Seven major new Blu-ray releases from three separate companies are further proof that home video releases are still a potent choice for home viewing.

From Warner Archive come three 1950s films noir, Caged, The Damned Don’t Cry, and Angel Face, as well as the same decade’s open sea adventure The Old Man and the Sea. From Criterion comes the provocative 1960s drama The Servant. From Kino Lorber comes the realistic 1960s western Will Penny and the provocative 1980s drama Duet for One.

John Cromwell’s 1950 film, Caged, was a shocker in its day. As influential as 1933’s I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang was in its demanding prison reform, this noir thriller about a 19-year-old widow sentenced to 1-15 years for being an accomplice to the robbery in which her husband was killed, remains powerful despite all the imitations that have followed in the years since.

A naive young girl when she enters prison, Eleanor Parker soon hardens under the thumb of nasty matron Hope Emerson. Both Parker and Emerson were nominated for Oscars, but there are equally memorable performances from Betty Garde and Lee Patrick as feuding inmates and Agnes Moorehead as the reform-minded warden up against an unyielding patriarchal system. Emerson, Garde, Patrick, and Moorehead all play thinly disguised lesbians at a time when such portrayals were verboten. That they got away with it under the strict thumb of the Hays Code is quite amazing.

Vincent Sherman’s 1950 film, The Damned Don’t Cry, gave Joan Crawford one of her best roles of the era as a struggling housewife who runs away from her husband after the accidental death of her 6-year-old son, ending up a gangster’s mistress. Crawford’s character was based on Virginia Hill, the sharp-tongued moll who became Bugsy Siegel’s mistress.

David Brian shared above the title billing with Crawford but he’s only one of four men in her life, the others being Steve Cochran as Brian’s rival gangster, Kent Smith as the CPA who is too good for her, and Richard Egan as her poor husband.

The Blu-ray imports Sherman’s commentary from the 2005 DVD. The director, who died less than a month before what would have been his 100th birthday the following year, was still quite sharp although his commentary consisted a lot of his telling us what we could already see was happening on the screen, and telling us how much of a joy Crawford was to work with.

Otto Preminger’s 1953 film, Angel Face, was a critical and commercial flop upon its initial release but has gained a reputation over the years as being one of the best noirs of its era. Howard Hughes produced the film which Preminger had to complete in 18 days before Jean Simmons’ contract with RKO expired. Simmons had sued Hughes, who purchased Simmons’ contract from England’s Rank Organization without her knowledge, and lost, but the court ruled that the contract be limited to just 3 films with an expiration date in late 1952.

This was one of six films with Simmons that were released in 1952. Three of them, including the previously filmed Affair with a Stranger and She Couldn’t Say No, were from RKO, while Young Bess and The Actress were from MGM, and The Robe was from 20th Century-Fox. She won the National Board of Review award for her performances in the three non-RKO films.

Simmons’ co-star in Angel Face was Robert Mitchum with whom she had great chemistry. Mona Freeman, Herbert Marshall, Barbara O’Neill, and Leon Ames have the principal supporting roles. Initial critical aversion to the film was that it was a failed imitation of Double Indemnity, but it’s more than that. See it for yourself and decide if you agree.

Eddie Muller’s commentary from the earlier DVD release is included.

John Sturges’ 1958 film The Old Man and the Sea, is a tedious version of Ernest Hemingway’s novel about a Cuban fisherman. Spencer Tracy somehow received an Oscar nomination for Best Actor although he was much more deserving for the same year’s The Last Hurrah.

Tom Gries’ 1968 western, Will Penny, is revered amongst aficionados of the genre, primarily for the standout performances of Charlton Heston as the old-at-50 illiterate cowboy, Joan Hackett as the young woman whose husband has run away, and Jon Gries, the director’s son, as Hackett’s son. This was the film debut of Gries, most recently seen as Jennifer Coolidge’s husband in White Lotus.

The performances of Heston, Hackett, and young Gries still hold up, as do the supporting performances of Lee Majors, also in his film debut, Anthony Zerbe, and Ben Johnson. Unfortunately, the over-the-top performances of Donald Pleasence and Bruce Dern as father and son villains take it down a notch or two but it is still a compelling western.

Joseph Losey’s 1963 film, The Servant, a 1964 release in the U.S., was a triumph for the American director of The Boy with Green Hair, forced to flee the U.S. after being blacklisted. Then living in England, he made this one at the request of star Dirk Bogarde who won a BAFTA for his portrayal of the conniving gentleman’s gentleman who takes advantage of the naive millionaire, played by James Fox, who he comes to work for. Sarah Miles and Wendy Craig co-star but it is the ever-changing relationship between Bogarde and Fox that holds your attention throughout.

Former child actor Fox was Miles’ boyfriend at the time. It was she who cajoled Fox’s father, producer Robert Fox, into casting the former child actor in the role that made his career.

Andrei Konchalovsky’s 1986 film, Duet for One, is based on a play about the last days of Jackie Du Pré, the concert cellist dying of multiple sclerosis, played by Emily Watson in 1988’s Hilary and Jackie. With the character’s name changed to Stephanie Anderson for Duet for One, she was played on Broadway by Anne Bancroft with Max von Sydow as her psychiatrist in a 1981 two-hander in which they were the only characters on stage.

Von Sydow reprises his role in the film opposite a superb Julie Andrews as Stephanie who is a concert violinist rather than a cellist. The expanded cast includes Alan Bates as her husband, Rupert Everett as her performance partner, and Liam Neeson as her young lover.

This was Andrews’ last starring role. She was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actress – Drama. She was also nominated for a Golden Globe that year for Best Actress – Comedy for her second to last starring role in That’s Life! Both films are worth seeking out.

Happy viewing.