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Film Noir
They Shot Dark Pictures,
Didn't They? |
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250 Quintessential Noir
Films
Part 2 |
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Noir Homeoir 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 Damned Don't Cry |
|
Vincent Sherman |
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| 1950, 103 mins,
Warner Bros |
| Scr
Harold Medford, Jerome Weidman
Cin
Ted McCord
Cast
Joan Crawford, David Brian, Steve Cochran, Kent Smith, Hugh
Sanders |
| "Ambitious,
frustrated woman walks out on her lower-class life...Important
Joan Crawford noir, with irony, excitement and a strong class
theme." -
Spencer Selby,
Dark City: The Film Noir |
| TSPDT:
Worth a Look |
|
Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Danger Signal |
|
Robert Florey |
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| 1945, 78 mins,
Warner Bros |
| Scr
C.Graham
Baker, Adele Comandini
Cin
James Wong HowetCast
Faye Emerson, Zachary Scott, Richard Erdman, Rosemary DeCamp,
Bruce Bennettz |
| "Danger
Signal is an attempt to transpose the essential ingredients
of Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt to an urban setting.
Regrettably, Danger Signal contains little of its
predecessor's suspense..." - Bob Porfirio,
Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the
American Style |
| TSPDT:
Worth a Look |
|
Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Dark City |
|
William Dieterle |
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| 1950, 98 mins,
Paramount |
| Scr
Larry Marcus, John Meredyth Lucas
Cin
Victor Milner
Cast
Charlton Heston, Lizabeth Scott, Viveca Lindfors, Dean Jagger,
Jack Webb |
| "This
loses its way when a conscience-stricken Heston heads for Los
Angeles and encounters the businessman's widow, though Webb is
good for a shot of venom every time he turns up." - J.R.
Jones,
Chicago Reader |
| TSPDT:
Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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The Dark Corner |
|
Henry Hathaway |
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| 1946, 99 mins,
20th Century-Fox |
| Scr
Jay Dratler, Bernard C. Schoenfeld
Cin
Joseph MacDonald
Cast
Mark Stevens, Lucille Ball, Clifton Webb, William Bendix, Kurt
Kreuger |
| "Fine
noir thriller, superbly paced by Hathaway, equally
superbly shot by Joe MacDonald, and benefiting from the Fox
trademark (at this time) of location shooting." - Tom Milne,
Time Out |
| TSPDT:
Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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The Dark Mirror |
|
Robert Siodmak |
 |
| 1946, 85 mins,
Universal |
| Scr
Nunnally Johnson
Cin
Milton Krasner
Cast
Olivia de Havilland, Lew Ayres, Thomas Mitchell, Richard Long,
Charles Evans |
| "The
Dark Mirror reflects noir attitudes and style mainly through
Siodmak's capable direction. His particular interest in the
aberrant behavior of disturbed minds - as explored in his
earlier Spiral Staircase - is underscored by to a much
greater extent in this film's contemporary, urban setting." -
Carl Macek,
Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the
American Style |
| TSPDT:
Recommended |
|
Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Dark Passage |
|
Delmer Daves |
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| 1947, 106 mins,
Warner Bros |
| Scr
Delmer Daves
Cin
Sid Hickox
Cast
Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Bruce Bennett, Agnes Moorehead,
Tom D'Andrea |
| "Virtually
everything that happens in this movie is silly, far-fetched, or
just plain unreal. All of which is perfectly fine - movies
aren't meant to be real. The reality is in the feelings
produced by the viewing." - Barry Gifford,
The Devil Thumbs a Ride |
| TSPDT:
Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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The Dark Past |
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Rudolph Maté |
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| 1948, 75 mins,
Columbia |
| Scr
Philip MacDonald, Michael Blankfort, Albert Duffy
Cin
Joseph Walker
Cast
Lee J. Cobb, William Holden, Nina Foch, Adele Jergens, Stephen
Dunne |
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"Psychological concept film which attempts to analyze and
explain the nightmarish roots of a killer's psychopathic
behavior." -
Spencer Selby,
Dark City: The Film Noir |
| TSPDT:
Worth a Look |
|
Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Dark Waters |
