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Film Noir
They Shot Dark Pictures,
Didn't They? |
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250 Quintessential Noir
Films
Part 1 |
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Noir Home |
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250 Quintessential
Noir Films (1940-1964): Parts
1
2
3
4
5 |
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50 Key Noir
Filmmakers
More American Noir (1940-1964)
Non-American Noir
(1940-1964)
Noir Precursors (Pre-1940)
Neo-Noir / Modern Noir
(Post-1964)
Noir Links
Noir Sources |
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Full listing of all
films cited: Alphabetical
Chronological
By Director |
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The 250
Quintessential Noir Films listing contains 241 films that all contain
three key ingredients. |
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1) They were all
produced in the United States; |
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2) They were all shot
in black-and-white; |
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3) They were all
produced between 1940 to 1959. |
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The nine films, that
have been included, that exclude at least one of these key ingredients
are two
Non-American-produced noir (The Third Man and Mr. Arkadin),
four colour noir films (Leave Her to Heaven,
Niagara, Party Girl and Slightly Scarlet), and
three
films from the early 1960's (Cape
Fear, Underworld, U.S.A. and The Naked Kiss). |
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As mentioned in the
introduction, these
250 noir films aren't necessarily the best (although they would be very
close to it), they are simply the films that - according to our research
- have most often been cited as noir in publications and across the
world-wide-web. |
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For interest sake, the top-ten most cited noir films are: Out of the Past
(1947), The Maltese Falcon (1941), Laura (1944), Touch of Evil (1958),
D.O.A. (1949), Double Indemnity (1944), The Killers (1946), The Asphalt Jungle (1950),
The Big Sleep (1946) and Kiss Me Deadly (1955). The most cited
years are between 1944 to 1958, with 1947 being the peak year. |
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The Accused |
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William Dieterle |
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| 1948, 101 mins,
Paramount |
| Scr
Ketti Frings
Cin
Franz PlanertCastrLoretta Young, Robert
Cummings, Wendell Corey, Sam Jaffe, Douglas Dick |
| "The
Accused is reminiscent of Lang's Woman in the Window...it
is also a good example of Hollywood's postwar psychologizing and
its postwar stereotypes of frustration." - Bob Porfirio
& Alain Silver,
Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the
American Style |
| TSPDT: Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Ace in the Hole |
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Billy Wilder |
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GF1000
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| aka The
Big Carnival |
| 1951, 112 mins,
Paramount |
| Scr
Billy Wilder,
Lesser Samuels, Walter Newman
Cin
Charles LangtCast
Kirk Douglas, Jan Sterling, Robert Arthur, Porter Hall, Frank
Cadyz |
| "This 1951
film, about a cynical reporter who seizes on the plight of a man
trapped in a mine shaft to promote his career, is cold, lurid,
and fascinating, propelled by the same combination of moral
outrage and sneaky admiration that animates the paperback novels
of Jim Thompson and James M. Cain." -
Dave Kehr,
Chicago Reader |
| TSPDT:
Highly Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Act of Violence |
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Fred Zinnemann |
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| 1949, 82 mins,
MGM |
| Scr
Robert L. Richards
Cin
Robert Surtees
Cast
Van Heflin, Robert Ryan, Janet Leigh, Mary Astor, Phyllis
Thaxter |
| "Significant
chronicle of respected citizen's flight into dark, menacing
night world strong on resonance and imagery." -
Spencer Selby,
Dark City: The Film Noir |
| TSPDT:
Worth a Look |
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Amazon IMDB MRQE |
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Among the Living |
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Stuart Heisler |
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| 1941, 68 mins,
Paramount |
| Scr
Lester Cole, Garrett Fort
Cin
Theodor Sparkuhl
Cast
Albert Dekker, Susan Hayward, Harry Carey, Frances Farmer,
Gordon Jones |
| "Impressive
B-movie stars Albert Dekker as a businessman in a small Southern
town and his homicidal twin brother who escapes from a mental
hospital...Psychological thriller has good acting and direction,
suspense, and mill-town atmosphere. - Danny Peary,
Guide for the Film Fanatic |
| TSPDT:
Worth a Look |
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Amazon IMDB MRQE |
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Angel Face |
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Otto Preminger |
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| 1953, 91 mins,
RKO |
| Scr
Frank S. Nugent, Oscar Millard
Cin
Harry Stradling
Cast
Robert Mitchum, Jean Simmons, Herbert Marshall, Mona Freeman,
Leon Ames |
| "This
intense Freudian melodrama by Otto Preminger is one of the
forgotten masterworks of film noir...The film is a disturbingly
cool, rational investigation of the terrors of sexuality." -
Dave Kehr,
Chicago Reader |
| TSPDT:
Highly Recommended |
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Amazon IMDB MRQE |
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Armored Car Robbery |
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Richard Fleischer |
