The Best of Film Noir and the Classics
by jeffreycox | created - 09 Feb 2013 | updated - 02 Sep 2014 | PublicThe first 35 before you die.
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1. Touch of Evil (1958)
PG-13 | 95 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A stark, perverse story of murder, kidnapping and police corruption in a Mexican border town.
Director: Orson Welles | Stars: Charlton Heston, Orson Welles, Janet Leigh, Joseph Calleia
Votes: 109,788 | Gross: $2.24M
The finest piece of Noir (and maybe the finest movie) that I could ever recommend. *Note: The first 4 minutes are legendary Directing. Take the time, after you've watched it, to read the discussions regarding the Directing. Also watch the Special Features on the DVD. The stories behind the filming of this movie are wonderful. Marlene Dietrich as the fortune teller, Tanya, and Mercedes McCambridge with her line, "I wanna watch." **You want the "Restored" 111 minute version with the Bonus material on the DVD.**
2. The Night of the Iguana (1964)
Approved | 125 min | Drama
An ostracized Episcopal clergyman leads a busload of middle-aged Baptist women on a tour of the Mexican coast and comes to terms with the failure haunting his life.
Director: John Huston | Stars: Richard Burton, Ava Gardner, Deborah Kerr, Sue Lyon
Votes: 13,101 | Gross: $9.43M
Tie with 'Touch of Evil'. Incredible movie. Huston is genius. Watch the Special Features to see what they went through to film this movie. 'Shot on location' is an understatement. If you have never watched this film, you owe it to yourself.
3. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
Passed | 126 min | Adventure, Drama, Western
Two down-on-their-luck Americans searching for work in 1920s Mexico convince an old prospector to help them mine for gold in the Sierra Madre Mountains.
Director: John Huston | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Walter Huston, Tim Holt, Bruce Bennett
Votes: 132,400 | Gross: $5.01M
Huston writes the Screenplay and Directs, and creates a masterpiece. What a movie...
4. The Night of the Hunter (1955)
Not Rated | 92 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A self-proclaimed preacher marries a gullible widow whose young children are reluctant to tell him where their real dad hid the $10,000 he'd stolen in a robbery.
Director: Charles Laughton | Stars: Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Lillian Gish, James Gleason
Votes: 97,308 | Gross: $0.65M
Wow... So strange and so powerful.
5. Sunset Blvd. (1950)
Passed | 110 min | Drama, Film-Noir
A screenwriter develops a dangerous relationship with a faded film star determined to make a triumphant return.
Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: William Holden, Gloria Swanson, Erich von Stroheim, Nancy Olson
Votes: 236,367
Yes, it's just that good. Billy Wilder and that subtle humor.
6. Citizen Kane (1941)
PG | 119 min | Drama, Mystery
Following the death of publishing tycoon Charles Foster Kane, reporters scramble to uncover the meaning of his final utterance: 'Rosebud.'
Director: Orson Welles | Stars: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Dorothy Comingore, Agnes Moorehead
Votes: 465,863 | Gross: $1.59M
More of a movie that I suspected. Lives up to its fame and legend.
7. On the Waterfront (1954)
Approved | 108 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
An ex-prize fighter turned New Jersey longshoreman struggles to stand up to his corrupt union bosses, including his older brother, as he starts to connect with the grieving sister of one of the syndicate's victims.
Director: Elia Kazan | Stars: Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger
Votes: 164,833 | Gross: $9.60M
Another one of those "Classics" that is always held in the Pantheon of filmmaking, and I guess I'd never seen it. Spectacular... Brando IS Terry... This is certainly among the very, very best. The very best.
8. All About Eve (1950)
Passed | 138 min | Drama
A seemingly timid but secretly ruthless ingénue insinuates herself into the lives of an aging Broadway star and her circle of theater friends.
Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz | Stars: Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, George Sanders, Celeste Holm
Votes: 138,722 | Gross: $0.01M
I've seen it referred to, but could have never expected the incredible quality of this film. One of the Great Films. Truly a 10.
9. Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
Approved | 116 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A veteran British barrister must defend his client in a murder trial that has surprise after surprise.
Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: Tyrone Power, Marlene Dietrich, Charles Laughton, Elsa Lanchester
Votes: 137,791 | Gross: $8.18M
I just love this movie. Billy Wilder/Director. Nominated for 6 Oscars. Agatha Christie play, with Billy Wilder writing the screenplay.
