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Film Noir
They Shot Dark Pictures,
Didn't They? |
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250 Quintessential Noir
Films
Part 3 |
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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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Johnny O'Clock |
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Robert Rossen |
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| 1947, 95 mins,
Columbia |
| Scr
Robert Rossen
Cin
Burnett Guffey
Cast
Dick Powell, Evelyn Keyes, Lee J. Cobb, Ellen Drew, Nina Foch |
| "Co-owner
of casino is caught between police, hoodlum partner and several
women. Hard-boiled thriller that was Robert Rossen's first
directorial effort." -
Spencer Selby,
Dark City: The Film Noir |
| TSPDT:
Not Seen |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Kansas City Confidential |
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Phil Karlson |
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| 1952, 98 mins,
United Artists |
| Scr
George Bruce, Harry Essex
Cin
George E. Diskant
Cast
John Payne, Coleen Gray, Preston Foster, Dona Drake, Jack Elam |
| "Kansas
City Confidential is a gem in the rough, a condensed
roller-coaster of vengeance, betrayal, deception, the fluidity
of identity, the microscopic line between guilt and innocence,
and the power of luck, both good and bad." - David N.
Meyer,
A Girl and a Gun: The Complete Guide to Film Noir on
Video |
| TSPDT:
Highly Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Key Largo |
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John Huston |
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| 1948, 101 mins,
Warner Bros |
| Scr
Richard Brooks
Cin
Karl Freund
Cast
Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson, Lauren Bacall, Lionel
Barrymore, Claire Trevor |
| "A little
windy and rhetorical for my taste, but still one of John
Huston's best efforts, a melodrama of ethics that soundly
represses the Maxwell Anderson play it was based on (the ending
is actually a lift from To Have and Have Not)." -
Dave Kehr,
Chicago Reader |
| TSPDT:
Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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The Killer is Loose |
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Budd Boetticher |
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| 1956, 73 mins,
United Artists |
| Scr
Harold Medford
Cin
Lucien Ballard
Cast
Joseph Cotten, Rhonda Fleming, Wendell Corey, Alan Hale Jr.,
Michael Pate |
| "A
low budget quickie which bustles through its itinerary (bank
heist, jail break, manhunt, about one sudden death per reel)
with efficiency and despatch, if not much credibility." -
Bob Baker,
Time Out |
| TSPDT:
Worth a Look |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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The Killer That Stalked New
York |
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Earl McEvoy |
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| 1950, 79 mins,
Columbia |
| Scr
Harry Essex
Cin
Joseph Biroc
Cast
Evelyn Keyes, Charles Korvin, William Bishop, Dorothy Malone,
Lola Albright |
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"Two-timing husband directs wife in shrewd diamond smuggling
plan...Little-known B noir that effectively extends an idea
first postulated by Panic in the Streets." -
Spencer Selby,
Dark City: The Film Noir |
| TSPDT:
Not Seen |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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The Killers |
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Robert Siodmak |
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| 1946, 105 mins,
Universal |
| Scr
Anthony Veiller,
John Huston
Cin
Elwood Bredell
Cast
Edmond O'Brien, Ava Gardner, Burt Lancaster, Albert Dekker, Sam
Levene |
| "It's a
compelling tale, told in a flashback structure that plays with
logic and clarity. The screenplay combines the tension of a
mystery that unfolds one clue at a time, underscored by the more
basic suspense of whether the narrator is going to live long
enough to tell us what he's learned." -
David N.
Meyer.