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| 1950, 68 mins,
RKO |
| Scr
Earl Felton, Gerald Drayson Adams
Cin
Guy Roe
Cast
Charles McGraw, Adele Jergens, William Talman, Douglas Fowley,
Steve Brodie |
| "The
caper movie has since succumbed to over-familiarity and
over-elaboration, but this one - pointing the way to The
Asphalt Jungle and The Killing - is a model of its
kind." -
Tom Milne,
Time Out |
| TSPDT:
Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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The Asphalt Jungle |
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John Huston |
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GF1000
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| 1950, 112 mins,
MGM |
| Scr
John Huston,
Ben Maddow
Cin
Harold Rosson
Cast
Sterling Hayden, Louis Calhern, Jean Hagen, James Whitmore, Sam
Jaffe |
| "Perhaps
the most finely detailed "caper" film Hollywood ever produced...The
Asphalt Jungle concentrates not only on the robbery but also
on the personal lives of the gang members, who are
indivudualized with notable touches of dialogue and visual
style." -
R. Barton
Palmer,
1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die |
| TSPDT:
Highly Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Berlin Express |
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Jacques Tourneur |
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| 1948, 86 mins,
RKO |
| Scr
Harold Medford
Cin
Lucien Ballard
Cast
Merle Oberon, Robert Ryan, Paul Lukas, Charles Korvin, Robert
Coote |
| "Jacques
Tourneur directed Merle Oberon and Robert Ryan in this iron
curtain thriller. It's not one of his best efforts--which
include I Walked With a Zombie and Out of the Past--but
he does well enough with the set pieces, pulling a suspenseful
finale out of a lethargic script." -
Dave Kehr,
Chicago Reader |
| TSPDT:
Worth a Look |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Beware, My Lovely |
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Harry Horner |
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| 1952, 77 mins,
RKO |
| Scr
Mel Dinelli
Cin
George E. Diskant
Cast
Ida Lupino, Robert Ryan, Taylor Holmes, Barbara Whiting, James
Willmas |
| "Not
uninteresting woman in jeopardy thriller, worth a look for
Lupino and Ryan...Let down by broodingly sluggish direction
(production designer Horner's debut) and by a script which gets
bogged down in repetitive action instead of exploring the
characters." - Tom Milne,
Time Out |
| TSPDT:
Worth a Look |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Beyond a Reasonable Doubt |
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Fritz Lang |
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GF1000
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| 1956, 80 mins,
RKO
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Douglas Morrow
Cin
William Snyder
Cast
Dana Andrews, Joan Fontaine, Sidney Blackmer, Philip Bourneuf,
Shepperd Strudwick |
| "The
film has considerable impact, due not so much to visual style,
as to the narrative structure and mood and to the expertly
devised plot, in which the turnabout is both surprising and
convincing." - Dennis L. White,
Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the
American Style |
| TSPDT:
Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Beyond the Forest |
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King Vidor |
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| 1949, 96 mins,
Warner Bros |
| Scr
Lenore Coffee
Cin
Robert Burks
Cast
Bette Davis, Joseph Cotten, David Brian, Ruth Roman, Dona Drake |
| "Much
of Vidor's late work flirts dangerously with camp; this 1949
effort, I'm afraid, frequently succumbs, though it has a weird
kind of power and integrity." -
Dave Kehr,
Chicago Reader |
| TSPDT:
Highly Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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The Big Clock |
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John Farrow |
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| 1948, 95 mins,
Paramount |
| Scr
Jonathan Latimer
Cin
John Seitz
Cast
Ray Milland, Charles Laughton, Maureen O'Sullivan, George
Macready, Rita Johnson |
| "Excellent
noir thriller in which crime-journalist Milland,
innocently involved with a girl subsequently murdered by his
megalomaniac boss Laughton, is then commissioned by Laughton to
find the culprit...With strong performances, the film also
delights through Farrow's evocative direction." - Geoff
Andrew,
Time Out |
| TSPDT:
Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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The Big Combo |
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Joseph H. Lewis |
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| 1955, 89 mins,
Allied Artists |
| Scr
Philip Yordan
Cin
John Alton
Cast
Cornel Wilde, Richard Conte, Jean Wallace, Brian Donlevy, Lee
Van Cleef |
| "Gripping
low-budget film noir in which cop Cornel Wilde's obsessive
pursuit of racketeer Conte is fueled by a pathetic infatuation
with his classy moll Jean Wallace." - Robin Cross,
2000 Movies: The 1950's |
| TSPDT:
Highly Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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The Big Heat |
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Fritz Lang |
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GF1000
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| 1953, 90 mins,
Columbia
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| Scr
Sydney Boehm
Cin
Charles Lang
Cast
Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, Jocelyn Brando, Alexander Scourby,
Lee Marvin |
| "Fritz
Lang seized on the brute-cop/brute-criminal state of mind to
make this movie a tour de force of insensitive behavior.
