Film Noir Favorites 2025

Dark themes, stark camera angles, and high contrast lighting are the characteristics of films of the 40s and 50s that were later called called "film noir" by French film critics who fell in love with them after WWII. These films tell realistic stories about crime, mystery, femme fatales, and moral conflict. Most were originally conceived as low budget “B” movies but many are now regarded as ground-breaking suspense classics with great acting, writing and directing. 

                                          

The Maltese Falcon. Humphrey Bogart and Mary Astor star in this 1941 film that some consider the best detective drama ever, as well as the first true film noir. Sidney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, and Elisha Cook Jr. are the criminals who will stop at nothing to get their hands on a priceless, jewel encrusted statuette. John Huston directed and wrote the screenplay based on the Dashiell Hammett story. 101 minutes. CC.

Sorry, Wrong Number. Barbara Stanwyck stars as a wealthy, bedridden woman who dials a telephone number one night only to overhear two men plotting to murder an unidentified woman. This 1948 film is a classic example of suspense and terror. Stanwyck received an Oscar nomination for her performance. Burt Lancaster co-starred.  89 minutes. CC. 

Phantom Lady. Ella Raines, Franchot Tone, and Alan Curtis star in this 1944 film directed by Robert Siodmak whom many consider the best of all film noir directors. A man is convicted of murdering his wife but the woman who can testify to his innocence has mysteriously disappeared. Elisha Cook appears as a hep cat drummer. 87 minutes. CC.

The Killers. Burt Lancaster stars in his film debut along with Ava Gardner and Edmund O’Brien in this 1946 heist drama. For no apparent reason,two hit men, played by Charles McGraw and William Conrad, gun down a gas station attendant in one of filmdom's most memorable openings. An insurance investigator tries to get to the bottom of the story with tragic results. Robert Siodmak directed this classic based on a story by Ernest Hemingway. 103 minutes. No captions.

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers. Barbara Stanwyck stars as the wealthiest and most powerful woman in a Midwestern factory town. However, she shares a dark secret with her unhappy, alcoholic husband played by Kirk Douglas in his film debut. When an old acquaintance comes to town, things fall apart. Directed by Lewis Milestone, this 1945 film also stars Van Heflin and Lizabeth Scott. 116 minutes. No captions.

 Kiss of Death. Victor Mature and Collen Gray star in this 1947 suspenseful drama of betrayal and violence. Mature plays an Italian American hoodlum who goes to prison rather than squeal on his associates after a botched jewel robbery. Directed by Henry Hathaway the opening scene where the criminals try to make their getaway in a crowded elevator is iconic. This film also provided a breakout role for Richard Widmark who plays a psychopathic murderer with a cackling laugh. 99 minutes. CC.

Double Indemnity. Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray star in this 1944  film classic directed by Billy Wilder. An insurance agent falls for the beautiful wife of a client to whom he has just sold a life insurance policy, and then they scheme to bump him off. Stanwyck, sporting a cheap blond wig, plays one of the great film femme-fatales. Edward G. Robinson is magnificent as a claims investigator. 107 minutes. CC.

The Spiral Staircase. Dorothy McGuire, George Brent, and Ethel Barrymore star in this 1945 ground-breaking suspense thriller directed by Robert Siodmak. Mc Guire plays a young woman, who despite having lost her speech in a childhood trauma, serves as a caretaker for an elderly bed-ridden women in one of the creepiest mansions ever. On a dark and stormy night a murderer is on the loose. The film also features Elsa Lancaster and Rhonda Fleming. 84 minutes. CC. 

The Street with No Name.  Richard Widmark again plays a psychotic gangster and Mark Stevens is an undercover FBI agent who infiltrates  the criminal gang in this 1948 documentary style film based on FBI files. The film is a tense, taut thriller with excellent filmnoir cinematography. 91 minutes. CC.

The Big Heat. Glenn Ford, and Gloria Grahame star in this 1953 film noir directed by Fritz Lang. Ford plays a police detective out for revenge against a vicious gangster played by a young Lee Marvin. 90 minutes. CC.

The Third Man. Joseph Cotton, Alida Valli, Orson Welles, and Trevor Howard star in Carol Reed’s 1949 film noir classic, universally regarded as one of the greatest films of all time. Set in post war Vienna, the film brought together a great writer, a great director, a magnificent cast, a great setting, innovative black and white cinematography, and a wonderful music score. 104 minutes. No captions.

Most of these films are available on streaming services but I prefer to watch DVD versions with no commercial interruptions. The DVDs often include informative special features and commentaries as well as closed captioning (CC) for the hearing impaired. 

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Alfred Hitchcock Presents

 

 

If you want a break from hurricanes and the election, try any of these films by Alfred Hitchcock.

Famed British film director Alfred Hitchcock’s long career spanned almost 50 years. Known as the Master of Suspense, he came to America in 1940 and his first film, Rebecca, won the Academy Award for Best Picture. Today, he is best known for Technicolor classics like Rear Window, Vertigo, and North by Northwest. Older readers might remember his long running TV series, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, that featured short suspenseful dramas all introduced by Hitchcock himself. Who could ever forget the episode where a woman after killing her husband by hitting him over the head with a frozen leg of lamb, cooked the lamb and then served the evidence to the policemen investigating the homicide?

Nevertheless, I prefer some of his earlier black and white films that demonstrate that he was not only a master storyteller, but also a master of film noir and its techniques. Below find short descriptions of some of my favorites. It never ceases to surprise me that even senior citizens have never heard of or seen these classics. 

