Subgenre Sampler
Film Noir: 238 Films to Buy & Rent
- 56 Rue Pigalle (1949)
- Dir. Willy Rozier
Feat. Raymond Cordy, Marie Dea
- Distinctive French noir telling the tale of a boss, suspected of murdering his blackmailing manservant, who flees to Africa with his mistress once…
- Act of Violence (w/ Mystery Street) (1949-1950)
- Dir. Fred Zinnemann, John Sturges
Feat. Van Heflin, Robert Ryan, Janet Leigh…
- Van Heflin's blissful small–town existence is upended when a returning WWII–vet arrives, determined to settle an old score. Disturbingly…
- Big Steal, The (w/ Illegal) (1949-1955)
- Dir. Don Siegel, Lewis Allen
Feat. Robert Mitchum, William Bendix, Jane Greer…
- On the run after being framed for a payroll robbery, GI Robert Mitchum evades William Bendix, teaming up with Jane Greer enroute to Mexico. Exciting…
- Caught (1949)
- Dir. Max Ophuls
Feat. Robert Ryan, Barbara Bel Geddes, James Mason
- Noir–melodrama hybrid has half–mad millionaire Robert Ryan (a role based on Howard Hughes), wrapping Barbara Bel Geddes in the coils of a…
- House of Strangers (1949)
- Dir. Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Feat. Edward G. Robinson, Susan Hayward, Richard Conte…
- A tour–de–force performance from Edward G. Robinson as a wealthy Italian American patriarch whose controlling presence in his sons' lives…
- Reckless Moment, The (1949)
- Dir. Max Ophuls
Feat. James Mason, Joan Bennett, Geraldine Brooks…
- Masterful suspenser in which concerned parent Joan Bennett covers up an apparent murder in order to protect her vulnerable daughter and…
- Stray Dog (Nora Inu) (1949)
- Dir. Akira Kurosawa
Feat. Toshiro Mifune
- An early film noir from Japan’s best–known director tracks police detective Toshiro Mifune into the underbelly of Tokyo in search of a pistol…
- Thieves' Highway (1949)
- Dir. Jules Dassin
Feat. Richard Conte, Valentina Cortese, Lee J. Cobb…
- One of dir. Dassin's early noir triumphs, this has Conte seeking to avenge his father's maiming at the hands of a corrupt Californian fruit…
- Third Man, The (1949)
- Dir. Carol Reed
Feat. Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Trevor Howard
- Superb romantic thriller about a writer in post–war Vienna whose old friend fails to meet him – under mysterious circumstances. Justly…
- Trapped (1949)
- Dir. Richard Fleischer
Feat. Lloyd Bridges, Barbara Payton, John Hoyt
- U.S. Treasury Department agents go after a ring of counterfeiters in this fast–paced B–noir.