Subgenre Sampler

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Nightmare Alley (2021): Dir. Guillermo Del Toro
Feat. Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette…; Dark and stormy neo–noir thriller from director Guillermo del Toro (THE SHAPE OF WATER) about a low–ranking carnie (Bradley Cooper) who…
Motherless Brooklyn (2019): Dir. Edward Norton
Feat. Edward Norton, Bruce Willis, Gugu Mbatha-Raw…; Handsomely mounted neo–noir crime movie, the culmination of a 20 year passion project for writer, director and star Edward Norton, based on the…
Hotel Noir (2012): Dir. Sebastian Guitierrez
Feat. Malin Akerman, Rosario Dawson, Danny De Vito…; Cult dir. Guitierrez tries his hand at film noir pastiche with this luscious ensemble piece about a detective whose encounters with various…
Swerve (2011): Dir. Craig Lahiff
Feat. David Lyons, Jason Clarke, Emma Booth…; Tense outback–noir with a hapless witness to a fatal road accident finding himself in possession of a suitcase full of money and bad company.
Killer Inside Me, The (2010): Dir. Michael Winterbottom
Feat. Casey Affleck, Kate Hudson, Jessica Alba…; Casey Affleck disturbs as a psychotic small town sheriff struggling to cover his bloody tracks in this grim, stylish neo–noir. Adroitly…
Across The Hall (2009): Dir. Alex Merkin
Feat. Mike Vogel, Brittany Murphy, Danny Pino; The presence of the late Brittany Murphy (in one of her last roles) adds a layer of dread to this gloomy "hotel noir" about a man who checks into a…
Square, The (2008): Dir. Nash Edgerton
Feat. David Roberts, Claire van der Boom, Joel Edgerton; Hard–and–fast noir with an Aussie twang, hatched from a plot to make off with a mobster’s stash of cash, and the luckless turn of…
Tender Hook, The (2008): Dir. Jonathan Ogilvie
Feat. Rose Byrne, Hugo Weaving, Matthew Le Nevez…; Noted for its production design and cinematography, this film captures the visual mood of 1920s Sydney to enfold a melodrama of corruption,…
Man from London, The (2007): Dir. Bela Tarr
Feat. Miroslav Krobot, Tilda Swinton; Bela Tarr's dense, mesmeric imagery is married to the traditions of film noir in this strikingly opaque detective story, set on the weathered…
Noise (2007): Dir. Matthew Saville
Feat. Brendan Cowell, Maia Thomas; An impressive Australian modern 'noir', refreshingly off–centred around a hearing–afflicted cop who is assigned the night shift at a…
Black Dahlia, The (2006): Dir. Brian De Palma
Feat. Josh Hartnett, Scarlett Johansson, Hilary Swank…; Seething with atmosphere, this noir crime–drama (based on James Ellroy's novel) presents a complicated case of the unsolved Hollywood murder of…
Good German, The (2006): Dir. Steven Soderbergh
Feat. George Clooney, Cate Blanchett, Tobey Maguire; Dir. Steven Soderbergh takes another extravagant artistic punt with this meticulous pastiche of 1940's war stories, shot not only in…
Hollywoodland (2006): Dir. Allen Coulter
Feat. Adrien Brody, Diane Lane, Ben Affleck…; The intriguing, mysterious circumstances surrounding George ‘Superman’ Reeves’ suicide are exhumed by a private eye (Adrien Brody) in this…
Lonely Hearts (2006): Dir. Todd Robinson
Feat. John Travolta, James Gandolfini, Jared Leto…; The true tale of 1940s “lonely hearts killers”, Martha Beck and Raymond Martinez Fernandez who would lure war widows through personal ads and…
13 Tzameti (2005): Dir. Géla Babluani
Feat. Aurelien Recoing, Georges Babluani; Coolly disturbing noir thriller tracks the fate of a struggling immigrant labourer who intercepts a package with instructions that lead him into a…
A History of Violence (2005): Dir. David Cronenberg
Feat. Viggo Mortensen, Maria Bello, Ed Harris…; An incisive take on the noir thriller from celebrated horror auteur David Cronenberg (EXISTENZ et al), in which a smalltown family man (Mortensen) is…
