The Brasher Doubloon

Solid film Solid transfer from Fox Cinema Archives
The Brasher Doubloon is a Philip Marlowe programmer with the famous detective out to find what appears to be a stolen coin, called the Brasher Doubloon...what Marlowe finds instead is a couple of murders in this pretty good Noir with George Montgomery as Marlowe.
Now while this movie isnt quite up to (in my own opinion) a few of the other films with Philip Marloww such as The Big Sleep, Lady in the Lake or Murder My Sweet, this is a very respectable and enjoyable film. It is worth looking into
The DVDr black and white full frame transfer from Fox to me is very good, very solid with shades of blacks whites and grays at appropriate levels. It is certainly better than those underground DVDr releases that are out there. Nothing remastered mind you but this is at the moment and probably for the foreseeable future the definitive release.
-If you want this film and if you want the best presentation of the Brasher Doubloon - go with the Fox Cinema Archive Edition.

A Hidden Gem
The Fox Cinema Archives print is really quite good--especially considering that the film was made in 1947. What is surprising is that it is taken this long for an authorized studio release. There are previous DVD versions floating around--probably bootleg or public domain versions. In any case, the 72 minute film is a nice adaption of Raymond Chandler's novel the High Window. Concise, gritty and a bit violent for its time---it may not rank with "The Big Sleep" or "Murder My Sweet" or "Lady in The Lake" and George Montgomery may not rank with Bogart, Dick Powell or even Robert Montgomery as Phillip Marlowe. But he does a nice job in the title role. and the movie moves along quite briskly.

I recommend.

Finally surfaces on home video
Excellent quality, given the rarity of this title over the last couple of decades. The black and white contrast is much better than in the "underground" copies floating around.

I suspect that the Raymond Chandler estate may have held up its release during the VHS/laserdisc era. The film is based on a "lesser" Chandler novel entitled THE HIGH WINDOW. It may not be as great as other Chandler adaptations, but it's still a wonderful walk through some hidden corners of Los Angeles society. The ending came as a surprise to me.

One warning--if you're a person (like me) who tends to spot-check new discs by advancing to each chapter-stop, this is one time that you should avoid doing so. The last chapter-stop lands right on the unmasking of "whodunit!"

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