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".
Sherlock Holmes Collection: The Secret Weapon / Dressed to Kill / Pursuit to Algiers / The Woman in Green / Terror By Night (1942)
Director: Roy William Neill
Starring: Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Lionel Atwill, Patricia Morison
Based on the original Sir Arthur Conan Doyle stories and packed with mystery and suspense, this 5 disc collection stars Basil Rathbone as the legendar... Read more
This Gun For Hire (1942)
7.5/10
Director: Frank Tuttle
Starring: Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, Laird Cregar, Robert Preston
The movie that made Alan Ladd a star. He's a cold-blooded killer with a soft spot for kids and cats, and he's out to get back at a double-crossing nig... Read more
The Face Behind The Mask (Blu-ray) (1941)
7.2/10
Director: Robert Florey
Starring: Peter Lorre, Evelyn Keyes
Janos Szabo is a kind, innocent immigrant to America. Just after he arrives though, he is caught in a fire and his face is horribly burned and disfigu... Read more
Citizen Kane ( Blu-ray ) (1941)
8.4/10
Director: Orson Welles
Starring: Agnes Moorehead, Everett Sloane, Joseph Cotten, Orson Welles, Paul Stewart, Ruth...
Even people who have never seen Citizen Kane know it's the greatest film of all time. Orson Welles' debut has become an undisputed cultural benchmark... Read more
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
8.1/10
Director: John Huston
Starring: Peter Lorre, Mary Astor, Humphrey Bogart
Even if you've seen this film so often that you know all the dialogue, it never ceases to amaze. Great actors Bogart, Mary Astor, Sydney Greenstreet a... Read more
Citizen Kane (1941)
8.4/10
Director: Orson Welles
Starring: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Everett Sloane
Generally regarded as the greatest and most influential films of all time; Orson Welles directorial debut (he was only 25!) is the story of newspaper... Read more
British Intelligence (1940)
6/10
Director: Terry Morse
Starring: Boris Karloff, Margaret Lindsay, Bruce Lester, Leonard Mudie, Holmes Herbert, Au...
Made during the early part of the Second World War (when England was enduring constant air assaults and other threats), and set during the First World... 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 Letter (1940)
7.7/10
Director: William Wyler
Starring: Bette Davis, Herbert Marshall, James Stephenson, Frieda Inescort, Gale Sondergaa...
"With all my heart I still love the man I killed..." Six years after exploding to stardom in "Of Human Bondage", Bette Davis equalled that excitement... Read more
Rebecca (1940)
8.1/10
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine, George Sanders
Hitchcock's first American film, based on a Du Maurier gothic romance. With Laurence Olivier and a fine performance by Joan Fontaine as a shy young wo... Read more