Of tilted fedoras, femmes fatales

Shadows, Lies and Private Eyes -- The Film Noir Collection, Vol. 1

Warner Home Video, $50 for set; $20 each

Just the facts: Warner has rounded up five sizzling examples of the film noir genre -- moody, atmospheric crime dramas and melodramas inhabited by two-timing dames, hard-boiled gumshoes and tough-as-nails criminals.

Here’s a look at the collection:

*

Murder, My Sweet

The stars: Dick Powell, Claire Trevor and Anne Shirley

The scoop: Superlative adaptation of Raymond Chandler’s “Farewell, My Lovely” starring Powell as the world-weary L.A. shamus Philip Marlowe. In this 1944 outing, Marlowe is hired by a dimwitted thug (Mike Mazsurki) to find his old girlfriend while also being tapped by a blackmail victim to accompany him to a handoff in an isolated area in the hills. Niftily directed by Edward Dmytryk from a snappy script by John Paxton, “Murder, My Sweet” turned around the career of Powell, who had come to fame in the 1930s as a boy crooner in such movies as “42nd Street” but had found himself struggling in the 1940s.

Extras: Trailer and breezy commentary from author Alain Silver.

*

Out of the Past

The stars: Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, Kirk Douglas

The scoop: The quintessential film noir. Directed by French emigre Jacques Tourneur, the 1947 thriller, told in an elaborate flashback, revolves around a low-rent private eye (a perfect sleepy-eyed Mitchum) hired by an oily gangster (Douglas) to find his girlfriend (Greer), who has escaped his clutches and fled to Mexico. Of course, Mitchum falls for the femme fatale, who wraps him around her little finger, dragging him into the depths of crime.

Before “Out of the Past,” Mitchum had been cast in good-guy roles, most notably in his Oscar-nominated performance as an earnest soldier in “The Story of G.I. Joe.” But he proved in “Out of the Past” that the film noir genre fitted him like a well-worn fedora and rumpled double-breasted suit.

Extras: The trailer and informative commentary from James Ursini.

*

The Set-Up

The stars: Robert Ryan, Audrey Totter

The scoop: Those who know director Robert Wise only for his Oscar-winning musicals “West Side Story” and “The Sound of Music” probably will be surprised by his gritty 1949 noir. “The Set-Up,” which unfolds in real time, focuses on 72 minutes in the life of a washed-up boxer (a masterful Ryan) who has a bout with a young, up-and-coming fighter at a boxing arena ironically named Paradise. Unbeknown to him, though, his crooked manager (George Tobias) has made a deal for $50 for Ryan to throw the fight. Because Ryan has been on a losing streak, Tobias believes he has no chance to win the bout and doesn’t tell him the fight is fixed. Totter plays Ryan’s long-suffering wife.

Extras: Informative commentary from Wise, who celebrates his 90th birthday this year, and director Martin Scorsese, a longtime admirer of this allegorical tale.

*

Gun Crazy

The stars: John Dall, Peggy Cummins

The scoop: Joseph H. Lewis directed this taut, erotic 1949 thriller starring Dall and Cummins as gun enthusiasts working as sharpshooters at a sleazy carnival who end up turning to a life of crime and murder.

One of the most famous scenes in the film occurs during their first bank robbery, which Lewis shoots from the back seat of the couple’s car. Though “Gun Crazy” was a B movie when released, it is definitely one of the A films of the genre.

Extras: Lackluster commentary from author Glenn Erickson, who makes a few factual errors along the way.

*

The Asphalt Jungle

The stars: Sterling Hayden, Sam Jaffe

The scoop: John Huston directed this dark, complex 1950 film noir about a jewel robbery gone awry. The movie crackles with delicious dialogue courtesy of Huston and co-writer Ben Maddow. The performances are uniformly excellent: Hayden as a tough guy who wants to return to his old Kentucky home; Jean Hagen as a singer who loves Hayden; Jaffe as the criminal mastermind with a penchant for young women; Louis Calhern as a shady lawyer who is at the end of his financial rope; a very young Marilyn Monroe as Calhern’s mistress; and James Whitmore as a hunchbacked hood who operates a diner.

Extras: The trailer, a vintage introduction to the film by Huston and compelling commentary from Drew Casper, longtime professor at USC’s School of Cinema-Television mixed in with a vintage interview with Whitmore. (Casper does get the wrong release date for the Roman epic “Quo Vadis.” He states it came out in 1950; the film was released in 1951.)