Rebecca. As mentioned above, Rebecca was Hitchcock’s first American film. Joan Fontaine, Lawrence Olivier, and Judith Anderson starred in this 1940 suspense drama based on a novel by Daphne du Maurier. Olivier plays a British aristocrat, a widower after the mysterious death of his beautiful and accomplished wife, who brings his new wife home to his estate that seems under the spell of the deceased Rebecca.   This film won the Academy Awards that year for Best Picture and Best Cinematography, and Fontaine, Olivier, and Anderson received Academy Award nominations for their performances. Hitchcock was at his best in Rebecca. 130 minutes. 

Shadow of a Doubt. Joseph Cotton and Teresa Wright starred in this 1943 thriller.  A long-lost relative returns to a sleepy small town for a stay with relatives who welcome him with open arms. He charms the whole town, but his niece begins to have doubts about Uncle Charley. Filmed on location in Santa Rosa, California, Shadow of a Doubt was Alfred Hitchcock’s personal favorite. 108 minutes.

Spellbound. Gregory Peck and Ingrid Bergman starred in this 1945 film about murder and repressed memory. Psychotherapy and psychoanalysis were starting to make their way into Hollywood and Hitchcock went all out in this film full of dreams and analysis. Surrealist painter Salvador Dali was even brought in to help with the dream sequences although most of his work never made it to the final cut. The film received nominations for Best Picture and Best Director, and famed musical director Miklos Rozsa won for Best Score. 111 minutes.

Stage Fright. Marlene Dietrich, Jane Wyman, and Richard Todd starred in this little known 1950 film shot in England. Dietrich plays a theatrical entertainer whose husband has been murdered. Police suspect her lover who claims his innocence and hides out with Wyman’s family.  The plot thickens until the typical Hitchcockian ending. Dietrich gets a chance to sing in her own inimitable fashion. The film also features famed British actors, Alastair Sim, Sybil Thorndike, and Joyce Grenfell. 110 minutes. 

Strangers on a Train. Farley Granger and Robert Walker starred in this 1951 Hitchcock thriller where a chance meeting on a train results in murder. This is my favorite Hitchcock film, from the opening sequence as we follow the footsteps of two men boarding a train, to the climactic finale which takes place on a carousel in an amusement park, a finale that is one of the most memorable in film history.  Robert Walker, who normally played boy next door roles, gave his greatest performance as a charming psychopath planning the perfect murder. Ruth Roman, and Patricia Hitchcock, the director’s daughter, are featured.101 minutes. 

I Confess. Montgomery Clift starred in this 1953 film as a priest who hears a killer’s confession but then is accused of the murder himself.  Unable to speak out because of the seal of the confessional, police and public opinion turn against him especially when it turns out there was a woman (Anne Baxter) in his past. The film was beautifully photographed on location in Quebec. 95 minutes.

I prefer to watch these films on DVD as opposed to streaming. Most of the DVDs for the films listed above come with special features that discuss the actual making of the films. In addition, there are no ads, and most include close captioning for the hearing impaired. 

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More Film Noir 2024

 

In the past few years, I have become a big fan of a certain kind of American film from the 1940s and 50s. They are primarily black and white dark crime dramas that French film makers and critics called “film-noir” when they rediscovered American films after the liberation of France in 1945. The term film-noir refers not only to the dark themes of these movies but also to the nighttime settings and the often-startling contrasts between light and dark, black and white. In my opinion, film-noir represents a short-lived American film renaissance that came to an end with the advent of television and technicolor. 

Below find brief descriptions of some of these films that I have viewed this year. Not only are they gripping, well-told stories with masterful directing and acting, but also, they bring me back to the days of my childhood. In the background I can see a world that is no more: the dark dingy streets, the small apartments, the old telephones that people always answer, and the incessant cigarette smoking. I imagine my parents sitting in crowded theaters, and I wonder what they thought as they watched these films play out on the big screen.

 

Bogart and Bacall

The Big Sleep.  Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall star in this 1946 adaptation of Raymond Chandler’s crime novel. Bogart plays Chandler’s legendary private eye Philip Marlowe on the trail of killers, pornographers, gamblers, and a bevy of beautiful young women. In this film and in the earlier Maltese Falcon Bogart created the private eye. No one else ever came close. This was the second film pairing of Bogie and Bacall and director Howard Hawks really brought out the chemistry between the famous couple.The plot is convoluted but the writing is superb. 114 minutes. CC.

Call Northside 777. James Stewart stars in this 1948 film as a Chicago newspaperman who reluctantly investigates the case of a convict who has already spent ten years in prison for the murder of a policeman. The convict, played by Richard Conte, is the son of Polish immigrants. His widowed mother has spent years scrubbing floors to raise money for a reward for information that might help free her son. Some superb character actors also appear in this very naturalistic film that was based on a true story. 111 minutes. CC.

Whirlpool. Gene Tierney, one of Hollywood’s most beautiful actresses ever, stars in this 1949 story of a woman secretly suffering from kleptomania who turns to a hypnotist to cure her condition. Soon afterwards she is found at the scene of a murder with no memory of how she got there and no way to prove her innocence. Richard Conte and Jose Ferrer co-star. In the same year Ferrer won the Best Actor award for his performance in Cyrano de Bergerac. 98 minutes. CC.

The Set Up. Robert Ryan and Audrey Totter star in this 1949 film about the dark underside of boxing. Robert Wise, who later would make West Side Story and The Sound of Music, directed this realistic, gritty drama about a washed-up fighter hoping for one last win. The fighter’s story plays out against a background of  a low-down section of a city ironically named Paradise City, crooked fight promoters, and a vicious blood thirsty fight crowd. Film critic Eddie Muller of Turner Classic Movie fame regards The Set Up as the best boxing film ever. 79 minutes. CC.

