All right!
D.O.A. wasn't on my list, but I recently gave it a re-watch, the first time in years in fact, and it's still as fine a film. Love it that it's a man (the great Edmond O'Brien) looking for his murderer. Time is against him as he tells his tale. He finds it hard to trust anybody and the fact that he's basically already dead doesn't stop people from trying to kill him! I knew that Beverly Garland was in the film but when she showed I didn't even recognize her, she was so young. Of course having Neville Brand as a psycho itching to kill you doesn't hurt things. Great scene where Brand is driving O'Brien down a nightly boulevard, practically bursting with joy that he's gonna get to kill O'Brien (he thinks). The only debit I'd give it is the scene where our hero first checks into his hotel and everytime he sees a pretty woman, the soundtrack has a slide whistle make a wolf call. Too silly for a noir, IMO. But it doesn't hurt much. And the fact that the film sticks to its guns and ends the only way it can makes it that much stronger. A real winner. Glad to see here.
Kansas City Confidential is a super movie, and like @
WHITBISSELL! I only remember seeing John Payne from
Miracle on 34th Street. So he was a real revelation for me here, as a man determined to either clear his name, get revenge, or get his hands on some of the money he's accused of stealing, or maybe just the last two. Preston Foster was fine as the mastermind of the heist, and when he shows up later I was fooled for a bit when I realized I was seeing him again because he'd changed his demeanor. And what a trio of bad guys, a practical who's who of future character actors: Jack Elam, Lee Van Cleef, and Neville Brand. You just can't go wrong with them all together. The part in Mexico with Payne and the trio going back-and-forth getting the drop on each other almost had me laughing out loud. I love this movie and I learned about it years ago when my wife was watching a Hallmark movie of all things, and the leading lady's young son was a fan of film noir and he mentioned, believe it or not, both of today's reveals. So I put this one on my list back then (when I was first making a noir list) and finally got to watching it when this countdown started. I'm so glad I did. It made it at #6 on my list.
#6
Kansas City Confidential List Proper #53
#14
Kiss of Death List Proper List Proper #59
#15
He Walked By Night List Proper #88
#16
The Naked City List Proper #60
#22
This Gun For Hire List Proper #78