Franco Noir is a two-film blu ray that shows a very different and largely unseen side of the often sleaze bound euro-exploitation auteur Jess Franco. Featured on the disc are two black and white films from the 1960s, and as the disc's title suggests they both sit squarely in the noir genre, and are often moody and often gritty examples of the genre. With zero of the sleaze, or any of more creative/ off-the chuff filmmaking- the directors known for. Instead, we two well-made and formally scoped films, so not a release for those looking for the normal fleshy and off-kilterness uncle Jess’s known for. But if like me you enjoy sampling every side of the director's work/ and or you’re a fan of noir- this is most certainly a must-have release.  The release appears on Severin, with the disc being topped off with an interview/ feature with Franco expert Stephen Thrower.

The two films featured here are the wonderfully titled Death Whistles The Blues, and Rififi In The City. Both are presented on the single region free Blu Ray, and each features a new HD transfers from the original negatives. With each of the Spanish language films featuring nice, clear and crisp yellow sub-titles. 

So first off we have 1964’s Death Whistles The Blues( aka La muerte silba un blues, O77 opération sexy, Agent 077 opération Jamaïque)- this was a French Spanish production. And what we have here is the past capturing up with older and seemingly untouchable gangster noir.  The film pre-credits feature two men in a truck travelling across a bridge to a checkpoint, the guards ask the pair to get out for a search. Both men declare there’s only fruit and veg in the back, but fairly soon they come across guns hidden under the fruit- both men run, with one being gunned down on the sandy riverside. After the credits, we fast forward a few years to New Oreland’s, where we find Lina(Perla Cristal) watching a jazz show- she recognizes jazz trumpeter Julius Smith (Manuel Alexandre) after he plays a familiar tune to her. She knew Smith from when she was married to her first husband who was a gunrunner- this of course makes her both a little nervous, through slightly pinning for the past. She is now married to Paul(Georges Rollin) an older rich man, who's trying to keep his criminal past buried, as he basically rules and controls a Jamaica island. When Lina gets home to Paul, she tells him about seeing Smith- and fairly soon he lands up mowed down by a car, as from afar Paul try to stop his past coming out.
Rollin is most effective as the at first arrogant ex-gangster- when we first meet him, he’s asleep on a driving board above his own huge pool- seemingly not having a care in the world. This screen is most memorable as the wind is blowing the palm trees around him, and he rises his long grey sleek back hair, as Lina arrives back.  Cristal is also good as the falling out of love moll. With the film feature a good selection of supporting cast, with Franco really picking some distinctive-looking actors to play roles. Memorable scenes include a  tense late-night speeding car ride,  a see their breath midnight fistfight, and dramatic chase by the sea/ on the pier finale. The whole film is very moodily scoped with a great score, which I believe Franco had something to do with, and on one of the onstage scenes, we actually see him playing sax with the band. The plot/ flow of the film did feel somewhat muddled to begin with, but when we get into it flows better with some nicely tense and suspenseful scenes.

The second film on the disc is  Rififi In The City( aka Rififí en la ciudad)- this is from the year 1963 and once again is another Spanish French production. And what have here man goes missing, meet corruption noir- with a few Gallio and moodily arty touches blended in. I’d say this film does have more obvious Franco traits than the first film- as we get quite arty and elaborate female nightclub performances, and stark and haunting shots of sea and landscapes, with moody voiceovers.
The film is set in a not named south American country/ city. It kicks off with popular barman Juan(Serafín García Vázquez) going missing from his job at the Stardust nightclub, with both his love interest and colleges being concerned.  It turns out Juan was working for the police as an informer and had got quite close/ pally with Sargento Detective Miguel Mora(Fernando Fernán Gómez)- a stern cop who looks somewhat like a more heavily browed Phil Daniels. Miguel convinced that Teflon businessman/ up for local election Maurice Leprince( Jean Servais) is somehow is behind Jaun disappearance- and is willing to put his job, and even his life on the line to get to the truth. Around the half an hour mark we get a Giallo element added in to the noir tropes-  as we have a black-gloved, harsh whisper, and switchblade carrying killer taking out Leprince’s henchmen.

Both Gómez and Servais are good respectively as won’t give up cop, and slimy and shifty businessman- with them getting some great head to head confrontations. As the film unfolds we get some great examples of noir- there’s a shadowy backroom punch-up, a gunfight in the club with chandeliers crashing down, and lots of uptight and sweaty macho interactions. The film plays at the hour and forty four-minute mark, and this feels like it could have done with a little bit of trimming/ tightening up here and there, but on the whole  Rififi In The City is a rewarding and entertaining noir with some nice Giallo touches added in.

On the extras front, we get an interview/ featurette with Stephen Thrower, who of course has written two books on Franco- Murderous Passions & The Flowers Of Perversion, which cover the whole of the director's huge filmography. The feature runs at one hour and six minutes- and he starts off by talking about how Franco got into filmmaking and his first few films. Then he moves on to discuss each of the films on this set- giving a great in-depth look at each, discussing their influences, key actors, and giving his thoughts on each. As always with Thrower content- it’s very well researched and entertaining, and it’s great to hear more about Franco’s early years.

In finishing it's great to see these two films getting put out, and let us hope this release is relatively popular, so Severin could maybe look at putting out more of his early filmography. A release for fans of Franco’s wider out-put,/ and or fans of euro noir.