Sorry, you need to enable JavaScript to visit this website.

Crime-related Films

Special Collections and Archives

Crime-related Films

Special Collections and Archives

Crime-related Films

Crime-related Films 

Finding Aid

Prepared by Cara Gilgenbach, March 7, 2006; updated January 2014; Last Updated: June 2020.


Origination: Borowitz, Albert, 1930-2023 , and Borowitz, Helen Osterman, 1929-2012
Inclusive Dates: 1916-2009
Extent: 1.25 cubic feet (5 media boxes)
Physical Location: 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).

Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use: 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.

Aquisition Information: The films in this collection were donated by Albert and Helen Borowitz, or were purchased for the Borowitz Collection.  Additional films will be added to this collection on a selective basis.


Box 1
Folder -- Contents

  1. Brideshead Revisited. Gradnada Television, 1981. Starring Jeremy Irons and Diana Quick. Directed by Charles Sturridge and Michael Lindsay-Hogg. Written by John Morimer (adaption). VHS release by Acorn Media Publishing Inc., 2002. [Based on the novel Brideshead Revisited: The Sacred & Profane Memories of Captain Charles Ryder by Evelyn Waugh.]

  2. Call Northside 777. 20th Century Fox, 1948. Starring James Stewart with Richard Conte, Lee J. Cobb, and Helen Walker. Directed by Henry Hathaway. Written by Jerome Cady and Jay Dratler (screenplay), and Leonard Hoffman and Quentin Reynolds adaption. Produced by Otto Lang. DVD release by 20th Century Fox, 2004. [Based on the true story of Chicago reporter James McGuire who proved that two men, Joseph Majczek and Theodore Marcinkiewicz were wrongly accused of murder, 11 years after their imprisonment.]

  3. [Collins, Wilkie]. Mystery Classics: 50 Movie Pack. Contains 50 mystery classics including selected Sherlock Holmes titles, Dick Tracy titles, The Moonstone, The Stranger, The Second Woman, Detour, and Suddenly. DVD release by TreeLine Films, 2003.

  4. [Crippen, Harvey Hawley]. Executed in Error. Secrets of the Dead. DVD release by PBS Home Video, 2008.

  5. [Documentary]. Aileen Wuornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer. Lafayette Films, 1992. Written and Directed by Nick Broomfield. VHS release by Lafayette Films, 1992.

  6. [Documentary]. Murder on a Sunday Morning. Maha Productions, 2003. Directed by Jean-Xavier de Lestrade. 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.]

  7. [Documentary]. The Staircase. Sundance Channel and Canal +, 2005. Directed by Jean-Xavier de Lestrade. 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.]

  8. The Falcon and the Snowman. Orion Pictures, 1985. Starring Timothy Hutton and Sean Penn. Directed by John Schlesinger. Written by Steven Zaillian. DVD release by MGM Home Entertainment, 2005. [Christopher Boyce and Andrew Daulton Lee sold classified government information to the Soviet Union during the mid-1970. Based on the book of the same name by Robert Lindsey.]

  9. [Fantomas]. Fantomas. Societe des Etablissements L. Gaumont, 1913. Starring Rene Navarre. Directed by Louis Feuillade. Includes five silent serials on two DVDs: Fantomas: In the Shadow of the Guillotine, Juve versus Fantomas, The Murderous Corpse, Fantomas versus Fantomas, and The False Magistrate. DVD release by Artificial Eye, 2006. [Based on the books by Marcel Allain and Pierre Souvestre.]

  10. [Fantomas]. Louis De Funes: Dans Fantomas. Gaumont, 1964, 1965, and 1967. Starring Jean Marais and Louis de Funes. Directed by Andre Hunebelle. Includes three films on three DVDs: Fantomas, Fantomas contre Scotland Yard, and Fantomas se Dechaine. DVD release by Gaumont, 2006. [Based on the books by Marcel Allain and Pierre Souvestre, but given a James Bond-like spin.]

  11. [Film Noir]. Caught. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1949. Starring James Mason and Barbara Bel Geddes. Directed by Max Ophuls. Written by Arthur Laurents (screenplay). VHS release by Republic Pictures Home Video, 1988. [Base on the novel Wild Calendar by Libbie Block.]

