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Film Noir
They Shot Dark Pictures,
Didn't They? |
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250 Quintessential Noir
Films
Part 4 |
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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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Nobody Lives Forever |
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Jean Negulesco |
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| 1946, 100 mins,
Warner Bros |
| Scr
W.R. Burnett
Cin
Arthur Edeson
Cast
John Garfield, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Walter Brennan, Faye
Emerson, George Coulouris |
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"Predictable but well-acted Warners yarn, scripted by WR
Burnett, with a horribly sugary conversion scene in a chapel at
Capistrano, but a memorable finish on a fogbound pier..." -
John Pym,
Time Out |
| TSPDT:
Worth a Look |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Nocturne |
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Edwin L. Marin |
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| 1946, 88 mins,
RKO |
| Scr
Jonathan
Latimer
Cin
Harry WildtCast
George Raft, Lynn Bari, Virginia Huston, Joseph Pevney, Myrna
Dell |
| "Pungent
film of questing protagonist driven to expose a truth defined,
in effect, as an amalgam of noir settings and characters." -
Spencer Selby,
Dark City: The Film Noir |
| TSPDT:
Worth a Look |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Nora Prentiss |
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Vincent Sherman |
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| 1947, 111 mins,
Warner Bros |
| Scr
Richard N. Nash, Philip MacDonald
Cin
James Wong Howe
Cast
Ann Sheridan, Kent Smith, Robert Alda, Bruce Bennett, Rosemary
DeCamp |
| "If
there were a category of 'women's noir,' Nora Prentiss
should certainly rank at the top...photographed by James
Wong Howe in typically expressionistic style, the closed form of
which enhances the entrapment of both principal players." -
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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Notorious |
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Alfred Hitchcock |
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GF1000
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| 1946, 101 mins,
RKO |
| Scr
Ben Hecht
Cin
Ted Tetzlaff
Cast
Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, Claude Rains, Louis Calhern,
Leopoldine Konstantin |
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"Hitchcock's detailed portrait of the underneath earn this
picture its place in noir...his haunting air of danger, and the
inordinate pleasure he draws from the cruelty of lovers, make
this the perfect prelude to his masterpiece, his noir paean to
hopelessness, Vertigo." -
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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Odds Against Tomorrow |
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Robert Wise |
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| 1959, 95 mins,
United Artists |
| Scr
Abraham Polonsky, Nelson Gidding
Cin
Joseph Brun
Cast
Harry Belafonte, Robert Ryan, Shelley Winters, Ed Begley, Gloria
Grahame |
| "This
ambitious but mainly unsuccessful 1959 black-and-white heist
thriller founders on allegorical positioning, although the
location photography of Manhattan and upstate New York has its
moments...Jean-Pierre Melville worshipped this film, though I'm
not clear why." - Jonathan Rosenbaum,
Chicago Reader |
| TSPDT:
Highly Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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On Dangerous Ground |
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Nicholas Ray |
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| 1951, 82 mins,
RKO |
| Scr
A.I. Bezzerides
Cin
George E. Diskant
Cast
Robert Ryan, Ida Lupino, Ward Bond, Charles Kemper, Ed Begley |
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"If it sometimes seems a little schematic, there is no denying
the power of the performances, nor the eloquence of Ray's poetic
but tough direction. Aided enormously by George Diskant's high
contrast camerawork and by Bernard Herrmann's stunning
score...it's a film of frequent brilliance. " -
Geoff Andrew,
Time Out |
| TSPDT:
Highly Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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One Way Street |
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Hugo Fregonese |
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| 1950, 79 mins,
Universal |
| Scr
Lawrence Kimble
Cin
Maury Gertsman
Cast
James Mason, Marta Toren, Dan Duryea, Basil Ruysdael, William
Conrad |
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"Doctor involved with mobsters steals gangleader's
girlfriend and $2000,000...Grim, fatalistic noir with some good
performances." -
Spencer Selby,
Dark City: The Film Noir |
| TSPDT:
Not Seen |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Out of the Past |
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Jacques Tourneur |
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GF1000
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| 1947, 97 mins,
RKO |
| Scr
Daniel Mainwaring
Cin
Nicholas Musuraca
Cast
Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, Kirk Douglas, Rhonda Fleming,
Richard Webb |
| "This
is one of the most well-known noir melodramas, and
deservedly so, because it's one of the best. The plot is
over-complicated but it works largely due to the smooth
interplay of the cast and the deft manner in which director
Tourneur runs them in and out like substitutions in a football
game." - Barry Gifford,
The Devil Thumbs a Ride |
| TSPDT:
Highly Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Panic in the Streets |
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Elia Kazan |
