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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".

Night and the City (1950)

8/10
Director: Jules Dassin
Starring: Richard Widmark, Gene Tierney, Googie Withers, Hugh Marlowe, Francis L Sullivan

Two-bit hustler Harry Fabian (Richard Widmark) longs for the easy life. Trailed by an inglorious history of go-nowhere schemes, he stumbles on a chanc... 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

The Blue Dahlia (1946)

7.2/10
Director: George Marshall
Starring: Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, William Bendix

A stylish noir that teams Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake. When Johnny returns from the war, he finds his wife kissing another man outside the Blue Dahli... Read more

The Public Enemy (1931)

7.7/10
Director: William A Wellman
Starring: James Cagney, Jean Harlow, Beryl Mercer, Eddie Woods, Joan Blondell, Donald Cook...

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

Rear Window ( Blu-ray ) (1954)

8.5/10
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: Grace Kelly, James Stewart, Raymond Burr, Thelma Ritter, Wendell Corey

An injured magazine photographer, confined to his apartment because of a broken leg, suspects a murder has been committed in a neighbouring flat. Conf... Read more

Pickup on South Street (1953)

7.8/10
Director: Samuel Fuller
Starring: Richard Widmark, Jean Peters, Thelma Ritter

A tough, brutal and well-made film, starring Richard Widmark as a petty thief who inadvertently acquires a top secret microfilm and becomes a target f... Read more

Sorry, Wrong Number (1948)

7.5/10
Director: Anatole Litvak
Starring: Barbara Stanwyck, Burt Lancaster, Ann Richards, Wendell Corey

Based on the acclaimed radio program this stylized thriller features Barbara Stanwyck in her Oscar nominated performance as the young, rich, bedridden... Read more

Mildred Pierce (1945)

8/10
Director: Michael Curtiz
Starring: Joan Crawford, Jack Carson, Zachary Scott

Superb Hollywood thriller with Joan Crawford (in her Oscar-winning role) as the waitress-turned-businesswoman who struggles to provide a good life for... 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

Breathless ( A bout de souffle ) ( Blu-ray ) (1960)

7.9/10
Director: Jean-Luc Godard
Starring: Daniel Boulanger, Jean Seberg, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Henri-Jacques Huet

A.k.a. "A bout de souffle". There was before "Breathless", and there was after "Breathless". Jean-Luc Godard burst onto the film scene in 1960 with th... Read more