50 MYSTERY CLASSICS - DVD BOXED SET

[The Burgomaster]

After all my fears about potentially lousy quality of the various "50 Movie"  DVD sets from Treeline, I finally decided to try one.  I got the MYSTERY CLASSICS set for about $20 and watched 2 of the 50 movies over the weekend.

What a pleasant surprise!  The video and sound quality of the 2 movies I watched were very good.  If the quality of the other movies is even close, this will end up being a great bargain and I'll probably grab the horror and sci-fi sets, and maybe even some of the other ones.

The two movies I watched were:

* QUICKSAND (1950) - This is a pretty good thriller starring Mickey Rooney as a mechanic who "borrows" $20 from the cash register at work so that he can take a blond coffee shop cashier on a date.  He has good intentions about paying the money back, but when he has trouble coming up with the $20, he resorts to increasingly larger crimes, basically committing one crime to pay back the money from the previous crime, and so on, until he gets sucked in way over his head (thus, the title "Quicksand").   Peter Lorre is good in a supporting role as a seedy arcade owner.  Jeanne Cagney (James Cagney's sister) plays the blond bombshell.

* THE SHADOW STRIKES (1937) - This is a live-action film of the pulp magazine and radio hero, "The Shadow."  It only runs for about 1 hour and is very talky, with no background music except during the credits.  I was sort of disappointed because there are only 2 brief scenes of "The Shadow" in his dark hat and cape.  For the rest of the movie, he appears as Lamont Cranston (his civilian secret identity).  Cranston is basically a dull detective in a suit.  They don't even use the famous "The Shadow knows!" line or the Shadow's chilling laughter as he stalks the bad guys.  It's more like a typical 1930s detective movie than a Shadow adventure.

Again, the picture and sound quality were very good on both movies . . . VHS quality or better, I'd say.  So far, I'm very pleased.

[Scott]

This sounds like a good set Burgomaster. What other movies are in the set? How much?

[Gerry]

Here's the full list of what's in the Mystery Pack:



The same site features listings for all of their megapacks.

[The Burgomaster]

I watched two more of the movies in this set, and I'm still happy with the quality:

* DETOUR - This is a fast-paced, interesting low-budget movie that I heard has somewhat of a cult following.  A piano player hitchhikes California to see his girlfriend.  Along the way, he gets involved in accidental deaths, blackmail, stolen identities, and more!  And the movie is only a little more than an hour long!

* GREAT GUY - This is an early James Cagney movie.  Cagney plays an investigator for the Department of Weights and Measures who tries to crack down on corruption.  It's actually a pretty interesting movie, and Cagney turns in a good performance.

The picture and sound quality on both of these movies were surprisingly good, considering the 50 movies in this $19.95 set come at an average cost of about 40 cents apiece!  There are a few scenes where the picture has some scratches running through it or where the picture jumps because there are a few frames of film missing.  But 90 - 95% of the time, the picture and sound are surprisingly clear.

I have now watched 4 of the 50 movies in the set, and I am very satisfied.



Post Edited (09-04-05 10:54)

[The Burgomaster]

I watched 3 more:

* FOG ISLAND - George Zucco invites some old "friends" (who framed him and had him sent to prison) to his house on Fog Island for a game of cast-and-mouse.  He gives them each a unique gift.  Any or all of these gifts may lead them to a treasure hidden somewhere on the island . . . or into a deadly trap.  A pretty good thriller, which is based on Agatha Christie's TEN LITTLE INDIANS (which was also the inspiration for THE HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL).

* THEY MADE ME A CRIMINAL - This is one of the best Dead End Kids movies.  John Garfield stars as a professional boxer who finds himself on the run from detective Claude Rains after he is falsely accused of killing a reporter.  Garfield ends up hiding out at a fig farm where the Dead End Kids have been sent for rehabilitation after being released from reform school.  This is a classic 1930s "tough guy" movie, full of booze, dames, and fist fights.  Recommended.

* THE WOMAN IN GREEN - This is a Sherlock Holmes film starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce.  Holmes and Watson try to solve a series of murders involving women whose index fingers are removed from their dead bodies.  A decent movie, if you're a fan of the Rathbone/Bruce series of Sherlock Holmes adventures.

After watching 7 of the 50 movies in this set, I can say that I definitely got a great value for the $19.95 I spent.  Even if the remaining 43 movies end up being crap, I feel like I got my money's worth.



Post Edited (09-12-05 09:26)