Borowitz Crime Collection: Crime-related Films, 1916-2006

Finding Aid

Prepared by Cara Gilgenbach, March 7, 2006; Updated January 2008
2 media boxes, .66 cubic feet, 11th floor

Scope and Content

This collection contains a selected group of films on video or DVD that have a relation to other materials in the Borowitz Crime Collection and which include special features that enhance research use (e.g. director's commentaries or documentaries including scholarly information). Additional films will be added to this collection on a selective basis. The films in this collection were donated by Albert and Helen Borowitz, or were purchased for the Borowitz Collection.

Usage Restrictions

Copyright restriction: The films in this collection are for individual research use and may only be viewed. Due to copyright restrictions, duplicates will not be made and public performance is prohibited.

Related Materials

Films related to Jack the Ripper are housed in the Jack the Ripper Collection.

Box 1
Contents

1. Call Northside 777. Screenplay by Jerome Cady and Jay Dratler. Adaptation by Leonard Hoffman and Quentin Reynolds. Produced by Otto Lang. Directed by Henry Hathaway. Starring James Stewart with Richard Conte, Lee J. Cobb, and Helen Walker. 20th Century Fox, 1948; DVD release, 2004.
   
   
2. [Collins, Wilkie]. Mystery Classics: 50 Movie Pack. DVD release by TreeLine Films of 50 mystery classics including selected Sherlock Holmes titles, Dick Tracy titles, The Moonstone, The Stranger, The Second Woman, Detour, and Suddenly, 2003.
   
   
3. [Film Noir]. Film Noir Classic Collection, vol. 4. Includes ten films on five DVDs: Act of Violence; Mystery Street; Crime Wave; Decoy; Illegal; The Big Steal; They Live By Night; Side Street; Where Danger Lives; and Tension, plus commentaries and featurettes on each disc. DVD release by Warner Bros., 2007.
   
   
4. Gaslight. Side A: American Version: Screenplay by John Van Druten, Walter Reisch, and John L. Balderston. Based on the play by Patrick Hamilton. Produced by Arthur Hornblow, Jr. Directed by George Cukor. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1944; Side B: Original British Version: Screenplay by A. W. Rawlinson and Bridget Boland. Produced by John Corfield. Directed by Thorold Dickinson. British National Films, Ltd., 1940; DVD release by Warner Bros., 2004.
   
   
5. Judex [a serial in twelve episodes]. Directed by Louis Feuillade. Gaumont, 1916. 2-DVD Deluxe Edition release by Flicker Alley, 2004. Includes the most complete version of the film available and bonus features. [Judex is one of film's “first superheroes” who plots revenge against a corrupt banker while falling in love with the banker's beautiful daughter.]
   
   
6. Lizzie Borden: A Woman Accused. An A&E Biography presentation. DVD release by A&E Television Networks, 2002. Originally released in 1994.
   
   
7. [Moors Murders case]. Longford. Starring Jim Broadbent and Samantha Morton. Directed by Tom Hooper. Written by Peter Morgan. HBO Films, 2007. DVD release by HBO Video, 2007. [DVD includes "For the Record: Firsthand Accounts of the Moors Murders" and audio commentary by the director and writer.]
   
   
8. Murder on a Sunday Morning. A documentary directed by Jean-Xavier de Lestrade. Maha Productions, 2003. DVD release by DocuRama, [2003?]. [Alleged murder in Florida of Mary Ann Stephens by 15-year-old Brenton Butler. Butler 's supposed confession is thrown into question.]
   
   
9. Nashville. Produced and Directed by Robert Altman. Screenplay by Joan Tewksbury. Starring Henry Gibson, Lily Tomlin, Ronee Blakely, Keith Carradine, Geraldine Chapman, Barbara Harris, Karen Black. ABC Entertainment, 1975; DVD release by Paramount, 2000.
   
   
10. [Riggs, Lynn]. The Garden of Allah [starring] Marlene Dietrich and Charles Boyer. Directed by Richard Boleslawski. Based on a book by Robert Hichens. Screenplay by W. P. Lipscomb and Lynn Riggs. [United Artists?], 1936. DVD release by Anchor Bay Entertainment, 2000.
    
    
11. [Riggs, Lynn]. The Plainsman [starring] Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur. Produced and Directed by Cecil B. DeMille. Screenplay by Waldemar Young, Harold Lamb, and Lynn Riggs. Paramount Pictures, 1937. DVD release by Universal, 2004
    

Box 2
Contents

1. Sacco and Vanzetti. A film by Peter Miller. DVD release by First Run Features, 2006. Includes special features: interview with the director; Sacco and Vanzetti FAQ; archival photo gallery, and suggested readings.
   
   
2. The Staircase. A documentary directed by Jean-Xavier de Lestrade. Sundance Channel and Canal +, 2005. DVD release by DocuRama, 2005. [ North Carolina author Michael Peterson was arraigned in 2001 for the murder of his wife, Kathleen, who was found dead on the stairway of the couple's home.]
   
   
3. Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Starring Tod Slaughter. Directed by George King. 1936. DVD release by Alpha Video, 2004.
   
   
4. The Thin Blue Line. Produced by Mark Lipson. Directed by Errol Morris. Original music by Philip Glass. American Playhouse Theatrical, 1988; DVD version by MGM, 2005.
   
   
5. [Wallace, Edgar]. Vintage Murder Mysteries. Collector's Edition. DVD release by Alpha Video of “10 Long Lost Murder Mystery Classics” including Murder in the Night, The Death Kiss, Murder by Invitation, The Terror, Wayne Murder Case, Murder on the Campu, The King Murder, The Invisible Killer, Death from a Distance, and The Rogue's Tavern, 2004.
   
   
6. [Woolrich, Cornell]. The Bride Wore Black. Starring Jeanne Moreau. Directed by François Truffaut. Based on the novel of the same name by William Irish (pseud.). Les Films Du Carrosse, 1968. DVD release by MGM Home Entertainment, 1999.
   
   
7. [Woolrich, Cornell]. Fear in the Night. Starring Deforest Kelly. Directed by Maxwell Shane. Based on the story “Nightmare” by William Irish [Cornell Woolrich]. 1947. DVD release by Alpha Video, 2003.
   
   
8. [Woolrich, Cornell]. The Leopard Man. Directed by Jacques Tourneur. Produced by Val Lewton. Based on the novel Black Alibi by Cornell Woolrich. RKO Pictures, 1943. DVD release in boxed set of the films of Val Lewton. [The Leopard Man is on disc 4 along with The Ghost Ship. Other films in set include Cat People, The Curse of the Cat People, I Walked with a Zombie, The Body Snatcher, Isle of the Dead, and Bedlam.]
   
   
9. [Woolrich, Cornell]. Rear Window. Starring James Stewart. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Based on the short story "It Had to be Murder" by William Irish (pseud.). Universal Studios, 1954. DVD Collector's Edition release by Universal Studios, 2001. Includes special features.