Top 100 Favorite Films (mostly in the Noire genre)

Hello. I just joined this site and I saw one place in the User Profile where it asked me to list my favorite movies. But that may mean many different things depending on the number of films you want to see and/or the genre of those films. Some people may post their Top 3 or Top 10 or most any other number. I created a list that contains 100 (or more) of my favorite films. Many of these were filmed in B&W.

I prepared this list in alphabetical order and most films listed here show their IMDB rating. For those of you who may not know, IMDB rates their films with a number between 1 and 10. Usually 7.0 is considered to be the average rating. The Shawshank Redemption was given a rating of 9.3 which is the highest I've ever seen. I also include a number which is the rating I would give the film if it were up to me.

I sure do hope this forum will be able to handle a post containing 1200 lines of text. It is a text file whose size is about 80K. I will try to post it here and I hope you will be able to read it without problem. If I can't make a post that large, I hope someone will send me a message and explain how I could post it in some different way. Thank you.

Doggone it! I just learned that I need to make 25 posts before I can post anything with links in it. So I will delete a large section of this post and when I have made 25 posts, I will return and post it again.

Also, the rules for posting reviews say that each one should consist of several paragraphs but most of mine only contain about 3 lines.

I put the major section of this post inro a spoiler box so that people who don't want to have to pound their way through many pages would be able to avoid doing that.

Unfortunately, this site just "blanks" the section which produces many blank pages instead of the text. So, you still have to page through all of it. IMHO, it seems that avoiding that is a big reason why so many folks prefer to have the info put into spoiler boxes and most sites omit the info instead of just "blanking" it and that does not result in any blank pages. Oh well!


I would now like to show you all my favorite movies. The following list contains about 120 movies that I have selected as my very favorites. It took me a long time to prepare this list and I hope its large size does not deter any of you.

I am posting this list in the hope that some of you may be looking for some good films that you have not seen before and may find some interesting prospects on this list. Each title has a link to IMDB and to Wikipedia so that you can see what they both have to say about the movie.

Film Noir is probably my favorite genre and I've discovered some excellent films in that category. If you think you might like to try any of them, I would recommend the following movies in particular.

Ace In The Hole, Double Indemnity, Farewell My Lovely, Impact, Kansas City Confidential, LA Confidential, Lady In The Lake, Murder My Sweet, Mystery Street, Psycho, Saboteur, The Little Foxes and White Heat.

The following list is sorted alphabetically but the year it was produced is shown in the first four digits so that if you prefer to see them listed chronologically it should be easy to sort them. I will update this list periodically to keep it current.

The following films are all rated by IMDB. They are given a value from 0 to 10. I have found fims rated 7.0 or above are usually good while those rated below 7.0 are usually not so good.
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12 Angry Men 1957 is classed by IMDB as Drama and is rated at 8.9. I think that is far too high. I would probably rate it at 7.0.

When it was released in 1957 it would have been a much more exciting film than it is today. But it has held up fairly well and if you like films, this is a classic and is well worth seeing. It stars Martin Balsam, John Fiedler, Lee J. Cobb, Henry Fonda and many other actors who became major stars. It was directed by Sidney Lumet who is a great director.

I recommend that anyone serious about films should see this one. It is very gripping. It won't let you go and it won't let you down.

I am deleting the rest of this post and hope to return later and post the entire thing - unless someone tells me it's just too large and suggests a better way to do this - or maybe it would be better just to forget the entire idea since it is just so huge?