Brick (2005): Dir. Rian Johnson
Feat. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Lukas Haas, Emilie de Ravin…; Precocious neo–noir set amid the student body of a Californian high school with a bespectacled lad (Gordon–Levitt) taking a 'Sam Spade'…
Quo Vadis, Baby? (2005): Dir. Gabriele Salvatores
Feat. Angela Baraldi; Oscar–winning–director Gabriele Salvatore's haughty thriller depicting a desperate private investigator who decides to re–examine…
Confidence (2002): Dir. James Foley
Feat. Edward Burns, Rachel Weisz, Andy Garcia…; In order to extricate himself from his last botched con, grifter Ed Burns enacts a monster scam against a crooked banker for mobster Dustin…
Deep End, The (2001): Dir. Scott McGehee, David Siegel
Feat. Tilda Swinton; Immaculate remake of Max Ophuls’ ‘The Reckless Moment’ follows the original closely but scores bonus points from Tilda Swinton’s taut…
Four Days (2001): Dir. Curtis Wehrfritz
Feat. Colm Meaney, Lolita Davidovich, Kevin Zegers…; This accomplished 'existential thriller', based on 60s crime novel by John Buell, fuses genre conventions with weightier concerns about loneliness…
Man Who Wasn't There, The (2001): Dir. Joel Coen
Feat. Billy Bob Thornton, Frances McDormand, James Gandolfini…; The Coen Brothers chalk up another film in love with film, an attractive but slender paean to 1950s pulp melodramas, with its nostalgia–soaked…
Croupier (2000): Dir. Mike Hodges
Feat. Clive Owen, Alex Kingston; Leaving for dead most of the so–called ‘Brit–Crime’ genre, this return–to–notice gem from the director of GET CARTER…
Limey, The (1999): Dir. Steven Soderbergh
Feat. Terence Stamp, Lesley Ann Warren, Luis Guzman…; A muscular revenge picture steered by a gifted director not afraid to experiment, Terrence Stamp plays an aging Cockney career criminal who, fresh…
Dark City (1998): Dir. Alex Proyas
Feat. Rufus Sewell, William Hurt, Jennifer Connelly…; Advancing on earlier efforts like THE CROW, director Alex Proyas, fabricates a shadowy urban jungle, replete with echoes of earlier sci–fi…
Interview, The (1998): Dir. Craig Monahan
Feat. Hugo Weaving; Sleek, edgy Aussie drama works a detailed script and a sharp cast to pile layers of ambiguity and guilt into a standard interrogation premise. Winner…
L.A. Confidential (1997): Dir. Curtis Hanson
Feat. Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, Kevin Spacey…; Slam–bang adaptation preserves the lacerating edge of James Ellroy's crime novel while polishing up the sheen of 50s Hollywood. Antipodean boys…
Lost Highway (1997): Dir. David Lynch
Feat. Bill Pullman, Patricia Arquette, Balthazar Getty…; Welcome to Lynchland. Where picket fences surround troubled, violent, sexual twisted souls who converse in awkwardly measured rhythms. David Lynch…
Twilight (1997): Dir. Robert Benton
Feat. Paul Newman, Susan Sarandon, Gene Hackman…; Star wattage brightens this old–fashioned, autumnal mystery–drama, reuniting NOBODY'S FOOL director Benton with Paul Newman as a…
U-Turn (1997): Dir. Oliver Stone
Feat. Sean Penn, Jennifer Lopez, Nick Nolte…; The Drifter, Sean Penn, swerves into a small desert town for a round of duelling tangos with Femme Jennifer Lopez and local Kingpin Nick Nolte, while…
Unforgettable (1997): Dir. John Dahl
Feat. Ray Liotta, Linda Fiorentino; A modern noir with a conceit lifted straight out of a sci–fi B–movie, cop Ray Liotta's obsession to learn the truth about his wife's…
Winner, The (1997): Dir. Alex Cox
Feat. Vincent D'Onofrio, Rebecca De Mornay, Frank Whaley…; Punk director Alex Cox about breaks even with this stageplay custom fitted for the screen. The action revolves around Las Vegas 'winner' Vincent…
