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I like Glenn Ford when he's sour or bitter, or just plain mad, yet I included another Noir on my list where he's all three but I don't know if it'll make it at this point. Too bad, 'cause it's a killer!
The MoFo Top 100 Film Noir Countdown
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I considered both Jules Dassin's noirs; The Naked City and Night and the City for my ballot. But because of it's immersive story, stronger performances and characters, I went with the latter. Not necessarily for it's cinematography because I think the former probably wins in that department.
Night and the City was my #8 . A really good film. I didn't know whether to root for the protagonist to succeed or for him to get his comeuppance...
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Did you go with only one noir per director? Some do some don't just curious. Also curious about that photo has Night and the City been colorized at some point?
Yes it has been colorized but I've only seen the original, I'm also very much in favor of watching a film in the way the director intended and delivered it.
Last edited by John-Connor; 2 weeks ago at 04:57 AM.
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2 good movies but I strongly prefer Key Largo
2. Scarlet Street (#29)
3. Rififi (#42)
6. The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (#40)
7. Body and Soul (#94)
10. Key Largo (#26)
13. Detective Story (#57)
15. Force of Evil (#85)
16 Ride the Pink Horse (#45)
19. Nightmare Alley (#33)
20. The Blue Dahlia (#74)
21. The Lady from Shanghai (#31)
22. Gilda (#27)
23. The Stranger (#38)
24. Drunken Angel (#70)
25. The Letter (#72)
2. Scarlet Street (#29)
3. Rififi (#42)
6. The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (#40)
7. Body and Soul (#94)
10. Key Largo (#26)
13. Detective Story (#57)
15. Force of Evil (#85)
16 Ride the Pink Horse (#45)
19. Nightmare Alley (#33)
20. The Blue Dahlia (#74)
21. The Lady from Shanghai (#31)
22. Gilda (#27)
23. The Stranger (#38)
24. Drunken Angel (#70)
25. The Letter (#72)
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I haven't seen Key Largo, but I've been meaning to for a little while.
Night and the City was #5 on my ballot Excellent film.
Night and the City was #5 on my ballot Excellent film.
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5) Night and the City
8) White Heat
14) Gun Crazy
18) The Stranger
19) Odd Man Out
22) The Lost Weekend
24) Crossfire
8) White Heat
14) Gun Crazy
18) The Stranger
19) Odd Man Out
22) The Lost Weekend
24) Crossfire
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Dassin is really doing well this countdown. Well deserved. I didn't have Night and the City on my list but it's a great picture and one of his best. Key Largo is decent but I recall being kind of neutral on it when I watched it and figured if it wasn't for some of the actors I wouldn't care for it at all.
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"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."
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Night and the City (1950)
Produced at the peak of the classic film noir era, this picture is a lollapalooza of a noir, ticking so many boxes of classic noir's characteristics, that it risked coming close to being a send up.
It stars Richard Widmark, Gene Tierney, and Brit star Googie Withers, with nice turns by Francis L. Sullivan, Herbert Lom, and Hugh Marlowe. Shot on location in London, it's wonderfully directed by Jules Dassin (Brute Force), with immensely impressive noir cinematography by Max Greene (So Evil My Love). The locations and studio sets are perfect.
Widmark moved away from being typecast as another psychopathic killer like Tommy Udo in Kiss of Death (1947), but he gave 110% as a sleazeball get-rich-quick dreamer Harry Fabian, who would stop at nothing to try to scam his way into prominence and to claw away at elusive respect. It's almost exhausting watching his schemes, antics and emotional outbursts.
Tierney plays Fabian's sweet, honest but enabling girlfriend. Fabian continually lies to her and asks for money for his big final attempt to be a big shot by rising to prominence as London's biggest wrestling promoters. But Fabian goes too far and has burned too many bridges. The underworld kings eventually have enough of Fabian's scheming and lying.
Of particular interest is a long and authentic private grudge wrestling match between Mike Mazurki (Murder, My Sweet), "The Strangler", and Stanislaus Sbyszko (Madison Square Garden), "Gregorius the Great". Both men had been former championship wrestlers, and the realism in their contest makes it one of the best on film.
Dassin reported that Fox studio head Darryl Zanuck had requested that Tierney be cast in the film. She was having psychological problems at the time, and he felt that the work would help pull her out of them. She rose to the occasion in this memorable picture.
But it's the keen photography by Max Greene that sets this film apart. His set ups, locations, lighting and camera angles rival those of the great John Alton, and continue to the movie's uniqueness.