10. Pickup on South Street (1953)
Passed | 80 min | Crime, Film-Noir, Mystery
A pickpocket unwittingly lifts a message destined for enemy agents and becomes a target for a Communist spy ring.
Director: Samuel Fuller | Stars: Richard Widmark, Jean Peters, Thelma Ritter, Murvyn Vye
Votes: 16,147
Never heard of this film before. Fuller, Fuller, Fuller. This got us on a hunt for all things "Fuller". Richard Widmark at his best.
11. Double Indemnity (1944)
Passed | 107 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A Los Angeles insurance representative lets an alluring housewife seduce him into a scheme of insurance fraud and murder that arouses the suspicion of his colleague, an insurance investigator.
Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson, Byron Barr
Votes: 167,410 | Gross: $5.72M
Classic Noir in all respects. A pleasure to watch. Billy Wilder/Director. This one started us on the great Billy Wilder safari.
12. To Have and Have Not (1944)
Passed | 100 min | Adventure, Comedy, Film-Noir
During World War II, American expatriate Harry Morgan helps transport a French Resistance leader and his beautiful wife to Martinique while romancing a sensuous lounge singer.
Director: Howard Hawks | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Walter Brennan, Dolores Moran
Votes: 37,995
The staggering electricity between Bacall and Bogart is not the only reason this film is so monumental (they met and fell in love during the filming of this movie). Although it's a "Hemingway Script" it's really not. No, it's William Faulkner... Not bad... ;) Rather than Hemingway's Cuba, however, the US Government insisted it not be Cuba. So it's French Martinique. I've gotta say, though: Bacall's classic "You know how to whistle, don't you?" is only outdone by that walk she does at the very end of the movie, as she walks away from Cricket, to Steve. Wow.......
13. Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
Not Rated | 161 min | Drama, Mystery
An upstate Michigan lawyer defends a soldier who claims he killed an innkeeper due to temporary insanity after the victim raped his wife. What is the truth, and will he win his case?
Director: Otto Preminger | Stars: James Stewart, Lee Remick, Ben Gazzara, Arthur O'Connell
Votes: 71,303 | Gross: $11.90M
A solid 9 with hints of 10... Duke Ellington soundtrack. Incredible opening Title sequences by Saul Bass.
14. In a Lonely Place (1950)
Not Rated | 94 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Mystery
A potentially violent screenwriter is a murder suspect until his lovely neighbor clears him. However, she soon starts to have her doubts.
Director: Nicholas Ray | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Gloria Grahame, Frank Lovejoy, Carl Benton Reid
Votes: 35,237
Watch this film!! I mean it. Watch this film. You will not be disappointed. Bogart is great as Dixon. This was a big surprise from a film we'd never heard of.
15. Rear Window (1954)
PG | 112 min | Mystery, Thriller
A wheelchair-bound photographer spies on his neighbors from his Greenwich Village courtyard apartment window and, despite the skepticism of his fashion-model girlfriend, becomes convinced one of them has committed murder.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Wendell Corey, Thelma Ritter
Votes: 521,916 | Gross: $36.76M
Stewart and Grace Kelly are incredible. Hitchcock's Direction is stunning. This film is often rated as #1 in the Noir catagory. Best I can do is 15, compared to the above. Fabulous movie, don't get me wrong....
16. The Maltese Falcon (1941)
Passed | 100 min | Crime, Film-Noir, Mystery
San Francisco private detective Sam Spade takes on a case that involves him with three eccentric criminals, a gorgeous liar and their quest for a priceless statuette, with the stakes rising after his partner is murdered.
Director: John Huston | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Gladys George, Peter Lorre
Votes: 166,535 | Gross: $2.11M
Just as good and brilliant as Legend and Reputation would have it.
17. The Lady from Shanghai (1947)
Not Rated | 87 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Fascinated by gorgeous Mrs. Bannister, seaman Michael O'Hara joins a bizarre yachting cruise, and ends up mired in a complex murder plot.
Director: Orson Welles | Stars: Rita Hayworth, Orson Welles, Everett Sloane, Glenn Anders
Votes: 33,297 | Gross: $0.01M
What a huge surprise and fantastic film! Rita Hayworth is really wonderful and wicked. This film is a solid 9. Orson Welles is a helluva Director.