They Live by Night. Farley Granger and Kathy O’Donnell star in this 1949 film of young lovers mixed up with a gang of criminals. This film is regarded by many as the forerunner to Bonnie and Clyde. Two young lovers meet and fall in love, but circumstances force them into a life of crime. Inevitably, our hearts go out to them right until the tragic ending. This film marked Nicholas Ray’s directorial debut, and the opening scene shot from a helicopter was a film innovation. 95 minutes. CC.

Peggy Cummins

Gun Crazy.  Peggy Cummins and John Dall star in this 1950 story of two star-crossed lovers who meet in a carnival shooting contest and immediately go together like guns and ammunition. The two become bank robbers on the run who roar into movie history in a bench-mark film noir thriller. Just as in They Live by Night our hearts go out to the young couple, but things go from bad to worse. In this one film British actress Peggy Cummins became one of the top femme fatales in film history. 87 minutes. CC. 

The Brothers Rico. Richard Conte stars in this 1957 film as a successful businessman who has managed to escape his past as an accountant with the mob until his former boss calls him back to find his two younger brothers who are on the lam from both the police and the mob. Based on a story by famed Belgian crime novelist George Simenon. Anyone not familiar with Simenon’s crime novels, especially his police stories featuring Parisian Police Inspector Maigret, can look forward to years of enjoyable reading. 92 minutes. CC.

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More Film Noir Favorites 2023

Below are brief reviews of ten films that my wife and I enjoyed watching in 2023. Usually known as film noir, these black and white films were a staple of what is known as Hollywood’s Golden Age. They feature some of the leading stars of the era and were done by directors and other craftsmen who not only were true artists, but who also knew how to gain and hold an audience. In addition to being good stories they also provide a real window into the world of my childhood. 

I like to view these films on DVD, but most are available on streaming services. CC indicates that close captioning is available for the hearing impaired.

 

Laura. Gene Tierney and Dana Andrews star in this 1944 thriller that is now regarded as one of the best films of all time. Tierney, one of Hollywood’s most beautiful actresses, catapulted to stardom in the title role. Clifton Webb, in his first screen role, received a best supporting actor nomination, and Vincent Price, and Judith Anderson rounded out the superb cast. Otto Preminger directed this film marked by great writing, cinematography, set design, and a music score based on the haunting Laura theme. The DVD version comes with an excellent commentary by Jeanine Basinger, creator of the Gene Tierney collection at Wesleyan University.  88 minutes.  CC.

 

Boomerang.  Director Elia Kazan won critical acclaim for this 1947 film based on a true-life story about the murder of a beloved priest. Dana Andrews starred as a District Attorney out to bring the suspected murderer to justice. Filmed on location in Stamford, Connecticut, this naturalistic court room drama was based on a pivotal case in the career of Homer Cummings, who would go on to become Attorney General of the United States. Jane Wyatt, and Lee J. Cobb play supporting roles. 85 minutes. CC.

In a Lonely Place.  In this 1950 film Humphrey Bogart, who appeared in more outstanding films than any other male actor, gave one of his best performances as a veteran screenwriter whose career is plagued by anger issues. After a chance meeting with a young hat-check girl he becomes a prime suspect when the girl is found murdered. Film Noir favorite Gloria Grahame matched Bogart’s performance in this film directed by ground-breaking director Nicholas Ray, who also happened to be her husband at the time. 94 minutes. CC.

The Burglar. This little known 1957 crime thriller with typical noir twists and turns stars Dan Duryea as a cunning jewel thief hoping to pull off a final big heist. Jayne Mansfield, before she became a blond sex-bomb, is very effective in her role as one of the burglar’s accomplices. This film, based on a novel by famed crime writer David Goodis, marked the directorial debut of Paul Wendkos who showed he was a noir master from the surprising opening scene, through the suspenseful burglary, and finally to the tragic end shot on the boardwalk of Atlantic City. Oddly enough, Wendkos is best known for directing “Gidget.”  90 minutes. No subtitles.

Witness to Murder. Barbara Stanwyck stars in this 1954 film noir as a woman fighting to convince police that one sleepless night, she saw a young woman being strangled in an apartment across the street. When a body cannot be found, the police suspect that she has either been dreaming or out of her mind. George Sanders and Gary Merrill co-star. Roy Rowland directed this film with help from innovative cinematographer John Alton. 83 minutes. No subtitles.

I Wake Up Screaming. In a rare dramatic role Betty Grable plays the sister of a beautiful, murdered model in this tense 1941 thriller. While police search for the murderer, Grable is falling in love with the prime suspect played by Victor Mature, the first Italian American to become a leading man. The many plot twists and turns leave viewers guessing right to the end. Some critics consider this film to be the first film noir. It was shot at the same time as the Maltese Falcon and has even more noir features that would show up again and again in subsequent films. In addition to the plot twists, there are the many flash-backs characteristic of noir, the police interrogation room with its bright light and dark shadows, and the haunting strains of Street Scene, a song that can be heard in many later noir dramas. 82 minutes. CC.

Lady from Shanghai. Orson Welles directed and starred in this spellbinding 1948 film that also starred beautiful femme fatale Rita Hayworth. Hired to work on a yacht belonging to Hayworth’s wealthy but disabled husband, Welles is drawn into a web of intrigue and murder. Everett Sloane, a Welles favorite turns in a masterful performance especially in the courtroom scene. The climax of the film takes place in a Hall of Mirrors in a deserted amusement park. It is one of the greatest scenes in film history. 88 minutes. CC.