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André De Toth |
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| 1944, 90 mins,
United Artists |
| Scr
Joan Harrison, Marian Cockrell
Cin
John Mescall, Archie Stout
Cast
Merle Oberon, Franchot Tone, Thomas Mitchell, Fay Bainter,
Elisha Cook Jr. |
| "Oberon
is tiresomely tremulous, and the script almost as shaky; but the
sterling efforts of De Toth and cameraman John Mescall combine
to turn dross into a wonderfully mean and moody slice of
Southern Gothic." - Tom Milne,
Time Out |
| TSPDT:
Worth a Look |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Dead Reckoning |
|
John Cromwell |
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| 1947, 100 mins,
Columbia |
| Scr
Oliver H.P. Garrett, Steve Fisher, Allen Rivkin
Cin
Leo Tover
Cast
Humphrey Bogart, Lizabeth Scott, Morris Carnovsky, Charles Cane,
William Prince |
| "A
sometimes brutal yet oddly sensitive film Dead Reckoning
is an example of the femme fatale's inability to
transcend the limitations of her persona." - Carl Macek,
Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the
American Style |
| TSPDT:
Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Deadline at Dawn |
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Harold Clurman |
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| 1946, 83 mins,
RKO |
| Scr
Clifford Odets
Cin
Nicholas Musuraca
Cast
Susan Hayward, Bill Williams, Paul Lukas, Joseph Calleia, Osa
Massen |
| "Taxi
dancer and cab driver try to help young sailor clear himself of
impending murder charge. Atmosphere predominates as some "little
people of the night" try to fight off darkness." -
Spencer Selby,
Dark City: The Film Noir |
| TSPDT:
Worth a Look |
|
Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Desperate |
|
Anthony Mann |
 |
| 1947, 73 mins,
RKO |
| Scr
Harry Essex
Cin
George E. Diskant
Cast
Steve Brodie, Audrey Long, Raymond Burr, Douglas Fowley, William
Challee |
| "One
of Anthony Mann's apprentice works, this B-budget 1947 film noir
doesn't depart from the standard formula, but the angled imagery
is impressive and the more malignant of the minor characters are
drawn with obvious delight." -
Dave Kehr,
Chicago Reader |
| TSPDT:
Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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The Desperate Hours |
|
William Wyler |
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| 1955, 112 mins,
Paramount |
| Scr
Joseph Hayes
Cin
Lee Garmes
Cast
Humphrey Bogart, Fredric March, Arthur Kennedy, Martha Scott,
Dewey Martin |
| "One
of a number of '50s films which revealed the paranoia lurking
under the facade of the American dream, this time the
respectability and security of the family being disrupted with a
vengeance...Wyler directs efficiently, if somewhat mechanically." -
Chris Petit,
Time Out |
| TSPDT:
Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Destination Murder |
|
Edward L. Cahn |
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| 1950, 72 mins,
RKO |
| Scr
Don Martin
Cin
Jackson Rose
Cast
Joyce Mackenzie, Stanley Clements, Hurd Hatfield, Albert Dekker,
Myrna Dell |
| "Destination
Murder is another in a long line of B thrillers in the RKO
style with a plot more complicated than The Big Sleep.
Albert Dekker here plays what would become a traditional noir
role for him, that of the criminal aesthete." - Bob Porfirio,
Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the
American Style |
| TSPDT:
Not Seen |
|
Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Detective Story |
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William Wyler |
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| 1951, 103 mins,
Paramount |
| Scr
Philip Yordan, Robert Wyler
Cin
Lee Garmes
Cast
Kirk Douglas, Eleanor Parker, William Bendix, Cathy O'Donnell,
George Macready |
| "Hubris
in the precinct house. Sidney Kingsley's Broadway hit, modeled a
little too clearly on Greek tragedy, becomes a solid film
d'art under William Wyler's supple, impersonal direction." -
Dave Kehr,
Chicago Reader |
| TSPDT:
Highly Recommended |
|
Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Detour |
|
Edgar G. Ulmer |
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GF1000
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| 1945, 69 mins,
PRC |
| Scr
Martin Goldsmith
Cin
Benjamin Kline
Cast
Tom Neal, Ann Savage, Claudia Drake, Edmund MacDonald, Tim Ryan |
| "Neither
pure thriller nor pure melodrama, on an emotional level it most
resembles the wonderful purple-pulp fiction of David Goodis.
