Private Property (region A/0 blu-ray/DVD)

Warren Oates delivers his first great screen performance here as one of the drifters, years before he emerged in The Wild Bunch and Two-Lane Blacktop as one of the finest character actors of his generation; his bizarre, voyeuristic Lennie-and-George relationship with the underrated Corey Allen (James Dean’s hot rod rival in Rebel Without a Cause) is fueled by a barely-suppressed homoerotic tension. The back-story to the film is almost as strange: director Leslie Stevens (a protégé of Orson Welles) and lead actress Kate Manx were married at the time, and the film was shot in their own Beverly Hills home. Several years later, Manx tragically committed suicide and her fragile spirit seems to hang over the film. A major rediscovery for noir and crime fans, Private Property was completely lost until UCLA Film & TV Archive recently located the only known 35mm elements, which have been restored in 4k by Cinelicious for this re-release.