Black Widow (Fox Film Noir)
List Price:
Our Price: $4.88
You Save: $10.10 (67%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD Cover Information
Actor: Harry Carter, Mabel Albertson, Peggy Ann Garner, Reginald Gardiner, Richard H. CuttingBrand: ROGERS,GINGER
Cinematographer: Charles G. Clarke
Composer: Leigh Harline
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 4.1; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.55:1
Running Time: 95 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-03-11
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Movie Reviews of Black Widow (Fox Film Noir)
Movie Review: fun semi-noir murder mystery
Summary: 4 Stars
Not exactly a noir, more like a murder-mystery twist on "All About Eve", Nunnally Johnson's BLACK WIDOW--strikingly filmed in CinemaScope and Deluxe Color--is an absorbing and highly entertaining little movie.
Would-be writer Nancy Ordway (Peggy Ann Garner) arrives in New York and proceeds to take advantage of anyone with a spare room and a smile. The latest 'victim' in Nancy's quest to take on the big city is Broadway producer Peter Denver (Van Heflin), whilst his wife Iris (Gene Tierney) is out of town tending to her sick mother. Could Nancy possibly use the Denver apartment during the daytime to help her in writing? Peter has no problem with that arrangement...until the day he arrives home to find Nancy hanging from the rafters.
What starts out as a simple cut-and-dry suicide soon enough dissolves into a first degree murder case - with Peter as the main suspect. On the run from the detectives, Peter and Iris must work fast to discover the ghastly truth...
Starring Ginger Rogers as the imperious theatre diva Carlotta Marin, BLACK WIDOW (1954) will appeal to those who like their murder mysteries served up with a healthy side order of snappy one-liners and outrageous costumes. Peggy Ann Garner's role as the Eve Harrington-esque writer was one of her first attempts to make the often difficult transition from acclaimed child star ("Jane Eyre", "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn") to sophisticated young adult, and I believe she does it very successfully in this movie. The role of Nancy had originally been intended for Maggie McNamara ("Three Coins in the Fountain") who fell ill shortly before filming was due to begin.
Also keep an eye out for Virginia Leith ("The Brain That Wouldn't Die") playing one of Nancy's accommodating girlfriends, Cathleen Nesbitt as an upstairs maid, and Bea Benaderet ("Petticoat Junction") as one of the guests at Carlotta's cocktail party.
I do find it very curious that Fox has seen fit to package this title as part of their Film Noir series, because apart from some noir actors like Gene Tierney and Van Heflin, BLACK WIDOW doesn't follow the standard noir genre trends at all. Still I'm very glad that BLACK WIDOW is now readily available in a particularly lush widescreen print; and it's one of my favourite movies at the moment.
The DVD has two worthwhile featurettes focusing on Ginger Rogers and Gene Tierney, an informative commentary track by movie historian/author Alan Rode; interactive pressbook and picture galleries, isolated musical score track, and the theatrical trailer; plus trailers from other titles in the Fox Film Noir collection ("Daisy Kenyon", "Dangerous Crossing", "I Wake Up Screaming" and "Vicki").
Summary of Black Widow (Fox Film Noir)
No Description Available.Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: NR
Release Date: 11-MAR-2008
Media Type: DVD
Ginger Rogers steals the show as a selfish, snide Broadway superstar in Nunnally Johnson's Black Widow, preening, snooping, gossiping, and bestowing air kisses in equal abundance. This late-era (1954) color film noir is as delicious for its fabulous performances as for its dishy look at showbiz, fangs and all. Think of it as All About Eve with murder. Rogers is Carlotta Marin, a grande dame of the thea-tah, married, it would seem happily, to Brian Mullen (Reginald Gardiner). Discussing friends whose marriage is threatened by an alleged affair, Brian assures Lottie they wouldn't face such disgrace. "After all," he deadpans, "we have an understanding." "What kind of understanding?" Lottie asks warily. "The understanding that if you catch me with another woman, you'll break my neck." The two collapse in laughter. Yet at the heart of Black Widow is something grim, the death of a young, ambitious writer named Nancy (Peggy Ann Garner), who gloms onto a theater producer (Van Hefflin), who's in love with his wife, Iris (Gene Tierney, heartbreakingly lovely). Nancy's death appears to be self-inflicted, and yet as each piece of evidence--a weird suicide note, a threatening letter received in the mail--piles up, things begin to point to murder.
