The MoFo Top Film Noir Countdown - Preliminary Thread

Film Noir existed for only a brief time during the 1940s-1950s. Opinions very more with noir than any other film genre. Indeed some don't consider noir a genre at all, but consider it a film style. What we call noir today became popular during the bleak years of World War II. During the aftermath of WWII a more pensive, fatalistic mood arose in America. Before the war light heartened films, screwball comedies and escapist movies were popular. After the war a darker vision of movies became prevalent which were often based on hard boiled, pulp fiction detective stories written during the depression era. At the time film noirs were being made they were referred to as melodramas or crime dramas. It was someone in France who noticed that the mood of American films had become very black or noir.

In a noir the protagonist is often an anti-hero or an outright thug. They were someone who through an event or outside influences was doomed in one way or another, often by their own behavior, life choices or even by randomness. That was coupled with a style of cinematography that came out of the German expressionist movement of the early 1930s, which was characterized by asymmetrical composition and low key lighting making use of dark spaces and shadows. Not all noirs are filmed in a noir style but they do have a noir style story to one degree or another.

• IMDB & Wikipedia are used to determine noir eligibility. Film noirs released from 1940 to 1959 are eligible. At IMDB if they are tagged 'noir' or 'film noir' anywhere on the page. At Wiki it needs to say 'noir' or 'film noir' in the movie's first section in the first or second sentence. Mentions of noir further down the Wiki page won't count.

• Release dates are based on IMDB or Wiki. Short films and documentaries are excluded.

• You're submitting a voting list of what you consider to be your personal top 25 noir films that you've seen, from 1940-1959 ranked in order, numbered 1-25 with 1 being your favorite on down to 25. Partial lists with no less than 10 movies on it will be accepted after February 1st.

• *Important* this countdown is not able to use the new ballot submission tool. So you will submit your voting list to me by private message.

• Don't abbreviate the title or leave words out such as 'The' or 'A'. If you do, it can cause problems when I add up the list.

• You must have been a member for two weeks before the deadline.

• The deadline to send your list in is February 25th I won't be extending the deadline beyond that date.

• All lists are final, once I receive it I can't take revisions so make sure you're happy with your list rankings.

• Don't post your list here or you'll be taken to a police station and beaten badly! Keep 'em private.

Thief is hosting the Neo-Noir countdown so make sure and participate in that one as well! He will have his thread up soon.

Noir HoF, everyone is welcomed to post there, even if you didn't join.

Noir podcast with Thief:
The Movie Loot 49: The Noir Loot (with Richard Edwards)

428 Film Noirs you can easily watch...Beelzebubble
Dk Classics Noir playlist YouTube

List of noirs with strong female leads...Citizen

List of lesser known Noirs...Allaby

20 Featured Noirs on Criterion Channel...Diehl40

Books on Noir...Diehl40

Online guide to learning Noir...Diehl 40

Podcast: Out of the Past:Investigating Film Noir...Kaplan

List of Color Film Noirs...Citizen

Film Noir online list of Noirs...Diehl40

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Good to see this start up! I think I've probably seen fewer than 25 film noirs from the specified time period in total and have a preliminary list of about 12 I liked, so I'll have some watching to do. Looking forward to some recommendations.

Hooray! I bet you're going to do an awesome job hosting, CR

Anyways, time to wait until the last minute to start my ballot.

Recommendations are welcomed! Anyone can post them in this thread. I won't make a separate thread for that but I will link them on the second post: so keep an eye out for that.

Thursday, if you like noir films that have female leads who are not just eye candy, there are number of film noirs like that. I made it a point in the last two Noirvember threads to watch noirs with strong female leads.

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers
Slightly Scarlet (1956)
The Trap (1959)
Niagara (1953)
Black Widow (1954)
Party Girl (1958)
Raw Deal (1948)
Caught (1949)
Too Late For Tears (1949)
Road House (1948)
The Locket (1946)
The Blue Gardenia (1953)
A Woman's Devotion (1956)
Nora Prentiss (1947)
Woman on the Run (1950)

Those are all linked to my mini reviews which are spoiler free!

You and Thief set that hosting bar sky high! But I'll do my best

No neo noir

Anyway, I’ll probably send a list. I would love to get some more noir films watched though. Got quite a few of them on my watchlist…

Yes there will be a Neo Noir countdown! Thief is hosting that one and will have the preliminary thread up soon!

Oh snap!

That’s what happens when you don’t come around here that much anymore. I have no idea what’s going on hah

I gotta say I'm a bit disappointed that I won't get to vote for modern national vies too becaus I have a unique number 1. Still, I'll partake, but I'm gonna be more vocal about the specifics of what I'd like to see in these things from now on. Having said that, I didn't know we weren't hosting a separate thread to discuss the rules of eligibility.

What was your #1 movie that you wanted to vote for? Like I say in the rules and procedures if someone has a film that they think is film noir but it's not tagged mention the title, and I and or Holden Pike will check it out and let them know.

I'd rather save that for whenever a neo-noir countdown's being done as it is a modern one, meaning it would go against the 40-59 rule.

Cool, thanks and that makes sense. Heck I might be voting for it too when the Neo Noir countdown starts, which should be real soon.

If you have taste, you will.

Glad to see this finally rolling! Thanks, Citizen.

I've shared this before but I guess it's apropos. A couple of years ago, I dedicated an episode of my podcast to film noir and had Dr. Richard Edwards as a guest. He's a film scholar and expert on film noir. Here is the link, in case anybody wants to learn a bit more, and maybe take a peek at what could be my Top 5 (*could* A lot can change in 2 years )

The Movie Loot 49: The Noir Loot (with Richard Edwards)

You can also find it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, etc.

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I'm sure you will do a swell job, Citizen! Here are some lesser known film noirs that are worth checking out:

An Act of Murder (1948)
The Boss (1956)
Hold Back Tomorrow (1955)
I Was a Shoplifter (1950)
The Square Jungle (1955)
Tip on a Dead Jockey (1957)
Outside the Wall (1950)
Undercover Girl (1950)
A Woman's Vengeance (1948)

Will there be a group watch thread for this countdown?

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IMDb
Letterboxd

I hope so, hint, hint!