  12. [Film Noir]. Christmas Holiday. Universal Pictures, 1944. Starring Deanna Durbin and Gene Kelly. Directed by Robert Siodmak. Written by Herman Jacob Mankiewicz (screenplay). DVD release by Hollywood's Attic, 2006. [Based on the novel of the same name by W. Somerset Maugham.]

  13. [Film Noir]. Dangerous Crossing. 20th Century Fox, 1953. Starring Jeanne Crain and Michael Rennie. Directed by Joseph M. Newman. Written by Leo Townsend (screenplay). DVD release by 20th Century Fox, 2008. [Based on the radio play Cabin B-13 by John Dickson Carr.]

  14. [Film Noir]. The Dark Mirror. Republic Pictures Corporation, 1946. Starring Olivia de Havilland. Directed by Robert Siodmak. Written by Nunnally Johnson (screenplay). VHS release by Republic Pictures Corporation, 1987. [Based on an original story by Vladimir Pozner.]

  15. [Film Noir]. The File on Thelma Jordon. Paramount Pictures, 1950. Starring Barbara Stanwyck and Wendell Corey. Directed by Robert Siodmak. Written by Marty Holland (story) and Ketti Frings (screenplay). Includes thirteen additional bonus films on five DVDs. DVD release, undated.


Box 2
Folder -- Contents

  1. [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.

  2. [Film Noir]. Hammer Film Noir Double Feature. Includes eight films on four DVDs: Terror Street, Wings of Danger, The Glass Tomb, Paid to Kill, The Black Glove, The Deadly Game, The Unholy four, and A Race for Life, plus commentaries, photo galleries, and additional bonus features. DVD release by Kit Parker Films and Blair & Associates, Ltd., 2007. [The Unholy Four is based on the novel Stranger at Home credited to George Sanders; ghost-written by Leigh Brackett.]

  1. Foyle's War. Greenlit Productions. Starring Michael Kitchen. Created by Anthony Horowitz. Includes Series 1 (2001), Series 2 (2003), and Series 3 (2004). DVD release by Akorn Media 2003, 2004, 2005.

  2. Gaslight. Side A: American Version. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1944. Directed by George Cukor. Screenplay by John Van Druten, Walter Reisch, and John L. Balderston. [Based on the play by Patrick Hamilton.] Side B: Original British Version. British National Films, Ltd., 1940. Directed by Thorold Dickinson. Screenplay by A. W. Rawlinson and Bridget Boland. DVD release by Warner Bros., 2004.

  3. A Girl Cut in Two. Aliceleo, 2007. Directed by Claude Chabrol. Written by Cecile Maistre and Claude Chabrol. DVD release by IFC Films, 2008.

  4. Jesse James at Bay. Republic Pictures, 1941. Starring Roy Rogers. Directed by Joseph Kane. Written by Harrison Jacobs (story) and James R. Webb (screenplay). VHS release by Alpha Video Distributors, Inc., 1993.

  5. Judex [a serial in twelve episodes]. Gaumont, 1916. Directed by Louis Feuillade. Includes the most complete version of the film available and bonus features. 2-DVD Deluxe Edition release by Flicker Alley, 2004. [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. Letter from an Unknown Woman. Rampart Productions and Universal-International Release, 1948. Starring Joan Fontaine and Louis Jourdan. Directed by Max Ophuls. Written by Howard Koch (screenplay). DVD release by Buddha Video Co., 2006. [Based on the novella Brief einer Unbekannten (Letter from an Unknown Woman) by Steven Zweig.]


Box 3
Folder -- Contents

  1. The Life & Crimes of William Palmer. WGBH and YTV, 1998. Starring Keith Allen. Directed by Alan Dossor. Written by Glenn Chandler. VHS release by YTV, 1998. [English doctor William Palmer was convicted of murdering John Cook with poison in 1855. He was also suspected of poisoning a number of others, including his wife Ann Palmer, his mother-in-law, and his brother; benefiting financially from their deaths. Palmer has also been called the Rugeley Poisoner and the Prince of Poisoners.]

  2. Lizzie Borden: A Woman Accused. An A&E Biography presentation. DVD release by A&E Television Networks, 2002. Originally released in 1994.

