a lot of movies coming out under the rubric of Film Noir that are not even close to Film Noir (e.g., Daisy Kenyon) but when you call something FN it sells, I guess. Blueprint for Murder is the real deal, though. It is great to see some truly obscure ones making it to DVD. Now, how about the original version of Caught with Robert Ryan? Well, until then, enjoy Blueprint for Muder and look closely at what's inscribed on your vitamins!

Nice double feature.......2007-06-29

Here's a cool double feature. A Blueprint for Murder is a James Cotten-starring film noir that's mostly forgotten. The second feature is a period film starring Jack Palance as a creepy murder in a Jack-the-Ripper mold.

I'm glad they're finally getting around to these forgotten films...

[DVD] Double Feature starring Jack Palance - The Cop In Blue Jeans & Man In The Attic from Movie Classics

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[DVD] Double Feature starring Jack Palance - The Cop In Blue Jeans & Man In The Attic from Movie Classics

Manufacturer: Movie Classics
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video
ASIN: B0009JVVIW

Product Description

The Cop in Blue Jeans (1976) Nico Geraldi (Tomas Milian) is a tough undercover cop in the manner of Serpico. His rough and unkempt appearance belies his seriousness regarding crime and criminals. As a ring of pickpockets and thieves plagues Geraldi's city, he attempts to find the fences and criminal masterminds behind the thieves. Richard Russo (played by Jack Palance) is the crime boss. He successfully dodges the police, while he manages his criminal empire with cunning and ruthlessness. In the end, Geraldi must deal with Russo using unofficial means. Man in the Attic (1953) London, 1888: on the night of the third Jack the Ripper killing, soft-spoken Mr. Slade, a research pathologist, takes lodgings with the Harleys, including a gloomy attic room for "experiments." Mrs. Harley finds Slade odd and increasingly suspects the worst; her niece Lily (star of a decidedly Parisian stage revue) finds him interesting and increasingly attractive. Is Lily in danger, or are her mother's suspicions merely a red herring?

Average customer rating:

"He uses his knife like a doctor who's gone mad."
Jack the Ripper with Poverty Row charm; not very good but endearing because it tries so hard
Jack "The Knife" Palance...
Ripper still at large!

Man in the Attic
Starring: Jack Palance , Constance Smith , Byron Palmer , Frances Bavier , and Rhys Williams
Director: Hugo Fregonese
Manufacturer: Alpha Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Mystery | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

Classics | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

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ASIN: B000FFJYSE
Release Date: 2006-06-27

Customer Reviews:

"He uses his knife like a doctor who's gone mad.".......2006-07-28

The crimes of Jack the Ripper always make popular fodder for scriptwriters and authors--the attraction must be the heinous nature of his crimes combined with the fact that the Ripper murders were never solved. The film, "Man in the Attic" directed by Hugo Fregonese, focuses on the psychological aspects of the Ripper's crimes--rather than the gore.

When the film begins, the third Ripper murder has just taken place. All of London is in fear that the killer will strike again. A mysterious stranger named Slade (Jack Palance) arrives late at night in the fog to rent a room from a nice older couple--the Harleys (Francis Bavier and Rhys Williams). He rents a large bedroom and also takes the poky upstairs attic for his 'experiments'. He's in the room less than five minutes before he turns the paintings of various beautiful actresses over to face the wall, stating that their "eyes are following" him. Mrs. Harley is immediately suspicious, but her husband racks her fears up to "female hysteria." The fact that the family dog is keen on Slade gains the new lodger some trust.

Also living in the house is the Harleys' beautiful niece, actress Lily Bonner (Constance Smith). Her new dance show is about to open, and naturally Slade is invited to attend. Slade, who's a research pathologist, is an interesting character. He's quiet, softly spoken, and basically just wants to be left alone. He's also horribly touchy about the subject of the Ripper, and he has his own theories about the compulsion behind the crimes.

There's little dramatic tension here, and the English accents are awful. The film uses the excuse of Lily's stage career to include two full dance numbers, and they don't have much to do with the film but seem intended to give us an excuse to look at Lily prancing around half-dressed. There's nothing much new or exciting here, and the best scene occurs at the Black Museum when Slade almost faints when he sees the nooses used to execute famous murderers. Jack Palance--an actor doomed to be type-cast--makes the film worth watching--displacedhuman

Jack the Ripper with Poverty Row charm; not very good but endearing because it tries so hard.......2006-06-22

"Jack the Ripper...what a revolting, stupid name!" says Mr. Slade. He has every reason to be offended. Note that while elements of the plot are discussed, almost everything is laid out for the viewer in the film's first 15 minutes. It's 1888 and Jack has been at work off and on for several weeks. His victims are all women who have been entertainers at one time or another. Jack's knives leave messy leftovers.