18. Mildred Pierce (1945)
Approved | 111 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A hard-working mother inches towards disaster as she divorces her husband and starts a successful restaurant business to support her spoiled daughter.
Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: Joan Crawford, Jack Carson, Zachary Scott, Eve Arden
Votes: 28,646
What a great film.
19. The Petrified Forest (1936)
Passed | 82 min | Drama, Thriller
A waitress, a hobo and a bank robber get mixed up at a lonely diner in the desert.
Director: Archie Mayo | Stars: Leslie Howard, Humphrey Bogart, Bette Davis, Genevieve Tobin
Votes: 14,928
Once again, we have been blown away by Bogart and the films that he made. This is known as his "break through" film, and for good reason. He and Leslie Howard had played their roles on Broadway for years, and when it came time to cast the film, Leslie Howard insisted on Bogart. It has the 'stage play" feel that it needs to have and the dialog is exceptional. Great film. Pre-Noir Noir.
20. Notorious (1946)
Not Rated | 102 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Romance
The daughter of a convicted German spy is asked by American agents to gather information on a ring of German scientists in South America. How far will she have to go to ingratiate herself with them?
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, Claude Rains, Louis Calhern
Votes: 107,243 | Gross: $10.46M
One of Hitchcock's very, very, very best. Don't miss this movie.
21. Key Largo (1948)
Approved | 100 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A man visits his war buddy's family hotel and finds a gangster running things. As a hurricane approaches, the two end up confronting each other.
Director: John Huston | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson, Lauren Bacall, Lionel Barrymore
Votes: 43,965
This movie is really exceptional. Classic film, Classic Noir!!
22. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)
Not Rated | 108 min | Drama
Brick is an alcoholic ex-football player who drinks his days away and resists the affections of his wife. A reunion with his terminal father jogs a host of memories and revelations for both father and son.
Director: Richard Brooks | Stars: Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, Burl Ives, Jack Carson
Votes: 53,411 | Gross: $17.57M
Elizabeth Taylor is stunning. Paul Newman is great. Burl Ives is killer-creepy.
23. A Place in the Sun (1951)
Passed | 122 min | Drama, Romance
A poor boy gets a job working for his rich uncle and ends up falling in love with two women.
Director: George Stevens | Stars: Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor, Shelley Winters, Anne Revere
Votes: 24,758
Elizabeth Taylor at 18 years old. Unbelieveable that it is so. This is a classic Classic. Great movie.
24. It's All True: Based on an Unfinished Film by Orson Welles (1993)
G | 87 min | Documentary
"It's All True: Based on an Unfinished Film by Orson Welles" is a 1993 documentary feature about Orson Welles's ill-fated Pan-American anthology film "It's All True," shot in 1941-42 but never completed.
Directors: Bill Krohn, Myron Meisel, Orson Welles, Richard Wilson | Stars: Manuel 'Jacare' Olimpio Meira, Jeronimo André De Souza, Raimundo 'Tata' Correia Lima, Manuel 'Preto' Pereira da Silva
Votes: 864
This is a unique film, in that it was assembled by the team that was with Orson Welles in Brazil to film it. Suffice to say; this is a wholly moving film/meditation/tribute to Welles and a project that is so stirring and (in the end) selfless. Just watch it.
25. Dial M for Murder (1954)
PG | 105 min | Crime, Thriller
A former tennis star arranges the murder of his adulterous wife.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Ray Milland, Grace Kelly, Robert Cummings, John Williams
Votes: 188,730 | Gross: $0.01M
One of the first films we watched. Exceptional and required viewing.
26. Gilda (1946)
Approved | 110 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Romance
A small-time gambler hired to work in a Buenos Aires casino discovers his employer's new wife is his former lover.
Director: Charles Vidor | Stars: Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford, George Macready, Joseph Calleia
Votes: 35,254
If you do any reading about "Film Noir", this film will be cited among the best. Rita Hayworth at her smokiest. Great film. Watch it!!
27. Giant (1956)
G | 201 min | Drama, Western
Sprawling epic covering the life of a Texas cattle rancher and his family and associates.
Director: George Stevens | Stars: Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, James Dean, Carroll Baker
Votes: 42,233
Seems weird to have this down at #27... It's only because the films above it are just so incredible. It's in the Top 3 of the 8's, though! ;)
28. The Killers (1946)
Passed | 103 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Hit men kill an unresisting victim, and investigator Reardon uncovers his past involvement with beautiful, deadly Kitty Collins.