  3. [Mayerling]. De Mayerling a Sarajevo. B.U.P. Francaise, 1940. Starring Edwige Feuillere, John Lodge, and Gabrielle Dorziat. Directed by Max Ophuls. Written by Kurt Alexander. VHS release by MKS Video Inc., 1997. [Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie, Duchess of Hoenberg were assassinated in Sarajevo by Black Hand assassin Garvilo Princip on June 28, 1914. The event led to a chain of events, eventually triggering World War I. The film begins with the death of Franz Ferdinand's cousin Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria, who committed suicide at his hunting lodge in Mayerling, Austria in 1889.]

  4. [Mayerling]. Mayerling. Nero Films, 1936. Starring Charles Boyer and Danielle Darrieux. Directed by Anatole Litvak. Written by Joseph Kessel and Irma von Cume (screenplay). VHS release by Embassy Home Entertainment, 1987. [Based on the novel Idyll's End by Claude Anet.]

  5. [Mayerling]. Mayerling (Essential Art House). Nero Films, 1936. Starring Charles Boyer and Danielle Darrieux. Directed by Anatole Litvak. Written by Joseph Kessel and Irma von Cume (screenplay). DVD release by The Criterion Collection, 2009. [Based on the novel Idyll's End by Claude Anet.]

  6. [Mayerling]. The Royal Ballet: Mayerling. BBC, Covent Garden Pioneer FSP Limited, and the Royal Opera House, 1994. Starring Irek Mukhamedov and Vivana Durante. Directed by Derek Bailey. Choreography by Kenneth MacMillan. Performed at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London. VHS release by KULTUR International Films, Ltd., 1994.

  7. [Mayerling].The Sissi Collection. Includes five films on five DVDs: Sissi, Sissi: The Young Empress, Sissi: The Fateful Years of an Empress, Forever My Love, and Victoria in Dover (The Story of Vickie). Starring Romy Schneider and Karlheinz Bohm. Directed by Ernst Marischka. DVD release by KOCH Entertainment, 2007. [The first four films are based on the life of Empress Elisabeth "Sissi" of Austria, wife of Franz Joseph I and mother of Cown Prince Rudolf.]

  8. [Moors Murders case]. Longford. HBO Films, 2007. (2 copies) Starring Jim Broadbent and Samantha Morton. Directed by Tom Hooper. Written by Peter Morgan. 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.]

  9. Nashville. ABC Entertainment, 1975. Starring Henry Gibson, Lily Tomlin, Ronee Blakely, Keith Carradine, Geraldine Chapman, Barbara Harris, Karen Black. Produced and Directed by Robert Altman. Screenplay by Joan Tewksbury. DVD release by Paramount, 2000.

  10. Night Train to Munich. Twentieth Century Productions, Ltd., 1940. Starring Margaret Lockwood and Rex Harrison. Directed by Carol Reed. Written by Sidney Gilliat and Frank Launder (screenplay). VHS release by Kino Video, 1997. [Based on the novel Report on a Fugitive by Gordon Wellesley.]


Box 4
Folder -- Contents

  1. Princess Caraboo. Beacon and TriStar Pictures, 1994. Starring Phoebe Cates, Kevin Kline, and John Lithgow. Directed by Michael Austin. Written by Michael Austin and John Wells. LASER DISC release by Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment, 1995 (oversize folder). DVD release by Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment, 2001. [Based on the story of Mary Willcocks Baker, a woman from Witheridge, Devon who appeared in 1817 claiming to be a kidnapped princess from an island called Javasu.]

  2. Ragtime. Paramount, 1981. Starring James Cagney and Moses Gunn. Directed by Milos Forman. Written by Michael Weller (screenplay). Contains special features, including director's commentary. DVD release by Paramount, 2004. [The film includes references to Harry Thaw's murder of Stanford White who had had an affair with Thaw's wife Evelyn Nesbit. Based on the novel of the same name by E. L. Doctorow]

  1. [Riggs, Lynn]. The Garden of Allah. [United Artists], 1936. Starring Marlene Dietrich and Charles Boyer. Directed by Richard Boleslawski. Written by W. P. Lipscomb and Lynn Riggs (screenplay). DVD release by Anchor Bay Entertainment, 2000. [Based on the novel of the same name by Robert Hichens.]

