Gunny's 50 Greatest Film Noirs

Are you kiddin'? I know I can't speak for everyone else, but Film Noir is where it's at. As a person who likes the experimental, Noir seems to experiment the most within the confines of low budgets, (most of them were B-pictures, which I adore), experimental lighting, and Hays Code "Can-I-get-away-with-its?". I love film and everything it has to offer... but some things stand out more than others, and Noir is definitely one of them. Keep this up!

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Imagine an eye unruled by man-made laws of perspective, an eye unprejudiced by compositional logic, an eye which does not respond to the name of everything but which must know each object encountered in life through an adventure of perception. How many colors are there in a field of grass to the crawling baby unaware of 'Green'?

-Stan Brakhage

#39

The Big Sleep (1946)



Director - Howard Hawks

Cast - Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall




Humphrey Bogart is famous PI Philip Marlowe who is hired by General Ridgewood (Charles Waldron) to investigate some family matters. Turns out there is much more to the story than Marlowe was aware of and told. He becomes caught up in a complex plot of murder, mystery and blackmail.

This is another one I could have listed higher. It's a tremendous film. If complicated plots chocked full of twists and turns is your thing this is a must-see. Bogart is near-perfect along with the talented and stunning Lauren Bacall. Their chemistry is amazing in Howard Hawk's film. Martha Vickers is also extremely enjoyable as General Ridgewood's daughter, displaying solid acting skills. I will warn you this movie is very complicated and complex. Don't walk away for even a few moments or you will be lost. Still a classic film noir that is done very well and could easily be ranked higher.

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"Certainly there is no hunting like the hunting of man, and those who have hunted armed men long enough and like it, never really care for anything else thereafter." - Ernest Hemingway

My prediction for # 1: In A Lonely Place. How far off the mark am I, Gunny?

#38

Phantom Lady (1944)



Director - Robert Siodmak

Cast - Franchot Tone, Ella Raines, Alan Curtis and Elisha Cook Jr



Unhappy in his marriage, Scott Henderson (Alan Curtis) goes out to a bar after a fight with his wife and meets a mysterious, hat-wearing woman and end up spending the evening together despite her not revealing any information about herself. When Scott returns home he discovers his wife has been murdered and he is the prime suspect because no one recalls his alibi, the mysterious woman. He is tried for the murder, found guilty and sentenced to death. His secretary, Carol (Ella Raines), who happens to be in love with him, believes he is innocent and embarks on a journey to find the mysterious phantom lady and the real killer.

The camera-work is very good in this mysterious and suspenseful film. You can't help but get sucked into the movie. The atmosphere Siodmak creates sometimes gives you a chill. Ella Raines gives the best performance of the film in my opinion.

I have been sworn to secrecy.

Film noir is a genre I've liked the idea of for quite a long while but not really made much of a dent so far. So this list could be ideal for me.

My favourite classic noir that I have seen so far is probably Laura. Or Sunset Blvd. if that is considered a noir.

#37

Leave Her to Heaven (1945)



Director - John M Stahl

Cast - Gene Tierney, Cornel Wild, Jeanne Crain and Vincent Price


Ellen (Gene Tierney) meets Richard Hartland (Cornel Wild) on a train and they fall in love, eventually getting married. Richard finds out quickly Ellen isn't quite right, displaying extreme jealousy and obsession. After Ellen commits 2 acts of evil Richard leaves her. Ellen then sets up her sister Ruth (Jean Crain), whom cares deeply for Richard, for murder.

This is an extremely underrated film of the noir genre. Stahl was masterful in the directing and the cinematography was simply amazing. Gene Tierney delivers an astonishing dark and evil performance as a memorable femme fatale. Wild and Crain also pull through with very good performances. For some reason this is a film a lot of fans of film noirs have never seen or heard of. But for me it makes the Top 50.

Loving this list

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Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.
Buddha

I think you'll fall in love once you really get through your first dozen films. They're very addicting (at least for me).

Laura is indeed phenominal as well as Sunset Boulevard. And yes, the latter is certainly considered a film noir.

Probably because it is in color, which by some definitions takes it out of film noir.

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- Paula

Your timing for this list couldn't have been better. Well, for me, anyway.

I've always loved film noirs, but recently (and I literally mean this past week), I've been getting into the old, classic noirs which your list is highlighting. Glad you chose to stick with that period, as I've been seeking out some undiscovered gems from the 40s and 50s specifically, and I'm sure I'll find plenty in here. Keep it up, Gunny, I appreciate it!

