Top 10 films noir

[Melville]

Doomed characters, doomed loves, moral abysses, passions and obsessions, hardboiled dialogue, and shadowy lighting everywhere. The greatest genre-ey genre? Yes.

Post your lists. Mine:

1. In a Lonely Place
2. Touch of Evil
3. The Third Man
4. Criss Cross
5. Gun Crazy
6. Kiss Me Deadly
7. The Naked Kiss
8. The Big Sleep
9. The Set-Up
10. Leave Her to Heaven

Runners up:
The Killers
Ace in the Hole
Sunset Blvd
The Big Heat
They Live by Night
On Dangerous Ground
Double Indemnity
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers
Force of Evil
Side Street


Ones I want to rewatch:
- Out of the Past and The Night of the Hunter because I saw them too long ago.
- Pickup on South Street and Sweet Smell of Success because I was bothered by aspects of them that I can no longer recall.
- Moonrise because I wasn't paying enough attention when I watched it.

[DSNT]

Would need some time to come up with a good list, but off the top of my head the following would be on my list:

Kiss Me Deadly
Sunset Blvd
Out of the Past
The Third Man
Laura
The Killing
In a Lonely Place
Sweet Smell of Success
Touch of Evil
Double Indemnity

Laura would be my #1.

[Melville]

The Killers
Have you seen Siodmak's Criss Cross? Same great Burt Lancaster, even more doom than most noir, and even more striking cinematography than The Killers.

[DSNT]

Have you seen Siodmak's Criss Cross? Same great Burt Lancaster, even more doom than most noir, and even more striking cinematography than The Killers.
Haven't and will, but I made a mistake in my list above. I meant Kubrick's The Killing, and not The Killers.

[Kurosawa Fan]

This was thrown together in a few minutes, so my rankings don't really matter aside from my #1.

1. Rififi
2. Le Samourai
3. Double Indemnity
4. In a Lonely Place
5. The Long Goodbye
6. The Third Man
7. Stray Dog
8. The Maltese Falcon
9. White Heat
10. The Man Who Wasn't There

[Melville]

Haven't and will, but I made a mistake in my list above. I meant Kubrick's The Killing, and not The Killers.
Ah. Well, see The Killers too, if you haven't. It's great.



5. The Long Goodbye
I was limiting my list to classic-era noiry noir, but otherwise this would be on there. Easily my favorite Altman. I love the way it plays up the melancholy and failed romanticism in the genre.

[DSNT]

Ah. Well, see The Killers too, if you haven't. It's great.

I've seen the 1964 version and thought it was alright. I've heard the 1946 version is better. Will check it out.

If we're going outside Hollywood, then I'd include Rififi and some Melville as well.

[Irish]

The Asphalt Jungle
Gilda
Chinatown
Rififi
The Killers ('46)
Laura
Touchez pas au grisbi
In a Lonely Place
Le Samourai
Altman's The Long Goodbye (except for the last 5 minutes)

Also:
Detour
Kiss Me Deadly
Gun Crazy
The Naked City
Any of the Thin Man movies, although I'm not sure these count

[Dukefrukem]

This is the area of film I am least experienced. The Killing has been my favorite so far. If anyone has any must watches similar to the Killing please post here.

[Kurosawa Fan]

This is the area of film I am least experienced. The Killing has been my favorite so far. If anyone has any must watches similar to the Killing please post here.

Everyone is giving you entire lists of films similar to The Killing that are required viewing, depending I guess on what you mean by "similar to."

[Dukefrukem]

Everyone is giving you entire lists of films similar to The Killing that are required viewing, depending I guess on what you mean by "similar to."

Robberies, planned heists, things of that nature.

[Melville]

I've seen the 1964 version and thought it was alright. I've heard the 1946 version is better. Will check it out.
I forgot about the existence of the '64 version. I haven't seen that one, but the internet tells me the two versions are drastically different. For my money, Siodmak's direction and Lancaster's performance are the highlights of the '46 version.



Touchez pas au grisbi
The Naked City

These are the first two mentioned I haven't seen.


Robberies, planned heists, things of that nature.
Rififi and The Asphalt Jungle are the first that come to mind. Both pretty great.

[Kurosawa Fan]

The Naked City would have made my list had I gone strictly classic. Probably should have made my list either way. Fantastic film.

[Raiders]

The Naked City is weak. Night and the City is where it's at.

