Warner Archive has released a stunning 4K UHD upgrade of 1947’s Out of the Past in a package that also includes a remastered Blu-ray of the film, one of only handful of black-and-white films to receive a 4K UHD presentation.

Directed by Jacques Tourneur who made his reputation with the horror classics, Cat People and I Walked with a Zombie, Out of the Past received no awards recognition in its day but has since been acclaimed as the greatest film noir of all, surpassing even Billy Wilder’s 1944 masterpiece, Double Indemnity, in that regard.

Robert Mitchum stars as a former private detective now living quietly in a small California town as the proprietor of the local gas station. He has a local sweetheart (Virginia Huston) and a loyal deaf and dumb assistant played by former child actor Dickie Moore (Blonde Venus, The Story of Louis Pasteur).

After being discovered by one of former client Kirk Douglas’ henchmen, he tells his girlfriend in flashback about his life as a private detective in NYC where he ran afoul of Douglas who hired him to track down his faithless girlfriend played by Jane Greer in one of the screen’s great femme fatale characterizations. Back in the present, a meeting with Douglas leads to further complications with him and Greer.

Greer’s performance is right up there with the Oscar nominated performances of Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity and Gene Tierney in Leave Her to Heaven as well as Lana Turner in The Postman Always Rings Twice as one of the greatest bad-girl performances of all time.

The film’s rediscovery in the 1970s and early 1980s led to a 1984 remake called Against All Odds with Jeff Bridges, Rachel Ward and James Woods in the Mitchum, Greer, and Douglas roles and Greer herself as Ward’s mother. Today, that film is remembered, if at all, for its Oscar nominated title song, “Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)” by Phil Collins. The original, which was inducted into the National Film Registry in 1991, is still the real deal.

In my opinion, it ranks higher than any of the films nominated for an Oscar in 1947, which included Miracle on 34th Street, The Bishop’s Wife, Great Expectations, Crossfire, and the winner, Gentleman’s Agreement. Only the also non-nominated for Best Picture, Black Narcissus ranks higher in my estimation.

Also in my opinion, Mitchum’s brilliant, low-keyed performance towers above all the year’s Oscar nominees for Best Actor which included John Garfield in Body and Soul, Gregory Peck in Gentleman’s Agreement, William Powell in Life with Father, Michael Redgrave in Mourning Becomes Electra, and winner Ronald Colman in A Double Life.

Warner Archive has also released its first batch of September Blu-ray upgrades which include 1934’s The Lost Patrol, 1938’s Boys Town and The Great Waltz, 1956’s Bundle of Joy, and 1964’s Dear Heart.

John Ford’s The Lost Patrol is about a dozen British soldiers, lost in a Mesopotamian desert during World War I, who are menaced by unseen Arab enemies.

Victor McLaglen, in his first film for Ford, gave an acclaimed performance as the squad’s sergeant, which led to his casting in the title role of Ford’s The Informer for which he won the Oscar as Best Actor of 1935.

The supporting cast was led by Brois Karloff as a religious fanatic, his most memorable performance aside from that of the creature in Frankenstein and The Bride of Frankenstein. Others include Wallace Ford, Reginald Denny, and Alan Hale.

It received an Oscar nomination for Best Score.

Norman Taurog’s Boys Town was nominated for five Oscars including Best Picture, Director, Original Story, Screenplay, and Actor (Spencer Tracy) who won for his portrayal of real-life Boys Town founder Father Flanagan. It was Tracy’s second Oscar in two years, following his win for the previous year’s Captains Courageous.

Mickey Rooney won a special juvenile Oscar for 1938, largely based on his performances in Boys Town and Love Finds Andy Hardy. Rooney, Bobs Watson, and Gene Reynolds are among the first orphans in the world-famous community.

Julien Duvivier’s The Great Waltz was the first of numerous glossy MGM musicals about famous composers that would last well into the 1950s. It was nominated for three Oscars including Best Supporting Actress (Miliza Korjus), Film Editing, and Cinematography, which it won.

Fernand Gravet starred as Johann Strauss II whose waltzes in mid-19th Century Vienna became the toast of the world. The story itself is pure fiction with Luise Rainer as a fictitious woman representing the last of Strauss’ last three wives and Korjus (“rhymes with gorgeous”) as a fictitious opera singer with whom he strays. The story may be pure hokum, but the music is divine.

Norman Tauog’s Bundle of Joy is a remake of Garson Kanin’s 1939 film, Bachelor Mother with Debbie Reynolds, Eddie Fisher, and Adolphe Menjou in the roles previously played by Ginger Rogers, David Niven, and Charles Coburn.

Reynolds received a Golden Globe nomination for her portrayal of the girl who finds an abandoned baby on the steps of an orphanage which everyone assumes is hers. It’s fun if you’re not expecting too much.

Delbert Mann’s Dear Heart was Geraldine Page’s last film as a leading lady before she turned permanently to character roles.

Page is terrific in her Golden Globe nominated performance as an old maid postmistress who finds love in middle age with confirmed bachelor Glenn Ford. Angela Lansbury plays her competition and Michael Anderson, Jr. (Deborah Kerr and Robert Mitchym’s son in The Sundowners) is Lansbury’s Bohemian bearded son. This is another one that is fun if you’re not expecting too much.

Henry Mancini’s title tune received an Oscar nomination for Best Song.

Happy Viewing.