Passion joins with folly to produce termite art par excellence." -
Chris Wicking,
Time Out |
| TSPDT:
Highly Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Double Indemnity |
|
Billy Wilder |
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|
GF1000
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| 1944, 106 mins,
Paramount |
| Scr
Raymond Chandler,
Billy Wilder
Cin
John Seitz
Cast
Barbara Stanwyck, Fred MacMurray, Edward G. Robinson, Porter
Hall, Jean Heather |
| "Adapted
by director Billy Wilder and author Raymond Chandler for the
hard-boiled novel by James M. Cain, Double Indemnity is
the archetypal film noir, the tale of a desperate dame and a
greedy man, of murder for sordid profit and sudden, violent
betrayal." -
Kim Newman,
1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die |
| TSPDT:
Highly Recommended |
|
Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Drive a Crooked Road |
|
Richard Quine |
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| 1954, 82 mins,
Columbia |
| Scr
Blake Edwards,
Richard Quine
Cin
Charles Lawton Jr.
Cast
Mickey Rooney, Dianne Foster, Kevin McCarthy, Jack Kelly, Harry
Landers |
| "The
lack of pretentiousness in a film like Drive a Crooked Road
could be mistaken for a lack of artistic zeal; but such films
take the motifs of the cycle out of the dark corners of a noir
underworld and bring them into the sunlight, where human nature
remains as corrupt as it is in the dark." - Blake Lucas,
Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the
American Style |
| TSPDT:
Not Seen |
|
Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Edge of Doom |
|
Mark Robson |
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| 1950, 99 mins,
RKO |
| Scr
Philip Yordan
Cin
Harry Stradling
Cast
Dana Andrews, Farley Granger, Joan Evans, Robert Keith, Paul
Stewart |
| "Confused,
poverty-stricken man lashes out in an ironic act of murder. The
only film noir produced by Samuel Goldwyn conveys its
compassionate social theme with surprising intensity." -
Spencer Selby,
Dark City: The Film Noir |
| TSPDT:
Not Seen |
|
Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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The Enforcer |
|
Bretaigne Windust |
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| 1951, 87 mins,
Warner Bros |
| Scr
Martin Rackin
Cin
Robert Burks
Cast
Humphrey Bogart, Everett Sloane, Zero Mostel, Ted De Corsia, Roy
Roberts |
| "Bathed
in a typically noir aura of fear, shot by Robert Burks in
a semi-documentary style, and with a laconically witty script by
Martin Rackin, it only occasionally reveals the cracks one might
expect given that part of the footage had to be restaged by
Raoul Walsh." -
Tom Milne,
Time Out |
| TSPDT:
Recommended |
|
Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Fallen Angel |
|
Otto Preminger |
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| 1945, 97 mins,
20th Century-Fox |
| Scr
Harry Kleiner
Cin
Joseph LaShelle
Cast
Alice Faye, Dana Andrews, Linda Darnell, Charles Bickford, Anne
Revere |
| "Made as a
follow-up to the highly successful Laura, this less
celebrated film boasts many of the same qualities, including
Joseph LaShelle's imaginative lighting, a romantic David Raksin
melody that complements the action, and the ideal Preminger
actor, Dana Andrews." - Blake Lucas,
Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the
American Style |
| TSPDT:
Highly Recommended |
|
Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Fear in the Night |
|
Maxwell Shane |
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| 1947, 72 mins,
Paramount |
| Scr
Maxwell Shane
Cin
Jack Greenhalgh
Cast
DeForest Kelley, Paul Kelly, Ann Doran, Kay Scott, Charles
Victor |
| "A classic
noir premise: man wakes up after having a nightmare that he
killed someone and then finds thumb marks on his own throat.