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| 1950, 93 mins,
20th Century-Fox |
| Scr
Richard Murphy
Cin
Joseph MacDonald
Cast
Richard Widmark, Paul Douglas, Barbara Bel Geddes, Jack Palance,
Zero Mostel |
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"For years, gangsters and criminals have been referred to in
films as rats and scum, as a menace to society. Panic in the
Streets takes this thought to its logical conclusion, making
it literally as well as figuratively true." - Jonathan
Benair,
Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the
American Style |
| TSPDT:
Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Party Girl |
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Nicholas Ray |
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| 1958, 99 mins,
MGM |
| Scr
George Wells
Cin
Robert Bronner
Cast
Robert Taylor, Cyd Charisse, Lee J. Cobb, John Ireland, Kent
Smith |
| "A
film that might be regarded as Nicholas Ray's farewell to
Hollywood (if not commercial filmmaking), as well as his tribute
to Chicago in the 20s, this 1958 feature is also one of his most
affecting love stories." - Jonathan Rosenbaum,
Chicago Reader |
| Note:
Party Girl is one of only 4 colour films included
within the 250 Quintessential Noirs listing. |
| TSPDT:
Recommended |
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Amazon
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Phantom Lady |
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Robert Siodmak |
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| 1944, 87 mins,
Universal |
| Scr
Bernard C. Schoenfeld
Cin
Elwood Bredell
Cast
Ella Raines, Franchot Tone, Alan Curtis, Aurora Miranda, Thomas
Gomez |
| "Siodmak's
first American success, a moody thriller from a Cornell Woolrich
novel which set the mould for a string of dark classics...Siodmak's
angled compositions and dramatic lighting might be uncharitably
ticked off as genre staples, but his manipulation of the film's
key motif is masterly." - Paul Taylor,
Time Out |
| TSPDT:
Highly Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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The Phenix City Story |
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Phil Karlson |
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| 1955, 100 mins,
Allied Artists |
| Scr
Daniel Mainwaring, Crane Wilbur
Cin
Harry Neumann
Cast
John McIntire, Richard Kiley, Kathryn Grant, Edward Andrews,
Lenka Peterson |
| "A
young lawyer returns from the service to find that his home town
has turned into a corrupt, vice-ridden jungle. Seedy, violent
crime drama with strong '50s noir look that was based on a true
story." -
Spencer Selby,
Dark City: The Film Noir |
| TSPDT:
Highly Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Pickup on South Street |
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Samuel Fuller |
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GF1000
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| 1953, 80 mins,
20th Century-Fox |
| Scr
Samuel Fuller
Cin
Joseph MacDonald
Cast
Richard Widmark, Jean Peters, Thelma Ritter, Murvyn Vye, Richard
Kiley |
| "The real
distinction of Fuller's film is his visual realization.
Pickup benefits from Joe MacDonald's high-contrast
black-and-white photography and from the vividly created
settings of subways, the waterfront, and Moe's (Ritter)shabby
room." -
Blake Lucas,
Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the
American Style |
| TSPDT:
Highly Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Pitfall |
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André De Toth |
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| 1948, 84 mins,
United Artists |
| Scr
Karl Lamb
Cin
Harry Wild
Cast
Dick Powell, Lizabeth Scott, Jane Wyatt, Raymond Burr, John
Litel |
| "A
grimy, superior film noir by Andre de Toth. Dick Powell is a
foursquare family man who enjoys a harmless dalliance with model
Lizabeth Scott, unaware that he's risking the wrath of a
psychotically jealous private eye, Raymond Burr." -
Dave Kehr,
Chicago Reader |
| TSPDT:
Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Plunder Road |
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Hubert Cornfield |
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| 1957, 71 mins,
20th Century-Fox |
| Scr
Steven Ritch
Cin
Ernest Haller
Cast
Gene Raymond, Jeanne Cooper, Wayne Morris, Elisha Cook Jr.,
Stafford Repp |
| "Five
men carry out an elaborate plan to rob a San Francisco bound
train of a million dollars in gold bullion. Crafted low budget
heist film infused with deterministic fatalism." -
Spencer Selby,
Dark City: The Film Noir |
| TSPDT:
Not Seen |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Possessed |
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Curtis Bernhardt |
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| 1947, 108 mins,
Warner Bros |
| Scr
Ranald McDougall, Silvia Richards
Cin
Joseph Valentine
Cast
Joan Crawford, Van Heflin, Raymond Massey, Geraldine Brooks,
Stanley Ridges |
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"Possessed reflects Curtis Bernhardt's penchant for
psychological themes...A past master at the creation of
stimmung, or atmosphere, Bernhardt evokes the ethos of film
noir in a variety of scenes." -
Bob Porfirio,
Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the
American Style |
| TSPDT:
Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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The Postman Always Rings
Twice |
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Tay Garnett |
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| 1946, 113 mins,
MGM |
| Scr
Harry Ruskin, Niven Busch
Cin
Sidney Wagner
Cast
Lana Turner, John Garfield, Cecil Kellaway, Hume Cronyn, Leon
Ames |
| "Director
Tay Garnett's tight framing emphasizes the imprisonment of the
fatal lovers, and the film's gloomy and forbidding mise en scène
is the perfect setting for their grim story." - R.