1. In a Lonely Place (1950)
2. Border Incident (1949)
3. On Dangerous Ground (1952)
4. Force of Evil (1948)
5. Pickup on South Street (1953)
6. Night and the City (1950)
7. Raw Deal (1948)
8. The Big Sleep (1946)
9. Gun Crazy (1950)
10. Ministry of Fear (1944)

[Mysterious Dude]

It's always been a somewhat ill-defined genre. IMDB considers pre-war gangster films like Little Caesar and Angels With Dirty Faces to be noir. That doesn't seem correct to me, but I'm hard-pressed to explain why. I'm also going to exclude The Night of the Hunter, Sunset Boulevard and Notorious for reasons I simply can't put into words.

1. Touch of Evil (1958)
2. The Naked City (1948)
3. Double Indemnity (1944)
4. Ride the Pink Horse (1947)
5. Laura (1944)
6. Ossessione (1943)
7. Scarlet Street (1945)
8. Gaslight (1944)
9. T-Men (1947)
10. Pickup on South Street (1953)

[ledfloyd]

1. The Third Man
2. In a Lonely Place
3. The Big Sleep
4. Touch of Evil
5. Laura
6. Kiss Me Deadly
7. Shadow of a Doubt
8. Night and the City
9. The Maltese Falcon
10. The Big Heat

[Pop Trash]

Not counting anything neo-noir or Hitchcock:

1. Sunset Blvd.
2. The Night of the Hunter (does this count?)
3. The Maltese Falcon
4. The Third Man
5. In a Lonely Place
6. Gun Crazy
7. The Lady from Shanghai
8. Pickup on South Street
9. Night and the City
10. Detour

Something like that. Like Isaac was saying sometimes this genre is ill defined.

[dreamdead]

I forgot about the existence of the '64 version. I haven't seen that one, but the internet tells me the two versions are drastically different. For my money, Siodmak's direction and Lancaster's performance are the highlights of the '46 version.


The '64 version of The Killers loses much of the fundamental aura by focusing on a more uniform tv style and color--even though the cast looks good, it never expands the ideas of Hemingway's story in nearly the same superlative ways. Everything about Ava Gardner's role in the 1946 version, while added to a story fundamentally unconcerned with femininity, gains another degree of performative masculinity with her character. One of my favorite film adaptations because of how brazen and stylized it is...

[Yxklyx]

How about top 9?

--- 10/10
Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
Gun Crazy (1950)
The Big Clock (1948)
Scarlet Street (1945)
The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
The Third Man (1949)
Odd Man Out (1947)
The Set-Up (1949)
The Big Sleep (1946)

--- 9/10
Night and the City (1950)
The Wrong Man (1956)
Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
Elevator to the Gallows (1958)
Ace in the Hole (1951)
The Night of the Hunter (1955)
Thieves' Highway (1949)
Asphalt (1929)
Side Street (1949)
The Well (1951)


p.s. I generated the above using IMDB's advanced search function - not sure The Big Clock and The Well should be there though.

Also, just realized that yeah, Asphalt (1929) fits all the themes of Film Noir perfectly and predates all of these by a few decades.

[ContinentalOp]

1. The Third Man
2. The Maltese Falcon
3. Strangers on a Train
4. Night and the City
5. High and Low
6. Bob the Gambler
7. Gun Crazy
8. Murder, My Sweet
9. The Naked City
10. The Killing

[Gittes]

Chinatown and The Big Sleep occupy spots in my general (i.e., not just films noir) top ten.

Here are a few other selections (they are not hierarchically ordered, though):

- In A Lonely Place is exceptional. I believe the DVD is out of print. It unquestionably warrants a substantial Blu-ray release.
- The Maltese Falcon ("I'll tell you straight out: I'm a man who likes talking to a man who likes to talk")
- I need to revisit High and Low, but I remember how enormously compelling and impressive it was the first time around.
- Stranger on the Third Floor: there's some really striking, surreal imagery here in addition to the always wonderful Peter Lorre.
- Kiss Me Deadly, which features one of the most fascinating endings of all time.
- The Killing
- I'm sure an argument could be made against the contention that Shadow of a Doubt, The Sweet Smell of Success, or Gaslight truly qualify as noir, but the first two are certainly among my favourite films of all time. This is not to say that Gaslight isn't marvellous. It's essential viewing and Bergman is unforgettably electric in the final act.
- Touch of Evil
- The Thin Man is delightful and contains shades of noir, but given its glib buoyancy and other traits, it probably doesn't quite qualify.

I remember thoroughly enjoying Laura, Sunset Blvd., Double Indemnity, The Third Man, Scarlet Street, and Under the Roofs of Paris, but these are all due for another viewing.

Nice thread. I really want to see On Dangerous Ground! Robert Ryan and Nicholas Ray? Sounds so good.