Throw in a sinister hypnotist (is there any other kind?) played
by Robert Emmett Keane and you have a cracking mystery and
Kelley's screen debut." -
The Rough Guide to Cult Movies |
| TSPDT:
Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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The File on Thelma Jordon |
|
Robert Siodmak |
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| 1949, 100 mins,
Paramount |
| Scr
Ketti Frings
Cin
George Barnes
Cast
Barbara Stanwyck, Wendell Corey, Paul Kelly, Joan Tetzel,
Stanley Ridges |
| "Assistant
D.A. tries to help his illicit lover beat a murder rap. Elusive,
sophisticated thriller by distinguished noir director, Robert
Siodmak." -
Spencer Selby,
Dark City: The Film Noir |
| TSPDT:
Recommended |
|
Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Follow Me Quietly |
|
Richard Fleischer |
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| 1949, 59 mins,
RKO |
| Scr
Lillie Hayward
Cin
Robert de Grasse
Cast
William Lundigan, Dorothy Patrick, Jeff Corey, Nestor Paiva,
Charles D. Brown |
| "Based on
an original story by Francis Rosenwald and Anthony Mann,
Follow Me Quietly is a strangely obsessive film
noir...Fleischer's direction is direct, the dialogue tough, and
the characters of the film infused with proper noir
sensibilities." -
Carl Macek,
Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the
American Style |
| TSPDT:
Approach with Caution |
|
Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Force of Evil |
|
Abraham Polonsky |
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| 1948, 78 mins,
MGM |
| Scr
Abraham Polonsky, Ira Wolfert
Cin
George Barnes
Cast
John Garfield, Beatrice Pearson, Thomas Gomez, Howland
Chamberlain, Roy Roberts |
|
"Garfield shines as a lawyer for the Mob who has a cash register
where his heart should be. Polonsky gave cinematographer George
Barnes a book of Edward Hopper paintings to show how he wanted
this to look and Barnes did his best." -
The Rough Guide to Cult Movies |
| TSPDT:
Highly Recommended |
|
Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Gilda |
|
Charles Vidor |
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|
GF1000
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| 1946, 110
mins, Columbia |
| Scr
Marion Parsonnet, Jo Eisinger
Cin
Rudolph Maté
Cast
Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford, George Macready, Joseph Calleia,
Steven Geray |
| "Gilda
is one of a kind, a masterpiece as gripping if not as clean and
well-proportioned as Sunset Boulevard, or as purposefully
noir as, say, Touch of Evil...Gilda is
delightfully tawdry, a world-view worth further examination." -
Barry Gifford,
The Devil Thumbs a Ride |
| TSPDT:
Highly Recommended |
|
Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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The Glass Key |
|
Stuart Heisler |
 |
| 1942, 85 mins,
Paramount |
| Scr
Jonathan Latimer
Cin
Theodor Sparkuhl
Cast
Brian Donlevy, Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, Bonita Granville,
Richard Denning |
|
"Significant early noir narrative of political corruption and
aberrant violence, adapted from a Hammett novel that was filmed
before, in 1935." -
Spencer Selby,
Dark City: The Film Noir |
| TSPDT:
Recommended |
|
Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Guilty Bystander |
|
Joseph Lerner |
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| 1950, 92 mins,
Film Classics |
| Scr
Don Ettlinger
Cin
Russell Harlan, Gerald Hirschfeld
Cast
Zachary Scott, Faye Emerson, Mary Boland, Sam Levene, J. Edward
Bromberg |
| "Guilty
Bystander is marred by budget limitations that lead to an
overreliance on verbal exposition, a device that fails to mask
an extremely contrived plot and a great deal of uninteresting
photography despite the use of New York locations." - Bob Porfirio,
Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the
American Style |
| TSPDT:
Not Seen |
|
Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Gun Crazy |
|
Joseph H. Lewis |
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|
GF1000
|
| 1949, 86 mins,
United Artists |
| Scr
Mackinlay Kantor, Millard Kaufman
Cin
Russell Harlan
Cast
Peggy Cummins, John Dall, Berry Kroeger, Morris Carnovsky,
Anabel Shaw |
| "This
movie was made for next to nothing; that shows but it doesn't