That's why Gloria Grahame come out looking like Mary Magdalene,
a slender cut above all the other sick fools caught in the bad
light." - Barry Gifford,
The Devil Thumbs a Ride |
| TSPDT:
Highly Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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The Big Knife |
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Robert Aldrich |
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| 1955, 111 mins,
United Artists |
| Scr
James Poe
Cin
Ernest Laszlo
Cast
Jack Palance, Ida Lupino, Shelley Winters, Wendell Corey, Jean
Hagen |
| "Writer
Clifford Odets was never renowned for his subtlety, but he has
enough inside knowledge to make this tale of a Hollywood hunk (Palance)
with a secret uncompromising, compelling and dead on. Shot in a
documentary style, making the message - that it's lethal at the
top - even harder to ignore." -
The Rough Guide to Cult Movies |
| TSPDT:
Highly Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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The Big Sleep |
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Howard Hawks |
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GF1000
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| 1946, 114 mins,
Warner Bros |
| Scr
William Faulkner, Jules Furthman, Leigh Brackett
Cin
Sid Hickox
Cast
Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, John Ridgely, Elisha Cook Jr.,
Martha Vickers |
| "Many
different creative talents combine here for a distinctive and
vastly entertaining depiction of Raymond Chandler's L.A.
netherworld." -
Spencer Selby,
Dark City: The Film Noir |
| TSPDT:
Highly Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Black Angel |
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Roy William Neill |
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| 1946, 80 mins,
Universal |
| Scr
Roy Chanslor
Cin
Paul Ivano
Cast
Dan Duryea, June Vincent, Peter Lorre, Broderick Crawford,
Wallace Ford |
| "The
authentic tang of noir is lent by Duryea, superb in (for
once) a sympathetic role as the tormented musician with the
faithless wife who finds the solution to the mystery of her
murder surfacing through the alcoholic haze of his memory.
Lovely supporting cast too." - Tom Milne,
Time Out |
| TSPDT:
Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Black Tuesday |
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Hugo Fregonese |
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| 1954, 80 mins,
United Artists |
| Scr
Sydney Boehm
Cin
Stanley Cortez
Cast
Edward G. Robinson, Peter Graves, Jean Parker, Milburn Stone,
Warren Stevens |
| "Edward
G. stirs memories of his heyday at Warner in old-fashioned
prison break drama full of gunplay and hardboiled dialogue." -
Robin Cross,
2000 Movies: The 1950's |
| TSPDT:
Not Seen |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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The Blue Dahlia |
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George Marshall |
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| 1946, 99 mins,
Paramount |
| Scr
Raymond Chandler
Cin
Lionel Lindon
Cast
Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, William Bendix, Howard da Silva, Doris
Dowling |
| "The
overriding sense of corruption hidden below the surfaces of many
of the film's characters - combined with atmosphere provided by
director George Marshall - make The Blue Dahlia a
fascinating example of postwar noir sensibility." - Carl
Macek,
Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the
American Style |
| TSPDT:
Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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The Blue Gardenia |
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Fritz Lang |
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| 1953, 90 mins,
Warner Bros |
| Scr
Charles Hoffman
Cin
Nicholas Musuraca
Cast
Anne Baxter, Richard Conte, Ann Sothern, Raymond Burr, Jeff
Donnell |
| "This
little-seen thriller from Fritz Lang's rich and strange late
period is The Woman in the Window with the sex roles
reversed: Anne Baxter is a working girl who believes she has
murdered a masher (Raymond Burr)." -
Dave Kehr,
Chicago Reader |
| TSPDT:
Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Body and Soul |
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Robert Rossen |
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| 1947, 104 mins,
United Artists |
| Scr
Abraham Polonsky
Cin
James Wong Howe
Cast
John Garfield, Lilli Palmer, Hazel Brooks, Anne Revere, William
Conrad |
| "A
curious mixture: European intelligence in an American frame,
social criticism disguised as noir anxiety (the whole film is
cast as one long pre-fight flashback). But Garfield's bullish
performance saves the movie from its stagy moments and episodic
script." - Chris Auty,
Time Out |
| TSPDT:
Highly Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Boomerang! |