I didn't love this film as much as I admired it. But it's such a great noir I put it at #18 on my list.
Produced at the peak of the classic film noir era, this picture is a lollapalooza of a noir, ticking so many boxes of classic noir's characteristics, that it risked coming close to being a send up.
It stars Richard Widmark, Gene Tierney, and Brit star Googie Withers, with nice turns by Francis L. Sullivan, Herbert Lom, and Hugh Marlowe. Shot on location in London, it's wonderfully directed by Jules Dassin (Brute Force), with immensely impressive noir cinematography by Max Greene (So Evil My Love). The locations and studio sets are perfect.
Widmark moved away from being typecast as another psychopathic killer like Tommy Udo in Kiss of Death (1947), but he gave 110% as a sleazeball get-rich-quick dreamer Harry Fabian, who would stop at nothing to try to scam his way into prominence and to claw away at elusive respect. It's almost exhausting watching his schemes, antics and emotional outbursts.
Tierney plays Fabian's sweet, honest but enabling girlfriend. Fabian continually lies to her and asks for money for his big final attempt to be a big shot by rising to prominence as London's biggest wrestling promoters. But Fabian goes too far and has burned too many bridges. The underworld kings eventually have enough of Fabian's scheming and lying.
Of particular interest is a long and authentic private grudge wrestling match between Mike Mazurki (Murder, My Sweet), "The Strangler", and Stanislaus Sbyszko (Madison Square Garden), "Gregorius the Great". Both men had been former championship wrestlers, and the realism in their contest makes it one of the best on film.
Dassin reported that Fox studio head Darryl Zanuck had requested that Tierney be cast in the film. She was having psychological problems at the time, and he felt that the work would help pull her out of them. She rose to the occasion in this memorable picture.
But it's the keen photography by Max Greene that sets this film apart. His set ups, locations, lighting and camera angles rival those of the great John Alton, and continue to the movie's uniqueness.
I didn't love this film as much as I admired it. But it's such a great noir I put it at #18 on my list.
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I don't think of Key Largo as a noir, but as a landmark crime/hostage picture notable for putting Bogie on the map, as well as for the superb performance by Claire Trevor. She wasn't afraid to take any role, and usually excelled at all of them. She was rightly awarded the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in Key Largo.
I finally got down to visit Key Largo, FL a few years ago, and was able to take a ride on the original "African Queen" boat, moored there, which was a thrill because I'd seen the picture when it came out, and several times since. But the entire Key Largo film was shot in Burbank at Warner Bros. But after the movie became popular, in the northernmost FL Keys the postal name Rock Harbor was changed to Key Largo.
I finally got down to visit Key Largo, FL a few years ago, and was able to take a ride on the original "African Queen" boat, moored there, which was a thrill because I'd seen the picture when it came out, and several times since. But the entire Key Largo film was shot in Burbank at Warner Bros. But after the movie became popular, in the northernmost FL Keys the postal name Rock Harbor was changed to Key Largo.
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#25 Night and the City - Here's a movie I saw just too late to include on my ballot, and it would have indeed made my ballot, perhaps as high as #10 or so. Night and the City was great, and here's what I had to say about it on my watchlist thread :
Key Largo is a huge film that I haven't seen yet - I've got a lot of catching up to do still when it comes to films pre-1960, and there are various omissions which are criminal if I were to ever think of myself as a cinephile.
Seen : 20! Huzzuh!
Another great film noir - another great filmmaker. Jules Dassin had just made Thieves' Highway, and would make Rififi after this - so he was in top form. He'd also just left the United States because he was about to be blacklisted, his name being mentioned numerous times at the Committee on Un-American Activities - and as such Night and the City was made in London, and also set in London - Dassin making great use of the city's dark corners and bombed out ruins from the blitz. The story involves hustler and con-man Harry Fabian (Richard Widmark), and his attempts to build his own wrestling empire after convincing legend Gregorius the Great (Stanislaus Zbyszko) and his son Nikolas of Athens (Ken Richmond) to work for him. What he doesn't realise is that his own financial partner, and many other London players, are all working against him - determined to bring him down.
