|
|
| |
| |
|
|
| |
Film Noir
They Shot Dark Pictures,
Didn't They? |
|
| |
250 Quintessential Noir
Films
Part 2 |
|
| |
|
|
| |
Noir Homeoir Home |
|
| |
250 Quintessential
Noir Films (1940-1964): Parts
1
2
3
4
5 |
|
| |
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 |
|
| |
Full listing of all
films cited: Alphabetical
Chronological
By Director |
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
The Damned Don't Cry |
|
Vincent Sherman |
 |
| 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 |
|
|
|
Danger Signal |
|
Robert Florey |
 |
| 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:
Not Seen |
|
Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
|
|
|
Dark City |
|
William Dieterle |
 |
| 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 |
|
Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
The Dark Corner |
|
Henry Hathaway |
 |
| 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 |
|
Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
|
|
|
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 |
|
|
|
Dark Passage |
|
Delmer Daves |
 |
| 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 |
|
Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
The Dark Past |
|
Rudolph Maté |
 |
| 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 |
|
"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 |
|
|
|
Dark Waters |
|
André De Toth |
 |
| 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 |
|
Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
|
|
|
Dead Reckoning |
|
John Cromwell |
 |
| 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 |
|
Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Deadline at Dawn |
|
Harold Clurman |
 |
| 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 |
|
|
|
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 |
|
Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
|
|
|
The Desperate Hours |
|
William Wyler |
 |
| 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 |
|
Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Destination Murder |
|
Edward L. Cahn |
 |
| 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 |
|
|
|
Detective Story |
|
William Wyler |
 |
| 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 |
|
|
|
Detour |
|
Edgar G. Ulmer |
 |
|
GF1000
|
| 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 |
|
Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Double Indemnity |
|
Billy Wilder |
 |
|
GF1000
|
| 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 |
|
|
|
Drive a Crooked Road |
|
Richard Quine |
 |
| 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 |
|
|
|
Edge of Doom |
|
Mark Robson |
 |
| 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 |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
The Enforcer |
|
Bretaigne Windust |
 |
| 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 |
|
|
|
Fallen Angel |
|
Otto Preminger |
 |
| 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 |
|
|
|
Fear in the Night |
|
Maxwell Shane |
 |
| 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 |
|
Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
The File on Thelma Jordon |
|
Robert Siodmak |
 |
| 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 |
|
|
|
Follow Me Quietly |
|
Richard Fleischer |
 |
| 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 |
|
|
|
Force of Evil |
|
Abraham Polonsky |
 |
| 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 |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Gilda |
|
Charles Vidor |
 |
|
GF1000
|
| 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 |
|
|
|
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 |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Guilty Bystander |
|
Joseph Lerner |
 |
| 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 |
|
|
|
Gun Crazy |
|
Joseph H. Lewis |
 |
|
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 |
|
|
|
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 |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
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 |
|
|
|
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,
| | |
