Kino on Video Updates Film Noir Series

Over the past few years, Kino on Video has unearthed long-forgotten films noir such as “Raw Deal” and “T Men.” The fourth installment in the company’s “Noir” series features early films by two great directors and a remake of a French film classic.

“Strange Impersonation” ($25 for video; $30 for DVD), from 1946, is one of Anthony Mann’s (“Raw Deal”) earliest films. This taut, enjoyable little B-movie stars Brenda Marshall as a career-minded anesthesiologist who is injured when her lab assistant, Arline (Hillary Brooke), sabotages an experiment. While Nora is in the hospital, Arline makes a play for her fiance. When Nora learns they have married, she has her face surgically altered and sets out for revenge.

The extremely low-budget “Behind Locked Doors” ($25, video; $30, DVD), from 1948, is another real find. Directed by Budd Boetticher (“Buchanan Rides Alone”)--then going by the name Oscar Boetticher--it stars Richard Carlson as a struggling Los Angeles private detective hired by an ambitious newspaper reporter (Lucille Bremer) to pose as her mentally unbalanced husband. She checks him into a private mental institution so he can discover if a crooked judge is hiding out there. Of course, a sadistic intern (Douglas Fowley) makes Carlson’s life a living hell. Also featured in the flick is Ed Wood-fave Tor Johnson, who plays a psychotic ex-prizefighter.

Remaking popular French films in Hollywood is nothing new--in fact, filmmakers have been looking at Gallic cinema for ideas since the 1930s. The 1947 film noir “The Long Night” ($25, video; $30, DVD) is based on the superb 1939 Marcel Carne drama “Le Jour Se Leve,” which starred Jean Gabin.

Henry Fonda takes over the Gabin role in this remake, directed by Anatole Litvak. Told with flashbacks, “Long Night” focuses on an average Joe (Fonda) pinned down in his tiny apartment after he guns down a mysterious stranger (Vincent Price). As the evening progresses, Fonda pieces together the events that lead to the murder.

Though Fonda is quite good, “Long Night” lacks the poetry and emotional impact of the original. However, Eugene Lourie’s impressionistic production design and Sol Polito’s dazzling black-and-white cinematography add immensely to the proceedings. The DVD includes scenes from “Le Jour Se Leve.”

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A few years back, Water Bearer Films released the restored version of the 1915 French serial “Les Vampyres.” More exciting is its latest vintage release, “The Indian Tomb,” from 1921. Water Bearer is releasing the video ($80); Image Entertainment is producing the DVD ($30).

Digitally restored by David Shepard, this German serial is blissful fun. Clocking in at a breezy 212 minutes, this opulent, consistently compelling adventure finds the wonderful Conrad Veidt (“Cabinet of Dr. Caligari,” “Casablanca”) as a powerful Indian leader who has been driven almost insane by the fact that his wife has fallen in love with a handsome British adventurer (Paul Richter). He decides to build a lavish tomb in which to keep her prisoner. He enlists a British architect (Olaf Fonss) to come to India for the project, but the visitor balks after learning of its intended use.

Directed by Joe May, “Indian Tomb” boasts man-eating tigers, crocodiles and snakes. The film, which is color-tinted, features new title cards and a great score.

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Though Warner Home Video’s digital version of the Jet Li action-thriller “Romeo Must Die” ($25) doesn’t include an audio commentary, it has more than its share of goodies, which should please fans of the martial-arts superstar. Besides the wide-screen version of the film and two theatrical trailers, the disc includes the “HBO First Look” documentary “Making Romeo Must Die,” cast and crew bios, three music videos featuring R&B; singer Aaliyah, who also stars in this film, and numerous behind-the-scenes vignettes, which examine how several of the stunts were created and how the visual and special effects were accomplished.