The Lineup Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.5

The Lineup Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov October 27, 2020

Don Siegel's "The Lineup" (1958) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Indicator/Powerhouse Films. The supplemental features on the disc include vintage promotional materials for the film; archival audio commentary by film noir expert Eddie Muller and author James Elroy; video program with Christopher Nolan; radio episodes; and more. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

The crew

Here’s how you do a classic film noir without using the stylistic characteristics that defined the classic film noirs. Long dark shadows, fancy camera angles, a dramatic twist involving a gorgeous femme fatale? Forget about it. As far as Don Siegel is concerned, they are all a waste of time. How about a ton of raw action on the sunny streets of San Francisco featuring a bunch of characters not a single one of which is likeable. And how about having the entire film spread out over the course of a single day. That’s it. Can it really work? But of course, it can. By the way, this is the exact same formula Siegel used a little over a decade later when he directed his biggest hit, Dirty Harry.

Old-school gangsters Dancer (Eil Wallach) and Julian (Robert Keith) arrive from Miami to do a deal with a powerful underground figure known only as The Man (Vaughn Taylor). They are supposed to collect small packets of heroin that are hidden in the luggage of clueless mules who are returning home after spending time in Asia and then hand them out to The Man. But when one of the ‘transfers’ goes terribly wrong and a freelancing thief with an addiction problem kills a cop, detectives Ben Guthrie (Warner Anderson) and Al Quine (Emile Meyer) begin tracking down the visitors. Dance and Julian then discover that the daughter of one of the mules has accidentally wasted an entire packet to powder the face of her doll, effectively ruining their chances to close their deal with The Man. Eventually, Dance and Julian decide to hand The Man the packets they have been able to collect, but when they reach the transfer spot at the Sutro Baths and Museum all hell breaks loose.

Siegel had already directed the pilot for the classic TV series The Lineup, so when the folks at Columbia decided to do spin-off he seemed like the right person for the job. And he was the right person, but he apparently had the wrong idea for the film, so both sides eventually had to compromise a bit. As Eddie Muller rightfully points out in the archival audio commentary that is included on this release, the film that Siegel wanted to shoot really begins when Dancer and Julian land in San Francisco. The hit job where the cop gets killed by the junkie is basically the ‘classic’ introduction the folks at Columbia demanded from Siegel to establish an obvious connection between the TV series and the film.

The charm of the film comes from its loose no-nonsense style, which effectively frees Siegel to be in his element and create as he wishes. Unsurprisingly, there is a lot of great macho talk and realistic drama that infuse the film with terrific energy. On the other hand, this isn’t a film that desperately pursues authenticity. For example, plenty of the logic behind the choices the main characters make while the chase is on is really quite easy to dismiss. The police procedures are often embellished to make them appear much more dramatic than they are as well.

There is a lot of great footage from the streets of San Francisco. However, this writer has to disagree with Muller and his good friend, best-selling author James Ellroy, that Siegel’s film is even more attractive than Bullitt. They both make San Francisco look like an awesome playfield, but they have unique emotional connections with their characters. Needless to say, the vibe coming off of the playfield in Bullitt is drastically different.

Siegel was able to do the film with Hal Mohr, who was born and raised in San Francisco, and had already done such classics as Phantom of the Opera, Woman on the Run, and The Wild One.

*Siegel’s The Killers is another fine example of a stylish film noir that embraces bright light and lush colors rather than the typical for the genre prominent shadows.

The Lineup Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in his original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, The Lineup arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Indicator/Powerhouse Films.

The release is sourced from an older master that was supplied by Sony Pictures. From what I can tell, it is the same master that the studio used to produce the Columbia Pictures Film Noir Classics I DVD box set in 2009. However, I like this master quite a lot. In certain areas it is very easy to tell that density levels are not optimal; grain exposure can be uneven as well. Naturally, delineation and clarity can fluctuate, and on a larger screen you will be able to tell when the shifts occur (see screencapture #15). However, there are no traces of problematic digital work, so the visuals still have very strong organic qualities (see screencapture #3). Additionally, this master is graded really well. The primaries are very solid and there are fine ranges of supporting nuances, making the outdoor daylight footage with all of its native nuances look quite wonderful. Image stability is very good. Some minor spot and blemishes remain, but there are no distracting large debris, cuts, damage marks, warped or torn frames to report. My score is 4.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

The Lineup Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 1.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

I noticed that during a couple of exchanges the dialog exhibits some minor drops in terms of dynamic levels. I am fairly certain that this is how the original soundtrack was done, but I wanted to mention it in the review so that you don't think that there any encoding anomalies. So, expect to hear some minor fluctuations in terms of balance that do not occur during outdoor action footage. Even though there is a bit of music, the film does not have prominent music score. Clarity and sharpness are good.

The Lineup Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - remastered vintage trailer for The Lineup. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

• Trailer Commentary - an episode of Trailers From Hell with screenwriter Josh Olson (A History of Violence). In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

• Radio Episodes - three radio episodes for The Lineup. In English, not subtitled.
  
  1. The Candy Story Murder (1950). Written by Blake Edwards. (30 min).
  2. The Case of Frankie and Joyce (1951). Written by Charles E. Israel. (31 min).
  3. The Harrowing Haggada Handball Case (1951). Written by Blake Edwards and Richard Quine. (26 min).

• The Streets of San Francisco - this new program visits and identities some of the real locations in San Francisco that Don Siegel used in The Lineup. With music. (8 min).

• Christopher Nolan: The Influence of Noir - in this program, director Christopher Nolan discusses the tremendous impact film noir had on his maturation as a director as well as the genre's ambience and classic characterizations. In English, not subtitled. (7 min).

• Audio Commentary One - a classic archival audio commentary recorded by film noir expert Eddie Muller and author James Elroy. There is an abundance of information about the production of The Lineup, the presence of San Francisco in the film, the characterizations and the manner in which they shape up the film's identity, Don Siegel's working methods and style, the evolution of film noir, etc. Also, the commentary overflows with spirited jokes. A real firecracker.

• Audio Commentary Two - critics/film historians David Del Valle and C. Courtney Joyner discuss in great detail the conception of The Lineup, the different locations in San Francisco where parts of the film were shot, the manner in which crime is depicted in the film, the casting choices, Don Siegel's style and career, etc.

• Image Gallery - a small gallery of vintage promotional and production materials for The Lineup.

• The Three Stooges in Tricky Dicks (1953) - produced and directed by Jules White. Fully remastered. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles. (16 min).

• Book - a limited edition exclusive 120-page book with new essays by Iris Veysey, Paul Duane, Jill Blake, Wheeler Winston Dixon, Nathalie Morris, and Sergio Angelini;archival interview extracts with Budd Boetticher, Joseph H Lewis, Phil Karlson, and Robert Aldrich; extracts from the autobiographies of Don Siegel and Vincent Sherman; and film credits.

The Lineup Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The inclusion of the archival commentary that film noir expert Eddie Muller and author James Elroy recorded for Don Siegel's The Lineup makes this release simply unmissable. It is an absolute firecracker, one of the best done for a genre film of this caliber. (For what it's worth, I consider Mr. Muller the ultimate authority on everything film noir, so any disc that has any material with him gets an automatic endorsement from me). I have not yet tested the other discs in Indicator/Powerhouse Films' upcoming Columbia Noir #1 box set, but if they are anything like this disc, the box set will end up being one of the top European releases of 2020. Very impressive. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.