matter. The camerawork is wicked, like Peggy's mind; the eye is
unblinking, relentless, raking across everything it sees like a
claw...A remarkable little movie: sexy, violent, stupid, sad,
pretty, tense, strange. More than enough." -
Barry Gifford,
The Devil Thumbs a Ride |
| TSPDT:
Highly Recommended |
|
Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Hangover Square |
|
John Brahm |
 |
| 1945, 77 mins,
20th Century-Fox |
| Scr
Barre Lyndon
Cin
Joseph LaShelle
Cast
Laird Cregar, Linda Darnell, George Sanders, Glenn Langan, Faye
Marlowe |
| "Notable
example of film noir's frequent interest in art and artists,
whose climax takes place during the performance of the
protagonist's "Concerto Macabre" (written for the film by
Bernard Herrmann)." -
Spencer Selby,
Dark City: The Film Noir |
| TSPDT:
Recommended |
|
Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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He Ran All the Way |
|
John Berry |
 |
| 1951, 77 mins,
United Artists |
| Scr
Dalton Trumbo, Hugo Butler
Cin
James Wong Howe
Cast
John Garfield, Shelley Winters, Wallace Ford, Selena Royle,
Bobby Hyatt |
| "Enhanced
by an effective script, superb cinematography by James Wong
Howe, and a keen sense of working-class manners, this is a
highly affecting thriller that draws us relentlessly into its
plangent moral tensions." -
Jonathan
Rosenbaum,
Chicago Reader |
| TSPDT:
Worth a Look |
|
Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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He Walked by Night |
|
Alfred L. Werker |
 |
| 1948, 79 mins,
Eagle Lion |
| Scr
John C. Higgins, Crane Wilbur, Harry Essex
Cin
John Alton
Cast
Richard Basehart, Scott Brady, Roy Roberts, Whit Bissell, Jack
Webb |
| "The
fact that Anthony Mann had an uncredited hand in the direction
may have something to do with the successful creation of a tense
atmosphere, although most notable is the superb noir
photography by John Alton, who really comes into his own during
the final chase through the LA sewers." -
Geoff Andrew,
Time Out |
| TSPDT:
Highly Recommended |
|
Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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High Sierra |
|
Raoul Walsh |
 |
| 1941, 100 mins,
Warner Bros |
| Scr
John Huston,
W.R. Burnett
Cin
Tony Gaudio
Cast
Humphrey Bogart, Ida Lupino, Alan Curtis, Arthur Kennedy, Joan
Leslie |
| "High
Sierra is a landmark of the gangster genre, a career turning
point for Humphrey Bogart, and a model of action-film
existentialism by Raoul Walsh." - Martin Rubin,
1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die |
| TSPDT:
Highly Recommended |
|
Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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High Wall |
|
Curtis Bernhardt |
 |
| 1947, 99 mins,
MGM |
| Scr
Sydney Boehm, Lester Cole
Cin
Paul C. Vogel
Cast
Robert Taylor, Audrey Totter, Herbert Marshall, Dorothy Patrick,
H.B. Warner |
| "German
refugee Curtis Bernhardt, apparently drawn to thrillers with
psychological overtones such as Conflict and The
Possessed embellishes the straightforward plot of this
otherwise ordinary melodrama with a noir Mise-en-scène." - Bob Porfirio,
Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the
American Style |
| TSPDT:
Worth a Look |
|
Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
|
|
|
His Kind of Woman |
|
John Farrow |
 |
| 1951, 120 mins,
RKO |
| Scr
Frank Fenton, Jack Leonard
Cin
Harry Wild
Cast
Robert Mitchum, Jane Russell, Vincent Price, Tim Holt, Charles
McGraw |
| "Rough,
tough gambler takes a lucrative but mysterious job in Mexico,
tangling with a gold-digger and a racketeer. Odd noir
entertainment that has a lot of depth and meaning for a film
that often verges on self-parody." -
Spencer Selby,
Dark City: The Film Noir |
| TSPDT:
Highly Recommended |
|
Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
|
|
|
The Hitch-Hiker |
|
Ida Lupino |
 |
| 1953, 71 mins,
RKO |
| Scr
Collier Young, Ida
Lupino, Robert Joseph
Cin
Nicholas Musuraca
Cast
Edmond O'Brien, Frank Lovejoy, William Talman, Jose Torvay, Sam
Hayes |
| "Actress
Ida Lupino enjoyed a second career as a director of B movies in
the late 40s and early 50s, and this hell-for-leather 1953 noir
demonstrates her facility with actors and flawless pacing." -
J.R. Jones,
Chicago Reader |
| TSPDT:
Highly Recommended |
|
Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Hollow Triumph |
|
Steve Sekely |
 |
| aka The
Scar |
| 1948, 83 mins,
Eagle Lion |
| Scr
Daniel Fuchs
Cin
John Alton
Cast
Joan Bennett, Paul Henreid, Eduard Franz, Leslie Brooks, John
Qualen |
| "Not half
bad, despite a loopy plot about a conman/thief hiding from
pursuit who kills a look-alike psychiatrist and assumes his
identity...Good supporting performances, a satisfyingly bleak
ending, and absolutely stunning lighting and LA location
shooting from John Alton." -
Tom Milne,
Time Out |
| TSPDT:
Recommended |
|
Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
|
|
|
The House by the River |
|
Fritz Lang |
 |
| 1950, 88 mins,
Republic |
| Scr
Mel Dinelli
Cin
Edward Cronjager
Cast
Louis Hayward, Jane Wyatt, Lee Bowman, Dorothy Patrick, Ann
Shoemaker |
| "It's a
bleak, gloomy film, one in which the psychological undercurrents
seem to be flooding over the banks, drowning any fleeting
vestige of rationality in a perverse Teutonic romanticism." -
Tom Charity,
Time Out |
| TSPDT:
Highly Recommended |
|
Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
|
|
|
House of Strangers |
|
Joseph L. Mankiewicz |
 |
| 1949, 101 mins,
20th Century-Fox |
| Scr
Philip Yordan
Cin
Milton Krasner
Cast
Edward G. Robinson, Richard Conte, Susan Hayward, Luther Adler,
Paul Valentine |
| "House
of Strangers exploits the traditional concept of the
immigrant family in order to develop a corrosive story of a
patriarchal domination that is destroyed from within." -
Blake Lucas
& Alain Silver,
Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the
American Style |
| TSPDT:
Highly Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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The House on 92nd Street |
|
Henry Hathaway |
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| 1945, 88 mins,
20th Century-Fox |
| Scr
Barre Lyndon, Charles G. Booth, John Monks Jr.
Cin
Norbert Brodine
Cast
William Eythe, Lloyd Nolan, Signe Hasso, Gene Lockhart, Leo G.
Carroll |
| "Louis
de Rochemont, the producer of the "March of Time" newsreels,
entered feature filmmaking with this 1945 spy caper. Its
documentary style and on-location realism started a trend that
lasted into the early 50s." -
Dave Kehr,
Chicago Reader |
| TSPDT:
Worth a Look |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Human Desire |
|
Fritz Lang |
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| 1954, 90 mins,
Columbia |
| Scr
Alfred Hayes
Cin
Burnett Guffey
Cast
Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, Broderick Crawford, Edgar Buchanan,
Kathleen Case |
| "Lang's
version of Zola's La Bête Humaine is, like all his best
'50s work, as cold, hard and steely grey as the railway tracks
which here mark out the action." -
Steve Jenkins,
Time Out |
| TSPDT:
Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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I Married a Communist |
|
Robert Stevenson |
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| aka The
Woman on Pier 13 |
| 1950, 73 mins,
RKO |
| Scr
Charles Grayson, Robert Hardy Andrews
Cin
Nicholas Musuraca
Cast
Laraine Day, Robert Ryan, John Agar, Thomas Gomez, Janis Carter |
|
"Shipping executive is pressured by Communist infiltrators to
take over a labor union. Waterfront noir; also the first of the
'Red scare' melodramas." -
Spencer Selby,
Dark City: The Film Noir |
| TSPDT:
Worth a Look |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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I Wake Up Screaming |
|
H. Bruce Humberstone |
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| 1941, 82 mins,
20th Century-Fox |
| Scr
Dwight Taylor
Cin
Edward Cronjager
Cast
Victor Mature, Betty Grable, Laird Cregar, Carole Landis,
William Gargan |
|
"H. Bruce Humberstone was an amiable Fox contract director (Charlie
Chan at the Opera, Sun Valley Serenade); this 1941
feature is his one film with something extra going for it, a
tough little thriller with memorable atmosphere and character
work." -
Dave Kehr,
Chicago Reader |
| TSPDT:
Recommended |
|
Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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I Walk Alone |
|
Byron Haskin |
 |
| 1947, 98 mins,
Paramount |
| Scr
Charles Schnee
Cin
Leo Tover
Cast
Burt Lancaster, Lizabeth Scott, Kirk Douglas, Wendell Corey,
Kristine Miller |
|
