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".
Five Minutes to Live / The Pride of Jesse Hallam (1962)
Director: Gary Nelson, Bill Karn
Starring: Johnny Cash, Cay Forester, Ronnie Howard, Donald Woods, Brenda Vaccaro
'Five Minutes to Live' (1962) - The Man in Black shines in this classic crime drama, country music as Johnny Cabot, a violent, guitar playing ex-con w... Read more
Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Season 2 (1956)
8.6/10
The Master of Suspense is back with more tales of murder, mystery and the macabre in the complete second season of the groundbreaking television class... Read more
The Public Enemy ( Blu-ray ) (1931)
7.7/10
Director: William A Wellman
Starring: Edward Woods, James Cagney, Jean Harlow, Joan Blondell
The charismatic James Cagney in the role that rightly made him a star! He plays a small-time hood who claws his way to the top, only to find it's furt... Read more
Cape Fear (Blu-ray) (1961)
7.3/10
Director: J Lee Thompson
Starring: Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum, Polly Bergen
Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum star in Hollywood's classic tale of revenge and murder. Robert Mitchum is unforgettable as Max Cady, an ex-con determi... Read more
Force Of Evil (1948)
7.4/10
Director: Abraham Polonsky
Starring: John Garfield, Beatrice Pearson, Thomas Gomez
Film Noir featuring John Garfield as an attorney who works for a mobster and finds himself caught in a numbers racket scheme that could bankrupt New Y... Read more
Mr Wong, Detective (1938)
6.2/10
Director: William Nigh
Starring: Boris Karloff, Grant Withers, Evelyn Brent
Following in the inscrutable footsteps of Charlie Chan and Mr. Moto, Boris Karloff portrayed Chinese-born crimefighter Mr Wong in a series of classic... Read more
Mr Wong - Doomed to Die (1940)
Director: William Nigh
Starring: Boris Karloff
In his final "Mr. Wong" mystery, Boris Karloff solves the case of who killed shipping magnate Cyrus P. Wentworth (Melvin Lang). A mysterious fire dest... Read more
The Humphrey Bogart Collection of Films: Across the Pacific / All Through the Night / Bullets or Ballots / Dark Passage (1936)
Director: Delmer Daves, John Huston, Vincent Sherman, William Keighley
Starring: Conrad Veidt, Edward G Robinson, Humphrey Bogart, Joan Blondell, Lauren Bacall,...
Humphrey Bogart Box Set. 'Across the Pacific' (1942) - When disgraced American military officer Rick Leland (Bogart) boards a Japanese ship, he is app... Read more
The Lodger (Blu-ray) (1927)
7.6/10
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: Marie Ault, Ivor Novello
2012 restoration. Aesthetically influenced by German Expressionism, and based on the story of Jack the Ripper, 'The Lodger' was the film in which Hitc... Read more
Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Texas Cowgirl (1954)
7.6/10
Director: Sheldon Reynolds
Starring: Ronald Howard, H. Marion Crawford
These short films listed below, made for television where filmed in France in the mid 1950s and feature Ronald Howard, the son of the actor Leslie How... Read more