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1957 12 Angry Men 8.9
1995 12 Monkeys 8.1
1941 49th Parallel 7.5
1996 A Time To Kill 7.4
1942 Across The Pacific 6.9
1959 Ben Hur 8.2
2001 Blow 7.6
2000 Boiler Room 7.0
1997 Boogie Nights 7.9
1984 Broadway Danny Rose 7.5
1995 Casino 8.2
1973 Charley Varrick 7.6
1989 Coming Home 7.4
2009 Crossing Over 6.8
1990 Dances With Wolves 8.0
1981 Das Boot 8.4
1999 Deterrence 6.5
1988 Dirty Rotten Scoundrels 7.3
2012 Django Unchained 8.5
1944 Double Indemnity 8.5
1999 Double Jeopardy 6.3
1964 Dr. Strangelove 8.5
1992 Dracula 7.5
2010 Due Date 6.6
1994 Dumb & Dumber 7.3
2006 Earthlings 8.6
1996 Everyone Says I Love You 6.8
1975 Farewell My Lovely 7.1
1996 Fargo 8.2
1972 Frenzy 7.5
1987 Full Metal Jacket 8.4
2011 George Harrison Living In The Material World Part I 8.2
2011 George Harrison Living In The Material World Part II 8.2
1997 Good Will Hunting 8.2
1995 Heat 8.3
2001 Heist 6.6
2011 His Way 6.7
1949 Impact 7.1
1965 In Harm's Way 7.3
1993 In The Line Of Fire (1993) (7.2)
2001 In Time 6.6
1985 Jagged Edge 6.5
2001 K-PAX 7.4
1952 Kansas City Confidential 7.5
2005 King Kong 7.3
1997 LA Confidential 8.3
1947 Lady In The Lake 6.6
1962 Lawrence Of Arabia 8.4
1989 Match Point 7.7
1997 Men In Black 7.2
1993 Menace II Society 7.5
2009 Mesrine I 7.6
2009 Mesrine II 7.6
2001 Monsters Inc 8.1
1944 Murder My Sweet 7.7
1994 Muriel's Wedding 7.2
1992 My Cousin Vinny 7.5
1950 Mystery Street 7.1
2001 Oceans 11 7.8
1992 One False Move 7.2
1998 Out Of Sight 7.1
1995 Outbreak 6.5
2012 Project X 6.7
1960 Psycho 8.6
2000 Remember The Titans 7.7
1999 Ride With The Devil 6.8
1993 Rising Sun 6.2
2001 Rock Star 6.1
1998 Rounders 7.4
1942 Saboteur 7.3
1954 Sabrina 7.8
1998 Saving Private Ryan 8.6
1993 Schlindler's List 8.9
2000 Small Time Crooks 6.7
1960 Spartacus 8.0
1995 Species 5.8
1953 Stalag 17 8.1
2011 Steve Jobs The Lost Interview 7.9
1978 Straight Time 7.4
2009 The Agony & Ecstasy Of Phil Spector 7.2
1960 The Apartment 8.4
1949 The Big Steal 7.1
2009 The Blind Side 7.7
1957 The Bridge On The River Kwai 8.3
1954 The Caine Mutiny 7.9
1997 The Devil's Advocate 7.5
1976 The Eagle Has Landed 6.9
2005 The Family Stone 6.3
1997 The Fifth Element 7.6
1942 The Glass Key 7.2
1972 The Godfather 9.2
1974 The Godfather P2 7.6
1963 The Great Escape 8.3
1961 The Guns of Navarone 7.6
2009 The Hangover 7.8
1997 The Jackal 6.3
1946 The Killers 7.9
1956 The Killing 8.1
2003 The Last Samurai 7.7
1941 The Little Foxes 8.2
1996 The Long Kiss Goodnight 6.7
1980 The Long Riders 7.1
1941 The Maltese Falcon 8.2
2000 The Patriot 7.1
1994 The Shawshank Redemption 9.3
1998 The Siege 6.3
1956 The Ten Commandments 7.9
1948 The Treasure Of Sierra Madre 8.4
1995 The Usual Suspects 8.7
1998 There's Something About Mary 7.1
1998 Thursday 7.2
1995 To Die For 6.8
1982 Tootsie 7.4
2001 Training Day 7.7
2010 Unstoppable 6.8
1998 US Marshalls 6.5
2008 Vicky Christina Barcelona 7.2
1993 What's Love Got To Do With It 7.2
2008 What Doesn't Kill You 6.7
1949 White Heat 8.2
1998 Wild Things 6.5
2009 Zombieland 7.8
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ADDITIONS TO B&W
T Maltese Falcon 1941
T Mortal Storm
T Thing 1951
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@Bluemax welcome to MoFo! It's good to have you here There's lots of great films on your list...I'm happy to see another film noir fan! I LOVE that genre and I've seen many, but they made soooo many noirs that there are still tons I need to see.

