Out of the Past

Regarded today as one of the definitive film noir classics, Jacques Tourneur's Out of the Past was considered just another "B" movie at the time of its initial release in 1947. Jeff Bailey (Robert Mitchum), a former private eye turned California gas station owner, is "found" one day by a hood working for Whit Sterling (Kirk Douglas) and invited to drop by the boss's for a visit. Bailey is not particularly overjoyed about this reunion from out of his past: he had once been hired to find Sterling's runaway girlfriend Kathie Moffett (Jane Greer), and made the mistake of falling for the double-crossing dame--which, in turn, led to witnessing a murder, losing the girl, hanging up his gumshoes, taking on a new identity, and pumping gas. Now, as he relates the story to new flame/good girl Meta Carson (Rhonda Fleming), Bailey figures he may be on his way to an appointment with death. But Sterling has other ideas in mind for Bailey--a payback job with more twists and turns than Liz Taylor's love life. Remade by Taylor Hackford in 1984 as Against All Odds (which features Greer as the mother of her original character), Out of the Past makes its DVD debut in a reasonably sharp transfer (there appears to be some celluloid damage that produces brief wavering spots), with one extra: a sparse commentary track by film noir scholar James Ursini. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. [Note: Out of the Past is also available as part of Warner's five-disc The Film Noir Collection, along with The Asphalt Jungle, Gun Crazy, The Set-Up, and Murder, My Sweet, for the bargain price of $49.95.] (R. Pitman)[Blu-ray Review—Sept. 23, 2014—Warner, 97 min., not rated, $21.99—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 1947's Out of the Past features a beautiful transfer and a DTS-HD mono soundtrack. Extras include audio commentary by film noir scholar James Ursini. Bottom line: a film noir classic sparkles on Blu-ray.]