Director: Robert Siodmak | Stars: Burt Lancaster, Ava Gardner, Edmond O'Brien, Albert Dekker
Votes: 23,627
Never had heard of this film. What a great movie!!! This is the movie that launched Burt Lancaster. Ava Gardner as a "double-crossing, two-timing babe".
29. Suddenly, Last Summer (1959)
Approved | 114 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A surgeon is assigned the case of a young woman whose aunt wants her lobotomized to cover up a family secret.
Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz | Stars: Elizabeth Taylor, Katharine Hepburn, Montgomery Clift, Albert Dekker
Votes: 17,203 | Gross: $13.90M
Hepburn and Elizabeth Taylor. Written by Tennessee Williams with the screenplay by Gore Vidal. The script is busy in places, but the lines are some of the best ever written. Katherine Hepburn and Elizabeth Taylor were both nominated for Best Actress in Oscars for 1960 for this film. Get to it, and watch this film!
30. I Want to Live! (1958)
Approved | 120 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
A prostitute, sentenced to death for murder, pleads her innocence.
Director: Robert Wise | Stars: Susan Hayward, Simon Oakland, Virginia Vincent, Theodore Bikel
Votes: 7,346
Powerful, fabulous, disturbing and killer soundtrack with the best of the 50's jazz players. This is a 'very high 8'. Very high. Susan Hayward is wonderful. She won an Oscar for Best Actress for this.
31. East of Eden (1955)
PG | 118 min | Drama
Two brothers in 1910s California struggle to maintain their strict, Bible-toting father's favor as an old secret about their long-absent mother comes to light.
Director: Elia Kazan | Stars: James Dean, Raymond Massey, Julie Harris, Burl Ives
Votes: 48,805
James Dean's first film. The only film released while he was alive. For me, the most striking aspect of his on-screen persona was his cat-like movement and presence. 3 films. Gone at 24.
32. Vertigo (1958)
PG | 128 min | Mystery, Romance, Thriller
A former San Francisco police detective juggles wrestling with his personal demons and becoming obsessed with the hauntingly beautiful woman he has been hired to trail, who may be deeply disturbed.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: James Stewart, Kim Novak, Barbara Bel Geddes, Tom Helmore
Votes: 426,764 | Gross: $3.20M
Classic and exceptional. Required.
33. Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
Approved | 96 min | Drama, Film-Noir
Powerful but unethical Broadway columnist J.J. Hunsecker coerces unscrupulous press agent Sidney Falco into breaking up his sister's romance with a jazz musician.
Director: Alexander Mackendrick | Stars: Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, Susan Harrison, Martin Milner
Votes: 35,685
I love this film!!! One of the great 'finds' of this whole Film Noir expedition.
34. Park Row (1952)
Approved | 83 min | Drama, Thriller
The Globe is a small, but visionary newspaper started by Phineas Mitchell, an editor recently fired by The Star. The two newspapers become enemies, and the Star's ruthless heiress Charity Hackett decides to eliminate the competition.
Director: Samuel Fuller | Stars: Bela Kovacs, Herbert Heyes, Tina Pine, George O'Hanlon
Votes: 2,013
A lot has been written and told about how this is Samuel Fuller's favorite film, and testament to his years as a newspaper man. Exceptional.
35. Ace in the Hole (1951)
Approved | 111 min | Drama, Film-Noir
A frustrated former big-city journalist now stuck working for an Albuquerque newspaper exploits a story about a man trapped in a cave to rekindle his career, but the situation quickly escalates into an out-of-control circus.
Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: Kirk Douglas, Jan Sterling, Robert Arthur, Porter Hall
Votes: 39,103 | Gross: $3.97M
Noir at it's best!! Billy Wilder and his wry, dark humor.
36. This Gun for Hire (1942)
Passed | 81 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
When assassin Philip Raven shoots a blackmailer and his beautiful female companion dead, he is paid off in marked bills by his treasonous employer who is working with foreign spies.
Director: Frank Tuttle | Stars: Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, Robert Preston, Laird Cregar
Votes: 10,616
Veronica Lake and Alan Ladd. Lots of twists and turns in a great mystery.
37. The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
Passed | 113 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A married woman and a drifter fall in love and then plot to murder her husband.
Director: Tay Garnett | Stars: Lana Turner, John Garfield, Cecil Kellaway, Hume Cronyn
Votes: 22,871 | Gross: $8.33M
Such an incredible film, drenched in Noir.
38. The Man with the Golden Arm (1955)
Passed | 119 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
A junkie must face his true self to kick his drug addiction.
Director: Otto Preminger | Stars: Frank Sinatra, Kim Novak, Eleanor Parker, Arnold Stang
Votes: 12,209
Sinatra is brilliant. Elmer Bernstein soundtrack. Opening Title sequences by the masterful Saul Bass.
39. House of Strangers (1949)
Approved | 101 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
After years in prison, Max promises revenge on his brothers for their betrayal. His lover Irene and memories of his past yield him a broader perspective.
Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz | Stars: Edward G. Robinson, Susan Hayward, Richard Conte, Luther Adler
Votes: 4,187
Really a great movie! Mankiewicz is superb in his Direction, Susan Hayward is exceptional and Edward G. is incredibly believeable. Big surprise.
40. The Big Sleep (1946)
Passed | 114 min | Crime, Film-Noir, Mystery
Private detective Philip Marlowe is hired by a wealthy family. Before the complex case is over, he's seen murder, blackmail and what might be love.
Director: Howard Hawks | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, John Ridgely, Martha Vickers
Votes: 90,500 | Gross: $6.54M
It's "The Big Sleep", for God's sake!! Watch it!!
41. Dark Passage (1947)
Passed | 106 min | Film-Noir, Thriller
A man convicted of murdering his wife escapes from prison and works with a woman to try to prove his innocence.
Director: Delmer Daves | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Bruce Bennett, Agnes Moorehead
Votes: 21,964
Excellent movie! Delmer Daves Direction is perfectly suited for the script and setting in San Francisco. Great cast.
42. Angel Face (1952)
Approved | 91 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Ambulance driver Frank Jessup is ensnared in the schemes of the sensuous but dangerous Diane Tremayne.
Director: Otto Preminger | Stars: Robert Mitchum, Jean Simmons, Mona Freeman, Herbert Marshall
Votes: 9,024
Solid Film Noir. Robert Mitchum and Jean Simmons are great. Excellent. Where else, but in Film Noir, can you find a wealthy woman passionately pursuing an ambulance driver??
43. Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
Not Rated | 106 min | Crime, Film-Noir, Mystery
A doomed female hitchhiker pulls Mike Hammer into a deadly whirlpool of intrigue, revolving around a mysterious "great whatsit".
Director: Robert Aldrich | Stars: Ralph Meeker, Albert Dekker, Paul Stewart, Juano Hernandez
Votes: 22,073
Pulp Noir filmed in 3 weeks in LosAngeles, mostly at Bunker Hill and Chinatown by Robert Aldrich. Mickey Spillane wrote the novel, but there's darn-near nothin' here from the book. Screenwriter A.I. Bezzerides dismantled it and pulled in everything sleazy, seedy and noir. Ending is classic early '50's!
44. Night and the City (1950)
Not Rated | 96 min | Crime, Film-Noir, Mystery
A small-time grifter and nightclub tout takes advantage of some fortuitous circumstances and tries to become a big-time player as a wrestling promoter.
Director: Jules Dassin | Stars: Richard Widmark, Gene Tierney, Googie Withers, Hugh Marlowe
Votes: 15,266 | Gross: $3.60M
Richard Widmark at his 'sketchyiest' best. This is an excellent noir film, although Dassin doesn't agree with the "Film Noir" label for this work. I highly recommend this, in that you've probably never heard of it. I know I hadn't.
45. Strangers on a Train (1951)
PG | 101 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A psychopathic man tries to forcibly persuade a tennis star to agree to his theory that two strangers can get away with murder by submitting to his plan to kill the other's most-hated person.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Farley Granger, Robert Walker, Ruth Roman, Leo G. Carroll
Votes: 140,976 | Gross: $7.63M
Excellent Murder/Mystery/Noir.
46. The Third Man (1949)
Approved | 93 min | Film-Noir, Mystery, Thriller
Pulp novelist Holly Martins travels to shadowy, postwar Vienna, only to find himself investigating the mysterious death of an old friend, Harry Lime.
Director: Carol Reed | Stars: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Trevor Howard
Votes: 181,798 | Gross: $0.45M
47. The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
Passed | 112 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A major heist goes off as planned, but then double crosses, bad luck and solid police work cause everything to unravel.
Director: John Huston | Stars: Sterling Hayden, Louis Calhern, Jean Hagen, James Whitmore
Votes: 29,937
48. BUtterfield 8 (1960)
Not Rated | 109 min | Drama, Romance
A beautiful New York model and socialite enjoys a very active night-life, but all things change when she falls for a married man and the consequences are tragic.
Director: Daniel Mann | Stars: Elizabeth Taylor, Laurence Harvey, Eddie Fisher, Dina Merrill
Votes: 7,280 | Gross: $16.46M
Maybe not Classic Noir, but Elizabeth Taylor is killer in this Classic.
49. North by Northwest (1959)
Approved | 136 min | Action, Adventure, Mystery
A New York City advertising executive goes on the run after being mistaken for a government agent by a group of foreign spies, and falls for a woman whose loyalties he begins to doubt.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason, Jessie Royce Landis
Votes: 346,037 | Gross: $13.28M
Legendary film. Classic film. No doubt. It's just that it's not as 'special' as the films above. Really, really good. Not brilliant.
50. Laura (1944)
Passed | 88 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Mystery
A police detective falls in love with the woman whose murder he is investigating.
Directors: Otto Preminger, Rouben Mamoulian | Stars: Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews, Clifton Webb, Vincent Price
Votes: 51,402 | Gross: $4.36M
Great film!!! Great!!
51. Mirage (1965)
Approved | 108 min | Mystery, Thriller
An accountant suddenly suffers from amnesia. This appears related to the suicide of his boss. Now some violent thugs are out to get him. They work for a shadowy figure known simply as The Major.
Director: Edward Dmytryk | Stars: Gregory Peck, Diane Baker, Walter Matthau, Kevin McCarthy
Votes: 5,940 | Gross: $3.27M
Soundtrack by Quincy Jones. Excellent Noir/Mystery!!!!
52. High Sierra (1940)
Passed | 100 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
After being released from prison, notorious thief Roy Earle is hired by his old boss to help a group of inexperienced criminals plan and carry out the robbery of a California resort.
Director: Raoul Walsh | Stars: Ida Lupino, Humphrey Bogart, Alan Curtis, Arthur Kennedy
Votes: 19,235
"Hard-boiled Ida Lupino" There's something exceptional in that phrase... Bogart is supposed to have "broken through" with this movie, not sure I could agree, but it's darned good. Truely Noir.
53. The Letter (1940)
Not Rated | 95 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
The wife of a rubber plantation administrator shoots a man to death and claims it was self-defense, but a letter written in her own hand may prove her undoing.
Director: William Wyler | Stars: Bette Davis, Herbert Marshall, James Stephenson, Frieda Inescort
Votes: 14,594
Bette Davis. One of her very best.
54. White Heat (1949)
Not Rated | 114 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A psychopathic criminal with a mother complex makes a daring break from prison and leads his old gang in a chemical plant payroll heist.
Director: Raoul Walsh | Stars: James Cagney, Virginia Mayo, Edmond O'Brien, Margaret Wycherly
Votes: 35,734
Cagney in his opus.
55. Conflict (1945)
Passed | 86 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Mystery
An engineer trapped in an unhappy marriage murders his wife in the hope of marrying her younger sister.
Director: Curtis Bernhardt | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Alexis Smith, Sydney Greenstreet, Rose Hobart
Votes: 4,603
Excellent Mystery. Surprising how good Bogart is in so many films.
56. The Stranger (1946)
Passed | 95 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
An investigator from the War Crimes Commission travels to Connecticut to find an infamous Nazi.
Director: Orson Welles | Stars: Orson Welles, Edward G. Robinson, Loretta Young, Philip Merivale
Votes: 28,707
57. Murder, My Sweet (1944)
Approved | 95 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
After being hired to find an ex-con's former girlfriend, Philip Marlowe is drawn into a deeply complex web of mystery and deceit.
Director: Edward Dmytryk | Stars: Dick Powell, Claire Trevor, Anne Shirley, Otto Kruger
Votes: 14,702
Exceptional Noir, and the plot is really involved, if not tangled up,
58. Fallen Angel (1945)
Approved | 98 min | Crime, Film-Noir, Mystery
A slick con man arrives in a small town looking to make some money, but soon gets more than he bargained for.