The Asphalt Jungle. John Huston directed this 1950 classic noir heist drama that has often been copied but never equaled. Sterling Hayden, Sam Jaffe, and Louis Calhern star as the principals in a plot to steal a fortune in jewels. Huston humanizes his criminals. They have their flaws, often fatal, but they are not all bad. The film also features Jean Hagan, best known as silent film star Lina Lamont in the great musical Singing in the Rain, as a down and out “B” girl, and Marilyn Monroe in a fine early performance. Her body and personality later made Monroe an international icon, but she could act. As Ginger Rogers noted in one of her films with Fred Astaire: “It takes brains to act dumb.” 112 minutes. CC.

Nightfall. Aldo Ray and a young Anne Bancroft star in this 1957 film noir about a young man innocently trapped in a web of crime and murder. The film features some of the best work of two film noir masters: director Jacques Tourneur, and Burnett Guffey, the cinematographer whose dark city scenes and winter landscapes are classic noir. This film is very loosely based on a novel by crime writer David Goodis. 79 minutes. CC.

Christmas Holiday. Although the action takes place on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, this 1944 film, based on a novel by Somerset Maugham, is not typical Holiday fare. Deanna Durbin and Gene Kelly star in unfamiliar roles. Durbin’s singing voice and wholesome personality had made her a box office favorite but here she appears in a serious role as a night club singer with a dark history who meets a stranded soldier on Christmas Eve in New Orleans. Despite its dark theme, the film features some outstanding music. Durbin sings two songs including Irving Berlin’s haunting Always; a symphony orchestra performs Wagner’s Liebestod, often used in films about doomed lovers; and there is even a dramatic filming of a Midnight Mass in a packed cathedral. The director was Robert Siodmak, regarded as the best of all noir directors by TCM critic Eddie Muller. 93 minutes. No subtitles.

 Happy New Year.

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Film Noir Favorites 2023

                               

 

As a Senior Citizen I find it very difficult to watch modern movies either in theaters or on TV. It is not only just the gratuitous violence and sexuality, but also the incessant and confusing image changes on the screen. Just as in TV commercials, no image seems to appear for more than a second or two. I can’t stand or understand the furious editing. What a difference from the films that people of my generation grew up with. A director could just set his camera down and let his stars act for a couple of uninterrupted minutes. Such scenes, so common in Hollywood’s Golden Age, would be unthinkable today.

Hollywood’s Golden Age refers to films made from the coming of sound in the thirties to the advent of TV in the fifties.  These were the films my parents watched in theaters, and which I originally watched as a teenager when they began to appear on TV in the fifties. My favorites are the black and white dark crime dramas that French film makers and critics called “film-noir” when they rediscovered American films after the liberation of France in 1945. The term film-noir refers not only to the dark themes of these movies but also to the nighttime settings and the startling contrasts between light and dark, black and white. 

Often, many of these films were low budget productions usually designed to be seen as the second feature on traditional Hollywood double bills. Today, many are regarded as ground-breaking classics. They featured great directors, actors, writers, and film craftsmen and craftswomen. To fill the insatiable demand for movies in America, Hollywood even imported talent from abroad. In my opinion, film-noir represents a short-lived American film renaissance that came to an end with the advent of television and technicolor. 

Below find brief descriptions of some of these films that I have viewed again this past year. Actually, I have viewed them many times and always enjoy coming back to them. Not only are they gripping, extremely well-told stories with masterful directing and acting, but also, they bring me back to the days of my childhood. In the background I can see a world that is no more: the dark dingy streets, the small apartments, the old telephones that people always answer, and the incessant cigarette smoking.               

 

Richard Widmark as Tommy Udo

Kiss of Death. Victor Mature and Collen Gray star in this 1947 suspenseful drama of betrayal and violence. Mature plays a hoodlum who goes to prison rather than squeal on his associates in a botched jewel robbery. In this film the criminals are sons of Italian immigrants, as in many of the films of this era, but the film depicts the good, the bad , and the conflicted among them. Directed by Henry Hathaway this film provided a breakout role for Richard Widmark who plays a psychopathic murderer with a cackling laugh that would become his trademark. 99 minutes. CC                        

High Sierra.  Humphrey Bogart and Ida Lupino star in this ground-breaking 1941 drama. Bogart plays a prohibition era gangster released from prison only to find himself out of place in a new world. Written by John Huston, and directed with gritty intensity by Raoul Walsh, High Sierra signaled a new era in film in its attempt to humanize the criminal. 100 minutes. CC.

The Narrow Margin:  Charles McGraw and Marie Windsor, the dark lady of film noir, star in this 1952 thriller where most of the action takes place on a speeding train. McGraw plays a cop guarding a dead gangster’s moll (Windsor) as they travel from Chicago to LA to testify before a grand jury. Also on the train are determined hitmen who know the moll is on the train but don’t know what she looks like. This low-budget film effectively dispensed with background music in favor of the sounds of the moving train. 71 minutes. CC.

The Killing: Sterling Hayden stars in a 1956 heist drama directed in revolutionary fashion by Stanley Kubrick at the start of his career. Classic femme fatale Marie Windsor heads up a fine supporting cast that also includes Elisha Cook Jr. as her wimpy husband. This tough, tense film is one of the greatest crime dramas ever made. 85 minutes. CC.

He Walked by Night. Richard Basehart and Scott Brady star in a 1948 police procedural about a manhunt for a cop-killer. The ending takes place in the incredible Los Angeles storm sewer system. This film became the prototype for the famed TV series, Dragnet. Jack Webb, the creator of Dragnet, appears in a supporting role.  79 minutes. CC.