The cast is excellent, especially delivering the great backbiting dialogue. And the plot contains more twists than Lombard Street in San Francisco, and will keep viewers guessing, and riveted, to the end. Extras include a great commentary by Alan K. Rode, an expert in film noir, as well as two wonderful featurettes, on the careers of Ginger Rogers and Gene Tierney respectively. Robert Osbourne offers his always insightful thoughts on the roles of Rogers, especially, as she sought to carve out a career after being paired with Fred Astaire. These solo steps are not to be missed.--A.T. Hurley
Classics DVD Video
DVD Video
- Action & Adventure
- African American Cinema
- Animation
- Anime & Manga
- Art House & International
- Classics
- Comedy
- Cult Movies
- Documentary
- Drama
- Educational
- Fitness & Yoga
- Gay & Lesbian
- Horror
- Kids & Family
- Military & War
- Music Video & Concerts
- Musicals & Performing Arts
- Mystery & Suspense
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Special Interests
- Sports
- Television
- Westerns
Movies most talked about in The Essential Gene Tierney (in chronological order)
![Scruples [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.4 Import - Australia ] Image](/images/Scruples-NON-USA-FORMAT-PAL-Reg-4-Import-Australia-B001ANR05E-X.jpg)
Scruples [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.4 Import - Australia ]DVD
Best price: $30.99
![Toys in the Attic [VHS] Image](/images/Toys-in-the-Attic-VHS-6302593204-X.jpg){kind=small}
Toys in the Attic [VHS]MGM (Video & DVD); Release date: 1998-09-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $37.00
Advise and ConsentFONDA,HENRY; Release date: 2005-05-10; DVD
Best price: $4.00
Price in other shops:
![The Left Hand of God [VHS] Image](/images/The-Left-Hand-of-God-VHS-6302296714-X.jpg){kind=small}
The Left Hand of God [VHS]Fox Home Entertainment; Release date: 1989-11-16; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $85.00
Black Widow (Fox Film Noir)ROGERS,GINGER; Release date: 2008-03-11; DVD
Best price: $7.36
Price in other shops:
![The Egyptian [VHS] Image](/images/The-Egyptian-VHS-6301412796-X.jpg){kind=small}
The Egyptian [VHS]20th Century Fox; Release date: 1995-03-15; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $42.20
![Personal Affair [VHS] Image](/images/Personal-Affair-VHS-6304054254-X.jpg){kind=small}
Personal Affair [VHS]Hallmark; Release date: 1996-06-25; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $2.27
Price in other shops:
![Never Let Me Go [VHS] Image](/images/Never-Let-Me-Go-VHS-630301402X-X.jpg){kind=small}
Never Let Me Go [VHS]MGM (Warner); Release date: 1998-09-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $24.19
![Plymouth Adventure (1952) [VHS] Image](/images/Plymouth-Adventure-1952-VHS-6304525109-X.jpg){kind=small}
Plymouth Adventure (1952) [VHS]MGM (Warner); Release date: 1997-06-09; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $84.94
On the RivieraKAYE,DANNY; Release date: 2007-05-22; DVD
Best price: $9.64
Price in other shops:
Similar DVD Movies
14 Hours (Fox Film Noir)TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT; Release date: 2006-08-29; DVD
Best price: $6.97
Price in other shops:
Fallen Angel (Fox Film Noir)Unknown; Release date: 2006-03-07; DVD
Best price: $5.49
Price in other shops:
Whirlpool (Fox Film Noir)TIERNEY,GENE; Release date: 2005-09-06; DVD
Best price: $6.45
Price in other shops:
I Wake Up Screaming (Fox Film Noir)GRABLE,BETTY; Release date: 2006-06-06; DVD
Best price: $7.40
Price in other shops:
Vicki (Fox Film Noir)CRAIN,JEANNE; Release date: 2006-08-29; DVD
Best price: $6.89
Price in other shops:
Shock (Fox Film Noir)PRICE,VINCENT; Release date: 2006-08-29; DVD
Best price: $6.00
Price in other shops:
Road House (Fox Film Noir)LUPINO,IDA; Release date: 2008-09-02; DVD
Best price: $8.33
Price in other shops:
Moontide (Fox Film Noir)GABIN,JEAN; Release date: 2008-09-02; DVD
Best price: $8.55
Price in other shops:
Daisy Kenyon (Fox Film Noir)CRAWFORD,JOAN; Release date: 2008-03-11; DVD
Best price: $6.98
Price in other shops:
Dangerous Crossing (Fox Film Noir)CRAIN,JEANNE; Release date: 2008-03-11; DVD
Best price: $8.15
Price in other shops: