Film Noir Classic Collection, Vol. 3 (Border Incident / His Kind of Woman / Lady in the Lake / On Dangerous Ground / The Racket)

• Five more film noirics lined up with genre stars such as Robert Mitchum, Robert Montgomery, Robert Ryan, and Jane Russell, are now available in Volume 3 of the Film Noir Classics Collection series. The new 6-Disc DVD set is only available as a collection and includes a bonus documentary disc on the Noir genre. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION Rating: NR Age: 012569761247

Genre: LGBT Action/Adventure
Dangerous Ground; Previous Book: Old Poison

Special Agents for the Department of Diplomatic Security, Taylor MacAllister and Will Brandt have been partners forever and lovers for three months, but their new relationship is threatened when Will is offered a plum two-year assignment in Paris.

Will believes the posting only means postponing what they both want. Taylor fears that kind of separation will mean the end of their new and still-fragile relationship. It’s a! bad time to find themselves in the middle of the New Mexico wilderness responsible for the health and welfare of a suspected terrorist. Especially when everyone else they run into seems determined to see their prisoner -- and them -- dead.

Publisher's Note: This book contains explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may find objectionable: Male/male sexual practices.Genre: LGBT Action/Adventure
Dangerous Ground; Previous Book: Old Poison

Special Agents for the Department of Diplomatic Security, Taylor MacAllister and Will Brandt have been partners forever and lovers for three months, but their new relationship is threatened when Will is offered a plum two-year assignment in Paris.

Will believes the posting only means postponing what they both want. Taylor fears that kind of separation will mean the end of their new and still-fragile relationship. It’s a bad time to find themselves in the middle of the New Mex! ico wilderness responsible for the health and welfare of a sus! pected t errorist. Especially when everyone else they run into seems determined to see their prisoner -- and them -- dead.

Publisher's Note: This book contains explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may find objectionable: Male/male sexual practices.Genre: LGBT Action/Adventure Suspense
Series: Dangerous Ground; Previous Book: Blood Heat

Like your heroes tall, dark and dangerous? Meet Loose Id's Men of Mystery.

The boys are back in town -- and Paris is burning!

For Special Agents of the Department of Diplomatic Security, Taylor MacAllister and Will Brandt, the strain of a long distance relationship is beginning to tell after eleven months of separation. A romantic holiday could be just the thing to bridge the ever-growing distance, but when Taylor spots a terrorist from the 70s, long believed dead but very much alive, it’s c’est la vie.

Now instead of sipping wine and seeing the sights, t! he boys are chasing a wily and deadly foe through the graveyards and catacombs of Paris.

Of course, it could always be worse -- and soon it is.

Publisher's Note: This book contains explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may find objectionable: male/male sexual practices.Genre: LGBT Action/Adventure Suspense
Series: Dangerous Ground; Previous Book: Blood Heat

Like your heroes tall, dark and dangerous? Meet Loose Id's Men of Mystery.

The boys are back in town -- and Paris is burning!

For Special Agents of the Department of Diplomatic Security, Taylor MacAllister and Will Brandt, the strain of a long distance relationship is beginning to tell after eleven months of separation. A romantic holiday could be just the thing to bridge the ever-growing distance, but when Taylor spots a terrorist from the 70s, long believed dead but very much alive, it’s c’est la vie.

Now instead of sipping w! ine and seeing the sights, the boys are chasing a wily and dea! dly foe through the graveyards and catacombs of Paris.

Of course, it could always be worse -- and soon it is.

Publisher's Note: This book contains explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may find objectionable: male/male sexual practices.Ice Cube and Elizabeth Hurley in the tale of a South African freedom fighter who returns home after 14 years in exile for his father's funeral. Apartheid is over, but now the drug wars are destroying his people...and his brother is missing in action.An odd combination of consciousness-raising and run-of-the-mill action, Dangerous Ground features Ice Cube, mostly unbelievably, as a one-time South African native named Vusi. Vusi came to America at age 14 to escape police repression, and eventually reinvented himself as an American scholar and community-oriented volunteer. Called back to the old country to bury his father, Vusi discovers the new South Africa under Mandela, but also gets a s! nootful of the nation's surge in crime and drug usage. Sent to Johannesburg to retrieve a long-missing brother, Vusi allies himself with a coke-addicted stripper (Elizabeth Hurley) who knows the vanished man. The script and direction by Darrell James Roodt (Cry, the Beloved Country) seems to be serving various masters: viewers interested in epochal changes in South Africa, and viewers who want to kick back and watch a suspense movie about drugs, a hooker, and a nasty crime lord (Ving Rhames). The result is unwieldy, and Cube's thumping performance doesn't do much to bridge the gap. --Tom Keogh

Somethings hot in Seattle, and its not just the espresso.

The Seattle Steam series.

 Madisons needs are simple. All she wants are two things: Make Ooo La Latt the newest trend in espresso, and seduce the sexiest cop in Seattle. But things arent going exactly as planned. First, Gabes a little hung up on the fact that shes his best friends! little sister, and hes determined to keep his hands off. Seco! nd, her shop gets robbed by the increasingly violent Espresso Bandit, and now shes the only one who can identify him. Gabe whisks her into hiding for her own protection, but soon finds his heart is under assault by the lusciousand persistentMadison. But no matter where they hide, danger follows. On such dangerous grounds, the trick will be to live long enough to keep the flame alive.


Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

It took almost another hour before she slipped into a light sleep, and instead of being comforted, she found herself reliving the robbery. Except this time, the robber pulled the trigger.

She jerked upright with a cry, dragging the sheets around her. A moment later her door burst open and Gabe's silhouette filled the doorway.

"Maddie?" He shut the door and came over to the bed. "What's wrong? I heard you cry out."

She turned her head away before he could see the shine of tears in! her eyes.

The dream had been too real.

"Did you dream about him?" Gabe asked, his voice soft. "It's all right, Maddie. It's normal. I haven't seen you break down once yet."

"I'm not the type to break down," she mumbled. She urged herself to regain control and not lose it. But the back of her throat burned from choking back the tears, and soon she stopped fighting.

The tears ran down her cheeks and she kept her face averted, trying to hide them.

"Maddie..." He pulled her unresisting body into his arms, sliding back against the bedpost to support them. She buried her head against his chest.

"It's just sexual tension combined with the post-traumatic stress." She tried to laugh and it came out choked. "Nothing to worry about. It'd all go away if you'd just have sex with me."

"You don't need to make it a joke, Maddie," he murmured. "It's nothing to be ashamed or embarrassed about."

Wasn't i! t? She hated that she was crying on Gabe's shoulder. He was al! ways so controlled and seemed so kept together. And now, in between pathetic attempts to seduce him, she sat here bawling her eyes out on his chest. His naked chest. Hmm. She hadn't noticed that before.

She blinked the last of her tears away and became quite aware of the rapid pounding of Gabe's heart.

Maybe he wasn't as controlled as he'd have her believe.

She kept her head against his chest. "You're not immune to me, Gabe."

His hand that had been stroking her hair stilled, and then resumed its comforting movements.

"I never said I was."

"Then why--"

"Just sleep, Maddie," he interrupted, his voice gentle. "I'll stay here with you, if you'd like. But only to sleep."

Madison considered her options. Having Gabe in bed with her would be a major temptation to attempt to seduce him again. It'd be better just to send him back to his own bed. But then the thought of being alone, with the possibility o! f more nightmares, made it an obvious choice.

"I'd like you to stay, and I promise not to touch you. Tonight. Deal?"

He gave a soft laugh and maneuvered them so that they were lying down next to each other.

"Deal."Something's hot in Seattle, and it's not just the espresso. Madison's needs are simple. All she wants are two things: Make Ooo La Latte the newest trend in espresso, and seduce the sexiest cop in Seattle. But things aren't going exactly as planned.

First, Gabe's a little hung up on the fact that she's his best friend's little sister, and he's determined to keep his hands off. Second, her shop gets robbed by the increasingly violent Espresso Bandit, and now she's the only one who can identify him.

Gabe whisks her into hiding for her own protection, but soon finds his heart is under assault by the luscious--and persistent--Madison. But no matter where they hide, danger follows. On such dangerous grounds, the trick ! will be to live long enough to keep the flame alive.

Someth! ing's ho t in Seattle, and it's not just the espresso. Madison's needs are simple. All she wants are two things: Make Ooo La Latte the newest trend in espresso, and seduce the sexiest cop in Seattle. But things aren't going exactly as planned.

First, Gabe's a little hung up on the fact that she's his best friend's little sister, and he's determined to keep his hands off. Second, her shop gets robbed by the increasingly violent Espresso Bandit, and now she's the only one who can identify him.

Gabe whisks her into hiding for her own protection, but soon finds his heart is under assault by the luscious--and persistent--Madison. But no matter where they hide, danger follows. On such dangerous grounds, the trick will be to live long enough to keep the flame alive.

Someone from DSS Special Agent Taylor MacAllister’s past -- the past he doesn’t discuss with his partner and now-lover Will Brandt -- wants him scared. Dead scared. Or maybe just dead. Will fears the pas! t will end a future romance. Or any future at all.

(This book was previously released through Loose Id Publishing.)Someone from DSS Special Agent Taylor MacAllister’s past -- the past he doesn’t discuss with his partner and now-lover Will Brandt -- wants him scared. Dead scared. Or maybe just dead. Will fears the past will end a future romance. Or any future at all.

(This book was previously released through Loose Id Publishing.)

The USS Memphis, a dilapidated submarine that that should have been mothballed decades ago, has been given one last mission by the newly elected president. The task: To sneak illegally into Russia's coastal waters and recon the leaking nuclear fuel containers hidden on the floor of the Arctic Ocean. More than just an environmental nightmare, this radioactive burial ground houses enough nuclear capability to destroy most of America's major cities.
The Memphis's commander, Lowell Hardy, had been looking forward to fla! g rank and pleasant duty upon the sub's decommissioning. Now h! e is tra pped in an inconceivably dangerous and illegal mission which could easily end his career, if not his life and the lives of his crew. But it's the crew who feel Hardy's tension as he tyrannizes everyone on board to ensure they'll be ready for anything:
Jerry Mitchell: a former naval pilot with political connections, he is a novice submariner, unprepared for his demanding job as a weapons officer. Central to the Memphis's mission, Mitchell may be its greatest liability . . . or its ultimate salvation.
Dr. Joanna Patterson: The senior civilian scientist, appointed by and reporting to the president, she is a world-class expert on nuclear fuel contamination--and every bit as demanding as Hardy. Patterson and her partner, Dr. Emily Davis, soon find themselves battling flaring tempers, faulty machinery, lethal radioactivity, and the raging arctic seas.
The submariners: Seething with rage at their Captain Bligh-like commander and the equally domineering Joanna Patters! on, they are also at war with Jerry Mitchell, and one another. Like the captain, they feel they deserve better, not this antiquated relic, not this hostile scientist, not this novice weapons officer, and definitely not this disastrously dangerous mission.
Nor is the mission what it seems. Lurking beneath the frigid, black, radioactive waters is a secret far more deadly than anything naval command could imagine--a secret so menacing the Russian Fleet is hell-bent on destroying the Memphis and all who sail in her.

The USS Memphis, a dilapidated submarine that that should have been mothballed decades ago, has been given one last mission by the newly elected president. The task: To sneak illegally into Russia's coastal waters and recon the leaking nuclear fuel containers hidden on the floor of the Arctic Ocean. More than just an environmental nightmare, this radioactive burial ground houses enough nuclear capability to destroy most of America's major! cities.
The Memphis's commander, Lowell Hardy, had been lo! oking fo rward to flag rank and pleasant duty upon the sub's decommissioning. Now he is trapped in an inconceivably dangerous and illegal mission which could easily end his career, if not his life and the lives of his crew. But it's the crew who feel Hardy's tension as he tyrannizes everyone on board to ensure they'll be ready for anything:
Jerry Mitchell: a former naval pilot with political connections, he is a novice submariner, unprepared for his demanding job as a weapons officer. Central to the Memphis's mission, Mitchell may be its greatest liability . . . or its ultimate salvation.
Dr. Joanna Patterson: The senior civilian scientist, appointed by and reporting to the president, she is a world-class expert on nuclear fuel contamination--and every bit as demanding as Hardy. Patterson and her partner, Dr. Emily Davis, soon find themselves battling flaring tempers, faulty machinery, lethal radioactivity, and the raging arctic seas.
The submariners: Seething with rage at t! heir Captain Bligh-like commander and the equally domineering Joanna Patterson, they are also at war with Jerry Mitchell, and one another. Like the captain, they feel they deserve better, not this antiquated relic, not this hostile scientist, not this novice weapons officer, and definitely not this disastrously dangerous mission.
Nor is the mission what it seems. Lurking beneath the frigid, black, radioactive waters is a secret far more deadly than anything naval command could imagine--a secret so menacing the Russian Fleet is hell-bent on destroying the Memphis and all who sail in her.

The USS Memphis, a dilapidated submarine that that should have been mothballed decades ago, has been given one last mission by the newly elected president. The task: To sneak illegally into Russia's coastal waters and recon the leaking nuclear fuel containers hidden on the floor of the Arctic Ocean. More than just an environmental nightmare, this radioactive burial gro! und houses enough nuclear capability to destroy most of Americ! a's majo r cities.
The Memphis's commander, Lowell Hardy, had been looking forward to flag rank and pleasant duty upon the sub's decommissioning. Now he is trapped in an inconceivably dangerous and illegal mission which could easily end his career, if not his life and the lives of his crew. But it's the crew who feel Hardy's tension as he tyrannizes everyone on board to ensure they'll be ready for anything:
Jerry Mitchell: a former naval pilot with political connections, he is a novice submariner, unprepared for his demanding job as a weapons officer. Central to the Memphis's mission, Mitchell may be its greatest liability . . . or its ultimate salvation.
Dr. Joanna Patterson: The senior civilian scientist, appointed by and reporting to the president, she is a world-class expert on nuclear fuel contamination--and every bit as demanding as Hardy. Patterson and her partner, Dr. Emily Davis, soon find themselves battling flaring tempers, faulty machinery, lethal radioactivity! , and the raging arctic seas.
The submariners: Seething with rage at their Captain Bligh-like commander and the equally domineering Joanna Patterson, they are also at war with Jerry Mitchell, and one another. Like the captain, they feel they deserve better, not this antiquated relic, not this hostile scientist, not this novice weapons officer, and definitely not this disastrously dangerous mission.
Nor is the mission what it seems. Lurking beneath the frigid, black, radioactive waters is a secret far more deadly than anything naval command could imagine--a secret so menacing the Russian Fleet is hell-bent on destroying the Memphis and all who sail in her.

Loretta Brown is mad at herself for not telling her best friend Xavier Johnson about the feelings she has for him; she’s been led to believe that he’s engaged. With the help of her friend Cookie she’ll prove to Xavier that she’s the woman for him.

Xavier has been trying to break out! of the “friend zone” with Loretta, for every step she tak! es towar d him she takes two steps back. He understands that she was in an abusive marriage and careful with her feelings, but he’s determined to breach that wall she’s built around her heart.

Unknown to Loretta her life is in danger from a mad man who blames her for his son’s death. Xavier uses all of his contacts in high places to ensure her safety, except that one man in question demands something from Xavier that may damage his relationship with Loretta or claim his life.

Excerpt:
Loretta locked the door as soon as she got inside her house. Loretta kicked her shoes off before she made her way into the kitchen. Just as she was reaching for a glass on the shelf she heard a knock at the front door. Who could it be at this time of night?

Loretta walked over to the front door; however, she didn’t open it. “Who is it?”

“It‘s me Loretta, open up.”

Loretta would recognize Xavier’s voice anywhere. She opened t! he door and let him in. “Xavier what are you doing here at this hour?”

Xavier barely got in the door good before he started talking about her date. “Did you enjoy your date tonight Loretta?” Xavier towered over her as if he was trying to intimidate her.

