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".
The Naked City (1948)
7.6/10
Director: Jules Dassin
Starring: Barry Fitzgerald, Don Taylor, Frank Conroy, Howard Duff, Dorothy Hart
When a beautiful young model is found dead in her apartment, the police initially suspect it was suicide. But after the coroner discovers it was murde... Read more
The Naked City (Blu-ray) (1948)
7.6/10
Director: Jules Dassin
Starring: Barry Fitzgerald, Don Taylor, Frank Conroy, Howard Duff, Dorothy Hart
When a beautiful young model is found dead in her apartment, the police initially suspect it was suicide. But after the coroner discovers it was murde... Read more
The Naked Kiss (1964)
7.4/10
Director: Samuel Fuller
Starring: Constance Towers, Anthony Eisley, Michael Dante
AKA 'The Iron Kiss.' A reformed big city prostitute who tries to start again in a quiet town finds that beneath the little town's squeaky clean veneer... Read more
The Narrow Margin (1952)
7.7/10
Director: Richard Fleischer
Starring: Marie Windsor, Jacqueline White, Charles McCraw
This crackerjack thriller was the basis for the 1990 Gene Hackman suspenser. Charles McGraw plays a tough detective trying to outsmart three vicious h... Read more
The Night of the Hunter (1955)
8/10
Director: Charles Laughton
Starring: Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Lillian Gish
Robert Mitchum gives one of his best performances as Harry Powell, a psychotic self-styled preacher who is after the stolen money of a hanged man. Set... Read more
The Night of the Hunter ( Blu-ray ) (1955)
8/10
Director: Charles Laughton
Starring: Lillian Gish, Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters
Robert Mitchum gives one of his best performances as Harry Powell, a psychotic self-styled preacher who is after the stolen money of a hanged man. Set... Read more
The Petrified Forest (1936)
7.6/10
Director: Archie Mayo
Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Bette Davis, Leslie Howard
Adapted from Robert E Sherwood's Broadway hit, Humphrey Bogart and Leslie Howard reprise their respective stage roles as gangster, Duke and writer, Al... Read more
The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
7.5/10
Director: Tay Garnett
Starring: Lana Turner, John Garfield, Cecil Kellaway
Lana Turner and John Garfield are the illicit lovers in this James M Cain thriller, who plot to murder the husband who is standing in the way of a rea... Read more
The Postman Always Rings Twice ( Blu-ray ) (1946)
7.5/10
Director: Tay Garnett
Starring: Audrey Totter, Cecil Kellaway, Hume Cronyn, John Garfield, Lana Turner, Leon Ame...
Lana Turner and John Garfield are the illicit lovers in this James M Cain thriller, who plot to murder the husband who is standing in the way of a rea... 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