The MoFo Top 100 Film Noir Countdown

Oh what the hell, more of my musings about today's noir.
Out of the Past (Jacques Tourneur 1947)

Out of the Past is the quintessential film noir. It oozes noir style with it's voice over first person narrative and it's catchy fast paced lingo. Robert Mitchum is cool as ice and so is the femme fatale on the lam (Jane Greer). Jane has a face of an angel but behind those doe eyes lurks a steely mind.

Kirk Douglas is on the money, as a man wronged and looking for revenge. His part is a small one but his time on screen is memorable. Out of the Past is full of twist and turns, frame ups and shakedowns. The fun of the movie is trying to following along as Mitchum, Greer and Kirk Douglas through curve balls at each other trying to gain the upper hand.

The film is intelligently written by Daniel Mainwaring and is based on his novel Build My Gallows High. The story is convoluted with more twist than a one lane country road. Be sharp, if you blink you might miss something.

Awesome! Out of the Past is #9 on my ballot.

Robert Mitchum ended up on my ballot three times and once or twice on my neo-noir one. Not obsessed or anything. Anyone think he will make another appearance in the remaining six?

Out Of The Past was my 11. Another favorite I have cemented by seeing a few times now. If I have a complaint about it that keeps it from being top 5, it’s that we don’t get enough Mitchum against Douglas scenes. I love Douglas in this, and wish we had more of that dynamic. Awesome Noir though, that deserves a spot this high.

__________________
Letterboxd

Out of the Past was my #2 pick. I thought it'd be at least Top 5 maybe even in the Top 3. I guess that indicates the strength of the remaining reveals. I'm reasonably sure what 3 of the ones left should be. But I wouldn't want to hazard a guess as to what or where they will land.

60 of 94 seen so far.

Figured we would see this today!

Out of the Past is my favorite classic era noir, and one of my favorite films of all time. I had it at #1, in the pinnacle spot on my ballot. There are a couple other titles that are more dyed-in-the-wool noirs so arguably more deserving of the top spot, but this one is my favorite. Jane Greer's Kathie Moffet is the epitome of the heartless, calculating femme fatale, and Mitchum's Jeff Bailey does all the charismatic mugging you want from a lead. Katie is a black widow spider, with even her name, which is a play on little Miss Muffet, alluding to spiders. During the scene in which she finally snares Jeff for good, they are on a beach with a net behind them. It's on the nose, but it works perfectly, and he doesn't stand a chance.


In many noir films, the protagonist somehow gets himself involved in a dire situation, becomes trapped, and can never escape. Jeff Bailey had somehow managed to get out. He was a free man, and was living the simple life. But this is film noir, and there is no escaping fate.


Bailey is an iconic noir protagonist. In his mind, he is always a step ahead of the other players, he has a plan, he is toying with them. Alas, he can't see the forest for the trees, and he is doomed from the second Kathie walks in out of the sun and blinds him in the little joint in Mexico.


Greer possessed classic beauty, with alluring features and a fetching figure. Good thing I wasn't in the movie, because I was done for the second I saw her, just like Jeff Bailey. She is so poisonous, she destroys one character just by impersonating her on the phone. After this scene, the character is never seen again.

"She's a clever little girl and she's always a hop, skip, and a jump ahead"

I was hoping for Top 5, but never really thought it had a chance to beat out some of the more classic, quintessential films like The Third Man and Touch of Evil. Glad to see it up so high, as it is certainly deserving.

__________________

It's rounding out nicely. My #25 won't be showing up but I am a little surprised it didn't make the one pointers or even the near misses. I'm also hoping my #1 will land at the #1 spot even though it's odd little flourishes might keep it from achieving full blown noir status.