Bound (1996): Dir. Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski
Feat. Jennifer Tilly, Gina Gershon; Modern film noir madeover in lesbian chic – Jennifer Tilly and Gina Gershon pout, titillate and conspire their way through the moral marshlands…
Devil in a Blue Dress (1996): Dir. Carl Franklin
Feat. Denzel Washington, Tom Sizemore; The director's follow–up to ONE FALSE MOVE is a black man's noir, some fifty years overdue! We're in 40s LA, where reluctant gumshoe Denzel…
Hard Eight (Sydney) (1996): Dir. Paul Thomas Anderson
Feat. Philip Baker Hall, John C. Reilly, Gwyneth Paltrow…; Cucumber–cool first feature set in the thick of Reno's casino culture, boasts four superb character–based performances and extended…
This World, Then the Fireworks (1996): Dir. Michael Oblowitz
Feat. Billy Zane, Gina Gershon, Chet Baker…; Billy Zane and Gina Gershon play bad seed twins seemingly bonded by irrational behaviour and an incestuous streak in 50s California. Stylised noir…
Underneath, The (1995): Dir. Steven Soderbergh
Feat. Peter Gallagher, Alison Elliott, William Fichtner; A worldweary return to his home–town finds Peter Gallagher tempted all–too–easily into a dangerous criminal enterprise. A…
Wild Side (1995): Dir. Donald Cammell
Feat. Anne Heche, Christopher Walken, Joan Chen…; Bank exec Anne Heche moonlights as a hooker to service a debt and initiates a twisted game of role–playing with miscreants Christopher Walken…
China Moon (1994): Dir. John Bailey
Feat. Ed Harris, Madeleine Stowe; Contemporary film noir, replete with lust–struck fall–guy (Ed Harris), shadowy femme fatale (Madeleine Stowe), a murdered husband, and…
Killer (1994): Dir. Mark Malone
Feat. Anthony LaPaglia, Mimi Rogers; Ace hitman Anthony LaPaglia is hired to bump off glamour informant Mimi Rogers, whom he discovers is suicidal. Pacey and atmospheric, with an…
Equinox (1993): Dir. Alan Rudolph
Feat. Matthew Modine, Lara Flynn Boyle, Marisa Tomei…; Matthew Modine plays good and evil identical twins whose parallel lives intersect. The eclectic mix of styles may strike one's fancy in the right…
Golden Gate (1993): Dir. John Madden
Feat. Matt Dillon, Joan Chen, Bruno Kirby; Rookie FBI agent Matt Dillon is assigned to expose subversives in McCarthy–era San Fransisco, but years later becomes embroiled with the…
Last Seduction, The (1993): Dir. John Dahl
Feat. Linda Fiorentino, Peter Berg, J.T. Walsh…; Magnificent modern noir in which Linda Fiorentino offers the most brazen female performance in years, power–driving her way through a script…
Red Rock West (1993): Dir. John Dahl
Feat. Nicolas Cage, Dennis Hopper, Lara Flynn Boyle; Throw a hapless hero, a femme fatale and a greedy bastard into a desert town seething with infidelity, guns, stolen loot, and set it to a bluesy…
Light Sleeper (1992): Dir. Paul Schrader
Feat. Willem Dafoe, Susan Sarandon, Dana Delany…; Writer of TAXI DRIVER delivers a complex, understated character study of an ex–junkie drug–courier (Willem Dafoe) unable to escape the…
Public Eye, The (1992): Dir. Howard Franklin
Feat. Joe Pesci, Barbara Hershey, Richard Riehle; Fascinating 40s film noir homage with Joe Pesci in a taylor–made role as a tabloid photographer whose seedy contacts enable him to be first on…
White Sands (1992): Dir. Roger Donaldson
Feat. Willem Dafoe, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Mickey Rourke…; When Deputy Willem Dafoe discovers a dead man and half a million bucks, we know something is mighty queer. Enter Mickey Rourke and all is explained.
Final Analysis (1991): Dir. Phil Joanou
Feat. Richard Gere, Kim Basinger, Uma Thurman; Modern attempt at an old–fashioned mystery is more ambitious than it is convincing. Fans of Richard Gere and Kim Basinger may think otherwise.
Shattered (1991): Dir. Wolfgang Petersen
Feat. Tom Berenger, Bob Hoskins, Greta Scacchi…; Tom Berenger plays an amnesia victim perturbed with the fragments of his former life and the suspicious antics of his friends. An innocent victim or…
Catchfire (1990): Dir. Alan Smithee
Feat. Dennis Hopper, Jodie Foster; An engaging oddity directed by Dennis Hopper under a pseudonym, after producers cut the film from its original 3hr length. Hopper himself plays a…
Everybody Wins (1990): Dir. Karel Reisz
Feat. Debra Winger, Nick Nolte, Will Patton…; Arthur Miller's first screenplay since THE MISFITS tells the story of a private eye, hired for a murder enquiry by a strange woman who claims to know…
Grifters, The (1990): Dir. Stephen Frears
Feat. Anjelica Huston, John Cusack, Annette Bening; Small time con–artists Anjelica Huston, John Cusack and Annette Bening cross paths but come to discover little honour among thieves. A quirky,…
Hot Spot, The (1990): Dir. Dennis Hopper
Feat. Don Johnson, Virginia Madsen, Jennifer Connelly…; Don Johnson drifts into nowheresville, where things are more than a little strange and everybody chainsmokes. Steamy modern noir with a sultry blues…
One False Move (1990): Dir. Carl Franklin
Feat. Bill Paxton, Cynda Williams, Billy Bob Thornton; Naive county sheriff Bill Paxton gets a chance at the big–time when two vicious criminals sweep through his sleepy town. Things lighten up…
Two Jakes, The (1990): Dir. Jack Nicholson
Feat. Jack Nicholson, Harvey Keitel; Long–awaited sequel to CHINATOWN, with Jack Nicholson reprising his role as the laconic P.I. whose petty burrowing upturns homicide and…
Kill Me Again (1989): Dir. John Dahl
Feat. Joanne Whalley, Michael Madsen, Val Kilmer; Joanne Whalley–Kilmer asks naive P.I. Val Kilmer to fake her death to throw short–fused Michael Madsen off her trail. Plot nicely twists…
Kill Off, The (1989): Dir. Maggie Greenwald
Feat. Andrew Lee Barrett, Jorja Fox, Ralph Graff; In a small New Jersey town, everyone has a motive to kill off the town gossip. Fascinating, off–beat story based on Jim Thompson's novel. A…
Angel Dust (1987): Dir. Edouard Niermans
Feat. Bernard Giraudeau, Fanny Bastien, Fanny Cottencon; Accomplished thriller in the film noir tradition about an out–of–luck cop who falls for a woman he later begins to suspect of murder.
Tough Guys Don't Dance (1987): Dir. Norman Mailer
Feat. Ryan O'Neal, Isabella Rossellini; This curious black comedy–come–film noir enigma will provide fascinating viewing for some. Based on the director's novel, it marked a…
52 Pick Up (1986): Dir. John Frankenheimer
Feat. Roy Scheider, Ann-Margret; A sleak and mean adaptation of Elmore Leonard's crime novel, with Roy Scheider blackmailed over a brief sexual liason by a trio of murderous,…
Against All Odds (1984): Dir. Taylor Hackford
Feat. Rachel Ward, Jeff Bridges, James Woods; Modern film noir experiment is a loose remake of Out of the Past.
Blood Simple (1984): Dir. Joel Coen
Feat. John Getz, Frances McDormand, Dan Hedaya…; A humdinger debut from the Coen Brothers, who teasingly draw out the sinister activities of shady activities of shady rednecks before nailing things…
Finally Sunday (Vivement Dimanche!) (1983): Dir. Francois Truffaut
Feat. Fanny Ardant, Jean-Louis Trintignant; A businessman in trouble with the police over the murder of his wife's lover finds solace in his secretary who decides to investigate the case…
Hammett (1983): Dir. Wim Wenders
Feat. Frederic Forrest, Peter Boyle, Marilu Henner…; A chequered production history – conflict between director Wenders and exec producer Coppola, money problems – basically rendered the…
Body Heat (1981): Dir. Lawrence Kasdan
Feat. William Hurt, Kathleen Turner; Loose remake of DOUBLE INDEMNITY is a noir classic in itself. William Hurt and Kathleen Turner embark on a torrid affair and conspire to murder her…
American Friend, The (1976): Dir. Wim Wenders
Feat. Bruno Ganz, Samuel Fuller, Nicholas Ray; Twisting thriller stars Bruno Ganz as an apparently terminally–ill man duped into murder. Dennis Hopper plays the American 'friend', while…
Farewell, My Lovely (1975): Dir. Dick Richards
Feat. Robert Mitchum, Charlotte Rampling, John Ireland…; With a nailbitten Robert Mitchum as a weathered Marlowe, this complex Raymond Chandler story is an impressive homage to '40s film noirs.
Long Goodbye, The (1973): Dir. Robert Altman
Feat. Elliott Gould, Sterling Hayden, Nina Van Pallandt; Elliot Gould portrays a '70s Philip Marlowe, a wildly unkempt version of Chandler's legendary detective. Altman's film noir pastiche is equally…
Cercle Rouge, Le (The Red Circle) (1970): Dir. Jean-Pierre Melville
Feat. Alain Delon, Gian Maria Volonte, Yves Montand…; A precisely–crafted colour 'noir' from the French master, dir. Melville, which rejigs the usual ingredients into an exemplary heist…
Boucher, Le (The Butcher) (1969): Dir. Claude Chabrol
Feat. Stephane Audran, Jean Yanne; Psychological thriller probes the perhaps dangerous liaison between a celibate school–teacher and a murder suspect, the local butcher. Rich in…
Le Samourai (The Samurai) (1967): Dir. Jean-Pierre Melville
Feat. Alain Delon; Alain Delon plays an ultra–cool assassin whose flawless disposition is impenetrable to the Gendarmerie but not to a sexy key witness. Steely…
Doulos, Le (The Finger Man) (1963): Dir. Jean-Pierre Melville
Feat. Jean-Paul Belmondo, Serge Reggiani; Eschewing the French New Wave movement in favour of homage to the then ‘passe’ genre of film noir, dir. Jean–Pierre Melville adds shades of…
High and Low (1963): Dir. Akira Kurosawa
Feat. Toshiro Mifune; Adapted from a crime–novel by Ed McBain, this kidnapping–thriller is a central work in dir. Kurosawa’s series of film noirs, combining…
Cape Fear (1962): Dir. J. Lee-Thompson
Feat. Robert Mitchum, Gregory Peck; The original chiller that inspired the recent remake, complete with Bernard Herrmann's bombastic score. Robert Mitchum plays the ex–con…
Blast of Silence (1961): Dir. Allen Baron
Feat. Allen Baron; Grumpy, low–fi noir presides over the movements of a tetchy contract killer (dir. Baron) as he prepares to whack a two–bit mobster during…
Criminal, The (1960): Dir. Joseph Losey
Feat. Sam Wanamaker, Gregoire Aslan; Joseph–Losey–directed crime drama of a con sent to prison after a profitable robbery who is tortured by his fellow prisoners to leak…
A Bout de Souffle (Breathless) (1959): Dir. Jean-Luc Godard
Feat. Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean Seberg, Daniel Boulanger…; Godard's landmark first film pulls out all the stops in the style department – with Jean–Paul Belmondo as the romantic fugitive,…
Cry Terror! (1958): Dir. Andrew L. Stone
Feat. James Mason, Inger Stevens, Rod Steiger…; Crime thriller with Rod Steiger as a mad extortionist who forces a New York shop owner (James Mason) to collect a ransom after threatening to blow up…
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (1956): Dir. Fritz Lang
Feat. Dana Andrews, Joan Fontaine, Sidney Blackmer…; This bleak film noir from director Fritz Lang is a triumph of style and mood with a cynical take on fate and the human condition. An impeccably…
Killer is Loose, The (1956): Dir. Budd Boetticher
Feat. Joseph Cotten, Rhonda Fleming, Wendell Corey; Film noir about a bank robber who escapes prison and sets out on a revenge mission to bring down the cop the killed his wife. Leaning heavily into…
Please Murder Me (Please Murder Me!) (1956): Dir. Peter Godfrey
Feat. Angela Lansbury, Raymond Burr, Dick Foran…; Raymond Burr and Angela Lansbury square off in this tough–minded noir about a lawyers who successfully defends his client only to discover…
Unguarded Moment, The (1956): Dir. Harry Keller
Feat. Esther Williams, George Nader, John Saxon…; Film noir with MGM star Esther Williams playing a High School music teacher and unmarried 'career woman' who is targeted by a stalker. Although…
While the City Sleeps (1956): Dir. Fritz Lang
Feat. Dana Andrews, Rhonda Fleming, George Sanders…; Considered a vastly under–rated Fritz Lang noir, this newspaper drama provides plenty of social commentary depicting the story of the "Lipstick…
Bob Le Flambeur (Bob the Gambler) (1955): Dir. Jean-Pierre Melville
Feat. Roger Duchesne, Isabelle Corney; Superb French noir from the dir. of LE SAMOURAI, here debuting with a taut plan to rob the Deauville casino, that grows ever more perilous for…
Desperate Hours, The (1955): Dir. William Wyler
Feat. Humphrey Bogart, Fredric March, Arthur Kennedy…; A bunch of escaped convicts, led by Bogart, hold a family hostage in this domestic noir thriller based on the Broadway play by Joseph Hayes.…
Rififi (1955): Dir. Jules Dassin
Feat. Jean Servais, Jules Dassin, Magali Noel…; The French reclaim film noir with this methodical and stylish heist movie, famous for its 35 minute real–time bank robbery, executed in virtual…
Storm Fear (1955): Dir. Cornel Wilde
Feat. Cornel Wilde, Jean Wallace, Dan Duryea…; Crime noir about a gang member who seeks shelter with his brother's family after being wounded during a botched bank robbery. Once there, he…
Violent Saturday (1955): Dir. Richard Fleischer
Feat. Victor Mature, Richard Egan, Stephen McNally…; Crisp southern noir in which a bank robbery gone wrong ignites trouble in amongst the morally corrupt citizens of a small town. Ripping dialogue and…
Good Die Young, The (1954): Dir. Lewis Gilbert
Feat. Laurence Harvey, Sir Stanley Baker, Joan Collins…; Fiery British heist–noir with a debt–burdened Laurence Harvey leading a motley crew of down–on–their–luck military men…
Life at Stake, A (1954): Dir. Paul Guilfoyle
Feat. Angela Lansbury, Keith Andes, Douglas Dumbrille…; Minor noir elevated by the presence of Lansbury as a seductress who's business proposition to a struggling architect may not be strictly financial.
Witness to Murder (1954): Dir. Roy Rowland
Feat. Barbara Stanwyck, George Sanders, Gary Merrill…; Film noir following a woman who doubts her sanity after witnessing a murder from her apartment window. While the cops think she is just some…
Hitch-Hiker, The (1953): Dir. Ida Lupino
Feat. Edmond O'Brien, Frank Lovejoy, William Talman; Weekend hunters Edmond O’Brien (D.O.A.) and Frank Lovejoy are terrorised by a psychotic, mass–murdering passenger (William Talman) in this…
Angel Face (1952): Dir. Otto Preminger
Feat. Robert Mitchum, Jean Simmons; Jean Simmons is a woman possessed in this quietly unconventional film noir, playing a take–no–prisoners femme fatale who systematically…
Clash by Night (1952): Dir. Fritz Lang
Feat. Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Ryan, Marilyn Monroe; Simmering jealousies in a run–down fishing village provide downbeat fare from the pen of Clifford Odets. With Barbara Stanwyk, Robert Ryan and…
Kansas City Confidential (1952): Dir. Phil Karlson
Feat. Lee Van Cleef, John Payne, Coleen Gray…; A grimly tough crime drama set in the Kansas City underworld. Payne plays an ex–con who is jailed for an unrelated crime, and on release…
Narrow Margin (1952): Dir. Richard Fleischer
Feat. Charles McGraw, Marie Windsor, Jacqueline White…; A woman planning to testify against the mob must be protected against their assassins on the train trip from Chicago to Los Angeles.
He Ran All The Way (1951): Dir. John Berry
Feat. John Garfield, Shelley Winters, Wallace Ford; Tense film noir features John Garfield as a bank robber on the run and Shelly Winters as the woman who takes him into her home. Garfield's final…
On Dangerous Ground (1951): Dir. Nicholas Ray
Feat. Ida Lupino, Robert Ryan, Ward Bond…; Grimly rewarding noir, with real–life tough guy Robert Ryan in one of his best roles. As a cop helping with a protracted rural manhunt, he…
Prowler, The (1951): Dir. Joseph Losey
Feat. Van Heflin, Evelyn Keyes, John Maxwell…; This underseen "perv noir" deliciously subverts archetypes by twisting its menacing male lead (a terrific Van Heflin) into a 'homme fatale', replete…
Racket, The (1951): Dir. John Cromwell
Feat. Robert Mitchum, Robert Ryan, Lizabeth Scott…; An incorruptible police captain's attempts to clean up the streets of his town leads to confrontation with the local mob boss. Minor noir, previously…
Clouded Yellow, The (1950): Dir. Ralph Thomas
Feat. Jean Simmons, Trevor Howard, Kenneth More…; Superior British noir with Howard as a jaded ex–secret service agent pressed into service when he falls for the charms of mysterious young…
House by the River (1950): Dir. Fritz Lang
Feat. Louis Hayward, Lee Bowman, Jane Wyatt…; Crime noir which chillingly evokes the Victorian era thanks to director Fritz Lang's characteristic attention to detail and mood. When a rich…
Panic in the Streets (1950): Dir. Elia Kazan
Feat. Richard Widmark, Paul Douglas, Barbara Bel Geddes…; Early New Orleans–set Kazan noir, follows the hunt for a killer who may be spreading a bubonic plague. Tense, detailed examination of morality…
Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950): Dir. Otto Preminger
Feat. Dana Andrews, Karl Malden, Gary Merrill…; In one of his keynote roles, Dana Andrews plays an over–aggressive cop on the dirty sidewalks of New York who takes matters into his own hands…
Woman on the Run (1950): Dir. Norman Foster
Feat. Ann Sheridan, Dennis O'Keefe, Robert Keith…; Twisty, San Fransisco–set noir spins a gripping yarn around a mob witness on the run and his estranged wife in grave danger. Excellent and…
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…
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.