A Girl and a Gun: The Complete Guide to Film Noir on
Video |
| TSPDT:
Highly Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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The Killing |
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Stanley Kubrick |
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GF1000
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| 1956, 83 mins,
United Artists |
| Scr
Stanley
Kubrick, Jim Thompson
Cin
Lucien Ballard
Cast
Sterling Hayden, Coleen Gray, Vince Edwards, Jay C. Flippen,
Marie Windsor |
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"First-rate, exciting, fatalistic caper film (which recalls
Jean-Pierre Melville's Bob le flambeur) was Stanley
Kubrick's first major work - it is his one picture that almost
everyone likes." - Danny Peary,
Guide for the Film Fanatic |
| TSPDT:
Highly Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Kiss Me Deadly |
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Robert Aldrich |
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GF1000
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| 1955, 105 mins,
United Artists |
| Scr
A.I. Bezzerides
Cin
Ernest Laszlo
Cast
Ralph Meeker, Albert Dekker, Maxine Cooper, Paul Stewart, Gaby
Rodgers |
| "Kiss
Me Deadly is a thick-ear masterpiece, wrenched by director
Robert Aldrich and screenwriter A.I. Bezzerides from Mickey
Spillane's trash novel, shot through with poetry, unspeakable
violence, hopped-up street talk, strange characters, and
fringe-fantastical elements." -
Kim Newman,
1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die |
| TSPDT:
Highly Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Kiss of Death |
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Henry Hathaway |
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| 1947, 98 mins,
20th Century-Fox |
| Scr
Ben Hecht, Charles Lederer
Cin
Norbert Brodine
Cast
Victor Mature, Brian Donlevy, Richard Widmark, Coleen Gray, Karl
Malden |
| "Richard
Widmark's film debut as a giggling psycho killer is the chief
point of interest in this 1947 film noir, directed in a
pseudodocumentary style by Henry Hathaway...The film is
efficient enough, but it's a measure of Hathaway's limitations
that it never once fulfills the paranoid delirium built into its
subject." -
Dave Kehr,
Chicago Reader |
| TSPDT:
Highly Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Kiss the Blood Off My Hands |
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Norman Foster |
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| 1948, 80 mins,
Universal |
| Scr
Leonardo Bercovici
Cin
Russell Metty
Cast
Joan Fontaine, Burt Lancaster, Robert Newton, Lewis L. Russell,
Aminta Dyne |
| "Embittered
war veteran accidentally kills pub owner in a
fight...Intelligent, sensitive treatment of the
fugitive-on-the-run theme." -
Spencer Selby,
Dark City: The Film Noir |
| TSPDT:
Worth a Look |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Lady in the Lake |
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Robert Montgomery |
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| 1946, 103 mins,
MGM |
| Scr
Steve Fisher
Cin
Paul Vogel
Cast
Robert Montgomery, Audrey Totter, Lloyd Nolan, Tom Tully, Leon
Ames |
| "As a
Raymond Chandler adaptation, Montgomery's directorial
debut is average. The movie is the only mainstream film to be
shot entirely with a subjective camera. Although interesting at
first, it becomes distracting." -
The Rough Guide to Cult Movies |
| TSPDT:
Worth a Look |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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A Lady Without Passport |
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Joseph H. Lewis |
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| 1950, 72 mins,
MGM |
| Scr
Howard Dimsdale
Cin
Paul C. Vogel
Cast
Hedy Lamarr, John Hodiak, James Craig, George Macready, Steven
Geray |
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"Lewis called the movie a "stinker" when he was interviewed by
Peter Bogdanovich; it's less than inspired, but it's better than
Lewis implied. His flair for foggy atmospherics and location
shooting (in Havana and the Florida Everglades) is
intermittently evident." -
Jonathan
Rosenbaum,
Chicago Reader |
| TSPDT:
Worth a Look |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Laura |
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Otto Preminger |
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GF1000
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| 1944, 85 mins,
20th Century-Fox |
| Scr
Jay Dratler, Samuel Hoffenstein, Elizabeth Reinhardt, Ring
Lardner Jr., Jerry Cady
Cin
Joseph LaShelle
Cast
Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews, Clifton Webb, Vincent Price, Judith
Anderson |
| "Less
investigative thriller than an investigation of that genre's
conventions - voyeurism, a search for solutions, and the race
against time - the plot is deliberately perfunctory, the people
deliciously perverse, and the mise-en-scène radical." -
Paul Kerr,
Time Out |
| TSPDT:
Highly Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Leave Her to Heaven |
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John M. Stahl |
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| 1945, 110 mins,
20th Century-Fox |
| Scr
Jo Swerling
Cin
Leon Shamroy
Cast
Gene Tierney, Cornel Wilde, Jeanne Crain, Vincent Price, Mary
Philips |