Late one night with the London fog swirling around the gaslit streets, Mr. and Mrs. Harley (Rhys Williams and Frances Bavier) hear a knock on their door. It's a Mr. Slade (Jack Palance) who is answering their notice of a room to let. He not only takes the room but also their small, third floor attic. He needs it, he tells Mrs. Harley, so that he can conduct his experiments. Mr. Slade is a pathologist. He seems nice enough, the Harley's dog takes to him at once and he pays a month in advance. When he learns that the Harley's niece, Lily Bonner (Constance Smith), will be staying in the house, and that she is a showgirl on the stage, he is obviously distracted. Her act, Lily Bonner and Her Girls, is getting a lot of notice. We even get to see her do two full numbers. Prince Edward is seen clapping approvingly. But the swirling fog keeps blanketing the city, more women are found brutally cut to death, and Mr. Slade keeps returning home at very late hours. The police put every resource they can into the hunt. Queen Victoria makes it clear that no married man could be capable of such crimes and recommends that all bachelors be rounded up. The police investigation is led by Inspector Paul Warwick (Byron Palmer), a smart copper who is attracted to Lily as soon as he meets her. And it seems that Slade is attracted to Lily, too. He confesses to Lily that his unease and loneliness is due to his mother, a woman "incapable of love, only lust," who left home when he was a child. His father took ten years to drink himself to death with absinthe. "Did you ever see your mother again?" Lily asks Slade. Yes, he says. She'd become a street walker. I saw her once. We also have a sense of Slade's unbalanced torment. Often his late evenings are spent simply in lonely and unhealthy contemplation. "Sometimes I walk close by the river," he tells Lily. "The river is like liquid night flowing peacefully out to infinity." We know what's coming; there are no surprises. After a rousing night-time chase through London's damp streets, the last thing we see is the swirling waters of the Thames.

Oh, what a grade B hamfest this movie is. I mean that in a kind way because the movie is fun to watch. There are so many things wrong with it that the movie has a kind of endearing, well-intentioned amateurishness about it.

Jack Palance, young and tormented, with his small sunken eyes, prominent cheek bones, strong chin and heavy brow, does a credible job. So do Frances Bavier and Rhys Williams. But the rest of the cast...Byron Palmer as Inspector Warwick can scarcely act. He has a handsome, unformed face with a plump little mouth. The actress playing Daisy, the young maid in the Harley household, tries earnestly to do a good job. Variations of English accents come and go, and wobble around like the light from the oil lamps. "Asking" becomes "awsking" and "nasty" becomes "nawsty." The stunt double driving the horse-drawn carriage at the climax bears little resemblance to Palance. Constance Smith as Lily Bonner is not a natural singing entertainer. Her Girls are as ragged as dancers as Smith's English accent is. Some of the dialogue is so ripe it's just tasty. "You're the same as my mother," Slade shouts, "the same as all of them...mocking love and living for lust! Your beauty must be cut away!"

Why on earth buy this movie or watch it? Well, all these faults give it a kind of Poverty Row charm. The film is trying hard to be a Jack the Ripper psycho-thriller. The producers just couldn't round up the talent or the budget to come close, but they tried. It's a very close re-make, we're told, of the 1944 film, The Lodger," which starred Laird Cregar. There's also a good deal of nostalgia, in my opinion, around many of the old programmers from the Forties and early Fifties. Sure, this is a movie to watch while folding the laundry or paying bills. The price is right, so why not?

The DVD picture looks fine. There are no extras of any significance.

Jack "The Knife" Palance... .......2005-10-17

A mysterious pathologist named Slade (Jack Palance) takes a room in a boarding house in London, run by a woman (Frances "Aunt B" Bavier) and her husband. Of course, this happens during the infamous Jack The Ripper murder spree, which adds menace and suspicion to the proceedings. Slade not only takes a room, but also works on secret projects in the attic! He comes and goes like a shadow and stays out all night "working". Could he be the Ripper? Scotland Yard is stumped and 5,000 cops can't catch the fiend. Is he right under their collective noses? Palance is restrained and enigmatic as Slade. He is like a seething predator under a cloak of calm. I liked him in this. The story isn't historically correct, but is enjoyable enough for late night viewing...

