The MoFo Top 100 Film Noir Countdown

I've always been a fan of Where the Sidewalk Ends, with Dana Andrews as a cop with anger issues who isn't afraid to rough up someone. When he accidentally goes too far he chooses to do a cover-up and things go badly. I do agree the romance (with Gene Tierney) makes no sense and is forced, even by noir standards, but looking past that I think it's a top-notch film noir with an ending that has some emotional impact. I had it at #11. Glad to see it make it.

My List:
11. Where the Sidewalk Ends (#66)
20. This Gun for Hire (#78)

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Preminger made six film noirs and three have already showed up, will there be more making the countdown? And he had a sense of fashion too!

Laura for sure, which I assume will rank highly.

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I believe Gene Tierney was in three of his noirs. Off the top of my head: Where The Sidewalk Ends, Whirlpool, Laura

2 for 2! I could be wrong but it feels like we turned a corner and might be heading into more well known territory. Watched both of these with Where the Sidewalk Ends on my ballot at #21.

I remember watching Scarlet Street before The Woman in the Window. Scarlet Street was also directed by Fritz Lang and also starred Robinson, Bennett, and Duryea. Even though Scarlet Street is considered the superior film I enjoyed The Woman in the Window a bit more.

14 of 38 seen.

Woman in the Window was pretty good until the ending ruined it for me.

I enjoyed Where the Sidewalk Ends.

Drunken Angel - I've seen this, but I'm not a big fan of Kurosawa films.

The Phantom Lady - I've seen this, but don't remember it now. It does have Elisha Cook Jr. in it, so it's got something going for it.

Spellbound - Pretty sure I haven't seen this, but that pic of those eyes look familiar. I think it was part of a Dali art exhibit, so I'm guessing this is the one Hitch consulted Dali on.

The Hitch-Hiker - My #21! The plot synopsis pretty much covers it. Just a solid little crime movie. I keep meaning to watch more of Lupino's directed movies, but I've just never gotten around to them.

Haven't heard of the subsequent movies (looking back, I will confess, Preminger is still mostly a blindspot for me. I've seen a couple. Bunny Lake is Missing, Laura, and Anatomy of a Murder).

Seen count goes up by 3, ballot count went up by 1.

The Woman in the Window landed on my list at 24. Yeah Robinson is the man.

Where the Sidewalk Ends I enjoyed but it didn't make my list.

There was a Twilight Zone episode called The Hitch-Hiker* thought I thought The Hitcher was a remake of, and seemed to be going in that direction, but then didn't do the reveal at the end, so maybe it was, maybe it wasn't.

*: An RKO audio-play with Orson Welles also predated this episode (I believe), so it might have been based on a short story or something, for all I know.

Where The Sidewalk Ends is a strong noir. What caught my interest was the casting of 3 actors who would later make it big on American TV: Karl Malden (The Streets of San Francisco), Harry von Zell (The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, among others), And Craig Stevens (Peter Gunn). Malden of course became a popular movie star as well.

I really like The Woman in the Window, directed by Fritz Lang. Both the acting and the plot were believable, and the tension built. I loved the ending.

The next year, 1945, Scarlett Street, also with Robinson, Dureya, and Joan Bennett, seemed like a sick parody to me-- melodramatic and over acted. It was a miss for me.

Neither film cracked my 25.

My old review of...
The Woman in the Window (1944)
This is the third time I've seen it and if anything I've grown to appreciate it more with each viewing. Edward G. Robinson is just perfect in this role and Joan Bennett, wow! Especially in that sparkling black outfit with the sheer top. She really looks like a million bucks...and so did her apartment, I guess she was a kept woman? Though the film never says, nor does it need to.

Fritz Lang's direction is sublime and I could tell that this was a masterpiece even if I turned the sound off...the camera work and the scene transitions and editing was so professional that the film is a thing of beauty, kind of like Joan Bennett!

I use to not like the ending of the film, but this time around I think it fit the overall tone of the movie and fit Edward G. Robinson's character and the ending especially fits what he and his club mates were talking about at the start of his journey. One of the great films and features one of my favorite noir bad guys Dan Duryea.

0 of 36 seen 😥


Clearly, I have amnesia, have forgotten every film noir movie ever made, and have been framed for a crime I didn't commit.

Nothing from my ballot over the past several reveals. Seen Dark Passage, Brute Force, The Desperate Hours, Spellbound, The Hitch-Hiker and The Woman in The Window, and enjoyed them all in their own ways, some more than others. Spellbound in particular impressed me on first viewing and set me wanting to see all of Ingrid Bergman's films.

Need to watchlist many of the others. Phantom Lady looks especially good.

Have both The Woman in the Window and Where the Sidewalk Ends on my Watch List but have yet to watch them. I did catch The Hitch-Hiker last night and really liked it. Lupino did a fine job on this and I look forward to more from her.

#15 He Walked By Night List Proper #88
#22 This Gun For Hire List Proper #78

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Where the Sidewalk Ends is a great film noir that was in contention to make my list but I decided to go with only Otto Preminger/Gene Tierney/Dana Andrews film. It's a classic.


The Woman in the Window could have been a classic with Fritz Lang's direction and a great cast...but I couldn't get past the ending. Not for me.

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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."

#64 To Have and Have Not (1944)

Director: Howard Hawks
Production: Warner Bros.
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Walter Brennan
60 Points, 4 Lists

#63 Bob Le Flambeur (1956)

Director: Jean-Pierre Melville
Production: Organisation Générale Cinématographique
Cast: Roger Duchesne, Isabelle Corey, Daniel Cauchy
60 Points, 5 Lists

To Have and Have Not is fantastic and made my ballot at #19. I haven't seen Bob Le Flambeur yet.

Seen: 36/38

36/38 dang son, you are very well watched. Which two haven't you seen?

one vote. bob le flambeur was my #23 - arguably appreciable more as a rough draft for the kind of crime flicks melville would go on to make, but still a stylish and fatalistic exercise in french noir anyway. have only seen to have and have not once and do remember liking it, though it wasn't my first choice for a bogart/bacall joint.

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