Loretta put her hands on her hips. “Xavier I don’t have to ask you or anyone else for permission to go out on a date.”

Xavier realized that he couldn’t intimidate Loretta, so tried another approach. “You know you don’t want him.”

“Since when have you become an authority on my wants and needs? For a man who’s suppose to be getting married, you sure are paying a lot of attention to my dating habits... ”

Xavier cut off Loretta’s tirade by kissing her thoroughly. When Loretta responded, Xavier wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer to his body. “Whatever you’re looking for you don’t have to go chasing all over the city I got wh! at you need.”

Loretta was momentarily disoriented! . “Xav ier I won’t be the other woman.”

“Loretta, you’re the only woman.”

(For Adult Audiences, Sexually Explicit, Romance, Mystery)Loretta Brown is mad at herself for not telling her best friend Xavier Johnson about the feelings she has for him; she’s been led to believe that he’s engaged. With the help of her friend Cookie she’ll prove to Xavier that she’s the woman for him.

Xavier has been trying to break out of the “friend zone” with Loretta, for every step she takes toward him she takes two steps back. He understands that she was in an abusive marriage and careful with her feelings, but he’s determined to breach that wall she’s built around her heart.

Unknown to Loretta her life is in danger from a mad man who blames her for his son’s death. Xavier uses all of his contacts in high places to ensure her safety, except that one man in question demands something from Xavier that may damage his relationship with Lorett! a or claim his life.

Excerpt:
Loretta locked the door as soon as she got inside her house. Loretta kicked her shoes off before she made her way into the kitchen. Just as she was reaching for a glass on the shelf she heard a knock at the front door. Who could it be at this time of night?

Loretta walked over to the front door; however, she didn’t open it. “Who is it?”

“It‘s me Loretta, open up.”

Loretta would recognize Xavier’s voice anywhere. She opened the door and let him in. “Xavier what are you doing here at this hour?”

Xavier barely got in the door good before he started talking about her date. “Did you enjoy your date tonight Loretta?” Xavier towered over her as if he was trying to intimidate her.

Loretta put her hands on her hips. “Xavier I don’t have to ask you or anyone else for permission to go out on a date.”

Xavier realized that he couldn’t intimidate Loretta, so tried another appr! oach. “You know you don’t want him.”

“Since whe! n have y ou become an authority on my wants and needs? For a man who’s suppose to be getting married, you sure are paying a lot of attention to my dating habits... ”

Xavier cut off Loretta’s tirade by kissing her thoroughly. When Loretta responded, Xavier wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer to his body. “Whatever you’re looking for you don’t have to go chasing all over the city I got what you need.”

Loretta was momentarily disoriented. “Xavier I won’t be the other woman.”

“Loretta, you’re the only woman.”

(For Adult Audiences, Sexually Explicit, Romance, Mystery)Five more film noir classics lined up with genre stars such as Robert Mitchum, Robert Montgomery, Robert Ryan, and Jane Russell, are now available in Volume 3 of the Film Noir Classics Collection series. The new 6-Disc DVD set is only available as a collection and includes a bonus documentary disc on the Noir genre.Two peak achievements by as many top noir di! rectors ... a customized vehicle for one of noir's premier icons ... an oddball experiment in making a truly "private eye" movie ... and a Howard Hughes remake of his earliest contribution to the gangster genre. Such are the five titles corralled for Warner Home Video's third box set of film noir classics.

For eye-popping dynamism coupled with ferocious intensity, no noir director matched Anthony Mann. Border Incident (1949) was Mann's and cinematographer John Alton's first film for MGM following a string of darkly dazzling low-budget beauties at Eagle-Lion (T-Men, Raw Deal, The Black Book, et al.). In structure it's virtually a remake of T-Men, transposed from the shadowy city where a Secret Service team battled counterfeiters, to California's Imperial Valley where the Immigration Service sets out to infiltrate a gang exploiting--and often murdering--Mexicans eager to work the farms. From the opening night scene of three laborers ! trying to recross the border and meeting a grisly end, the mov! ie relen tlessly imagines ways the human body can merge with the earth. Visually stunning, and replete with memorable villains (headed by Howard Da Silva, a past master at making affability lethal), this is one of Mann's strongest noirs and surely his most inventive. Its neglect can be explained only by people's assumption that nothing worthwhile could come of a movie top-billing Ricardo Montalban and George Murphy (as the government agents). Wrong, wrong, wrong.