Barton Palmer,
1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die |
| TSPDT:
Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Private Hell 36 |
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Don Siegel |
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| 1954, 81 mins,
Filmakers |
| Scr
Collier Young, Ida
Lupino
Cin
Burnett Guffey
Cast
Ida Lupino,
Steve Cochran, Howard Duff, Dean Jagger, Dorothy Malone |
| "Tight
little Ida Lupino-produced low-budgeter in which cops Cochran
and Howard Duff succumb to temptation after recovering stolen
money, with predictably distressing results." -
Robin Cross,
2000 Movies: The 1950's |
| TSPDT:
Worth a Look |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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The Prowler |
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Joseph Losey |
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| 1951, 92 mins,
United Artists |
| Scr
Dalton Trumbo, Hugo Butler
Cin
Arthur Miller
Cast
Van Heflin, Evelyn Keyes, Jon Maxwell, Katherine Warren, Emerson
Treacy |
| "A
rivetingly cool, clean thriller about the trap which inexorably
closes on a woman unhappily married to a rich husband, and the
cop on the make for the better things in life who, summoned to
deal with a prowler, lingers to get rid of the husband and take
both wife and money for himself." - Tom Milne,
Time Out |
| TSPDT:
Highly Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
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Pushover |
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Richard Quine |
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| 1954, 88 mins,
Columbia |
| Scr
Roy Huggins
Cin
Lester White
Cast
Fred MacMurray, Philip Carey, Kim Novak, Dorothy Malone, E.G.
Marshall |
| "Police
detective falls for robber's girlfriend that is under his
surveillance, ends up committing murder. Nocturnal B noir with
MacMurray in a role that invites comparisons with Double
Indemnity." -
Spencer Selby,
Dark City: The Film Noir |
| TSPDT:
Worth a Look |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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The Racket |
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John Cromwell |
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| 1951, 88 mins,
RKO |
| Scr
William Wister Haines, W.R. Burnett
Cin
George E. Diskant
Cast
Robert Ryan, Robert Mitchum, Lizabeth Scott, William Talman, Ray
Collins |
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"Corruption in The Racket is not some kind of abstract
force or entity. It is the aggregate of all the desires,
ambitions, and compromises of a city; and the film makes no
moralistic, good-bad distinctions." -
Dennis L. White,
Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the
American Style |
| TSPDT:
Worth a Look |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Railroaded |
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Anthony Mann |
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| 1947, 71 mins,
PRC |
| Scr
John C. Higgins
Cin
Guy Roe
Cast
John Ireland, Sheila Ryan, Hugh Beaumont, Jane Randolph, Ed
Kelly |
| "Police
detective tries to prove that the brother of his girlfriend did
not commit murder. Compact, violent cheapie with strong noir
settings and mood." -
Spencer Selby,
Dark City: The Film Noir |
| TSPDT:
Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Raw Deal |
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Anthony Mann |
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| 1948, 79 mins,
Eagle Lion |
| Scr
Leopold Atlas, John C. Higgins
Cin
John Alton
Cast
Dennis O'Keefe, Claire Trevor, Marsha Hunt, John Ireland,
Raymond Burr |
| "Anthony
Mann transcended the typically brutal environment in the
gangster film and created an interesting paradox of sex and
violence in Raw Deal...John Alton's photography suggests
a half-lit world magnified by the strong use of shadows and
cluttered composition." -
Carl Macek,
Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the
American Style |
| TSPDT:
Highly Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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The Reckless Moment |
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Max Ophüls |
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GF1000
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| 1949, 82 mins,
Columbia |
| Scr
Mel Dinelli, Robert E. Kent, Henry Garson, Robert W. Soderberg
Cin
Burnett Guffey
Cast
James Mason, Joan Bennett, Geraldine Brooks, Henry O'Neill,
Shepperd Strudwick |
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"Viennese director Max Ophüls is more interested in irony and
emotion than crime and drama, which gives this a uniquely
nerve-fraying feel, and he nudges the lead actors into
revelatory, unusual performances." - Kim Newman,
1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die |