Roadhouse.  Ida Lupino stars in this 1948 film about a sultry, nightclub singer who upsets the friendship of two men with tragic results. Lupino sings her own songs in this film and demonstrates how a skilled actress can put over a song without much of a voice. Cornell Wilde, and Richard Widmark, one of the premier noir villains, co-star. Directed by Jean Negulesco with extraordinary black and white cinematography by Joseph LaShelle. 95 minutes. CC.

 

Too Late for Tears: Lizabeth Scott and Dan Duryea, one of noir’s top villains, star in this 1949 tale of a beautiful, scheming housewife who will let nothing stand in her way after a fortune drops into her lap. This role places Lizabeth Scott among the top femme fatales in noir history. The film also features Don Defore who would later become famous in TV sit coms like Ozzie and Harriet and Hazel. Directed by Byron Haskin, the film was recently restored after years of being lost. 100 minutes. CC.

 

Impact: Brian Donlevy and Ella Raines star in this 1949 film about a successful businessman whose wife and her lover scheme to bump off.  The film features Helen Walker as the conniving wife, Charles Coburn as a detective, and famed Chinese-American actress Anna May Wong. Directed by Arthur Lubin. 111 minutes.

Dark Passage: Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall star in this 1947 film about a man who breaks out of prison after being falsely convicted of murdering his wife, and has to undergo plastic surgery to escape the law. Perhaps the least well-known of the four films that starred the famous couple, it ranks with their best. Based on a novel by famed crime writer David Goodis. Agnes Morehead is outstanding as the villainess, and Horseley Stephenson creates an iconic plastic surgeon who makes a man look like Humphrey Bogart in just 90 minutes, and for only $200. 106 minutes. CC.*

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*Note: I prefer to use DVDs when watching these films. CC means that close captioning is available for the hearing impaired on the DVD. Many of them can also be available from streaming services.  

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Film Noir Favorites 2022

                                                                

Hollywood’s Golden Age refers to films made from the coming of sound in the thirties to the advent of TV in the fifties. These were the films my parents watched in theaters, and which I originally watched as a teenager when they began to appear on TV in the fifties. My favorites are the black and white dark crime dramas that French film makers and critics called “film-noir” when they rediscovered American films after the liberation of France in 1945. The term film-noir refers not only to the dark themes of these movies but also to the nighttime settings and the startling contrasts between light and dark, black and white. 

Below find brief descriptions of some of these films that I have viewed in the past year. Not only are they gripping, extremely well-told stories with masterful directing and acting, but also, they bring me back to the days of my childhood. In the background I can see a world that is no more: the dark dingy streets, the small apartments, the old telephones that people always answer, and the incessant cigarette smoking. 

 

Shadow of a Doubt. Joseph Cotton and Teresa Wright star in this 1943 thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Cotton plays a long-lost relative, Uncle Charley, who returns to a sleepy small town for a stay with his sister and her family who welcome him with open arms. He charms them and the whole town but his niece, played extremely well by Teresa Wright, begins to have doubts about her beloved uncle. Hitchcock decided to film on location in Santa Rosa , California, the epitome of a sleepy, ordinary American town. It was a wise decision as we get a look at an American way of life that hardly exists anymore, but also see what can happen when it is invaded by an evil presence. According to Hitchcock’s daughter, this was her father’s favorite film. 

The Suspect. Charles Laughton and Ella Raines star in this 1944 film by film noir master Robert Siodmak, one of the many German artists who fled Germany when the Nazis came to power. The film is set in a quiet London neighborhood in the early twentieth century. Laughton plays a  respectable office manager in a small business who also has been married for years to a shrewish wife.  When he falls in love with a sweet, young stenographer, his wife refuses to give him a divorce and threatens to disgrace him and the girl. When the wife is found dead by an apparent accident, the police become suspicious. Laughton is at his best in this film.

The Street with No Name. Richard Widmark  plays a gangster and Mark Stevens is an undercover FBI agent who infiltrates  the criminal gang in this 1948 documentary style film based on FBI files. Widmark rose to stardom by playing psychotic gangsters as no one else could. Older readers might remember his film debut in the 1947 film, Kiss of Death, where in a fit of rage, he pushes an old lady in a wheelchair down a flight of steps. The film is a tense, taut thriller with excellent noir cinematography. 

D.O.A. The title of this 1950 film means Dead on Arrival. Edmund O’Brien stars as an ordinary accountant who spends the last hours of his life hunting down the man who poisoned him. Originally not well received, it is now regarded as a noir classic.  Many of the scenes were shot on location in a San Francisco, enabling us to take a look back and see what the city looked like 70 years ago. In one amazing scene we get a view of a crowded Market Street as Edmund O’Brien runs through a maze of pedestrian who seem oblivious to the filming. D.O.A. is not among the best film noirs but you cannot count yourself as a fan unless you have seen it.

Panic in the Streets. In this 1950 film, Richard Widmark stars as a public health official desperately trying to prevent an unsuspecting plague carrier from infecting  the entire city of New Orleans. After rising to fame as one of filmdom’s greatest villains, Widmark  wanted to break out  and play a good guy. Still, he has a hard edge. His character is an underpaid, overworked and somewhat disgruntled government official. He can hardly pay his family’s bills and work keeps him from paying attention to his wife, played beautifully by Barbara bel Geddes, and young son. Things get even worse when the medical examiner finds evidence of plague in the body of a murder victim. Director Elia Kazan shot the film on location in neo-realist style as he plumbed the depths of the New  Orleans waterfront dives. The film also features Paul Douglas, Jack Palance, in his film debut, and Zero Mostel. This film is a precursor to On the Waterfront, Kazan’s masterpiece shot on the docks of New York City.