The great thing about character Fabian is his child-like enthusiasm for whatever he's doing, and his crazily boundless optimism and self-belief. Fabian believes that every scheme he latches onto is a "sure thing" - if only someone would front the money for him, he'd be living on "easy street" and make a fortune. He's never aware of potential pitfalls and the various cul de sacs, and always takes various short cuts and cheats that become future land mines. Richard Widmark seems born to play this character, his expressive, pale face looking like a kid on Christmas morning when on the verge of a big score. I ended up watching the U.S. version of the film, but I did end up checking out some scenes that are only in the British version - the two are quite different, and have completely different scores along with being edited from scratch each time. Some of the scenes in the British version expound on Fabian's never-ending trail of get-rich-quick schemes, and how they've all blown up in everyone's face.
The film features Gene Tierney as Mary Bristol, Fabian's long-suffering girl, along with Francis L. Sullivan as nightclub owner Phil Nosseross - Fabian's partner, and in the end nemesis. Googie Withers plays Helen, Phil's wife, who Fabian cons and basically ruins. The film runs at a breakneck speed and includes a lot of action, movement and excitement. The cinematography is first-class, plunging us into the pitch-black dead ends and the shadowed dungeon-like cold spaces of London. There's no such thing as the 'easy money' Fabian dreams of, only the shifty cons he uses to make a buck, or working for Nosseross by fooling people into going to his nightclub. Watching the movie is like seeing a car crash in slow motion - but still praying it won't happen. I mean, I kind of liked Fabian - or at least I would of if he'd only wake up and not be so self-destructive. I really enjoyed watching Night and the City - it was exciting, and a great film noir classic from Dassin. It's the fourth film of his I've seen, and I'm surely going to watch more.
The great thing about character Fabian is his child-like enthusiasm for whatever he's doing, and his crazily boundless optimism and self-belief. Fabian believes that every scheme he latches onto is a "sure thing" - if only someone would front the money for him, he'd be living on "easy street" and make a fortune. He's never aware of potential pitfalls and the various cul de sacs, and always takes various short cuts and cheats that become future land mines. Richard Widmark seems born to play this character, his expressive, pale face looking like a kid on Christmas morning when on the verge of a big score. I ended up watching the U.S. version of the film, but I did end up checking out some scenes that are only in the British version - the two are quite different, and have completely different scores along with being edited from scratch each time. Some of the scenes in the British version expound on Fabian's never-ending trail of get-rich-quick schemes, and how they've all blown up in everyone's face.
The film features Gene Tierney as Mary Bristol, Fabian's long-suffering girl, along with Francis L. Sullivan as nightclub owner Phil Nosseross - Fabian's partner, and in the end nemesis. Googie Withers plays Helen, Phil's wife, who Fabian cons and basically ruins. The film runs at a breakneck speed and includes a lot of action, movement and excitement. The cinematography is first-class, plunging us into the pitch-black dead ends and the shadowed dungeon-like cold spaces of London. There's no such thing as the 'easy money' Fabian dreams of, only the shifty cons he uses to make a buck, or working for Nosseross by fooling people into going to his nightclub. Watching the movie is like seeing a car crash in slow motion - but still praying it won't happen. I mean, I kind of liked Fabian - or at least I would of if he'd only wake up and not be so self-destructive. I really enjoyed watching Night and the City - it was exciting, and a great film noir classic from Dassin. It's the fourth film of his I've seen, and I'm surely going to watch more.
Seen : 20! Huzzuh!
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Ooh, ooh! I know. Is it The Courtship of Eddies Father?
Yes, I can't wait to talk about the scene where Tom (Ford) gets tired of Eddie (Ronny Howard) interfering in his love life, and threatens to have the local kids "have a meeting with Eddie." Cold-blooded stuff! Key Largo is a fine film but it's been a few years since I've seen it so I didn't include it, although Bogie did make my list a couple of times. Love the cast and am especially fond of Barrymore, Robinson, and Trevor. I'll mention Trevor again in terms of looks---I had talked earlier in the thread about Trevor seeming somehow older in Stagecoach, although that came out in 1939, and in Murder My Sweet she looks much younger and that was in 1944. Then comes Key Largo in 1948 and, sorry, but she looks ten years older to me. I don't know if it was makeup or what, because she was only 38-year-old and she looks almost 50 to me. Maybe it's just because she was a chameleon. Yeah, that's it!
