Fabulous Forties

You can't go wrong with any of the 50 packs! You may get a couple of duds, but who cares! Show me a better deal! Some reviews mentioned picture or sound quality being an issue. Hey! This is before they had dolby, hi-fi and all that! I assume most of the negative reviews come from younger folks who were raised on HD TV! I haven't had any problem listening or watching any of these movies! Sure there are a few places where there might have been a film splice, or the sound may be less than 2015 standards, but it's nothing that's really going to bother anyone except for the spoiled younger generation! I own close to 20 of these 50 packs and I'm glad I bought every single one of them!

Have only had time to watch a few of the 50 movies but they seem to be in good condition, considering the age of some of them. I grew up in this era and was an avid movie fan so have seen a lot of them but so long ago they are new stories now. My grandchildren have watched a few with me and they cannot believe how things were in those days. The prejudice and censorship, the lack of technology, yet the reasoning and actions of the characters were basically the same as they are now.

Full disclosure: I haven't watched all 50 films of this DVD collection. I may never actually get to the end at the rate I'm going (I bought this about 3 years ago), but I have chewed through a couple of dozen of these, and I think that's enough to make and share a judgment:FABULOUS FORTIES is fun.It isn't well-mastered. Some of the film quality is middling, some of it poor, and in one crucial instance -- "Meet John Doe" -- a significant portion of the film is actually missing from the disc! There are no extras, no "special features," no frills of any kind. And frankly, considering you're getting 50 movies for the price of about 3, you shouldn't expect better. But that's not really important. What's important here is: is it worth the money? Well, yes. Yes it is.The Forties were an incredibly prolific decade for film-making all over the world. The vast majority of those movies are lost to history or utterly forgotten, and indeed, a number here have been disinterred from some film vault, dusted off, and are probably seeing daylight for the first time since they were released. But others are well-known, and still others enjoyed a heyday before slipping into obscurity. This applies too to the actors. There are many seen here whose careers never took off or who flamed out quickly after a brief intense run of success (George Raft comes to mind), but just as many who were at the beginning or early middle of what became very illustrious careers: Yul Brenner, Fred Astaire, Ralph Ballamy, Lloyd Bridges, Hedey Lamarr, Lionel Barrymore, Randolph Scott, Peter Lorre, Ava Gardner, Gary Cooper, Vincent Price, Buster Crabbe, Ronald Reagan, David Niven, and Buster Keaton, to name a few.Some of the better movies I saw:Port of New York : although the film quality is poor, this tale of cops trying to infiltrate a narcotics ring run out of the Port of NY is quite entertaining. Yul Brenner plays a silky drug lord with a girlfriend who talks too much for her own good.The Black Book: this is an excellent intrigue-suspense film set during the French Revolution, about a cynical spy (Robert Cummings) who tries to infiltrate the circle around Robspierre in order to obtain a secret list and bring down the Terror's foremost leader. This movie has it all, including great performances, a snappy pace and terrific editing well ahead of its time.D.O.A. : a classic mystery film which asks a haunting question: Who killed me? In this story, an everyman discovers he's been fatally poisoned, and spends his last hours trying to hunt down his murderer. The bad guy's henchman in this movie is terrifying, a sadistic psychopath who acts like a kid opening presents when he's inflicting pain.Gung Ho! : A rather standard WW2 movie about a Marine raid on a Japanese-held island is elevated by some good performances, including an appearance by a young Bob Mitchum. The end speech by Randolph Scott is stilted but completely sincere, and really does speak to what "The Greatest Generation" was really fighting for.Meet John Doe: Although ruined by a big glitch in the middle of the movie that cuts about 15 minutes from it, this is nevertheless a terrific movie, which sees a desperate female reporter fake a column about a man threatening to jump from City Hall on New Year's Eve, which leads to a positive whirlwind of lies both tragic and amusing.Passport to Pimlico: A highly original, and very amusing, film sees a small section of post-WW2 London try to succeed from Great Britain and form their own nation, much to the consternation of the rest of the country. It's a comedy but also a heavy allegory about the Berlin Wall.The Devil Bat - From the "so bad it's good" category comes "The Devil Bat," a Bela Lugosi movie which features him as a demented scientist who uses scientifically-modified bats to carry out grisly murders on those he thinks wronged him. Meanwhile he's hunted by a reporter who thinks he's a private detective. This film is awful, and it is also awfully fun.The North Star: Another WW2 movie, this one has the distinction of being set in Soviet Union during the German invasion. The opening is silly pro-Stalin propaganda, but the rest of the movie is a surprisingly brutal, effective and realistic story about occupation and resistance.Shock: While it's hardly a great film, this suspense flick set in a mental hospital is positively Hitchcockian in its premise, to wit: a doctor (Vincent Price) commits a murder, then gaslights the emotionally fragile witness into thinking she's insane. Unfortunately for Vince, her flyboy boyfriend ain't buying the diagnosis.Tulsa: Like a strong female lead? Look no further than this highly entertaining color movie in which Susan Heyward portrays a fiery cattle rancher's daughter who becomes an oil baroness, but loses some of her humanity along the way. There's also a surprisingly frank sub-plot about anti-Native American racism. Very good film.The Chase: A weird, surrealistic film Noir movie depicts a down-on-his-luck ex-soldier who becomes a driver for a vicious (and I mean vicious) Miami crime boss, and then runs off with the Bosses' girl to Havana, much to the bemusement of psychopathic Peter Lorre, the bosses' henchman.Whistle Stop: Although this film's moral compass is wedged firmly in its digestive tract, and George Raft is arguably the worst actor ever to stand in front of a camera, there is a certain brutish charisma to this flick about a small-town hoodlum and his utterly amoral gun moll.That's just a taste. FABULOUS FORTIES has something for everyone who likes old movies or just movies generally: musicals, war films, suspense thrillers, mysteries, comedies, you name it. There are some real losers in this group, and others that are forgettable or of such bad quality as to be hard to enjoy, but overall I think this is a fantastic bargain and a great way to acquaint yourself with some of the lesser known and B-movies of the fertile 40s.UPDATE 2022:I have now watched another chunk of the films in the collection and must say that the quality is actually improving drastically."Trapped" -- This movie was an absolute delight. Lloyd Bridges plays a totally unregenerate hoodlum who escapes Secret Service custody in order to put together One Last Deal so he and his long-suffering but loyal gun moll, Barbara Dixon, can escape to Mexico. Bridges spits out wonderful Film Noir dialog like machine gun bullets while dodging relentless Secret Service agents led by John Hoyt, who nurse plots of their own. A flick full of counterfeit cash, crooks behaving badly, and cops with firm jaws and pure hearts."Guest in the House" - Ralph Bellamy, a successful artist, is also happily married and patriarch of a large and smoothly functioning household...until Anne "All About Eve" Baxter shows up, that is. His conniving and unstable relation-by-marriage proceeds to set all and sundry against each other by playing on their jealousies, fears and even their senses of decency, until she has Ralph all to herself. Baxter excels in her role, Bellamy does very fine work indeed, and Aline MacMahon delivers patient and ultimately ruthless performance as an aunt who finds Baxter's weakness and does terrible and deeply satisfying things with it. (Note: the version here is a shortened 100 m version of the 121 m original film, but still very good)"The Red House" - The legendary Edward G. Robinson heads up this offbeat, unpredictable, surprisingly twisted story about a backwoods family nursing a terrible secret. The performances are good, with Allene Roberts and Julie London playing a moody, mysterious ingénue and a sultry, scheming femme fatale respectively, and Lon McCallister proving that obnoxious teens who don't heed warnings in horror movies were alive and well in 1947."The Lady Confesses" -- this Noirish B-movie mystery about a plucky girl determined to prove her boyfriend didn't murder his ex-wife would be quite forgettable if not for a massive twist that occurs about an hour into the flick, one which I absolutely did not see coming: also because Hugh ("Ward Cleaver") Beaumont is one of the stars, and Edmund MacDonald gives an oil-slick performance as an enigmatic nightclub owner named Lucky."Sundown" -- This WW2 spy drama is set in sun-drowned East Africa in the early stages of WW2. While not gripping 'til the surprisingly slam-bang conclusion, it is one of the more imaginatively-plotted, set, and shot, films of its genre I have ever seen, and manages to be both pro- and anti-colonialist at the same time: it also refrains from most of the cliches which weigh down WW2 films, especially ones made during the actual war. There is a startlingly cool sequence involving a gunfight at night with tracer fire, and, oh, Gene Tierney is the picture of loveliness.I will keep watching, and keep enjoying, this heap of forties fun.