This Gun for Hire.  In this 1942 film Alan Ladd plays a hitman on the lam from both the police and his employer in a breakout role that made him a star. It also marked the beginning of his film association with sultry Veronica Lake. Based on a novella by famed British author Grahame Greene, the film and Ladd created a new kind of criminal.  The film humanizes the killer and explores the background that turned him into a hired gunman.

Key Largo. Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall star in this 1948  film that marked the last of their four joint film appearances. The fine cast included Edward G. Robinson, Lionel Barrymore, and Claire Trevor who won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. In this film directed by John Huston, Robinson plays a notorious gangster who holds the residents of a Florida boarding house hostage while a hurricane rages outside. 

Chinatown.  Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway star in this 1974  technicolor tribute to the film noir crime dramas of Hollywood’s Golden Age. Set in Los Angeles in 1937, a private eye is hired by a wealthy socialite to see if her husband is having an affair. But a simple case of adultery soon turns into a dark world of conspiracy and murder. Directed by Roman Polanski, this film is often listed as one of the greatest films of all time.

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Top Film Picks: 2020

 

At this time of year it is traditional to present top film lists. My list for 2020 is drawn from the past. Few contemporary films will stand the test of time.

In the past few years, I have become a big fan of a certain kind of American film from the 1940s and 50s. They are primarily black and white dark crime dramas that French film makers and critics called film-noir when they rediscovered American films after the liberation of France in 1945.The term film-noir refers not only to the dark themes of these movies but also to the nighttime settings and the often-startling contrasts between light and dark, black and white. 

Originally, these films were low budget productions often designed to be presented as the second feature on traditional Hollywood double bills. Nevertheless, today many are regarded as ground-breaking classics. They featured great directors, actors, writers, and film craftsmen and craftswomen. To fill the insatiable demand for movies in America, Hollywood even imported talent from abroad. In my opinion, film-noir represents a short-lived American film renaissance that came to an end with the advent of television and technicolor. 

Below find brief descriptions of eight of these films that I have viewed this year.* Not only are they gripping, extremely well-told stories with masterful directing and acting, but also, they bring me back to the days of my childhood. In the background I can see a world that is no more: the dark dingy streets, the small apartments, the old telephones, and the incessant cigarette smoking. 

 

Double Indemnity: Famed director Billy Wilder directed this classic 1944 film noir about an insurance salesman who falls for a client’s wife, and then joins with her in a plot to kill him and collect on his life insurance. Barbara Stanwyck, blond wig and all, stars as the devious wife, and Fred MacMurray plays the salesman. Edward G. Robinson is excellent as the suspicious claims' investigator. 

Phantom Lady: In 1944 Robert Siodmak directed a number of films that would later make critics regard him as one of the great masters of film-noir. Phantom Lady, a little-known thriller, is no exception. After a fight with his wife on their anniversary, a man goes to a bar to drown his sorrows. When he returns home, he finds that police are waiting to arrest him for the murder of his wife. His only alibi depends on a woman he met in the bar, but he doesn’t even know her name. The film stars Alan Curtis, Ella Raines, and Franchot Tone.

I’ll Be Seeing You: This 1944 film is a holiday drama with noir trappings. Two strangers meet on a train, but she is a woman with a past and he is a soldier suffering from war wounds, both physical and mental. The film stars Ginger Rogers, who turned to dramatic roles after the break-up of her famed dancing partnership with Fred Astaire; and Joseph Cotton, who was at the height of his career after appearances in Citizen Kane and the Magnificent Ambersons.  Director William Dieterle not only brings out the chemistry between the two stars, but also gets the most out of a fine supporting cast, including a teen-age Shirley Temple.

Detour: A down on his luck musician hitchhiking to Hollywood finds himself with a dead body on his hands. Things go from bad to worse when he gets entangled with the most vicious femme-fatale in cinema history.  Tom Neal played the musician, and Ann Savage, whose career as a Hollywood starlet was on the wane, became a film icon with her portrayal of the woman he picks up on the road. Directed by Edgar G. Ulmer, the master of low budget films, this 1945 film took just a couple of weeks to shoot. 

Ann Savage

The Big Heat. Glenn Ford stars as a rogue police detective conducting a vendetta against a crime syndicate in this 1953 film by famed noir director Fritz Lang. Lee Marvin portrays a sadistic gangster and Gloria Grahame is excellent as his unfortunate girlfriend.

I Want To Live: Susan Hayward won an Academy Award for her portrayal of a party girl who gets mixed up with a gang of thieves. When a botched robbery leads to murder, her associates implicate her, and she is convicted and sentenced to death in the gas chamber. Based on a true story, Robert Wise directed this 1958 film in documentary fashion. The film was a big hit and featured background music by legendary Jazz saxophonist Gerry Mulligan.

Touch of Evil: Orson Welles directed this 1958 film about crime and depravity in a Mexican border town.  It is a mangled masterpiece since the studio made drastic cuts and revisions without the director’s permission. The DVD release restores many of the cuts. The opening itself is a film icon. Charlton Heston and Janet Leigh star, and a heavily disguised Welles plays a corrupt police chief. Some critics believe this film to be the last American film-noir.

Orson Welles

Le Samourai: Renowned French director, Jean-Pierre Melville, directed this 1967 mixture of 1940s American gangster movies, 1960s French pop culture, and Japanese lone-warrior mythology. Alain Delon, who looks and acts like the young Clint Eastwood, plays a contract killer with samurai instincts. Shot is subdued color; Melville’s masterpiece defines cool. 

 

Bonus pick. 

Remember the Night: Barbara Stanwyck and Fred Mac Murray co-star in this 1940 holiday romance with touches of film-noir. It is interesting to compare them in this film with their roles in Double Indemnity four years later. They were a great pair. Directed by Preston Sturges this film is full of warmth and charm with fine performances by the supporting cast. 

 

Many of these films can be streamed today but I prefer to use DVDs because they often include excellent commentaries, background information, and subtitles for people like myself who are hearing impaired.

Happy viewing and a Happy New Year.

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*Eight other noir films were featured earlier this year in a post on The Weekly Bystander.

Film Noir Favorites, Summer 2020

Ava Gardner in The Killers

Dark themes, stark camera angles, and high contrast lighting are the characteristics of films of the 40s and 50s that were later called called "film noir" by French film critics who fell in love with them after WWII. These films tell realistic stories about crime, mystery, femme fatales, and moral conflict. Most were originally conceived as low budget “B” movies but many are now regarded as ground-breaking suspense classics with great acting, writing and directing.                                             

The Maltese Falcon. Humphrey Bogart and Mary Astor star in this 1941 film that some consider the best detective drama ever, as well as the first true film noir. Sidney Greenstreet, and Peter Lorre are the criminals who will stop at nothing to get their hands on a priceless, jewel encrusted statuette. John Huston directed and wrote the screenplay based on the Dashiell Hammett story. 

Mystery Street.  Ricardo Montalban stars in this 1950 crime drama as a Cape Cod police officer who turns to a Harvard forensic expert to identify and track down the murderer of a skeleton washed up on a dune. Elsa Lancaster, Jan Sterling, and Sally Forrest are featured in one of the first films to employ forensics. Directed by John Sturges with famed cinematographer, John Alton. 

Sorry, Wrong Number. Barbara Stanwyck stars as a wealthy, bedridden woman who dials a telephone number one night only to overhear two men plotting to murder an unidentified woman. This 1948 film is a classic example of suspense and terror. Stanwyck received an Oscar nomination for her performance. Burt Lancaster co-starred. 

Touchez Pas au Grisbi. After WWII, French filmmakers discovered American films that they labelled "film-noir." They appreciated and admired these dark films and began to produce their own. In this 1954 film Jean Gabin stars as an aging gangster who comes out of retirement when his best friend is kidnapped for ransom. 

The Killers. Two hit men gun down a gas station attendant for no apparent reason. An insurance investigator tries to get to the bottom of the story with tragic results. Robert Siodmark directed this 1946 classic based on a story by Ernest Hemingway. Burt Lancaster stars in his film debut along with Ava Gardner and Edmund O’Brien. 

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers. Barbara Stanwyck stars as the wealthiest and most powerful woman in a Midwestern factory town. However, she shares a dark secret with her unhappy, alcoholic husband played by Kirk Douglas in his film debut. When an old acquaintance comes to town, things fall apart. Directed by Lewis Milestone, this 1945 film also features Van Heflin and Lizabeth Scott. 

Force of Evil. John Garfield stars as an unscrupulous lawyer who helps a syndicate take over the numbers racket in New York City. Abraham Polonsky directed this 1948 film that was filmed on location. Thomas Gomez plays his brother who falls victim to the syndicate. Marie Windsor plays a sultry temptress.

Classe Tous Risque. After hiding out in Milan for over a decade, a fugitive gangster chief, played by Lino Ventura, returns to Paris even though a death sentence hangs over his head. He is accompanied by a young Jean-Paul Belmondo in a role that makes us see why he became such an international star. Claude Sautet directed this 1960 French noir classic. Click on this link for trailer or see the video clip below. 

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More Film Noir Favorites

In the past few years I have become a big fan of a certain kind of American film from the 1940s and 50s. They are primarily black and white, dark crime dramas that French film makers and critics called film-noir when they discovered American films after the liberation of France in 1945. The term film-noir refers not only to the dark themes of these movies but also to the nighttime settings and the often startling contrasts between light and dark, black and white.

Originally, these films were low budget productions usually designed to be seen as the second feature on traditional Hollywood double bills. Nevertheless, today many are regarded as ground-breaking classics. They featured great directors, actors, writers, and film craftsmen and craftswomen. To fill the insatiable demand for movies in America, Hollywood even imported great talents from abroad. In my opinion, film-noir represents a short-lived American film renaissance that came to an end with the advent of television and technicolor.

 Not only are these films gripping, extremely well-told stories with masterful directing and acting, but also they bring me back to the days of my childhood. In the background I can see a world that is no more: the dark dingy streets, the small apartments, the cars, the old telephones, and the incessant cigarette smoking and drinking.

Below find brief descriptions of eight of these films viewed in 2019. For others click on the film noir label to the right or use the search box.

Dick Powell and Claire Trevor

Murder, My Sweet. Dick Powell stars as private eye Philip Marlowe in this 1945 film adaptation of a classic LA crime novel by famed writer Raymond Chandler. Powell departs from his boy next door type to play one of film’s classic detectives. Claire Trevor plays the femme fatale.

Crime Wave. Sterling Hayden plays a hard-boiled cop who is sure that a parolee in not going straight after a series of hold-ups. Gene Nelson and Phyllis Kirk also star as the parolee and his wife in this 1953 drama set in the mean streets of LA. A young Charles Bronson, then acting under the name Charles Buchinsky, appears as one of the gang members.

Tension. Richard Basehart and Audrey Totter, one of film noir’s classic femme fatales, star in this 1949 film about a mild-mannered druggist whose wife is two-timing him. With his dreams for a home and family shattered, he plots revenge. The beautiful Cyd Charisse appears in a rare non-dancing role.

