Best Noir film of all time

Way true...

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"I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore!" - Howard Beale

Sorry for accidently labeling two films on the list as previously unmentioned. Your pedantry is much appreciated.

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Kong's Reviews:
Stuck On You
Bad Santa

Loner...stop it with the snotty crap. There's no reason for it.

Okay! Okay, this is going into a downward spiral that I hate other people doing.

Has anyone seen Fritz Lang's You Only Live Once (1937) with Henry Fonda? I really liked this film, but it doesn't seem to get any kind of recognition.

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NEW (as of 1/24/05): Quick Reviews #10

These lists are great. I am going through a bit of a noir film period, and films I've really enjoyed are...

"High and Low"
"Bob the Gambler"
"Sunset Blvd"
"Strangers on a Train"
"Shadow of a Doubt"
"Pickup on South Street" - The dialogue in this film was probably some of the best I've heard. A very mean, and under rated film.
"The Lady from Shanghai" - Another well written film. Some of the shots were really bizarre, and the acting was perfect for every character.

One of my favourite scenes of any film noir is the first 10 minutes of the original "Killers". Too bad the rest of the film was kind of weak.

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"I know a man who was born with his heart on the outside. Every man's worst fear, he also had heavy hands. he couldn't touch his lovers face, he couldn't hold a baby." - Buck 65

I am a huge fan of film noir and one I haven't seen mentioned so far is Kiss me Deadly. This is the best example I can think of everything that is Noir in film. Femme fatale, private detective, weird faceless villian you only see from the neck down, and a totally noir ending that at the time caused a massive uproar and the film was actually banned in some places. Also, Tarantino has stated this is the film from which he got the idea for the attache' case in Pulp Fiction.

Check it out folks...

Kiss Me Deadly

Cheers

Sedai

*Bump*

Few more I like, in no particular order....

Blade Runner R Scott

Touch of Evil O Welles

Sunset Boulevard B Wilder

Strangers on a Train A Hitchcock

Chinatown R Polanski

Taxi Driver M Scorcese


Cheers all

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Chinatown is definitely #1 film-noir -- movies like Maltese Falcon and Double Indemnity come close, but not close enough.

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Just back from my Alaskan cruise.
Highlights - art auctions at amazing prices, got my Divine Comedy original edition for the cost of the frame. All you can eat steak, lobster, shrimp, ribs... hmmmmm
Low points - Seen it all before not living too far from Alaska

1. The Maltese Falcon
2. Touch of Evil
3. Sunset Blvd.
4. The Man Who Wasn’t There
5. Notorious
6. Gilda
7. The Big Sleep
8. Scarlet Street
9. Dark Passage
10. The Postman Always Rings Twice

I don't know why, but I've always regarded Chinatown more as a mystery story rather than a film-noir.

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"Today, war is too important to be left to politicians. They have neither the time, the training, nor the inclination for strategic thought. I can no longer sit back and allow Communist infiltration, Communist indoctrination, Communist subversion and the international Communist conspiracy to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids."

Definitely Sunset Boulevard
and in case you're intersted, film noir isn't exactly a genre in itself, there's a bit of noir in every genre and it is classified according to both mood and visual tone.

I'm pretty excited to see

The Devil Thumbs a Ride (1947)

which is on TCM 11:15 tonight (Eastern time), I've been waiting a long time. I am really looking forward to seeing Lawrence Tierney who I first became aware of in Reservoir Dogs and loved in Born to Kill (1947).

Two other great noirs, Kiss Me Deadly and Detour are also on at 8PM and 10PM tonight. Then at 12:30 AM there is another noir called The Hitch-Hiker (1953) with Edmund O'Brien.

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"Those are my principles. If you don't like them I have others."- Groucho Marx

Well, yes, it is. It most certainly is. There are dozens of books dedicated to studying it, and certain concepts that make a film decidedly noir. It's one of my favorite genres, and I have seen many a film noir and read a fair number of books about the genre and it's trappings. You mention every film has noir in it, but I find that ridiculous. Please explain how something like Back to the Future or Cocoon is film noir. Is Leah Thompson the Femme Fatale? Are the story, characters, and locales rife with corruption? Is Hilldale a seedy underbelly of society? I certainly didn't see Doc Brown selling flawed medicine to children ala Harry Lime. Were the elderly folks in Cocoon really a secret society of prostitutes, murderers and casino kingpins?

not sure if it's already out there, but I think The Vanishing Lady should be included, along with Charade

Do you mean The Lady Vanishes, the old Hitchcock picture? Great flick, but it rather pre-dates the whole Noir movement and definition, and doesn't really have Noirish elements per se.

And Charade is a great movie too, but while certainly a spoof of spy thrillers and the whole Hitchcockian romantic mystery vibe, again not really Noir.


But both are terrific movies, no doubt.

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"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra

yeah, the Lady Vanishes. As it has been said, there is no "true" definition for Noir. I got a very "noirish" feel from both, maybe that's just me.

Ok, I know I'm a little late adding to the thread, but I just joined! Anyhow, here's my list

Chinatown
Postman Always Rings Twice
Double Indemnity
Big Sleep
Mildred Pierce
Notorious
Maltese Falcon
Sunset Blvd
Cape Fear
The Man Who Wasn't There

Sin City!

I have not seen it for a long time but Asphalt Jungle and Gilda were wonderfully 'dark' films. And Citizen Kane stands out for me. I am a fan of Orson Wells.

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Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.

One of my favorites that I don't think has been mentioned yet is Elia Kazan's brilliant Panic in the Streets. Still very suspenseful, despite being made 55 years ago.