I prefer noirs made during the classic period of American Noir 1941 to 1958.

1944 Double Indemnity 8.5 my review
1952 Kansas City Confidential 7.5 my review
1946 The Killers 7.9 my review
1956 The Killing 8.1 my review
1941 The Maltese Falcon 8.2 my review
1950 Mystery Street 7.1 my review

1947 Lady In The Lake 6.6...seen it and liked the 1st person take.
1944 Murder My Sweet 7.7...seen it but I don't remember it well.
1954 The Caine Mutiny 7.9...one of my favorites.
1942 The Glass Key 7.2....liked it pretty well.
1948 The Treasure Of Sierra Madre 8.4...seen it several times great film.
1949 White Heat 8.2...love this one.


I've not seen:
1940 Mortal Storm
1949 Impact
1942 Saboteur
1949 The Big Steal

I just spent time replying to your post above but forgot I need to have made 25 posts before I can make any posts that include links.

I didn't include any links but since I quoted your original post and it contained links, I'm guessing the board software decided that my post also contained links and it refused to post it because it looked like my post contained links.

I could easily be wrong about that though. I've been having that kind of day. You know? A day on which you are wrong about most everything?

Oh Well! Time to move on.

Hi, Bluxmax! You're not the only new kind on the block, there's also me. Lots of great noir to be had, you're right about that! The old adage is absolutely right, "they don't make them like they used to." I'm not going to list every film in the genre under the sun, but "Out of the Past" with Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, and Kirk Douglas is high up on my list of favorites. Everything about it is so right.

You are so right about Out of the Past. It is often listed as one of the best movies in the genre.


If you like Out of the Past, I would like to recommend The Big Steal to you. It's one of my most favorites. The dialog between Jane Greer and Robert Mitchum is very quick and very smart. It's a very different style than Out of the Past. But IMHO, it's just as enjoyable.

Haven't seen it, but I'm going to, now! Thanks a lot.

Hey Citizen Rules,


I just read your review for The Killers. Very well done. I will have to check out more of your reviews later. I'm very new here and trying to figure out the ins and outs. I'm currently trying to figure out how to use the Reply with Quote feature. When I use it, it seems to place my comments in the same place and with the same font as the post I'm quoting. That makes it difficult to tell the difference. Clearly I'm not understanding how this works. But I will figure it out before I reply to this post again.


Darn. I had to remove the links from your post because I can't include any links until I've made 25 posts.

Are you using a phone or a PC to view MoFo? Try clicking User CP then clicking Edit Options then under Forum Style choose Desktop or Mobile. If that doesn't help message the administrator Yoda and ask him, he's cool and can help.

Thank you for your time. I figured out what was going wrong and I've got it working now.



I've had a few problems on this site. But all of them were due to my own lack of understanding and my impatience to read things through.


I am usually too impatient to read the entire list of rules and that almost always results in a few problems. In the end, I spend about twice as much time when I fail to read the site info first because I have to go back and read it all anyway.


The best thing about this site so far is that people have been incredibly kind to me and generous with their time and information. That has made things much easier for me than they would otherwise be.


So, thanks to you and thanks to everyone else. I hope that I can post some more info that some of you will find helpful and in that way, I may be able to repay you for all of your help.

@Bluxmax

MoFo's are the best. (we call this board MoFo and the members are MoFos)

It's a great board and there's lots to do here. One thing I like to do is Hall of Fames...That's where a group of people get together, each nominates a movie candidate for induction into the Hall of Fame. Each member watches all the movies nominated and post their thoughts on them. Then they send in a voting ballot to the host and the movie with the most points gets honored in The Hall of Fame Archives.

Check out this past Film Noir HoF, hosted by me Link

And this is Hall of Fame Archives & Info, Link