| TSPDT:
Highly Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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The Red House |
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Delmer Daves |
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| 1947, 100 mins,
United Artists |
| Scr
Delmer Daves
Cin
Bert Glennon
Cast
Edward G. Robinson, Lon McCallister, Allene Roberts, Judith
Anderson, Julie London |
| "It's a
pastoral, noir-inflected psychodrama with supernatural
overtones, dealing chiefly with the thin line between healthy
and sick sexuality. All very Freudian, in fact, and often very
frightening, with Robinson in superb form as the patriarch
tormented by his past." - Geoff Andrew,
Time Out |
| TSPDT:
Highly Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Red Light |
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Roy Del Ruth |
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| 1949, 83 mins,
United Artists |
| Scr
George Callahan
Cin
Bert Glennon
Cast
George Raft, Virginia Mayo, Gene Lockhart, Raymond Burr, Harry
Morgan |
| "When his
priest brother is murdered, a trucking company owner decides to
take the law into his own hands. Unusual revenge thriller with
an overt religious theme." -
Spencer Selby,
Dark City: The Film Noir |
| TSPDT:
Not Seen |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Ride the Pink Horse |
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Robert Montgomery |
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| 1947, 101 mins,
Universal |
| Scr
Ben Hecht, Charles Lederer
Cin
Russell Metty
Cast
Robert Montgomery, Wanda Hendrix, Andrea King, Thomas Gomez,
Fred Clark |
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"Embittered veteran arrives in small Mexican town bent on
revenge. Oft-mentioned noir adaptation of significant
hard-boiled suspense novel." -
Spencer Selby,
Dark City: The Film Noir |
| TSPDT:
Not Seen |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Road House |
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Jean Negulesco |
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| 1948, 95 mins,
20th Century-Fox |
| Scr
Edward Chodorov
Cin
Joseph LaShelle
Cast
Ida Lupino,
Cornel Wilde, Celeste Holm, Richard Widmark, O.Z. Whitehead |
| "Road
House impresses first of all with its sharp dialogue
exchanges between the characters and the bizarre look of the
interiors. The roadhouse itself is designed in such a way as to
conjure up a synthetic vision of the postwar period, seeming at
once modern and rustic." - Blake Lucas,
Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the
American Style |
| TSPDT:
Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Roadblock |
|
Harold Daniels |
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| 1951, 73 mins,
RKO |
| Scr
George Bricker, Steve Fisher
Cin
Nicholas Musuraca
Cast
Charles McGraw, Joan Dixon, Lowell Gilmore, Louis Jean Heydt,
Milburn Stone |
| "Trying
to please his ambitious girlfriend, insurance investigator gets
himself involved in a robbery. Well-paced, fatalistic noir
thriller with good performance by McGraw." -
Spencer Selby,
Dark City: The Film Noir |
| TSPDT:
Worth a Look |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Rogue Cop |
|
Roy Rowland |
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| 1954, 92 mins,
MGM |
| Scr
Sydney Boehm
Cin
John Seitz
Cast
Robert Taylor, Janet Leigh, George Raft, Steve Forrest, Anne
Francis |
| "The year
after writing The Big Heat, William McGivern published
Rogue Cop...Auteur principles being what they are, Fritz
Lang's movie of the former is a classic, while Rowland's
adaptation of the latter is little known, though dramatically
it's tougher, more complex, more unpredictable." - Bob
Baker,
Time Out |
| TSPDT:
Worth a Look |
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Amazon
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MRQE |
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Ruthless |
|
Edgar G. Ulmer |
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| 1948, 104 mins,
Eagle Lion |
| Scr
S.K. Lauren, Gordon Kahn
Cin
Bert Glennon
Cast
Zachary Scott, Louis Hayward, Diana Lynn, Martha Vickers, Sydney
Greenstreet |
| "Man
tells his girlfriend the story of a powerful financier that was
his childhood pal. One of the most elegant and fascinating of
all B noirs, that has been called Ulmer's Citizen Kane." -
Spencer Selby,
Dark City: The Film Noir |
| TSPDT:
Recommended |
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Amazon
IMDB
MRQE |
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Scandal Sheet |
|
Phil Karlson |
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| 1952, 82 mins,
Columbia |
| Scr
Eugene Ling, James Poe, Ted Sherdeman
Cin
Burnett Guffey
Cast
John Derek, Donna Reed, Broderick Crawford, Rosemary DeCamp,
Henry O'Neill |
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