| "Leave
Her to Heaven is arguably the most vividly colored film
noir...The glowing, healthy colors of nature are echoed in the
costumes and makeup used to enhance Gene Tierney's mask-like
beauty and serve to make her unnatural actions as Ellen Berent
all the more disturbing." -
Meredith Brody & Lee Sanders,
Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the
American Style |
| Note: Leave Her to Heaven is one of only 4 colour films included
within the 250 Quintessential Noirs listing. |
| TSPDT:
Highly Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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The Letter |
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William Wyler |
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| 1940, 95 mins,
Warner Bros |
| Scr
Howard Koch
Cin
Tony Gaudio
Cast
Bette Davis, Herbert Marshall, James Stephenson, Gale
Sondergaard, Bruce Lester |
| "Wyler's
direction is very moody; there are long passages in which
dialogue is sparse or nonexistent and the erotic tension is
built through Max Steiner's music, shadows, sounds, the moon
floating through the clouds, character movements and expressions." -
Danny Peary,
Guide for the Film Fanatic |
| TSPDT:
Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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The Lineup |
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Don Siegel |
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| 1958, 86 mins,
Columbia |
| Scr
Sterling Silliphant
Cin
Hal Mohr
Cast
Eli Wallach, Robert Keith, Warner Anderson, Richard Jaeckel,
Mary LaRoche |
| "The film
moves in a pattern of tension and release, culminating in a
brilliantly executed car chase over an unfinished freeway. A
major B movie by one of Hollywood's most accomplished craftsmen." -
Dave Kehr,
Chicago Reader |
| TSPDT:
Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Loan Shark |
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Seymour Friedman |
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| 1952, 74 mins,
Lippert |
| Scr
Eugene Ling, Martin Rackin
Cin
Joseph Biroc
Cast
George Raft, Dorothy Hart, Helen Westcott, John Hoyt, Paul
Stewart |
| "This
film is a low-budget attempt to capitalize on the success of
such films as The Enforcer. It is distinguished primarily
by the characterizations of Paul Stewart and John Hoyt, as well
as by some vivid photography." -
Bob Porfirio,
Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the
American Style |
| TSPDT:
Worth a Look |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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The Locket |
|
John Brahm |
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| 1946, 86 mins,
RKO |
| Scr
Sheridan Gibney
Cin
Nicholas Musuraca
Cast
Laraine Day, Brian Aherne, Robert Mitchum, Gene Raymond, Sharyn
Moffett |
| "Told
using the now famed flashback within a flashback device, Brahm
never lets this lapse into an exercise in pure style, keeping a
close eye on the plot and the finale." -
The Rough Guide to Cult Movies |
| TSPDT:
Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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The Lodger |
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John Brahm |
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| 1944, 84 mins,
20th Century-Fox |
| Scr
Barre Lyndon
Cin
Lucien Ballard
Cast
Merle Oberon, George Sanders, Laird Cregar, Cedric Hardwicke,
Sara Allgood |
| "The
second remake of Alfred Hitchcock's silent classic, directed by
John Brahm in 1944. Effective in terms of atmospherics...Lucien
Ballard is in charge of the impressive cinematography." -
Jonathan
Rosenbaum,
Chicago Reader |
| TSPDT:
Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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The Long Night |
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Anatole Litvak |
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| 1947, 101 mins,
RKO |
| Scr
John Wexley
Cin
Sol Polito
Cast
Henry Fonda, Barbara Bel Geddes, Vincent Price, Queenie Smith,
June Duprez |
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"Hollywood's cannibalisation (sometimes shot for shot) of
Carné's Le Jour se lève. Bowdlerised and tricked out with
a silly happy ending, but a better film than critics allowed at
the time with Carné's film under threat of definitive
suppression to make way for it. " -
Tom Milne,
Time Out |
| TSPDT:
Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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The Lost Weekend |
|
Billy Wilder |
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| 1945, 101 mins,
Paramount |
| Scr
Charles Brackett,
Billy Wilder
Cin
John Seitz
Cast
Ray Milland, Jane Wyman, Phillip Terry, Howard da Silva, Doris
Dowling |
| "Dialogue
is tough and cynical, Milland (who usually played nice guys) is
mean right from the beginning, film pulls few punches (until
the final scene). Wilder makes strong use of New York streets
and backgrounds." -
Danny Peary,
Guide for the Film Fanatic |
| TSPDT:
Highly Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Joseph Losey |
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| 1951, 88 mins,
Columbia |
| Scr
Leo Katcher, Norman Reilly Raine, Waldo Salt
Cin
Ernest Laszlo
Cast
David Wayne, Howard Da Silva, Martin Gabel, Luther Adler, Steve
Brodie |
| "Low-budget
remake of Lang's 1931 masterpiece is set in Los Angeles.
