Release Date: 3/25/08

The Film

Who doesn’t love a good mafia movie? All the crime, the debauchery, illegality, and just in general, all the stuff that we’re too scared to do because we’re not in the mob, has a way of pulling us into these great stories of the seedy underside of society. Of course, Hollywood knew this from day 1 and has been pumping out gangster films starring icons such as James Cagney, Edward G. Robinson, and Humphrey Bogart. Now in its Vol. 3 edition, Warner Bros. Pictures’ Gangsters Collection contains the following films: Black Legion, Brother Orchid, Lady Killer, Picture Snatcher, Smart Money, and The Mayor of Hell.

Is this the quintessential mafia movie box set? Absolutely not, however, this is the third set we’ve been presented with so of course the pickings will be slim. With that said, this is still a great outing from the likes of Cagney and Robinson, portraying their Mafioso characters in some truly entertaining films from Hollywood’s yesteryear. These guys are the original tough guys, and well, even though these films aren’t the greatest, they still include some great performances and stories that are still relevant today, most notably in the film, Black Legion. On the flip side serving things up a little differently is Brother Orchard, which spoofs the gangster genre in a fashion that inconsistently works on a few levels. Don’t get me wrong, all the movies are entertaining, but they’re just not up to par with films from the previous volumes.

The DVD

The main menus across the discs contain static backgrounds with music while sub menus include silent stills.

The video transfer is offered in 1.33:1 Fullscreen Format. Transfer quality is about average across the board with the black and white pictures. Details and color depth show nicely given the age of the material. Grain and track lines do appear from time to time, however, it doesn’t detract from the viewing experience and I’m willing to give it a pass considering the age of the material. The box says digitally remastered, but I just don’t see it.

The audio is offered in English Dolby Digital Mono. Despite the presence of hiss on the track, it doesn’t take awayfrom the experience one bit as the audio and dialogue is very crisp. It sounds great considering the age. Subtitles are available in English and French.

The Extras

The entire 6-disc set comes in 6 Amaray cases all housed in a cardboard case. While it all looks very classy, it is very similar to the other Gangsters Collections released from Warner Bros. Formulaic packaging is nice, but I’d love to see something new, and perhaps the use of slimline cases to take up less space.

Audio Commentaries are available for each film and are provided by various historians and biographers.

Warner Night at the Movies is the staple on each disc as we’ve seen in past Signature Collections. We get introductions by Leonard Maltin as he shares more information than we’d wish to every know about anything movies. Within these options are newsreels, musical shorts, comedy shorts, cartoons, and trailers. This set-up has slowly grown on me as the idea of trying to recreate the movie theatre experience works.

Final Thoughts

If you’re into this type of thing, you can’t go wrong with Gangsters Collection – Vol. 3. While the films aren’t exactly as classic as the films found in earlier releases, they’re still entertaining, and the bonus options are as always, plentiful. Now we just need Warner Bros. To start using slimline cases!

- Morris Tang