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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".

Lifeboat (1944)

7.8/10
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: Tallulah Bankhead, William Bendix, Walter Slezak, John Hodiak, Hume Cronyn, Cana...

From a story by John Steinbeck, director Alfred Hitchcock's riveting film of human strengths and frailties under extraordinary circumstances finds eig... Read more

Double Indemnity (1944)

8.3/10
Director: Billy Wilder
Starring: Barbara Stanwyck, Fred MacMurray, Edward G Robinson

A masterpiece of film noir cinema from director Billy Wilder, who also co-scripted with Raymond Chandler. Barbara Stanwyck is the definitive femme fat... Read more

Gaslight (1944)

7.8/10
Director: George Cukor
Starring: Charles Boyer, Ingrid Bergman, Joseph Cotten

Ingrid Bergman won her first Oscar for her stunning portrayal of a susceptible young woman who marries the suave, romantic Charles Boyer, never suspec... Read more

Laura (1944)

8.1/10
Director: Otto Preminger
Starring: Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews, Clifton Webb, Vincent Price

One of the greatest Hollywood whodunits ever made, Otto Preminger's noir-flavored thriller stars Dana Andrews as a detective investigating the murder... Read more

Sherlock Holmes: The Spider Woman / The Pearl of Death (1943)

7.6/10
Director: Roy William Neill
Starring: Basil Rathbone, Gale Sondergaard, Nigel Bruce, Rondo Hatton

'The Spider Woman' (1943) - Adrea Spedding (Gale Sondergaard) makes her social calls accompanied by an unnervingly unsmiling mute child. She is secret... Read more

Lady of Burlesque (1943)

6.4/10
Director: William A Wellman
Starring: Barbara Stanwyck

A mystery novel by stripper Gypsy Rose Lee served as the basis for this entertaining whodunit, with Barbara Stanwyck as the star of a burlesque house... Read more

James Mason Collection: 5 Fingers / The Man Between / The Man In Grey / Odd Man Out / The Bells Go Down (1943)

Director: Basil Dearden, Carol Reed, Joseph L Mankiewicz, Leslie Arliss
Starring: James Mason, Stewart Granger, Margaret Lockwood, Robert Newton, Kathleen Ryan, F...

This box set collection contains five classic films starring the iconic James Mason. Titles include: '5 Fingers' (1952) - Based on the memoirs of L.C... Read more

Shadow of a Doubt (1943)

7.9/10
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: Joseph Cotten, Teresa Wright

A young girl, overjoyed when her favourite uncle comes to visit the family, slowly begins to suspect that he is in fact the "Merry Widow" killer sough... Read more

Sherlock Holmes in Washington / Sherlock Holmes Faces Death (1942)

Director: Roy William Neill
Starring: Basil Rathbone, Hillary Brooke, Milburn Stone, Nigel Bruce, Halliwell Hobbes, Ma...

'Sherlock Holmes in Washington' (1942) - When a British secret agent carrying vital documents is kidnapped on his way to Washington, the ministry call... Read more

The Glass Key (1942)

7.1/10
Director: Stuart Heisler
Starring: Brian Donlevy, Veronica Lake, Alan Ladd, Bonita Granville, Richard Denning, Jose...

Paul Madvig (Brian Donlevy), a once-corrupt politician, has given up his past and is backing a respectable candidate in the next election. However wh... Read more