After a scalding first reel in big-city night streets, Nicholas Ray's On Dangerous Ground (RKO, 1951) likewise forsakes familiar noir terrain for the countryside--the mountains and snowfields where city cop Robert Ryan seeks a psychotic killer. For both the actor and the director, Ryan's character is an exemplary creation: a man with personal demons whose overzealous pursuit of criminals has pushed him into sadism. His passage from urban darkness into the silent white mountain country becomes a redemptive jour! ney, thanks largely to his interaction with a blind woman (Ida Lupino) in an isolated farmhouse whose younger brother may be the quarry he's after. Ray developed the screenplay with A.I. Bezzerides under the supervision of producer John Houseman (for whom Ray had made his feature debut, They Live By Night). The film boasts a thrilling music score by Bernard Herrmann, anticipating his great soundtrack for North by Northwest.

His Kind of Woman (also RKO, 1951) is a vehicle for both RKO's reigning bad boy, Robert Mitchum, and Howard Hughes' definitive coup of distaff engineering, Jane Russell. Their characters cross paths en route to a seaside Mexican resort, where she aims to continue her gold-digger pursuit of Hollywood ham Vincent Price, and Mitchum will figure in a plot to get deported mobster Raymond Burr back into the U.S.A. The slow-brewing romance between this dauntingly tall, broad-shouldered pair gives off little heat, but the players' g! ood-natured, weary-pro rapport as they go through their mostly! prepost erous paces makes for very good fun. Still more is supplied by Price, who just about steals the movie when he gets to extend his subâ€"Errol Flynn screen heroism into real life--all the while supplying his own florid running commentary on the action. The urbane director John Farrow filled the movie with one delicious, what-the-hell-is-going-on-here scene after another (highlight: a bored Mitchum ironing his money), but that wasn't enough for studio boss Hughes. Richard Fleischer was brought in to stretch the climactic melodrama aboard Burr's yacht in the harbor, and the picture grew to an overblown two hours in length. Not that you're likely to regret a minute of it.

Robert Montgomery directed and played Phillip Marlowe in Lady in the Lake (MGM, 1947), Raymond Chandler's novel as adapted by Steve Fisher (I Wake Up Screaming). The gimmick is that, apart from a few scenes of private detective Marlowe chatting us up in his office, everything is view! ed through his eyes, with Marlowe himself remaining unseen unless he glances in a mirror. This literal-minded conceit is more curious than compelling; the camera simply doesn't see the way the human eye does, and the artificiality constantly calls attention to itself. Montgomery, a suave actor who enjoyed playing it coarse and obnoxious on occasion, makes his screen Marlowe more smartass than any other ("dumb, brave, and cheap"). With him cracking wise off-camera, much of the movie is really carried by Audrey Totter, a swell late-'40s dame who has to stand up under more relentless scrutiny than even her shifty character deserves.

The Racket (RKO, 1951) is the second film version of a 1920s play about municipal corruption, gangsterism, and the attempt to squash an honest police precinct captain. John Cromwell had acted in the original Broadway production, which may help explain why, as director, he let so much of this movie turn back into a play. Event! ually studio boss Howard Hughes, who had produced the 1928 fil! m versio n (directed by Lewis Milestone), once again called in another director to do salvage work.

That was Nicholas Ray, whose scenes include police captain Robert Mitchum's pursuit of the man who has just bombed his home. Mitchum's fellow cast members include Robert Ryan as the ultra-paranoid gangster; husky-voiced noir blonde Lizabeth Scott as a nightclub thrush romanced by Ryan's brother; future Perry Mason D.A. William Talman as a dedicated street cop; and Ray Collins and William Conrad as two municipal officials negotiating a delicate dance with morality and expediency. --Richard T. Jameson