I hadn't seen Night and the City by the time the Countdown started, but I got around to it. And was I blown away! For my money, Richard Widmark should have been nominated for an Oscar for his portrayal here. I had been used to Widmark mainly in films during the 60s and beyond. So, his performance here was amazing to me, showing things I'd never seen in him: fear, desperation, greed, etc. etc. His eyes show a lot of what's going on in his mind and it ain't pretty. The whole movie with its slew of characters, seemingly on Harry's (Widmark) side, most of them not (except for Tierney, and by extension her friend, played by Hugh Marlowe). And all it takes is a reward offer for them to flip very easily. My man Mike Mazurki shows up again in a great role and was super. But one of my favorite scenes is when Philip Nosseross (Francis L. Sullivan), Harry's employer, laughs his head off at Harry's idea to run the wrestling scene in London, and Harry's fury at not being taken seriously. Just one great scene among many. Not only one of my favorite all-time Noirs, but a serious contender for my All-Time Top 10. If we have another Noir Countdown like this one, look out list!
#4 The Big Combo List Proper List Proper #52
#6 Kansas City Confidential List Proper #53
#13 Murder, My Sweet List Proper #28
#14 Kiss of Death List Proper List Proper #59
#15 He Walked By Night List Proper #88
#16 The Naked City List Proper #60
#20 Gun Crazy List Proper #36
#22 This Gun For Hire List Proper #78
#23 The Narrow Margin List Proper #43
#25 Crossfire List Proper #51
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Last edited by dadgumblah; 2 weeks ago at 06:18 PM.
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Key Largo ended up at #14 on my ballot. Here's something I wrote about it:
This is a great classic noir that doesn't fit the mold of classic noir established in movies like The Maltese Falcon or The Big Sleep. Instead of a city like New York, it's set at the seedy Hotel Largo in Key West. Also, instead of taking place in familiar noir locations like police stations, train cabins, safe houses and bars (well, except for the hotel's bar), most of the action happens inside the hotel. Counterfeiter Johnny Rocco (Edward G. Robinson) and his cronies have taken over the hotel while awaiting buyers of their goods. In doing so, they've made hostages of manager James (Lionel Barrymore), his daughter Nora (Lauren Bacall) and guest Frank (Humphrey Bogart), an ex-soldier tasked with letting James know how his son died in the war. To complicate matters, there's a hurricane raging, so nobody can leave, and Rocco killed a suspicious cop and disposed of the body, so the sheriff is just as likely to show up when the storm subsides as the buyers are.
It's been said that the best acting occurs in confined spaces, and while this star-studded cast would have amazed in any setting, this opinion very well could be traced to this movie. Robinson makes Rocco out to be a classic noir villain if there ever was one, and since I've only seen Bogart play characters that could be considered neutral, it's nice to see him in a heroic role. Even so, in true noir fashion, this movie deftly challenges whether anyone is wholly good or evil as Fred and the other good guys must do less than heroic things for their own survival. It's also been said that movies mostly set in one place falter when they leave that place. However, this movie's finale is as tense and thrilling as anything that happens in the hotel and thus avoids that trap.
This is a great classic noir that doesn't fit the mold of classic noir established in movies like The Maltese Falcon or The Big Sleep. Instead of a city like New York, it's set at the seedy Hotel Largo in Key West. Also, instead of taking place in familiar noir locations like police stations, train cabins, safe houses and bars (well, except for the hotel's bar), most of the action happens inside the hotel. Counterfeiter Johnny Rocco (Edward G. Robinson) and his cronies have taken over the hotel while awaiting buyers of their goods. In doing so, they've made hostages of manager James (Lionel Barrymore), his daughter Nora (Lauren Bacall) and guest Frank (Humphrey Bogart), an ex-soldier tasked with letting James know how his son died in the war. To complicate matters, there's a hurricane raging, so nobody can leave, and Rocco killed a suspicious cop and disposed of the body, so the sheriff is just as likely to show up when the storm subsides as the buyers are.
It's been said that the best acting occurs in confined spaces, and while this star-studded cast would have amazed in any setting, this opinion very well could be traced to this movie. Robinson makes Rocco out to be a classic noir villain if there ever was one, and since I've only seen Bogart play characters that could be considered neutral, it's nice to see him in a heroic role. Even so, in true noir fashion, this movie deftly challenges whether anyone is wholly good or evil as Fred and the other good guys must do less than heroic things for their own survival. It's also been said that movies mostly set in one place falter when they leave that place. However, this movie's finale is as tense and thrilling as anything that happens in the hotel and thus avoids that trap.
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Key Largo just snuck onto my list at #16. I don't remember a great deal about it, other than it was OK and made me think of a noir version of The Pertrified Forest, another film I've only seen once about 35 years ago.
