The MoFo Top 100 Film Noir Countdown

Two top notch films round out the Classic Noir countdown, and of course both were on my ballot.

I have Sunset Boulevard at #15. I sort of scratch my head as to why I had it on the back half of my ballot, as I do adore the film, and at one point, was sort of binge watching it weekly. That was some time ago though, so I am guessing the fact that io hadn't revisited it in so long is the culprit here. Probably deserves to be higher.



I love the fact that this guy pretty much becomes a prisoner, but not only are there no locks on the doors, there aren't even any latches or knobs. I also love the Betty character and Erich Von Stroheim as Max. A quirky, sort of bizarre film that is a ton of fun, but also ultimately sad.


Double Indemnity is a fine film to take the top slot. I have seen it several times, and it is always a pleasure to watch. That said, it is not a Top 5 favorite of mine, and I think its placement on my ballot still feels just right sitting at #8. It's Top 10 material, but just doesn't rank among my favorites of the style. Great stuff, though!

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Last but certainly not least: Thank you to all the folks who brought this countdown to life, especially Citizen Rules and Yoda. I adore classic noir, but realized during this countdown that I still have a lot of catching up to do. I will continue my rectifications, hopefully eventually reaching 100% on the list.

Don't let Minio hear you say that.


What a zowey ending!! A double Wilder. Both great movies especially Sunset Boulevard. Unfortunately it wasn't on my list. I didn't really think of it as Noir. It is more like Los Angeles Gothic. A kind of psychological horror about the film industry. Double Indemnity was, of course on my list. I had it at #14.


I think all my picks were on the list, except for Deception and my #25, A Woman's Face. I love Deception. Bette Davis tries to keep the fact that she has been a kept woman since her man has been trapped in Europe during WWII. It's has got the great Claude Rains as her ex-lover and Paul Henreid as the man she has been waiting for. It is an excellent movie. Watching Bette Davis try to play these guys is very entertaining.
Oh, I almost forgot, a big thanks to our man Citizen Rules for running this countdown. Also to Holden, et. al. for there stats and extra info. I apologize if I missed anyone.

Yeah, both CR and Thief did great work on the countdowns, but to my taste I'd rather we had done one, then the other, just to spread them out a little.

I honestly don't see that as workable. If we would've done 6 months on just the noir countdown, then afterwards another 6 months on the neo noir countdown, many MoFos would've been upset about it taking so long. Plus, the neo noir countdown starting after the noir countdown would've seemed like an afterthought or 'yesterday's newspaper', as people had just done the noir countdown...Enthusiasm to do 'part 2' would be low.

If the idea of noir countdowns being done consecutively had been floated, people would've then insisted that both countdowns should be combined into one. Indeed some said just that...of course they weren't probably big fans of old film noir so didn't really care about making a solid Top 100 noir list. But I did...and that's why I was adamant and pushed the idea of duel noir countdowns, so that we could have a solid Top 100 noir countdown list and a Top 100 neo noir countdown list too...All done in the same time frame that just one countdown would take. I'm happy with the way both countdowns turned out.

Good countdown, thanks for hosting. My list:

1. Kiss me Deadly (1955)
2. The Night of the Hunter (1955)
3. Sunset Blvd (1950)
4. Elevator to the Gallows (1958)
5. The Third Man (1949)
6. Touch of Evil (1958)
7. The Lady from Shanghai (1947)
8. The Killing (1956)
9. Double Indemnity (1944)
10. The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
11. Ace in the Hole (1951)
12. The Maltese Falcon
13. Mildred Pierce (1945)
14. Detour (1945)
15. The Wrong Man (1956)
16. Nightmare Alley (1947)
17. The Hitch-Hiker (1953)
18. In a Lonely Place (1950)
19. Out of the Past (1947)
20. Pickup on South Street (1953)
21. They Live by Night (1948)
22. The Big Heat (1953)

Diehl40's Film Noir List

1. Double Indemnity
2. Touch of Evil
3. The Third Man
4. Out of the Past
5. The Big Sleep
6. Laura
7. The Maltese Falcon
8. The Night of the Hunter
9. Act of Violence
10. Gilda
11. Ace in the Hole
12. The Big Heat
13. The Wrong Man
14. Mildred Pierce
15. Criss Cross
16. Murder My Sweet
17. The Strange Love of Martha Ivers
18. Gun Crazy
19. Sweet Smell of Success
20. Detour
21. Asphalt Jungle
22. Desperate Hours
23. Angel Face
24. Best the Devil
25. Beyond a Reasonable doubt

Oh, I agree with your points. I didn't mean run them consecutively. I meant run them at entirely different times, even months apart. Just my druthers.

I enjoyed them both, but I joined the neo-noir one just as a lark-- to participate. Classic noir is tricky to define. IMO several films I saw listed on IMDB or Wikipedia as "noir" really are not. I think the tendency is to name any crime film shot in black & white from 1940 to 1960 as noir.

Neo-noir? All over the map. Almost any crime film since 1960 seems to qualify... But who cares, as long as everyone is having a good time.

I see what you're saying Doc and in a perfect world we would've done them as you said, many months apart. I just don't think the MoFos would've went for that I agree too that many of us had different definitions of what was and wasn't noir. I know I don't think of Hitch as doing noir. Maybe a couple of his films, but mostly he's grounded in the British tradition of mystery thrillers...and no one done them better but they don't feel like noir to me. Though look at it this way are #1 noir was certainly noir...Double Indemnity.

Rauldc14's List

1. Double Indemnity
2. Ride the Pink Horse
3. Laura
4. Shadow of a Doubt
5. In a Lonely Place
6. Sunset Boulevard
7. The Third Man
8. Gilda
9. The Night of the Hunter
10. The Killers
11. The Maltese Falcon
12. Strangers on a Train
13. The Big Sleep
14. Gun Crazy
15. Sweet Smell of Success
16. Scarlett Street
17. Out of the Past
18. Mildred Pierce
19. Detour
20. Touch of Evil
21. The Postman Always Rings Twice
22. The Suspect
23. Caged
24. The Woman in the Window
25. Leave Her to Heaven

Everything made it!

My List

1. Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
2. Brute Force (1947)
3. The Killers (1946)
4. Key Largo (1948)
5. Caged (1950)
6. Niagara (1953)
7. The Harder They Fall (1956)
8. The Wrong Man (1956)
9. Ace in the Hole (1951)
10. The Maltese Falcon (1941)
11. Touch of Evil (1958)
12. The Lost Weekend (1945)
13. In a Lonely Place (1950)
14. Notorious (1946)
15. Stray Dog (1949)
16. Death of a Cyclist (1955)
17. Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950)
18. Kiss of Death (1947)
19. Phone Call from a Stranger (1952)
20. White Heat (1949)
21. Out of the Past (1947)
22. The Big Sleep (1946)
23. The Big Heat (1953)
24. Act of Violence (1948)
25. The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)

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