Last weekend I watched the final DVD from my recently purchased 5 classic film noir collection; Out of the Past.

Robert Mitchum stars as a private eye, Jeff, who has abandoned his former life and name, taking up residence in small town where he runs a gas station. His life there is quiet, simple, and happy, this being a noir that does not last.

An associate from his past arrives and before long he is dragged back into his former life, associating with thugs and a crime boss played by Kirk Douglas.

Like most good noirs this story is murky, people are not what they seem, and dangerous secrets litter the landscape. Out of the Past is a movie that has been added to the National Film Register as a film that represents important or cultural aspects of our shared cinema history and it is the principal reason I purchased this collection. I had never seen the movie and it was unavailable via my streaming services.

I do not regret the purchase. This film alone would have been worth the money, but adding in Gun Crazy, The Asphalt Jungle, and The Set-up and this collection has hours a great, dark noir.

You may noticed that I listed only four movies from this five film set. The fifth movie in the collection is Murder, My Sweet. This movie stars Dick Powell as Phillip[ Marlow, who, along with the character Sam Spade, practically invented the hard-drinking, fast talking private eye cliché. Murder, My Sweet features extensive use of voice, a technique utilized in both superb film noir such as Double Indemnity and Out of the Past but also is associated with the bad written pot boiler version of the genre. Murder, My Sweet is not superb.

Dick Powell makes a terribly Marlow. When he cracks wise it comes off as smart ass that you don’t like, unlit the loveable rogue when he’s played by someone like Boggart. Also the ending of Murder, My Sweet is simply too pat and too happy for very noir-ish for my tastes.

Overall the collect is well worth the money, even with one miss among the titles.