Classic Film Noir
Here be those darkly vexing offerings one should include in their diet periodically. Film Noir (literally 'black film or cinema') was coined by French film critics (first by Frank Nino in 1946) who noticed the trend of how 'dark' and black the looks and themes were of many American crime and detective films released in France following the war. It was a style of black and white American films that first evolved in the 1940s, became prominent in the post-war era, and lasted in a classic "Golden Age" period until about 1965.
With the list below Alice has included many "Contempory Noirs", making browsing that much more "coloured".....
Right: Orson Wells stars and directs "A Touch Of Evil".
Touch of Evil (1958)
8.1/10
Director: Orson Welles
Starring: Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh, Orson Welles, Akim Tamiroff, Joseph Calleia, Marle...
This twisting cinematic masterpiece of style and suspense, based on the Whit Masterson novel, features Orson Welles as a corrupt cane-wielding officia... Read more
Touchez Pas au Grisbi ( Hands Off the Loot ) (1954)
7.9/10
Director: Jacques Becker
Starring: Jean Gabin, Jeanne Moreau, Paul Frankeur, Lino Ventura, Rene Dary
Jean Gabin is at his most wearily romantic as aging gangster Max le Menteur in this gem from director Jacques Becker ('Le trou'). Having pulled off th... Read more
Under Capricorn (1949)
6.2/10
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: Ingrid Bergman, Joseph Cotten, Michael Wilding
Alfred Hitchcock's chilling suspenser stars Joseph Cotten as a convicted killer banished to Australia with wife Ingrid Bergman, who is also his victim... Read more
Vertigo (1958)
8.3/10
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: Barbara Bel Geddes, Kim Novak, James Stewart, Tom Helmore, Henry Jones
Critics have hailed 'Vertigo' as Alfred Hitchcock's ultimate masterpiece. This haunting tale of obsession, fear and murder stars Hitchcock's favourite... Read more
Vertigo ( Blu-ray ) (1958)
8.3/10
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: Barbara Bel Geddes, Henry Jones, James Stewart, Kim Novak, Tom Helmore
Critics have hailed 'Vertigo' as Alfred Hitchcock's ultimate masterpiece. This haunting tale of obsession, fear and murder stars Hitchcock's favourite... Read more
Violent Saturday (1955)
6.9/10
Director: Richard Fleischer
Starring: Ernest Borgnine, Lee Marvin, Victor Mature
A number of otherwise insignificant small-town stories erupt into drama when a gang of hoodlums decides to rob the local bank. A father looking for pr... Read more
Where Danger Lives / Tension (1950)
Director: John Farrow, John Berry
Starring: Richard Basehart, Faith Domergue, Robert Mitchum, Barry Sullivan, Audrey Trotter
This film noir double feature from the Warner Bros. classic collection includes 'Where Danger Lives' (1950), with Robert Mitchum playing a doctor who... Read more
Where The Sidewalk Ends (1950)
7.6/10
Director: Otto Preminger
Starring: Dana Andrews, Gene Tierney, Gary Merrill
'Laura' director Otto Preminger reunited with stars Dana Andrews and Gene Tierney for this moody crime drama in which Andrews is a violent cop who acc... Read more
Whirlpool (1949)
6.9/10
Director: Otto Preminger
Starring: Gene Tierney, Richard Conte, Jose Ferrer
Director Otto Preminger's mix of psychological suspense and film noir atmosphere stars Gene Tierney as a compulsive kleptomaniac married to noted psyc... Read more
White Heat (1949)
8.2/10
Director: Raoul Walsh
Starring: James Cagney, Virginia Mayo, Edmond O'Brien
This quintessential gangster film contains James Cagney's most frightening role, that of a psychopathic mother-obsessed gunman. This riveting crime dr... Read more