INTRODUCING FILM NOIR
Out of the Past (1947) |
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as stretching from the early 1940s to the late 1950s. Film noir of this era is associated with a low-key black-and-white visual style that has roots in German Expressionist cinematography. Many of the prototypical stories and much of the attitude of classic noir derive from the hardboiled school of crime fiction that emerged in the United States during the Depression.
Film noir would not be film noir with such great names, for example, actors like Robert Mitchum, Burt Lancaster, Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney, Peter Lorre, Edward G. Robinson, Alan Ladd, John Garfield, Robert Ryan, Richard Widmark, Glenn Ford, Charles McGraw, Clifton Webb, Raymond Burr, Richard Conte, George Raft, Sidney Greenstreet, Victor Mature, Fred MacMurray, Ray Milland, Dana Andrews, Kirk Douglas, and Orson Welles and actresses like Lauren Bacall, Joan Crawford, Rita Hayworth, Gloria Grahame, Gene Tierney, Barbara Stanwyck, Lizabeth Scott, Claire Trevor, Bette Davis, Ingrid Bergman, Ida Lupino, Ava Gardner, Veronica Lake, Jane Greer, Loretta Young, Olivia de Havilland, Shelley Winters, Marie Windsor, Joan Bennett, and Ella Raines.
Here is a comprehensive list of films that fall within the film noir genre. Why not give several a try? You just may become hooked on this genre like so many of us contributing showcases to Classically Speaking have. The follows films are listed in decade release order. Each title is followed by its year and director.
I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932) |
30s
M 1931 Fritz Lang
Angels with Dirty Faces 1938 Michael Curtiz
I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang 1932 Mervyn LeRoy
The Maltese Falcon 1931 Roy Del Ruth
You Only Live Once 1937 Fritz Lang
Laura (1944) |
40s
The Third Man 1949 Carol Reed
Double Indemnity 1944 Billy Wilder
The Maltese Falcon 1941 John Huston
The Big Sleep 1946 Howard Hawks
Out of the Past 1947 Jacques Tourneur
Laura 1944 Otto Preminger
Mildred Pierce 1945 Michael Curtiz
Gilda 1946 Charles Vidor
Stray Dog 1949 Akira Kurosawa
Suspicion 1941 Alfred Hitchcock
The Lady from Shanghai 1948 Orson Welles
The Killers 1946 Robert Siodmak
Nightmare Alley 1947 Edmund Goulding
The Naked City 1948 Jules Dassin
Detour 1945 Edgar G. Ulmer
Murder, My Sweet 1944 Edward Dmytryk
The Postman Always Rings Twice 1946 Tay Garnett
The Woman in the Window 1944 Fritz Lang
Dark Passage 1947 Delmer Daves
Scarlet Street 1945 Fritz Lang
The Stranger 1946 Orson Welles
The Set-Up 1949 Robert Wise
Odd Man Out 1947 Carol Reed
High Sierra 1941 Raoul Walsh
Kiss of Death 1947 Henry Hathaway
Quai des Orfèvres 1947 Henri-Georges Clouzot
The Letter 1940 William Wyler
Brute Force 1947 Jules Dassin
Force of Evil 1948 Abraham Polonsky PG
Born to Kill 1947 Robert Wise
Criss Cross 1949 Robert Siodmak
The Big Clock 1948 John Farrow
This Gun for Hire 1942 Frank Tuttle
Crossfire 1947 Edward Dmytryk
Conflict 1945 Curtis Bernhardt
Lured 1947 Douglas Sirk
Sorry, Wrong Number 1948 Anatole Litvak