  2. [Riggs, Lynn]. The Plainsman. Paramount Pictures, 1937. (2 copies) Starring Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur. Produced and Directed by Cecil B. DeMille. Written by Waldemar Young, Harold Lamb, and Lynn Riggs (screenplay). DVD release by Universal, 2004. [Based on the book Wild Bill Hickock, the Prince of Pistoleers by Frank J. Wilstach.]

  1. Sacco and Vanzetti. A film by Peter Miller. Includes special features: interview with the director, Sacco and Vanzetti FAQ, archival photo gallery, and suggested readings. DVD release by First Run Features, 2006.

  2. The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Atlantic Productions, 1990. Written and Directed by Rolf Forsberg. Narrated by Pierce Brosnen. DVD release by Questar, 2002. [In 356 B.C. Heroctratus, an arsonist burned down the temple of the goddess Artemis at Ephesus, in order to gain eternal fame.]

  3. [Silent Film]. Spiders (Die Spinnen). Decla-Bioscope AG, 1919. Directed and written by Fritz Lang. VHS release by D.H. & K.J Shepard, 1978.

  4. [Silent Film]. Spies (Spione).Fritz-Lang-Film GMBH, 1928. Directed by Fritz Lang. Written by Thea von Harbou and Fritz Lang. VHS release by Kino Video, 1991.

  5. Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1936. Starring Tod Slaughter and Stella Rho. Directed by George King. Written by Frederick Hayward and H.F. Maltby. DVD release by Alpha Video, 2004.

  6. Taxi Driver. Columbia Pictures, 1976. Starring Robert Deniro and Jodi Foster. Directed by Martin Scorsese. Written by Paul Schrader. DVD release by Columbus TriStar Home Video, 1999. [The film allegedly played a role in the delusional fantasy of John Hinckley, Jr., who attempted to assassinate President Ronald Regan in 1981. The attempt, Hinckley stated, was done to impress actress Jodi Foster, with whom he had become obsessed.]

  7. The Thin Blue Line. American Playhouse Theatrical, 1988. Directed by Errol Morris. Produced by Mark Lipson. Original music by Philip Glass. DVD version by MGM, 2005.

  8. Three Wicked Melodramas from Gainsborough Pictures. Includes three films: The Man in Grey, Madonna of the Seven Moons, and The Wicked Lady. DVD release by The Criterion Collection, 2012. [The Wicked Lady is based on the novel The Life and Death of the Wicked Lady Skelton by Magdalen King-Hall, which in turn, was based upon the life of aristocrat and heiress Lady Katherine Ferrers, thought to be a highwayman who terrorized the English county of Hertfordshire.]


Box 5
Folder -- Contents

  1. [Wallace, Edgar]. Vintage Murder Mysteries. Collector's Edition 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 Campus, The King Murder, The Invisible Killer, Death from a Distance, and The Rogue's Tavern. DVD release by Alpha Video, 2004.

  2. [Woolrich, Cornell]. The Bride Wore Black. Les Films Du Carrosse, 1968. Starring Jeanne Moreau. Directed by Francois Truffaut. DVD release by MGM Home Entertainment, 1999. [Based on the novel of the same name by William Irish (pseudonym).]

  3. [Woolrich, Cornell]. Fear in the Night. Paramount Pictures, 1947. Starring DeForest Kelley. Directed by Maxwell Shane. DVD release by Alpha Video, 2003. [Based on the story "Nightmare" by William Irish (pseudonym).]

  4. [Woolrich, Cornell]. I Wouldn't be in Your Shoes! Walter Mirisch Productions, 1948. Starring Don Castle and Elyse Knox. Directed by William Nigh. Written by Steve Fisher (screenplay). DVD release, undated. From a 16mm film transfer. [Based on the novel of the same name by Cornell Woolrich.]

  5. [Woolrich, Cornell]. The Leopard Man. RKO Pictures, 1943. Directed by Jacques Tourneur. Produced by Val Lewton. 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. Based on the novel Black Alibi by Cornell Woolrich.]

  6. [Woolrich, Cornell]. Rear Window. Universal Studios, 1954. Starring James Stewart and Grace Kelly. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. DVD Collector's Edition release by Universal Studios, 2001. Includes special features. [Based on the short story "It Had to be Murder" by William Irish (pseudonym).]