[Gittes]

Speaking of Robert Ryan, has anyone seen Samuel Fuller's House of Bamboo (1955)? It recently came to my attention after another viewing of Minority Report, as it's the film being projected at the apartment where Anderton requests Dr. Eddie's (Peter Stormare) services.


https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3886/15108462311_1afe96b8cf_b.jpg

[Melville]

The Naked City is weak. Night and the City is where it's at.
After watching both both in the last few days, I agree. The Naked City struck me as a flat procedural, with poor acting, undeveloped criminals, and stultifying narration. Night and the City is doomed hopes and desperation steeped in shadows.

[quido8_5]

After watching both both in the last few days, I agree. The Naked City struck me as a flat procedural, with poor acting, undeveloped criminals, and stultifying narration. Night and the City is doomed hopes and desperation steeped in shadows.

Yeah, they're both kinda' weak. I mean, if I want to mediocre noir, I'd probably go with Night and the City. However, the point of this thread is to compare great noir. Thusly,

1. In a Lonely Place
2. The Samurai
3. The Night of the Hunter
4. The Big Sleep
5. Touch of Evil
6. The Third Man
7. Blood Simple
8. Double Indemnity
9. The Killing (1956)
10. Sunset Blvd.

Question: Does Chinatown not count? I'm assuming that's why I don't see it anywhere. I IMDB'd it and it said Drama, Mystery, Thriller but we studied it as noir at NYU. Not that, that means anything. As I will always say, given the chance: fuck NYU.

[quido8_5]

Rififi and The Asphalt Jungle are the first that come to mind. Both pretty great.

Yeah, Rififi is pretty much the shit. Also, it's not really noir, but Bob Le Flambeur is quite good. I'm guessing Melville would agree. :)

[Melville]

Yeah, they're both kinda' weak. I mean, if I want to mediocre noir, I'd probably go with Night and the City. However, the point of this thread is to compare great noir.
I'd put Night and the City up there with the greatest. It's exactly the noir I like best: romantics and dreamers living under a hard-boiled veneer, spiraling into expressionist ruin. Plus, atmospheric, dank and shadowy cinematography and score; great performances all around, especially Richard Widmark's wide-eyed mix of big talk and desperation; and the tremendous, dark and gruelling physicality of that wrestling match.


Question: Does Chinatown not count? I'm assuming that's why I don't see it anywhere. I IMDB'd it and it said Drama, Mystery, Thriller but we studied it as noir at NYU. Not that, that means anything. As I will always say, given the chance: fuck NYU.
It's usually classed as neo-noir. If I hadn't restricted myself to classical noir, it would be at the top of my list.

[Sven]

Night and the City is SO one of the best.

[quido8_5]

Wha!? I'm not in the most sober of minds to be responding, but Night and the City just seemed so rote and predictable to me. I give it plenty of points for the cinematography and sustained mood, but everything is forecasted a mile away and the ending turned just this side of melodramatic that it tarnished the film for me.

[Gittes]

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers


I watched this tonight and enjoyed it. It was my introduction to Van Heflin: an awesome actor, as it turns out. Kirk Douglas and Barbara Stanwyck were wonderful as well. These three did a great job of sustaining the intensity and credibility of the drama. Some very fine performances.

[Gittes]

I recently sought out another noir starring Van Heflin: Act of Violence (Zinnemann, 1948). I didn't see it noted in this thread, but it more than deserves a mention; it's really tremendous.

[Yxklyx]

I recently sought out another noir starring Van Heflin: Act of Violence (Zinnemann, 1948). I didn't see it noted in this thread, but it more than deserves a mention; it's really tremendous.


I don't think you've seen his best films yet which would be The Prowler and 3:10 to Yuma.

[Gittes]

I don't think you've seen his best films yet which would be The Prowler and 3:10 to Yuma.

Appreciate the recommendations. I noticed some admiration for The Prowler elsewhere, so I'll definitely have to track that down. Shane, too.

[Russ]

Is this our default noir thread?

I want to pimp John Losey's 1951 effort, The Big Night (his followup to his other 1951 films, M and The Prowler). It's an interesting, if uneven, film, and it's one of the more unusual part-film noir/ part-coming-of-age films you'll likely see. John Drew Barrymore is very earnest, but otherwise mostly convincing as the awkward youth who seeks revenge against the man who savagely beat his father. With the entirety of the narrative taking place over a 24 hour span, it seems to presage later, similar works (ie, Scorcese's After Hours), if not in content, then in structure. Barrymore gets a lot more than he bargains for in his quest, and is more than ably supported by a wonderful supporting cast, with Preston Foster (as the father), Joan Lorring (as a female companion) standing out, but especially Howard St. John, as the 'heavy', Al Judge (a crippled sportswriter). Yeah, this is one odd duck, alright, but it's also a pretty good one.