The 1940's were a golden age in many ways and certainly for the film industry. As it turns out, this is an overall very interesting and entertaining collection of gems I'd not seen on cable TV. I no longer have cable and can only hope more DVD collections of more quality 1940's movies will be produced. Many thanks!

It may seem like a great deal for a large collection of classics, but they are terribly poor quality. I could hardly make out the picture for about 80% of the movies. The sound was full of static, meaning as you turn up the volume the static goes up as well. In order to hear the actual dialogue I had to listening very closely and squint to try to read the actors lips. Needless to say, this distracted from that enjoyment we all seek as we pop in a movie to relax, unwind, and escape from reality for an hour or two.I suggest picking a TCM collection, or buying single recordings instead for incredibly better quality (not to mention, more worth your hard-earned money). Hope this was helpful. :)

I didn't like the selected movies.

I'd give this set more than a 5 star review if I could..If you like old B&W movies all from the 40's this is for you...I'v watched a few and the sound and picture or just fine....Watch the volume when you start movie Mill Creek has an opening add and it is loud...after that you all set...I hope they come out with a 40's pack volume 2,3,4 and on...Thanks Mill Creek..

I received this package very quickly, and was packaged well. I haven't left a review because this is a Christmas gift for my mother and she has been wanting this set for a long time. I know she will love it because she's been dropping hints since her birthday lol.. Very pleased with my purchase and recommend this seller.. A+++++

Excellent! Highly recommended. The choice of films and actors make me feel like being back in the forties. I enjoyed al the films being presented.

Each disc is enclosed in a paper 'envelope', but each one is clearly marked with the number and the films it contains. A good mix of movies and an excellent buy. Many hours of viewing!

GREAT

This is a great value purchase and I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone who loves old movies like me.

A couple of good movies and some not so good. A few titles are repeated from other mill creek cd movie packs. Box itself is weak and cheap plastic .