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".
Railroaded (1947)
6.7/10
Director: Anthony Mann
Starring: John Ireland, Sheila Ryan, Jane Randolph
In the crime-ridden jungle of an inner city where mobsters rule, a lone police detective begins a search for a killer on the lam who, in a desperate f... Read more
The Green Glove (1952)
6.4/10
Director: Rudolph Mate
Starring: Cedric Hardwicke, George Macready, Geraldine Brooks, Glenn Ford
This top-notch thriller is set after World War II and features Glenn Ford as an ex-paratrooper hired by a church to find a bejeweled glove lifted by e... Read more
The Naked City (1948)
7.6/10
Director: Jules Dassin
Starring: Barry Fitzgerald, Don Taylor, Frank Conroy, Howard Duff, Dorothy Hart
When a beautiful young model is found dead in her apartment, the police initially suspect it was suicide. But after the coroner discovers it was murde... 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
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
Scarlet Street (1945)
7.9/10
Director: Fritz Lang
Starring: Dan Duryea, Edward G Robinson, Joan Bennett, Margaret Lindsay
A box-office hit in its day (despite being banned in three states), 'Scarlet Street' is perhaps legendary director Fritz Lang's ('M', 'Metropolis') fi... Read more
The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
7.9/10
Director: John Huston
Starring: Sterling Hayden, Louis Calhern, Marilyn Monroe
One of director Huston's most memorable efforts, this taut drama is a brilliantly stylized crime story about a group of hoods plotting a major heist.... Read more
Kiss of Death (1947)
7.5/10
Director: Henry Hathaway
Starring: Victor Mature, Brian Donlevy, Coleen Gray, Richard Widmark, Karl Malden
This superior noir crime thriller stars Victor Mature as a crook who turns state's evidence when his gang betrays him and leaves him to rot in jail. R... Read more
Orson Welles Collection: The Stranger / King Lear / David and Goliath / The Trial / The Herb Shriner Show (1956)
Director: Orson Welles
Starring: Edward G Robinson, Loretta Young, Orson Welles, Anthony Perkins, Jeanne Moreau,...
A collection of 4 classic films from acclaimed director/actor Orson Welles including: 'The Stranger' (1946) - A suspenseful cat-and-mouse thriller wit... Read more
Gilda ( Blu-ray ) (1946)
7.7/10
Director: Charles Vidor
Starring: George Macready, Glenn Ford, Joseph Calleia, Rita Hayworth
Rita Hayworth stars in this classic drama as part of a problematical love triangle involving husband, George Macready and his partner Glenn Ford and s... Read more