Losey adds some interesting touches, prominent among them a brief observation of a particular social issue regarding race (and it's a terrific scene featuring Barrymore's meeting with a nightclub singer played by Mauri Lynn). It's a very brief moment in the film that I will remember long after I’ve forgotten everything else about it. While Barrymore searches for the man who had beaten his father, he is taken to a nightclub, where he becomes fascinated by the club’s singer (Lynn). After the show, Barrymore goes outside where he encounters Lynn (she’s black, and you get the impression that he doesn’t have much social experience with people of a different race). Starstruck, he stammers and politely introduces himself and says, “I want you to know what I think. You’re the most wonderful singer in the whole world.” Lynn smiles radiantly and thanks him. He continues, “That isn’t all. ‘Cause also, you’re…so beautiful.”

“Even if you are a…”, and he catches himself, but it’s too late; the damage has been done.

The look on Lynn’s face when she hears those words, changing from one of pure joy to one of immense sorrow and sadness, was devastating. Even Barrymore’s apologetic pleas (“I didn’t mean to say it”) do nothing to erase the pain that Lynn has experienced.

This brief encounter, which is essentially a throwaway scene lasting less than a minute, lent nothing to the main plot, but it was Losey’s way of making a big statement on the state of race relations at the time the film was made. It’s a very powerful and emotional moment and did more to drive it’s point home than some entire movies devoted to the topic.

This film is kinda highly recommended for the little things, like that.

http://i536.photobucket.com/albums/ff324/astrojester/bignight-singer_zpsbpgbjeeq.jpg

[Peng]

1. Sunset Boulevard
2. Ace in the Hole
3. Sweet Smell of Success
4. In a Lonely Place
5. Touch of Evil
6. Double Indemnity
7. Night of the Hunter
8. The Third Man
9. The Killing
10. White Heat

[Gittes]

Is this our default noir thread?

Sure. That's sort of the way I've been treating this thread. More noir discussion is always welcome and this is as good a place as any to catalogue our noir viewings and impressions.



I want to pimp John Losey's 1951 effort, The Big Night (his followup to his other 1951 films, M and The Prowler). It's an interesting, if uneven, film, and it's one of the more unusual part-film noir/ part-coming-of-age films you'll likely see. John Drew Barrymore is very earnest, but otherwise mostly convincing as the awkward youth who seeks revenge against the man who savagely beat his father. With the entirety of the narrative taking place over a 24 hour span, it seems to presage later, similar works (ie, Scorcese's After Hours), if not in content, then in structure. Barrymore gets a lot more than he bargains for in his quest, and is more than ably supported by a wonderful supporting cast, with Preston Foster (as the father), Joan Lorring (as a female companion) standing out, but especially Howard St. John, as the 'heavy', Al Judge (a crippled sportswriter). Yeah, this is one odd duck, alright, but it's also a pretty good one.

I'm already intrigued. I like stories that take place over the course of a long night or a day (and this quoted bit, along with the rest of your post, makes a strong case for this one). I'll see if I can track it down. The Prowler is still my top priority in terms of watching unseen noir, though.

[Russ]

Is this our default noir thread?
Sure.
Cool.

Since I haven't seen it mentioned yet, I'll admit that I'm a big fan of Cry Danger (Robert Parrish, 1951)

Dick Powell delivers a commanding performance as ex-con Rocky who, upon his release from prison, tries to simultaneously clear his name, look up an old flame (Rhonda Fleming), find the whereabouts of the large sum of money he was accused of stealing, all the while dealing with new friends (a delightfully sardonic Richard Erdman), old enemies (William Conrad, channeling Sydney Greenstreet), and ever-present adversaries (Regis Toomey's pervasive detective). First-time director Robert Parrish strikes noir gold in this long-forgotten and little seen gem, particularly in his choice of location filming (1950's Bunker Hill section of L.A.) and the razor sharp dialogue. It's everything you want in a cool, efficient double-crossing crime drama. The supporting cast of oddball characters are as sublime as the noirish atmosphere and Powell's macho persona.

This is a really entertaining film that's well worth seeking out.


http://i536.photobucket.com/albums/ff324/astrojester/cry-danger_zpspf48wmpl.jpg

[Dukefrukem]

The Maltese Falcon is phenomenal. I love Humphrey Bogart in this.

[Dukefrukem]

Oh damn, White Heat starts so smooth. I love these films.

[Yxklyx]

Any Blood Simple analyzers here? I love how this story is like a Greek/Wagner tragedy. No one ones what's going on except the gods/fate/us. So after watching this for the umpteenth time (and not able to collect my thoughts) - the question is: what is Abby's (McDormand) view of things at the very end of the film.