"I Walk Alone incorporates a subjective quality into
a story about bitterness and vengeance that is unusual in film
noir of this period." - Blake Lucas,
Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the
American Style |
| TSPDT:
Highly Recommended |
|
Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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I Was a Communist for the
FBI |
|
Gordon Douglas |
 |
| 1951, 83 mins,
Warner Bros |
| Scr
Crane Wilbur
Cin
Edwin DuPar
Cast
Frank Lovejoy, Dorothy Hart, Philip Carey, James Millican,
Richard Webb |
|
"Glowering Lovejoy plays real-life investigator Matt Cvetic,
finding Reds under every conceivable bed in strident McCarthyite
tract." - Robin Cross,
2000 Movies: The 1950s |
| TSPDT:
Not Seen |
|
Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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I, the Jury |
|
Harry Essex |
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| 1953, 87 mins,
United Artists |
| Scr
Harry Essex
Cin
John Alton
Cast
Biff Elliot, Preston Foster, Peggie Castle, Margaret Sheridan,
Alan Reed |
|
"I, the Jury is probably the only film noir to be shot in
the 3-Dimensional technique. John Alton's photography is, as
always, brilliant although budget limitations force the use of
such devices as Christmas card scenes instead of establishing
shots." - Bob Porfirio,
Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the
American Style |
| TSPDT:
Worth a Look |
|
Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Impact |
|
Arthur Lubin |
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| 1949, 111 mins,
United Artists |
| Scr
Dorothy Davenport, Jay Dratler
Cin
Ernest Laszlo
Cast
Brian Donlevy, Ella Raines, Helen Walker, Charles Coburn, Anna
May Wong |
|
"Nice-guy Donlevy's wife is cheating on him. She and her lover
plot to do him in, but there are complications. Entertaining,
thoughtful drama will keep you guessing at every turn." -
Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide |
| TSPDT:
Worth a Look |
|
Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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In a Lonely Place |
|
Nicholas Ray |
 |
|
GF1000
|
| 1950, 91 mins,
Columbia |
| Scr
Andrew Solt
Cin
Burnett Guffey
Cast
Humphrey Bogart, Gloria Grahame, Frank Lovejoy, Carl Benton
Reid, Robert Warwick |
|
"Nick Ray's ability to present case histories of men and
women unable to integrate themselves or remain sane in so-called
civilized society is non pareil, and In a Lonely Place
is a masterful study of man's inhumanity to himself, among
others." - Barry Gifford,
The Devil Thumbs a Ride |
| TSPDT:
Highly Recommended |
|
Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Jeopardy |
|
John Sturges |
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| 1953, 69 mins,
MGM |
| Scr
Mel Dinelli
Cin
Victor Milner
Cast
Barbara Stanwyck, Barry Sullivan, Ralph Meeker, Lee Aaker, Bud
Wolfe |
|
"Neat little programmer about a trapped man and a rising tide
gives Stanwyck the chance to run through her repertoire of
expressions of anguish and despair." - Robin Cross,
2000 Movies: The 1950s |
| TSPDT:
Worth a Look |
|
Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Johnny Angel |
|
Edwin L. Marin |
 |
| 1945, 79 mins,
RKO |
| Scr
Steve Fisher, Frank Gruber
Cin
Harry Wild
Cast
George Raft, Claire Trevor, Signe Hasso, Lowell Gilmore, Hoagy
Carmichael |
|
"A ghost ship emerges out of the fog: bullet-holes,
overturned chairs and broken photographs point to a perturbed
past. The world of Johnny Angel is very noir
indeed." -
Ruth
Baumgarten,
Time Out |
| TSPDT:
Worth a Look |
|
Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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| 25
Key Noir Cinematographers |
 |
| John
Alton, Harry Wild, George E. Diskant, Nicholas Musuraca, John
Seitz, Joseph LaShelle, Burnett Guffey, Joseph MacDonald,
Norbert Brodine, Lee Garmes, Milton Krasner, Ernest Laszlo,
Elwood Bredell, Lucien Ballard, James Wong Howe, Franz Planer,
Robert Burks, Stanley Cortez, Charles Lang, Sid Hickox, Bert
Glennon, George Barnes, Paul Ivano, Harry Stradling, Hal Mohr. |
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Noir Homeoir 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
noirs cited: Alphabetical
Chronological
By Director |
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