1. Probably Top 5
2.Out of the Past (#7)
3. High Sierra (#50)
4. Strong maybe
5. Ride the Pink Horse (#45)
6. Mystery Street (#93)
7. Gun Crazy (#36)
8. Night of the Hunter (#14)
9. Shadow of a Doubt (#12)
10. The Asphalt Jungle (#16)
11. Night and the City (#25)
12. Kiss Me Deadly (#13)
13. The Killing (#11)
14. Stray Dog (#32)
15. Strangers on a Train (#18)
16. Key Largo (#26)
17. You would think so but who knows?
18. Detour (#24)
19. The Narrow Margin (#43)
20. Kansas City Confidential (#53)
21. Where the Sidewalk Ends (#66)
22. Too Late for Tears (#81)
23. The Big Sleep (#8)
24. The Set-Up (#46)
25. House of Bamboo NM (3 votes, 18 points)

A title that many Noir historians and enthusiasts consider THE highpoint of the genre. So we have it at seven, of course. Hey, at least it was Top Ten.



Out of the Past truly is quintessential Noir, with one of the all-time coldest Femme Fatales and bleakest of endings. Mitchum was never better than as Jeff Markham, a private dick tasked to find a gangster’s missing gal. The gangster is the smiling and menacing Whit Sterling (Kirk Douglas). The gal shot him and absconded with $40,000. She is Kathie Moffat (Jane Greer). But he’s still in love with her and only wants her returned, unharmed. For an incredible fee of $10K plus expenses, Jeff takes the job. He eventually tracks her down in Acapulco, Mexico. She is so alluring that even the hardened P.I. who knows better almost immediately falls for her. They plan to run away together. It doesn’t work out after Kathie double crosses him.



Jeff tries to put it all behind him, changing his name in a small, dusty California town, working at the gas station and settling down with a local girl (Virginia Huston) who doesn’t know about his past. Unfortunately for him one of Whit’s henchmen passes through and spots him, making him confront the unfinished business. The original title of the novel is Build My Gallows High, and that tells you where it is all headed. Gloriously dark as we watch the characters unable to outrun their inevitable fates. Cinematographer Nicholas Musuraca’s visuals are as iconic as the characters.

I had Out of the Past at number five, twenty-one of its 489 points!

HOLDEN'S BALLOT
2. The Killers (#22)
3. Too Late for Tears (#81)
4. The Set-Up (#46)
5. Out of the Past (#7)
7. The Asphalt Jungle (#16)
8. Odd Man Out (#47)
9. Criss Cross (#44)
10. Stray Dog (#32)
11. The Killing (#11)
12. The Big Combo (#52)
13. Phantom Lady (#69)
14. Born to Kill (#84)
15. Pickup on South Street (#21)
16. The Big Heat (#17)
18. He Walked By Night (#88)
19. Fallen Angel (#80)
20. Shadow of a Doubt (#12)
21. Thieves’ Highway (DNP)
22. Panic in the Streets (#98)
23. Black Angel (DNP)
24. Crossfire (#51)
25. The Crimson Kimono (DNP)

__________________
"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

I only had it at #24 but with all the praise here and its high ranking I feel it would be good to give it a rewatch since it has been a long time.

3. The Night of the Hunter (1955)
7. Notorious (1946)
8. Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
9. Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
10. Stray Dog (1949)
11. Mildred Pierce (1945)
13. Detour (1945)
14. The Big Sleep (1946)
15. Bob le flambeur (1956)
16. The Killers (1946)
17. Rififi (1955)
18. The Killing (1956)
19. Strangers on a Train (1951)
20. Gilda (1946)
21. Pickup on South Street (1953)
22. Laura (1944)
23. White Heat (1949)
24. Out of the Past (1947)
25. Nightmare Alley (1947)

__________________
"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."

Out of the Past was #2 on my ballot. I wrote something on it awhile ago, but sadly, I never saved it. Happy it made it so high though.

2) Out of the Past
5) Night and the City
6. The Killing
7) The Night of the Hunter
8) White Heat
9) Detour
12) Shadow of a Doubt
13) Ace in the Hole
14) Gun Crazy
16) The Postman Always Rings Twice
18) The Stranger
19) Odd Man Out
21) Mildred Pierce
22) The Lost Weekend
23) Sweet Smell of Success
24) Crossfire
25) The Big Sleep

I so wonder what Harry Lime's numero uno will be.

It's a mystery only to be solved at the end of the countdown.

I highly recommend watching the Out of the Past Film Noirchives video Holden posted. Regardless of how you might feel about Raz0rfist, his Film Noirchive videos are all must-sees, especially this one as well as the Blade Runner and The Big Combo episodes.