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Quick recap
Crossfire was one of the last films I watched before submitting my ballot and I thought it was good enough to land at # 18 for me. Would like to have seen Mitchum do a little more, I like him when he's a little more dangerous, but it was good.
Nightmare Alley Noir isn't my favorite genre so most of the films on my ballot I've only watched once and barely remember most of them but this was really good and is one of the few that will get a rewatch at some point. Had it in my top ten at seven.
The Lady From Shanghai is my 22nd favorite noir. I'm really scratching at this point to fill out a top 25.
Key Largo was my number 25. Going off of my rating when I watched it and this seemed like a good spot for it.
Crossfire was one of the last films I watched before submitting my ballot and I thought it was good enough to land at # 18 for me. Would like to have seen Mitchum do a little more, I like him when he's a little more dangerous, but it was good.
Nightmare Alley Noir isn't my favorite genre so most of the films on my ballot I've only watched once and barely remember most of them but this was really good and is one of the few that will get a rewatch at some point. Had it in my top ten at seven.
The Lady From Shanghai is my 22nd favorite noir. I'm really scratching at this point to fill out a top 25.
Key Largo was my number 25. Going off of my rating when I watched it and this seemed like a good spot for it.
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Director: Edgar G. Ulmer
Production: PRC Pictures
Cast: Tom Neal, Ann Savage, Claudia Drake
200 Points, 22 Lists
'The life of Al Roberts, a pianist in a New York nightclub, turns into a nightmare when he decides to hitchhike to Los Angeles to visit his girlfriend.'
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Director: Tay Garnett
Production: MGM
Cast: Lana Turner, John Garfield, Cecil Kellaway
225 Points, 18 Lists
'A married woman and a drifter fall in love and then plot to murder her husband.'
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During the last months, Citizen hosted two Film Noir Hall of Fames. These is the list of films present in both:
Film Noir HoF IV
1. The Maltese Falcon
2. Out of the Past
3. The Asphalt Jungle
4. Touch of Evil
5. Gilda (#27)
6. Mildred Pierce
7. Gun Crazy (#36)
8. Criss Cross (#44)
9. Detour (#24)
10. Act of Violence (#61)
11. Thieves' Highway
DQ. Murder, My Sweet (#28)
Last Chance... Film Noir HoF V
1. Double Indemnity
2. Sweet Smell of Success
3. Ace in the Hole
4. Kiss Me Deadly
5. The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (#40)
6. The Night of the Hunter
7. The Breaking Point (#58)
See how many have placed already and where. Do you think the other ones will make it?
Film Noir HoF IV
1. The Maltese Falcon
2. Out of the Past
3. The Asphalt Jungle
4. Touch of Evil
5. Gilda (#27)
6. Mildred Pierce
7. Gun Crazy (#36)
8. Criss Cross (#44)
9. Detour (#24)
10. Act of Violence (#61)
11. Thieves' Highway
DQ. Murder, My Sweet (#28)
Last Chance... Film Noir HoF V
1. Double Indemnity
2. Sweet Smell of Success
3. Ace in the Hole
4. Kiss Me Deadly
5. The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (#40)
6. The Night of the Hunter
7. The Breaking Point (#58)
See how many have placed already and where. Do you think the other ones will make it?
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I really enjoyed Detour and it landed at #17 on my ballot. The Postman Always Rings Twice is great, but couldn't make my list.
Seen: 77/78.
Seen: 77/78.
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Detour was #94 and The Postman Always Rings Twice #82 on the MoFo Top 100 of the 1940s.
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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
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I'm a big fan of Detour. It was one of the first films I saw years ago when I took a Film Noir online course and it was highlighted how much it embraces all of the typical film noir trademarks down to a T. Here's my full review and a bit from it:
Bottom line, it's grimy and dark and I love it. I had it at #14.
I haven't seen The Postman Always Rings Twice, which seems like another glaring omission from my part. I should get on that.
SEEN: 21/78
MY BALLOT: 9/25
Both Neal and Savage were very good portraying the desperation from their characters. Her performance might've been a bit more forced, but the character called for it. Still, they worked pretty well off each other. Director Ulmer makes the most of what he got with some great use of shadows, lights, and music, which serves to create a unique and effective atmosphere.
I haven't seen The Postman Always Rings Twice, which seems like another glaring omission from my part. I should get on that.
SEEN: 21/78
MY BALLOT: 9/25
My ballot
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