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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".

Guest In The House (1944)

6.2/10
Director: John Brahm
Starring: Anne Baxter, Ralph Bellamy, Ruth Warrick, Marie McDonald

A young manipulative woman moves in with her fiancé's family and turns a happy household against itself. Read more

Gun Crazy (1950)

7.7/10
Director: Joseph Lewis
Starring: Peggy Cummins, John Dall, Berry Kroeger, Morris Carnovsky, Anabel Shaw

When gun fancier Bart Tare sees Annie Laurie Starr's sideshow sharpshooting act, he's a dead-bang goner. He and she go together, as Bart ultimately sa... Read more

Hangmen Also Die (1944)

7.5/10
Director: Fritz Lang
Starring: Brian Donlevy, Walter Brennan, Dennis O'Keefe

The 1942 assassination of Nazi collaborator Reinhard Heydrich in Prague inspired director/co-writer Fritz Lang to create this fictional account. Brian... Read more

He Ran All the Way (1951)

7.1/10
Director: John Berry
Starring: John Garfield, Shelley Winters, Wallace Ford, Selena Royle

John Garfield plays Nick, a down-on-his-luck small-timer, desperate for a fresh start. A botched robbery forces Nick into hiding, where he meets the c... Read more

He Walked by Night (1948)

7.2/10
Director: Alfred L Werker
Starring: Jack Webb, Richard Basehart, Roy Roberts, Scott Brady, Whit Bissell

Based on a true case, this fine film noir details the Los Angeles Police Department's search for a technically adept but mentally unbalanced thief who... Read more

Hitchcock Collection: Secret Agent / The Farmer's Wife / Rich and Strange / Juno and the Paycock / The Lady Vanishes (1938)

Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: John Gielgud, Peter Lorre, Henry Kendall, Joan Barry, Barry Fitzgerald, Margaret...

A collection of 5 classic Hitchcock films. 'Secret Agent' (1935) - Hitchcock's realistic, darkly funny thriller stars John Gielgud as the British agen... Read more

House Of Bamboo (1955)

6.9/10
Director: Samuel Fuller
Starring: Robert Ryan, Robert Stack, Cameron Mitchell

Samuel Fuller directs this noir classic set in post-World War II Tokyo. After organising a robbery that results in the murder of an American GI, gang... Read more

House Of Bamboo (Blu-ray) (1955)

6.8/10
Director: Samuel Fuller
Starring: Cameron Mitchell, Robert Ryan, Robert Stack

Samuel Fuller directs this noir classic set in post-World War II Tokyo. After organising a robbery that results in the murder of an American GI, gang... Read more

House on Telegraph Hill (1951)

7/10
Director: Robert Wise
Starring: Richard Basehart, William Lundigan, Valentina Cortese

To escape war-torn Poland, a former concentration camp inmate (Valentina Cortese) adopts the identity of a deceased fellow prisoner who has a young so... Read more

Illegal / The Big Steal (1955)

Director: Don Siegel, Lewis Allen
Starring: Edward G Robinson, Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer

This film noir double feature from the Warner Bros. stable includes Lewis Allen's 'Illegal' (1955, 88 mins.), a remake of 'The Mouthpiece' starring Ed... Read more