When time was running out for submitting a ballot I kept getting harassed about making sure I got SOMETHING sent in (just kidding CR). I kept saying I will , I just need to watch a couple more. Well, Out of the Past was the last noir I watched, the very day I sent in my ballot. Of all the films I crammed at the end I guess you could say I saved the best for last. Given more time and maybe a re-watch or two this could have possibly eked into my top five but as it is, after one viewing, it sits at number 6 for me.



I may have forgotten to mention this earlier but I had another Mitchum noir at number 20: Night of the Hunter.

Ahhh, I wish it would've been higher, but I can't complain. Yeah, Out of the Past is my favorite film noir, and therefore my #1. Most of you have already mentioned its strengths so I won't babble much but I will just reiterate the superb casting:

That's what I wrote last time I revisited it and here's my full review. It's an amazing film.



SEEN: 34/94
MY BALLOT: 19/25

__________________

I had Out of the Past at #5, one of the noirish of all the noirs, and in all the right places.

My List:
5.Out of the Past (#7)
6. Pickup on South Street (#21)
7. Stray Dog (#32)
8. The Killing (#11)
9. Laura (#10)
10. Shadow of a Doubt (#12)
11. Where the Sidewalk Ends (#66)
13. The Big Heat (#17)
14. Sweet Smell of Success (#9)
15. Elevator to the Gallows (#41)
16. The Big Sleep (#8)
17. Ace in the Hole (#19)
18. Gilda (#27)
19. Mildred Pierce (#15)
20. This Gun for Hire (#78)
21. The Postman Always Rings Twice (#23)
22. The Wrong Man (#39)
23. The Set-Up (#46)
24. Scarlet Street (#29)
25. Gun Crazy (#36)

__________________
I may go back to hating you. It was more fun.

I don't like Mitchum or Noir. Guess which of the recent reveals I've not seen?

I do like the Sweet Smell Of Success though. In fact, I like it enough to have it at #8 on my list. A magnificent script makes for a brilliant film perfectly played. Like Kane or All About Eve, I think it'd have to be continuous to become bored with it or not enjoy those lines.

__________________
5-time MoFo Award winner.

I could sing praises to this film all day, but I would love to highlight this scene, which is probably my favorite of the film.

Not because of the action and the shot, but because it is the actual "a-ha!" moment for Jeff, and for us as the audience. So perfectly acted by Mitchum and Greer; the look on his face, the look on her face, the look on my face when it happened. It certainly caught me off guard. Love it.

Out of the Past is not on my list. It's a movie that I haven't vibed with yet, but I am sure I will give it another chance someday.

The Sweet Smell of Success is not on my list because I never considered it Film Noir. It's a great movie with stellar performances by Tony Curtis and Burt Lancaster, The script is out of this world. Almost everyone is a shady character but there is no crime per se except for the boyfriend getting roughed up.
The Big Sleep is my #15. An excellent movie, full of wonderful set pieces for the actors to explore especially everyone's favorite the book store scene.

I have the last three on my ballot, though there are issues with all of them.

9 Sweet Smell of Success (1957) was my #22.
I'd say that this movie would sink into oblivion since nobody in the world cares about the meaningless Tony Curtis chatter (first half of the film). Then, Burt Lancaster appeared and save the show. Thanks to Lancaster, this title somehow made my list.
-----

8 The Big Sleep (1946) was my #18.
I see, there is a big Bogart army here, how can I say that he is just OK but not very good for this job.
I'd like to ask: How many are familiar with Raymond Chandler and his original novels?
In my view, Hollywood completely failed in adapting his original works for the big screen. I think the only successful filming are the TV series 1983-86, featuring Powers Boothe as Marlowe (but I need to rewatch them to see how I'll feel them now).
Anyway, I've included The Big Sleep on ballot, it's OK.
-----

7. Out of the Past (1947) was my #16.
That's an interesting rich story, though a bit overcooked at some parts. Whatever...
-----

__________________
"Population don't imitate art, population imitate bad television." W.A.
"You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus." M.T.