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Elia Kazan |
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| 1947, 88 mins,
20th Century-Fox |
| Scr
Richard Murphy
Cin
Norbert Brodine
Cast
Dana Andrews, Jane Wyatt, Lee J. Cobb, Arthur Kennedy, Sam
Levene |
| "Dated,
overrated semidocumentary by Elia Kazan...What starts out to be
a daring attack on corrupt machine police politics, mob
violence, press irresponsibility, and fascist police tactics
turns out to be the glorification of an honest man; it's perfect
fare for civics classes in Middle America." -
Danny Peary,
Guide for the Film Fanatic |
| TSPDT:
Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Border Incident |
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Anthony Mann |
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| 1949, 92 mins,
MGM |
| Scr
John C. Higgins
Cin
John Alton
Cast
Ricardo Montalban, George Murphy, Howard da Silva, James
Mitchell, Arnold Moss |
|
"Conventional script about two immigration service agents who
join hands across the border to smash a murderous racket
exploiting cheap Mexican labour. Lifted right out of the rut by
John Alton's camerawork, which helps Mann to transform routine
heroics into the stuff of film noir." -
Tom Milne,
Time Out |
| TSPDT:
Worth a Look |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Born to Kill |
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Robert Wise |
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| 1947, 92 mins,
RKO |
| Scr
Eve Greene, Richard Macaulay
Cin
Robert de Grasse
Cast
Claire Trevor, Lawrence Tierney, Walter Slezak, Phillip Terry,
Audrey Long |
| "Born
to Kill is an excellent example of an RKO style, not only
for its visuals but also for its offhanded depiction of
perturbed sexuality and extreme brutality." - Bob Porfirio,
Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the
American Style |
| TSPDT:
Highly Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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The Brasher Doubloon |
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John Brahm |
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| 1947, 72 mins,
20th Century-Fox |
| Scr
Dorothy Bennett
Cin
Lloyd Ahern
Cast
George Montgomery, Nancy Guild, Conrad Janis, Roy Roberts, Fritz
Kortner |
| "The
resourceful John Brahm (The Lodger) spins a few moody
compositions, but the film never transcends its status as a
quickie made to cash in on the success of The Big Sleep." -
Dave Kehr,
Chicago Reader |
| TSPDT:
Not Seen |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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The Breaking Point |
|
Michael Curtiz |
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| 1950, 97 mins,
Warner Bros |
| Scr
Ranald MacDougall
Cin
Ted McCord
Cast
John Garfield, Patricia Neal, Phyllis Thaxter, Juano Hernandez,
Wallace Ford |
| "Hawks
messed around with Hemingway and made To Have and Have Not
(1944); six years later Curtiz played it straighter and wound up
with this thoroughly competent smuggling drama, which, without
Bogey and Bacall on board, has faded into the celluloid
woodwork." - Trevor Johnston,
Time Out |
| TSPDT:
Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Brute Force |
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Jules Dassin |
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| 1947, 98 mins,
Universal |
| Scr
Richard Brooks
Cin
William Daniels
Cast
Burt Lancaster, Hume Cronyn, Charles Bickford, Yvonne De Carlo,
Ann Blyth |
| "Despite
significant cuts in Dassin's original footage, Brute Force
is still the ultimate noir prison film and one of the high
points of the cycle." - Spencer Selby,
Dark City: The Film Noir |
| TSPDT:
Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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The Burglar |
|
Paul Wendkos |
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| 1957, 90 mins,
Columbia |
| Scr
David Goodis
Cin
Don Malkames
Cast
Dan Duryea, Jayne Mansfield, Martha Vickers, Peter Capell,
Mickey Shaughnessy |
| "Paul
Wendkos has directed both paranoid stylistic triumphs and bland
programmers. This 1957 noir, his first, has amazing flourishes
even if the storytelling sometimes goes slack." - Fred
Camper,
Chicago Reader |
| TSPDT:
Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Call Northside 777 |
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Henry Hathaway |
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| 1948, 111 mins,
20th Century-Fox |
| Scr
Jerry Cady, Jay Dratler
Cin
Joseph MacDonald
Cast
James Stewart, Richard Conte, Lee J. Cobb, Helen Walker, Betty
Garde |
| "Besides
the generally strong performances and Joe MacDonald's fine
monochrome camera-work, what finally impresses about the film is
Stewart's gradual development from sceptical scoop-hunter to a
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