The MoFo Top 100 Film Noir Countdown

You're welcome! I'm still looking through that list. I've only got 25 written down from the Archive site, so I will be looking through a certain other site to see what they have to offer. Also, I need to add Slightly Scarlet to my list so thanks for that! I like Rhonda Fleming and Arlene Dahl, so I'm already onboard! Plus, I like John Payne from another Noir so it sounds like win/win!

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"Miss Jean Louise, Mr. Arthur Radley."

That's a great, classic skit with Webb and Carson! Thanks for posting that. I need to get some Best of Carson on DVD. And I didn't know that Jack Webb got his idea for Dragnet from that film and the police tech advisor. How cool. I love trivia tidbits like that so thank you again!

Another couple of double zeroes for my account - neither seen nor heard of.

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#86 Angel Face (1952)

Director: Otto Preminger
Production: RKO
Cast: Robert Mitchum, Jean Simmons, Mona Freeman
31 Points, 4 Lists

#85 Force of Evil (1948)

Director: Abraham Polonsky
Production: Enterprise Productions
Cast: John Garfield, Thomas Gomez, Beatrice Pearson
33 Points, 2 Lists

Angel Face is a goodie!

I've seen both, but neither made my ballot. I liked Angel Face a little more than Force of Evil, but both are a 7/10 from me.

Seen: 14/16

I thought I found a spot on the bottom of my ballot for one of these but, nope. Anyway I watched each recently last year and enjoy both quite a bit. Glad to see them show up.

Angel Face was an enjoyable watch. Great directing, cast and a surprising/cool ending. No vote but it does make my top fifty @ #44.

SEEN 3/12
BALLOT 00/25

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Entertainment Log
Letterboxd profile

I seen Angel Face, a few years ago and I wrote this about Force of Evil in the Noirvember 2023 thread
Force Of Evil (1948)
It's an interesting story too about the 'numbers racket' which must have been a thing back in the day. At the same time it juxtaposes the ethics of 'honest' petty criminals against violent gangster criminals. I wasn't always sure what the film was trying to say but it's an interesting conundrum.

John Garfield slid into the educated lawyer role with ease. He was good, as was the actor who played his honest but petty criminal brother, Thomas Gomez. There's a lot of movie packed into those 79 minutes and this is one movie that would benefit from a rewatch.

Really enjoyed Angel Face when I watched it during list prep. The kind of movie that could make my list if I had made it on another day.

Force Of Evil was already on my Noir watchlist, but I didn’t get to it.

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Letterboxd

I feel ashamed. Still haven't seen anything

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I am also ashamed, and haven't seen anything from this list yet!

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Another pair of bonafide classics. Neither made my cut. I have two other “Angel”s on my ballot, but not Angel Face. However, I did forget to check my ballot yesterday and I did indeed have…

He Walked By Night



Fantastic Police Procedural with a smart and dangerous antagonist, positively dripping in Noir style thanks to the cinematography of the great John Alton who lensed many classics of the genre, including Mystery Street, building to a grand chase finale. Because their mystery suspect (Richard Basehart) worked for the Police at one point and is up on the latest electronics, the Detectives (Scott Brady & Roy Roberts) have a devil of a time tracking him down. Alton should have at least three more titles make the countdown.



I had it at eighteen, only eight points, but plenty to secure it a spot!

HOLDEN'S BALLOT
18. He Walked By Night (#88)
22. Panic in the Streets (#98)
25. The Crimson Kimono (DNP)

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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

I am excited to see He Walked by Night is available on Prime, so I will be firing that up very soon.

I've had both Angel Face and Force of Evil on my Watch List but I'm so backlogged on some that it's hard to pick what to go with next. So neither made my list.

#15 He Walked By Night List Proper #88

Go with Slightly Scarlet that's such a nice quality, restored print and Rhonda Fleming never looked hotter and Arlene Dahl is a hoot as a kleptomaniac-nyphomaic...Really I kid you not...Oh Payne's good as a sleezy political mover shaker and Ted De Corsia makes one bad ass thug.

Whiffed on the latest two. I've heard plenty about Angel Face though especially those lurid taglines.

Force of Evil sounds pretty good too. I'm gonna rack up alot of potential watches by the time this thread is over.

I watched Angel Face for the 19th Hall Of Fame, but didn't care for it and wouldn't have voted for it.

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Force of Evil was good but saw it a ways back. But it sits in that 3/5 range that many film noirs do for me. Good films that have stood the test of time but not great. But that's just me. I haven't seen Angel Face but it made it onto four lists so might be worth a shot.

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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."