Distinguished by its narrative economy and fine performance from
Wayne as the child killer hunted down by the underworld." -
Robin Cross,
2000 Movies: The 1950's |
| TSPDT:
Worth a Look |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Macao |
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Josef von Sternberg |
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| 1952, 80 mins,
RKO |
| Scr
Bernard C. Schoenfeld, Stanley Rubin
Cin
Harry Wild
Cast
Robert Mitchum, Jane Russell, William Bendix, Gloria Grahame,
Thomas Gomez |
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"...What is so enjoyable, apart from Harry Wild's
shimmering camerawork, is the tongue-in-cheek tone of the script
and performances, best evidenced in the sparkling banter and
innuendo between Mitchum and Russell." - Geoff Andrew,
Time Out |
| TSPDT:
Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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The Maltese Falcon |
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John Huston |
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GF1000
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| 1941, 100 mins,
Warner Bros |
| Scr
John Huston
Cin
Arthur Edeson
Cast
Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Sydney Greenstreet, Gladys George,
Peter Lorre |
| "Humphrey
Bogart gives a memorable performance in the first and best noir
detective film of the 1940s, adapted from Dashiell Hammett's
classic." -
Spencer Selby,
Dark City: The Film Noir |
| TSPDT:
Highly Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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The Man Who Cheated Himself |
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Felix E. Feist |
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| 1950, 81 mins,
20th Century-Fox |
| Scr
Philip MacDonald, Seton I. Miller
Cin
Russell Harlan
Cast
Lee J. Cobb, John Dall, Jane Wyatt, Lisa Howard, Harlan Warde |
| "The
Man Who Cheated Himself adeptly interweaves two familiar
noir elements, a bad cop, and a double-crossing wife, to
maintain interest and suspense. The film is enhanced by Russell
Harlan's skillful use of San Francisco locales and credible
performances." - Bob Porfirio & Alain Silver,
Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the
American Style |
| TSPDT:
Worth a Look |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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The Mask of Dimitrios |
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Jean Negulesco |
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| 1944, 95 mins,
Warner Bros |
| Scr
Frank Gruber
Cin
Arthur Edeson
Cast
Zachary Scott, Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet, Faye Emerson,
George Tobias |
| "Long
before he became the foremost exponent of pointless, empty 1950s
CinemaScope styling on pictures like Three Coins in the
Fountain, Jean Negulesco put Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet,
and Zachary Scott through a pretty fair adaptation of Eric
Ambler's incomparable mystery-melodrama." -
Don Druker,
Chicago Reader |
| TSPDT:
Worth a Look |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Mildred Pierce |
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Michael Curtiz |
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GF1000
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| 1945, 109 mins,
Warner Bros |
| Scr
Ranald MacDougall
Cin
Ernest Haller
Cast
Joan Crawford, Jack Carson, Zachary Scott, Eve Arden, Ann Blyth |
| "Told
in flashback from the moment of Scott's murder, the film is a
chilling demonstration of the fact that, in a patriarchal
society, when a woman steps outside the home the end result may
be disastrous." - Phil Hardy,
Time Out |
| TSPDT:
Highly Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
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