Whirlpool (1949): Dir. Otto Preminger
Feat. Gene Tierney, Richard Conte, Jose Ferrer…; Tierney stars as Mrs Ann Sutton, a beautiful woman who seems to be living the dream in LA with her successful psychoanalyst husband William (Conte),…
A Woman's Vengeance (1948): Dir. Zoltan Korda
Feat. Charles Boyer, Ann Blyth, Jessica Tandy…; Murder caper based on the short story "The Gioconda Smile" by Aldous Huxley. Charles Boyer (GASLIGHT) plays a philanderer who's accused of…
Call Northside 777 (1948): Dir. Henry Hathaway
Feat. James Stewart, Lee J. Cobb, Richard Conte…; An enjoyable 'noir' yarn, based on the true story of a man unjustly imprisoned for the murder of a policeman in 1930s Chicago. Jimmie Stewart…
Cry of the City (1948): Dir. Robert Siodmak
Feat. Victor Mature, Richard Conte, Fred Clark…; Dying cop–killer Conte refuses to confess to a crime, and worries that childhood friend turned flinty cop Mature, will implicate his girlfriend…
Gun Crazy (1948): Dir. Joseph H. Lewis
Feat. John Dall, Peggy Cummins; Cocked with outstanding set pieces, daring twists and a desperate, exciting romanticism, this 'B–movie' thriller makes the grade with any of…
He Walked By Night (1948): Dir. Alfred L. Werker
Feat. Richard Basehart, Scott Brady, Roy Roberts; High–tension film noir shot in semi documentary style follows Richard Basehart as a psychopathic loner being doggedly pursued by LAPD's finest.
Naked City, The (1948): Dir. Jules Dassin
Feat. Barry Fitzgerald, Howard Duff, Dorothy Hart…; Classic crime thriller has its eye on a young woman's murder in the 'naked city' of New York, and the two veteran cops in charge of tracking down her…
Sorry, Wrong Number (1948): Dir. Anatole Litvak
Feat. Barbara Stanwyck, Burt Lancaster; The great Barbara Stanwyck cracks up in this crime melodrama, an enjoyably overrought 'visualisation' of what was a gripping and highly successful…
Street With No Name, The (1948): Dir. William Keighley
Feat. Mark Stevens, Richard Widmark, Lloyd Nolan…; One of the grittier film noirs of the 1940s, evokes its tale of corruption, mob violence and FBI infiltration with a semi–documentary surface.…
Velvet Touch, The (1948): Dir. Jack Gage
Feat. Rosalind Russell, Leon Ames, Leo Genn…; Film noir with Rosalind Russell (HIS GIRL FRIDAY) playing a Broadway star who accidentally kills her producer during an argument, then stands by as a…
Born to Kill (1947): Dir. Robert Wise
Feat. Lawrence Tierney, Claire Trevor, Audrey Long…; Cracking, hard–edged B–movie thriller, with studly Lawrence Tierney as a ‘homme fatale’ who seduces his way into a cushy marriage in…
Brute Force (1947): Dir. Jules Dassin
Feat. Burt Lancaster, Hume Cronyn, Charles Bickford…; Surprisingly visceral and violent for its time, this prison drama sees Lancaster play a tough inmate in Westgate Penitentiary who decides to wage war…
Dark Passage (1947): Dir. Delmer Daves
Feat. Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall; Smokey Bogie and Bacall noir thriller in which his convicted murderer flees prison and changes his face to prove his innocence. The first third is…
Desert Fury (1947): Dir. Lewis Allen
Feat. Lizabeth Scott, John Hodiak, Burt Lancaster…; Small town Nevada desert set suspense focusing around a gambling empire obstinately led by a tough woman whose perfect monopoly is interrupted by her…
It Always Rains on Sunday (1947): Dir. Robert Hamer
Feat. Googie Withers, John McCallum, Jack Warner; Overlooked masterpiece of British crime noir which blends kitchen sink realism with the poetic sensibilities of 30's French cinema. An escaped…
Kiss of Death (1947): Dir. Henry Hathaway
Feat. Victor Mature, Brian Donlevy, Coleen Gray…; Fantastic film noir about a career criminal whose attempts to start a new life entangle him with a psychopathic murderer bent on revenge. Richard…
Quai Des Orfevres (1947): Dir. Henri-Georges Clouzot
Feat. Louis Jouvet, Bernard Blier, Suzy Delair…; Romantically bleak French noir about an ambitious starlet and her protective husband who find themselves implicated in the murder of a lecherous…
Black Angel (1946): Dir. Roy William Neill
Feat. Dan Duryea, June Vincent, Peter Lorre…; The husband of a murdered woman and the wife of the man who was convicted for the killing (Duryea and Vincent) team up to prove his innocence, until…
