The MoFo Top Film Noir Countdown - Preliminary Thread

I don't know? I don't do letterboxd so I have no way of knowing how many I've seen. A lot.

So what director(s) does everything think will appear the most in the countdown? Billy Wilder? William Wyler? Alfred Hitchcock? John Huston? Howard Hawks? Someone else?

Billy Wilder has two that will make the countdown in the top 10 and a third that should do very well and a fourth that might place also.

William Wyler has three noirs to his credits (unless I missed one) The Letter (1940), Detective Story (1951), The Desperate Hours (1955).

John Huston has four noirs (unless I missed one) The Maltese Falcon (1941), Key Largo (1948), We Were Strangers (1949) and The Asphalt Jungle (1950)....look for two of those to do very well in the countdown.

Howard Hawks has only two noirs but they are biggies: To Have and Have Not (1944), The Big Sleep (1946)

My favorite Noir director, somewhat unheralded unless you love the genre, is definitely Robert Siodmak. His most famous are easily The Killers (1946) and Criss Cross (1949), both amazing and both starring Burt Lancaster, but his other Noirs include The Suspect (1944), Phantom Lady (1944), The File on Thelma Jordan (1949), Cry of the City (1948), The Dark Mirror (1946), Time Out of Mind (1947), The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry (1945), and Christmas Holiday (1944). Don't let the title of that last one fool you. It is also one of the few times Gene Kelly played a bad guy (still very early in his career).

I would think both The Killers and Criss Cross will easily make the group list, but I hope some of the others find their way, too. There is some real crackerjack stuff. Check out fantastic roles for Chuck Laughton in The Suspect, Babs Stanwyck in The File on Thelma Jordan, Olivia de Havilland in The Dark Mirror, and Ella Raines in Phantom Lady.

__________________
"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

Count me as a fan of Robert Siodmak. My nom in the Noir IV HoF is Criss Cross (1949).I was just saying to my wife the other day that we could re-watch Christmas Holiday with Gene Kelly & Deanna Durbin in December (it's the only noir set at Christmas that I can think of)....trying to squeeze in as many noirs as I can before the deadline.

I've seen a total of 7 of his films, including 5 of his noirs. At least one of his films will likely make my ballot. I will have to check out his other noirs that I haven't seen.

Just starting to catch up with this thread. While most classic Films Noir are of course filmed in black & white, that is not a prerequisite. Some of the best known color Noirs are Leave Her To Heaven (1945), Niagra (1953), Desert Fury (1947), Black Widow (1954), I Died a Thousand Times (1955) - which is a remake of High Sierra, House of Bamboo (1955), Party Girl (1958), The Unholy Wife (1957), A Kiss Before Dying (1956), Hell on Frisco Bay (1956), and some obscure little flick by the name of Vertigo (1958). There are others, but those are some of the biggies.

North by Northwest, while one of Hitchcock's best, is definitely NOT Film Noir.

So Vertigo counts as a noir? Well then.

__________________
"Don't be so gloomy. After all it's not that awful. Like the fella says, in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock."

I see it tagged as 'Color film noir' on wikipedia.



Hey wasn't there supposed to be a neo noir countdown thread too?

I think Robert Siodmak, Fritz Lang, and Anthony Mann will show up for sure.

The forty Films Noir that placed on the MoFo Top 100 of the 1940s and 1950s lists are...

The Third Man (1948), The Maltese Falcon (1941), Double Indemnity (1944), Rebecca (1940), Laura (1944), Notorious (1946), Shadow of a Doubt (1943), The Big Sleep (1946), The Lost Weekend (1945), The Killers (1946), Out of the Past (1947), White Heat (1949), The Lady from Shanghai (1947), Mildred Pierce (1945), Leave Her to Heaven (1945), Odd Man Out (1947), Stray Dog (1949), The Suspect (1944), Suspicion (1941), Gilda (1946), Key Largo (1948), Nightmare Alley (1947), Kiss of Death (1947), The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946), The Naked City (1948), Ride the Pink Horse (1947), Detour (1945), The Letter (1940), Sunset Blvd. (1950), Vertigo (1958), Touch of Evil (1958), Night of the Hunter (1955), Sweet Smell of Success (1957), Strangers on a Train (1951), In a Lonely Place (1950), Ace in the Hole (1951), The Killing (1956), Rififi (1955), Kiss Me Deadly (1955), and Pickup on South Street (1953).

Vertigo isn't tagged as noir per Citizens Rules (no pun intended)

Raul is right Vertigo isn't eligible as it's not tagged noir per Citizen's rules And of course Vertigo isn't noir.

From the 1st post were the rules/procedures are:
On the Wiki page for Vertigo a third party is quoted way down the page and mentions color noir, so that doesn't count. The noir tag has to be at the top of the page, almost always in the very first sentence. The first sentence on Wiki says this:When we get around to doing a Thriller Countdown then, it might get might vote.

I see I thought you meant the actual tags or categories at the very bottom of every wiki page. I can't be expected to read everything in your posts. Okay I gotta double check a few then...

I'm surprised no lists are in yet

Dammit so North By Northwest is not allowed?

My list is pretty much done but I have a few I want to watch and some possible rewatches too.

One of my favs but I wouldn't consider it noir

Yeah I know was just being "funny." I wouldn't consider it either and there was talk about it earlier

Yeah I knew that But I felt I should post a clear explanation for anyone else who might read those post. Actually I'm glad you posted that so I could clarify.