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".
Vertigo (1958)
8.3/10
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: Barbara Bel Geddes, Kim Novak, James Stewart, Tom Helmore, Henry Jones
Critics have hailed 'Vertigo' as Alfred Hitchcock's ultimate masterpiece. This haunting tale of obsession, fear and murder stars Hitchcock's favourite... Read more
Touch of Evil (1958)
8.1/10
Director: Orson Welles
Starring: Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh, Orson Welles, Akim Tamiroff, Joseph Calleia, Marle...
This twisting cinematic masterpiece of style and suspense, based on the Whit Masterson novel, features Orson Welles as a corrupt cane-wielding officia... Read more
Lauren Bacall: Key Largo / Blood Alley / Dark Passage / Designing Woman (1957)
9/10
Director: Delmer Daves, John Huston, Vincente Minnelli, William A Wellman
Starring: Edward G Robinson, Gregory Peck, Humphrey Bogart, John Wayne, Lauren Bacall
Lauren Bacall Box Set. 'Dark Passage' (1947) - Humphrey Bogart is a prison escapee framed for murder who emerges from plastic surgery with a new face.... Read more
Ascenseur Pour L'Echafaud ( Lift to the Scaffold ) (1957)
Director: Louis Malle
Starring: Jeanne Moreau, Maurice Ronet, Amedee , Lino Ventura
Celebrated director Louis Malle's debut film was a post-modern film noir, starring Jeanne Moreau as a woman who plots with her young lover (Maurice Ro... Read more
The Unguarded Moment (1956)
6.3/10
Director: Harry Keller
Starring: Esther Williams, George Nader, John Saxon, Edward Andrews, Les Tremayne, Jack Al...
A beautiful teacher is protective of a high school boy who sexually harassed her, and later he becomes a murder suspect. A woman has recently been... 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
Please Murder Me! (1956)
6.5/10
Director: Peter Godfrey
Starring: Angela Lansbury, Dick Foran, Raymond Burr, Denver Pyle
Attorney Craig Carlson (Raymond Burr, Perry Mason, Ironside) is a man in trouble with the law. A well practiced professional, he opens his doors to hi... Read more
23 Paces To Baker Street (1956)
7/10
Director: Henry Hathaway
Starring: Cecil Parker, Van Johnson, Vera Miles
A blind American writer (Van Johnson) who is living in London, overhears a kidnapping plot, but neither his friends nor the authorities believe him, c... 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
The Wrong Man (1956)
7.5/10
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: Henry Fonda, Vera Miles, Anthony Quayle
Unlike any other Alfred Hitchcock movie. The story packs tension, the images are spellbinding and the dilemma genuinely frightening. But this time the... Read more