Ripper still at large!.......2004-08-15

THE MAN IN THE ATTIC was the fourth film based on Marie Belloc-Lowndes' 1912 novel "The Lodger," a fictionalized account of Jack the Ripper. Alfred Hitchcock filmed it first as a silent and years later as a sound film, and English director Maurice Elvey surveyed it once in 1932.
This 1953 version, by Argentinean director Hugo Fregonese, is pure Hollywood hokum. The actors, who are supposed to be Victorian Londoners, sound more East St. Louis than East Side. The murders bear only the most superficial similarities to Ripper murders. In other words, the two that occur during film time occur in Whitechapel and the victims are women. Worst (if you're into historical accuracy), or best (if you're into entertainment value), are the two musical production numbers, which are pure 50's-era Hollywood schmaltz. The songs, "You're in Love" and "The Parisian Trot," were written by musical director Lionel Newman, whose score adds its weight in gold to the tense atmosphere.
Jack Palance stars as the mysterious young man who arrives late one night to rent rooms from an eccentric older couple. Palance plays Slade, a young pathologist who craves solitude, comes and goes at the oddest hours, and generally behaves in a manner that has everyone wondering where he was when the latest Whitechapel murder occurred. With his high, bony cheekbones and narrow, deep set eyes underneath a brooding brow the young Palance is able to convey sinister menace without softly hissing a line of dialogue. It's a good thing, too, considering the fluff he's surrounded with. The prettiest fluff sticks to young Constance Smith, a transcendentally naïve young woman, the daughter of Slade's landlord and a music hall star who at one point through a continental bump and grind at Prince Albert.
THE MAN IN THE ATTIC is too silly to be much of a thriller, although it does have its moments of high tension.

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Man In The Attic
Starring: Jack Palance; Constance Ginth; Byron Palmar; Frances Bavier; Rhys Williams; Sean McClory; Leslie Bradley
Director: Hugo Fregonese
Manufacturer: Reel Enterprises
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

DVDs Under $9.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B000PC72NG
Release Date: 2007-04-13

Average customer rating:

"He uses his knife like a doctor who's gone mad."
Jack the Ripper with Poverty Row charm; not very good but endearing because it tries so hard
Jack "The Knife" Palance...
Ripper still at large!

Man in the Attic
Starring: Jack Palance , Constance Smith , Byron Palmer , Frances Bavier , and Rhys Williams
Director: Hugo Fregonese
Manufacturer: Vci Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Classics | Genres | DVD | Video

Suspense | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

Mystery | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

Classics | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

4-for-3 All DVDs | 4-for-3 DVD | Stores | DVD | Video

( M ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B0001OGV26
Release Date: 2004-04-27

Description

MAN IN THE ATTIC is the third adaptation of the psychological thriller, THE LODGER written by novelist Marie Belloc Lowndes in 1912. A young Jack Palance gives an outstanding rendition as the sinister-looking, secretive soft-spoken pathologist named Slade. His character plays a Jack the Ripper type and rents out a gloomy attic in the heart of London where he conducts odd experiments. All of the sudden, several women are turning up dead, all of them showgirls. The landlady suspects her lodger and is afraid for her dancer daughter, Lilly (Constance Smith). Bonus Features: Animated Menus| Chapter Selection| Photo Gallery Specs: DVD5; Dolby Digital Mono; 82 minutes; B&W; 1.33:1 Aspect Ratio; MPAA - NR; Year - 1953; SRP - $9.99.

Customer Reviews:

"He uses his knife like a doctor who's gone mad.".......2006-07-28

Jack the Ripper with Poverty Row charm; not very good but endearing because it tries so hard.......2006-06-22

Jack "The Knife" Palance... .......2005-10-17

Ripper still at large!.......2004-08-15

Man in the Attic / Juggernaut / House of Mystery / Bloodlust / the Rapist / Devil's Express / I Eat Your Skin / the Sadist / Mesa of Lost Women / Horrors of Spider Island [[[10 HORROR CLASSIC MOVIES]]]

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Man in the Attic / Juggernaut / House of Mystery / Bloodlust / the Rapist / Devil's Express / I Eat Your Skin / the Sadist / Mesa of Lost Women / Horrors of Spider Island [[[10 HORROR CLASSIC MOVIES]]]

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Man In The Attic

Manufacturer: Synergy Ent
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Horror | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $9.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B000VSMUOA
Release Date: 2007-09-06

amazon.com

A quiet pathologist rents out the attic apartment of a family in Victorian London. A series of murders involving showgirls has gripped the community and the landlady has her suspicions about the boarder. In the meantime, the family's daughter, herself a leading performer in a Parisian-style revue, becomes enamored with the shy pathologist

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