Western Film Noir, Vol. 1: Little Big Horn/Rimfire [DVD]

Kit Parker Films may not be a name that too many people are familiar with outside of the movie industry, but for decades they have been important distributors of documentaries and independent feature films. Western Film Noir, Volume 1 is a neat little package containing one superb low-budget western, Little Big Horn (1951), and one nicely made western thriller entitled Rimfire. The former was directed by Charles Marquis Warren, the latter by B. Reeves "Breezy" Eason. Each movie has been transferred well in full-screen (1.33-to-1), though Little Big Horn has more consistent sound. Both movies are accessible through the same compound menu, which is organized horizontally, with similar elements for each: A dozen chapters for each movie, and accompaniment by trailers for other Kit Parker titles (of the two movies on the DVD, only Little Big Horn has a trailer of its own), plus bios on the stars and director of each movie. The special features are easy enough to access, and the trailers are in surprisingly good condition, if not quite as well preserved as the two features. The price is right and the work is more-than-competent, and Little Big Horn is a good enough movie that this reviewer would have happily purchased it by itself -- it looks better here than it did in a theatrical screening in New York a few years back.