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#36

Cry of the City (1948)



Director - Robert Siodmak

Cast - Victor Mature, Richard Conte, Fred Clark and Shelley Winters


Martin Rome (Richard Conte) is a hardened criminal who killed a cop in a shootout and is recovering in the hospital. He learns that a corrupt lawyer is representing a client who is accused of killing a woman and trying to blame it on him and his girlfriend, Teena (Debra Paget). Not wanting to see his girlfriend take the fall he escapes prison to try and clear their names. After him is Detective Candella (Victor Mature).

This is a very good example of a true film noir and an excellent one for beginners to get their feet wet with. Siodmak again works his magic by bringing the gritty city to life, making you feel you're experiencing it first-hand in this suspenseful tale. Mature and Conte give the best performances of the film.

Chinatown is certainly film noir and maybe even the best example. There are others but no point in listing them unless you somehow deny Chinatown.

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I could care less about what is and isn't, but the same people say Chinatown is not film noir, calling it neo noir or some such stuff because according to those people if it is not in black and white it is not true film noir. Personally I think it is a lot of crap including the notion film noir is an American phenomenon and it started with the Peter Lorre. I say Blue Angel and M, German films are as much noir, and many movies from the thirties like Scarface. What is supposed to distinguish 1930s gangster films from forties noir ones is the earlier gangsters were products of their environment, not psychos, but the Muni gangster is a whack job in love with his sister, so it is noir.

#35

Criss Cross (1949)



Director - Robert Siodmak

Cast - Burt Lancaster, Yvonne DeCarlo and Dan Duryea



Steve Thompson (Burt Lancaster) heads to LA to try and convince his ex-wife Anna (Yvonne DeCarlo) to come back to him. Once there he discovers she is now involved with gangster Slim Dundee (Dan Duryea). They decide to have a romantic fling regardless but Anna goes on to marry Slim. Later on Steve and Slim decide to pull off an armored car robbery. Steve and Anna plan to double-cross Slim after the robbery. But who will end up being crossed?

Another great by Siodmak and a classic example of film noir. The cinematography is extremely good in this tragic tale of betrayal. Lancaster, DeCarlo and Duryea all punch in solid performances. A true dark and cynical film.

This was later turned into Soderbergh's Underneath.

#34

The Postman Always Rings Twice (1949)



Director - Tay Garnett

Cast - John Garfield, Lana Turner, Cecil Kellaway, Hume Cronyn, Leon Ames and Audrey Totter



Frank Chambers (John Garfield) is passing through a town and stops at a diner where he meets the young and stunning Cora (Lana Turner) who owns the place along with her husband. They end up having an affair. Later Cora and Frank decide to murder her husband so they can be together.

Tay Garnett does a wonderful job weaving this terrific mystery on screen. Garfield and Turner are absolutely phenomenal and display an outstanding chemistry together as they seem to literally fall in love right before our eyes amid suspense and intrigue. A true classic of the film noir genre.

Most film historians point that Stanger on the Third Floor, (1940), to Touch of Evil, (1958), are the time frames for true, classical, Film Noir in the United States. Most everything existing outside this realm, from time frame, to international country, is called "Neo-Noir". Though I must stress these "definitions" have been altered here and there, and much of these "definitions" are not in the least bit concrete, but I hope this helps somehow in your search for the "truth".

I believe Ella Raines was the only good girl of film noir, she was in five or six and was never bad, some other actresses who frequented the genre went back and forth like Gloria Graham and Barbara Stanwyck. Raines was also effective and heroic in the underrated Impact, which has Charles Coburn playing a wiley detective that seems almost like a dry run for Columbo.

#33

The Asphalt Jungle (1950)



Director - John Huston

Cast - Sterling Hayden, Louis Calhern, Jean Hagen, James Whitmore, Sam Jaffe and Marilyn Monroe



Doc (Sam Jaffe) just gets out of prison and seeks out Alonzo Emmerich (Louis Calhern), a shady lawyer whom Doc hopes will finance a robbery he has been planning for some years. After Alonzo agrees Doc assembles his team which consists of Dix Handley (Sterling Hayden), Gus Minissi (James Whitmore), Louie Ciavelli (Anthony Caruso) and others. After the heist the crew is on the run while the police are hot on their trail. Deceit, betrayal, murder and double-crosses ensue.

The Asphalt Jungle is an incredibly intelligent film. This is one of Huston's very best. The cinematography and writing are nothing short of amazing. Hayden and the rest of the cast are brilliant in their performances in this masterpiece caper film.