The Spiral Staircase 1945 Robert Siodmak
They Drive By Night 1940 Raoul Walsh
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers 1946 Lewis Milestone
Cornered 1945 Edward Dmytryk
Raw Deal 1948 Anthony Mann
The Scar 1948 Steve Sekely
The Blue Dahlia 1946 George Marshall
The Dark Corner 1946 Henry Hathaway
Champion 1949 Mark Robson
Road House 1948 Jean Negulesco
Thieves' Highway 1949 Jules Dassin
Fallen Angel 1945 Otto Preminger G
Act of Violence 1948 Fred Zinnemann
The House on 92nd Street 1945 Henry Hathaway
Lady In The Lake 1947 Robert Montgomery
Whirlpool 1949 Otto Preminger
Ministry of Fear 1944 Fritz Lang PG
Tension 1949 John Berry PG
Dead Reckoning 1947 John Cromwell
The Brasher Doubloon 1947 John Brahm
A Double Life 1947 George Cukor
The Long Night 1947 Anatole Litvak
Decoy 1946 Jack Bernhard
Border Incident 1949 Anthony Mann
Moontide 1942 Fritz Lang, Archie Mayo
The Reckless Moment 1949 Max Ophüls
Stranger on the Third Floor 1940 Boris Ingster
The Two Mrs. Carrolls 1947 Peter Godfrey
Reign of Terror 1949 Anthony Mann
Boomerang! 1947 Elia Kazan
The Big Steal 1949 Don Siegel
Caught 1949 Max Ophüls
Somewhere in the Night 1946 Joseph L. Mankiewicz
T-Men 1947 Anthony Mann
I Wake Up Screaming 1941 H. Bruce Humberstone
I Walk Alone 1948 Byron Haskin
Tomorrow Is Forever 1946 Irving Pichel
Berlin Express 1948 Jacques Tourneur
Black Angel 1946 Roy William Neill
Shock 1946 Alfred L. Werker
He Walked by Night 1948 Alfred L. Werker
The Woman on the Beach 1947 Jean Renoir
My Name is Julia Ross 1945 Joseph H. Lewis
Ruthless 1948 Edgar G. Ulmer
Christmas Holiday 1944 Robert Siodmak
Body and Soul 1947 Robert Rossen
Secret Beyond the Door 1948 Fritz Lang
The Unsuspected 1947 Michael Curtiz
Whistle Stop 1946 Léonide Moguy
Fingers at the Window 1942 Charles Lederer
The Verdict 1946 Don Siegel
The Shanghai Gesture 1941 Josef von Sternberg
The Red House 1947 Delmer Daves
Daughter of Darkness 1948 Lance Comfort
Two O'Clock Courage 1945 Anthony Mann
Sleep, My Love 1948 Douglas Sirk
Strange Bargain 1949 Will Price
They Made Me a Fugitive 1947 Alberto Cavalcanti
Panique 1947 Julien Duvivier
Possessed 1947 Curtis Bernhardt
Fear in the Night 1947 Maxwell Shane
Johnny Eager 1942 Mervyn LeRoy
Shockproof 1949 Douglas Sirk
Knock on Any Door 1949 Nicholas Ray
The Crooked Way 1949 Robert Florey
The Amazing Mr. X 1948 Bernard Vorhaus
The Chase 1946 Arthur Ripley
The Woman on Pier 13 1949 Robert Stevenson
Undercurrent 1946 Vincente Minnelli
Dear Murderer 1947 Arthur Crabtree
Pickup on South Street (1953) |
50s
Touch of Evil 1958 Orson Welles
The Night of the Hunter 1955 Charles Laughton
Sunset Blvd. 1950 Billy Wilder
The Asphalt Jungle 1950 John Huston
Kiss Me Deadly 1955 Robert Aldrich
Diabolique 1955 Henri-Georges Clouzot
The Big Heat 1953 Fritz Lang
Gun Crazy 1950 Joseph H. Lewis
Pickup on South Street 1953 Samuel Fuller
Killer's Kiss 1955 Stanley Kubrick
Niagara 1953 Henry Hathaway
Night and the City 1950 Jules Dassin
Stage Fright 1950 Alfred Hitchcock
The Desperate Hours 1955 William Wyler
The Narrow Margin 1952 Richard Fleischer
Panic in the Streets 1950 Elia Kazan