The Postman Always Rings Twice. John Garfield and Lana Turner co-star in this 1946 film adaptation of James M. Cain’s classic crime novel. Garfield plays a drifter who stops at a roadside diner with a “Man Wanted” sign. He discovers that the sign has a double meaning. Lana Turner makes one of the great entrances in film history.

Lana Turner

The Lady in the Lake. Robert Montgomery stars as private eye Philip Marlowe in this 1945 film adaptation of another classic LA crime novel by writer Raymond Chandler. Montgomery also directs in an innovative style that puts the viewer into the action. Famed femme-fatale Audrey Totter co-stars.

Side Street. Farley Granger and Kathy O’ Donnell, who clicked in the film noir classic, They Live by Night, once again appear as two young lovers in this 1950 film directed by Anthony Mann. As usual, after one mistake their lives go from bad to worse. The film ends with one of the first urban car chases in film history.

The Brothers Rico. Richard Conte stars in this 1957 film as a businessman who has managed to escape his past as an accountant with the mob. However, his former boss calls him back to find his two younger brothers who are on the lam from both the police and the mob. Based on a story by famed Belgian crime novelist George Simenon. Diane Foster co-stars.

Atlantic City. Burt Lancaster stars in this 1980 film as an aging gangster who ekes out a meager living as a numbers runner in an Atlantic City that has seen better days. Famed French director Louis Malle directed this award winning film that co-stars a young Susan Sarandon.

Susan Sarandon and Burt Lancaster

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Note; Most of these films can be viewed on Netflix or Youtube. I prefer to use DVDs because they often include excellent commentaries, background information, and subtitles for people like myself who are hearing impaired.

Film Noir Favorites

In the past few years I have become a big fan of a certain kind of American film from the 1940s and 50s. They are primarily black and white, dark crime dramas that French film makers and critics called film-noir after they rediscovered American films after the liberation of France in 1945. The term film-noir refers not only to the dark themes of these movies but also to the nighttime settings and the often startling contrasts between light and dark, black and white. 

Originally, these films were low budget productions usually designed to be seen as the second feature on traditional Hollywood double bills. Nevertheless, today many are regarded as ground-breaking classics. They featured great directors, actors, writers, and film craftsmen and craftswomen. To fill the insatiable demand for movies in America, Hollywood even imported great talents from abroad. In my opinion, film-noir represents a short-lived American film renaissance that came to an end with the advent of television and technicolor. 

Below find brief descriptions of nine of these films that I have viewed this year. Not only are they gripping, extremely well-told stories with masterful directing and acting, but also they bring me back to the days of my childhood. In the background I can see a world that is no more: the dark dingy streets, the small apartments, the cars, the old telephones, and the incessant cigarette smoking and drinking. 

 

Peggy Cummins in Gun Crazy

Gun Crazy.  Peggy Cummins and John Dall star in this 1950 story of two star-crossed lovers who meet in a carnival shooting contest and immediately go together like guns and ammunition. The two become bank robbers on the run who roar into movie history in a bench-mark film noir thriller.                             

Call Northside 777. James Stewart stars in this 1948 film as a newspaperman who reluctantly investigates the case of a convict who has already spent ten years in prison for the murder of a policeman. Richard Conte and some superb character actors also appear in this very naturalistic film that was based on a true story. 

Strangers on a Train. Alfred Hitchcock produced this 1951 psychological thriller starring Farley Granger and Robert Walker. Two strangers meet on a train: one a charming psychopath who hates his father, and the other a young tennis player trying to get out of a bad marriage. The rest is pure Hitchcock. 

Whirlpool. Gene Tierney stars in this 1949 story of a woman secretly suffering from kleptomania who turns to a hypnotist to cure her condition. Soon afterwards she is found at the scene of a murder with no memory of how she got there and no way to prove her innocence. Richard Conte and Jose Ferrer co-star. 

Scarlet Street. In this 1945 film Edward G. Robinson plays a lonely middle-aged man locked in a horrible marriage who accidentally becomes involved with a beautiful young woman. When her sleazy boyfriend prods her to get money out of the man, things go from bad to worse. Directed by Fritz Lang, the film co-stars Joan Bennett and Dan Duryea                                          

The Woman in the Window. Edward G. Robinson stars in this 1944 film as a middle-aged professor who engages in an innocent flirtation with a chance acquaintance (Joan Bennett) and inadvertently commits a shocking murder. Things quickly go from bad to worse as they try to cover up the crime. Directed by Fritz Lang. 

The Big Sleep.  Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall star in this 1946 adaptation of Raymond Chandler’s famed crime novel. Bogart plays legendary private eye Philip Marlowe on the trail of killers, pornographers, gamblers, and a bevy of beautiful young women. Directed by Howard Hawks.

They Live by Night. Farley Granger and Cathy O’Donnell star in this classic 1949 film of young lovers mixed up with a gang of criminals. This film is regarded by many as the forerunner to Bonnie and Clyde. Directed by Nicholas Ray.

I Confess. Montgomery Clift stars in this 1953 Alfred Hitchcock thriller as a priest who hears a killer’s confession but then is accused of the murder himself.  Unable to speak out because of the seal of the confessional, police and public opinion turn against him especially when it turns out there was a woman (Anne Baxter) in his past. Filmed onsite in Quebec.

Montgomery Clift in I Confess

Note; Most of these films can be viewed on Netflix or Youtube. I prefer to use DVDs because they often include excellent commentaries, background information, and subtitles for people like myself who are hearing impaired. ###