Blue Dahlia, The (1946): Dir. George Marshall
Feat. Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, William Bendix; Riveting Raymond Chandler noir teams Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake in their third on–screen pairing as an ex–bomber pilot accused of…
Dark Corner (1946): Dir. Henry Hathaway
Feat. Lucille Ball, Clifton Webb, Mark Stevens…; Expert film noir concerns a private detective (Stevens) living under the shadow of a murder frame–up concocted by villain Clifton Webb (LAURA).…
Dragonwyck (1946): Dir. Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Feat. Gene Tierney, Vincent Price, Walter Huston; 1940s gothic thriller. Gene Tierney gets married to the local lord of the manor, before discovering the skeletons in the closet of his big spooky…
Man I Love, The (1946): Dir. Raoul Walsh
Feat. Ida Lupino, Robert Alda, Bruce Bennett…; Romantic drama about a New York lounge singer who becomes homesick and decides to visit her siblings on the West Coast, where she unexpectedly falls…
Panique (1946): Dir. Julien Duvivier
Feat. Michel Simon, Viviane Romance; Exemplary French noir based on the novel Les Fiançailles de M. Hire by Georges Simenon, the source of the Patrice Leconte film, MONSIEUR HIRE…
Pink String And Sealing Wax (1946): Dir. Robert Hamer
Feat. Mervyn Johns, Googie Withers, Gordon Jackson; Brit film noir set in a dark and dirty Brighton sees a scheming landlady (Withers) befriend a young chemist's assistant in order to obtain poison to…
Somewhere in the Night (1946): Dir. Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Feat. John Hodiak, Nancy Guild, Lloyd Nolan…; Often underrated 'film noir' has an amnesiac soldier (Hodiak) return to Los Angeles from WW2 to rediscover his identity, only he may not want to... A…
Detour (1945): Dir. Edgar G. Ulmer
Feat. Tom Neal, Ann Savage; Often touted as the best B–movie ever made, this blistering film noir upstaged many of the Hollywood main features it was paired with. Short on…
Fallen Angel (1945): Dir. Otto Preminger
Feat. Dana Andrews, Alice Faye, Linda Darnell; Follow–up to Preminger's film noir LAURA stars Andrews as a penniless drifter who falls in love with beautiful waitress Stella (Darnell) so…
Christmas Holiday (1944): Dir. Robert Siodmak
Feat. Deanna Durbin, Gene Kelly; Considered one of the bleakest Film Noirs of the 1940s, casting musical star Deanna Durbin in a rare serious role as a woman who marries an…
Ministry of Fear (1944): Dir. Fritz Lang
Feat. Ray Milland, Marjorie Reynolds, Carl Esmond…; Fritz Lang's classic film noir focuses on a man who, upon being released from an insane asylum, unwittingly discovers a piece of microfilm intended…
Murder, My Sweet (Farewell, My Lovely) (1944): Dir. Edward Dmytryk
Feat. Dick Powell, Claire Trevor, Anne Shirley…; An iconic 'noir' whose unsavoury storyline is taken from Raymond Chandler's classic novel. Powell plays a detective dragged into a murky case of…
Phantom Lady (1944): Dir. Robert Siodmak
Feat. Alan Curtis, Ella Raines, Virginia Brissac…; Dark little treat of a thriller focused on a married man who spends a night with a mysterious lady and subsequently finds his wife murdered. The…
Hangmen Also Die (1943): Dir. Fritz Lang
Feat. Brian Donlevy, Walter Brennan, Anna Lee…; Moody political thriller with Donlevy on the run after assassinating a prominent Nazi and finding shelter with a Czech family as the manhunt consumes…
Glass Key, The (1942): Dir. Stuart Heisler
Feat. Veronica Lake, Alan Ladd, Brian Donlevy; Alan Ladd re–teams with blonde siren Veronica Lake in this almighty film noir of divided loyalties, crooked politicians, and underworld snares.…
Journey into Fear (1942): Dir. Norman Foster
Feat. Joseph Cotten, Dolores Del Rio, Orson Welles…; Hitchcockian suspenser set around an American engineer's adventures in WW2 Turkey. Loaded down with a maze–like plot (written by star Joseph…
Blind Alley (1939): Dir. Charles Vidor
Feat. Chester Morris, Ralph Bellamy; A gangster escapes from prison and takes a psychiatrist hostage in this home–invasion film noir.
You Only Live Once (1937): Dir. Fritz Lang
Feat. Henry Fonda, Sylvia Sidney; An awesome early film noir from dir. Lang with Fonda playing a career criminal determined to go straight, but compelled by fate into murdering a…

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