D.O.A. 1950 Rudolph Maté
The Big Knife 1955 Robert Aldrich
House of Bamboo 1955 Samuel Fuller
Suddenly 1954 Lewis Allen
Crime Wave 1954 Andre De Toth
Kansas City Confidential 1952 Phil Karlson
Crime of Passion 1957 Gerd Oswald
No Way Out 1950 Joseph L. Mankiewicz
The Big Combo 1955 Joseph H. Lewis
The Harder They Fall 1956 Mark Robson
On Dangerous Ground 1952 Nicholas Ray
Side Street 1950 Anthony Mann
99 River Street 1953 Phil Karlson
The Crimson Kimono 1959 Samuel Fuller
Slightly Scarlet 1956 Allan Dwan
Human Desire 1954 Fritz Lang
The Racket 1951 John Cromwell
The Hitch-Hiker 1953 Ida Lupino
The Enforcer 1951 Bretaigne Windust
While the City Sleeps 1956 Fritz Lang
Where Danger Lives 1950 John Farrow
The File on Thelma Jordon 1950 Robert Siodmak
The Phenix City Story 1955 Phil Karlson
Odds Against Tomorrow 1959 Robert Wise
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt 1956 Fritz Lang
Armored Car Robbery 1950 Richard Fleischer
Nightfall 1957 Jacques Tourneur
The Sniper 1952 Edward Dmytryk
Party Girl 1958 Nicholas Ray
Union Station 1950 Rudolph Maté
The Blue Gardenia 1953 Friz Lang
Pushover 1954 Richard Quine
His Kind of Woman 1951 John Farrow
The Damned Don't Cry 1950 Vincent Sherman
The Brothers Rico 1957 Phil Karlson
The Lineup 1958 Don Siegel
A Bullet for Joey 1955 Lewis Allen
Macao 1952 Josef von Sternberg
Scandal Sheet 1952 Phil Karlson
New York Confidential 1955 Russell Rouse
Dark City 1950 William Dieterle
Mystery Street 1950 John Sturges
Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye 1950 Gordon Douglas
Dangerous Crossing 1953 Joseph M. Newman
Appointment with Danger 1951 Lewis Allen
I Am Waiting 1957 Koreyoshi Kurahara
No Man of Her Own 1950 Mitchell Leisen
One Step to Eternity 1954 Henri Decoin
Cast a Dark Shadow 1955 Lewis Gilbert
Beware, My Lovely 1952 Harry Horner
A Kiss Before Dying 1956 Gerd Oswald
The Prowler 1951 Joseph Losey
5 Against The House 1955 Phil Karlson
The Turning Point 1952 William Dieterle
Vicki 1953 Harry Horner
The Killer Is Loose 1956 Budd Boetticher
The Secret Fury 1950 Mel Ferrer
The Captive City 1952 Robert Wise
The Big Caper 1957 Robert Stevens
Edge of Doom 1950 Mark Robson
Quicksand 1950 Irving Pichel PG
Backfire 1950 Vincent Sherman
Female Jungle 1955 Bruno VeSota
The Sound of Fury 1950 Cy Endfield
The Thief 1952 Russell Rouse
The Killers 1958 Andrey Tarkovskiy, Marika Beiku, Aleksandr Gordon
Cry Danger 1951 Robert Parrish
Hidden Fear 1957 André De Toth
Dial 1119 1950 Gerald Mayer
Foreign Intrigue 1956 Sheldon Reynolds
The Naked Street 1955 Maxwell Shane
Counterplot 1959 Kurt Neumann
Hell's Half Acre 1954 John H. Auer
City of Fear 1959 Irving Lerner
Affair in Trinidad 1952 Vincent Sherman
Screaming Mimi 1958 Gerd Oswald
Crime Against Joe 1956 Lee Sholem
Private Hell 36 1954 Don Siegel
Stolen Identity 1953 Gunther von Fritsch
Blast of Silence (1961) |
60s
Blast of Silence 1961 Allen Baron
A Colt Is My Passport 1967 Takashi Nomura
Underworld USA 1961 Samuel Fuller
Midnight Lace 1960 David Miller
Man-Trap 1961 Edmond O'Brien
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