Director: Otto Preminger | Stars: Alice Faye, Dana Andrews, Linda Darnell, Charles Bickford
Votes: 6,512
59. Phantom Lady (1944)
Passed | 87 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A devoted secretary risks her life to try to find the elusive woman who may prove her boss didn't murder his selfish wife.
Director: Robert Siodmak | Stars: Franchot Tone, Ella Raines, Alan Curtis, Aurora Miranda
Votes: 5,750
60. The Naked Kiss (1964)
Approved | 90 min | Crime, Drama
A former prostitute relocates to a buttoned-down suburb, determined to fit in with mainstream society. But perverse secrets simmer beneath the wholesome surface.
Director: Samuel Fuller | Stars: Constance Towers, Anthony Eisley, Michael Dante, Virginia Grey
Votes: 8,750
So weird and so Fuller!!
61. The Big Heat (1953)
Passed | 89 min | Crime, Film-Noir, Thriller
Tough cop Dave Bannion takes on a politically powerful crime syndicate.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, Jocelyn Brando, Alexander Scourby
Votes: 29,155
Terrific film! Gloria Grahame and Glenn Ford.
62. The Apartment (1960)
Approved | 125 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A Manhattan insurance clerk tries to rise in his company by letting its executives use his apartment for trysts, but complications and a romance of his own ensue.
Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray, Ray Walston
Votes: 196,738 | Gross: $18.60M
Exceptional, Classic, Masterful Direction. Essential.
63. A Letter to Three Wives (1949)
Passed | 103 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A letter is addressed to three wives from their "best friend" Addie Ross, announcing that she is running away with one of their husbands - but she does not say which one.
Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz | Stars: Jeanne Crain, Linda Darnell, Ann Sothern, Kirk Douglas
Votes: 10,798
A great premise for a film. Surprising to us, as to how good this film is.
64. No Way Out (1950)
Passed | 106 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Two hoodlum brothers are brought into a hospital for gunshot wounds, and when one of them dies the other accuses their black doctor of murder.
Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz | Stars: Richard Widmark, Linda Darnell, Stephen McNally, Sidney Poitier
Votes: 6,277
Incredibly confrontive work on Mankiewicz's part. Challenging to watch because of the direct and bare racial theme and language. Apparently, Poitier and Widmark were really close friends and Widmark apologized after several nasty scenes to Poitier. I can see that...
65. Sudden Fear (1952)
Approved | 110 min | Film-Noir, Thriller
After an ambitious actor insinuates himself into the life of a wealthy middle-aged playwright and marries her, he plots with his mistress to murder her.
Director: David Miller | Stars: Joan Crawford, Jack Palance, Gloria Grahame, Bruce Bennett
Votes: 7,336
Joan Crawford is "all eyes" in this very good Noir mystery. It pushes the boundary between 'Classic Noir" and 'caricature', but it's really quite good. Gloria Grahame is always fun as the 'bad little girl'.
66. I'll Cry Tomorrow (1955)
Passed | 117 min | Biography, Drama, Music
Susan Hayward stars as singer-actress Lillian Roth, whose rise to stardom was nearly destroyed by alcoholism.
Director: Daniel Mann | Stars: Susan Hayward, Richard Conte, Eddie Albert, Jo Van Fleet
Votes: 2,486
Susan Hayward finally got her elusive Oscar with this performance. Rightfully so, in that her study in the life of a fallen stage performer is unnerving,, at the least.
67. The Wrong Man (1956)
Not Rated | 105 min | Drama, Film-Noir
In 1953, an innocent man named Christopher Emanuel "Manny" Balestrero is arrested after being mistaken for an armed robber.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Henry Fonda, Vera Miles, Anthony Quayle, Harold J. Stone
Votes: 31,357
68. Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950)
Not Rated | 95 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Det. Sgt. Mark Dixon wants to be something his old man wasn't: a guy on the right side of the law. Will Dixon's vicious nature get the better of him?
Director: Otto Preminger | Stars: Dana Andrews, Gene Tierney, Gary Merrill, Bert Freed
Votes: 9,953
69. The Woman in the Window (1944)
Passed | 107 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
When a conservative middle aged professor engages in a relationship with a femme fatale, he's plunged into a nightmarish world of blackmail and murder.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett, Raymond Massey, Edmund Breon
Votes: 17,769
This was filmed just before Scarlet Street and Fritz Lang used the same cast. Quite a good mystery!
70. Gaslight (1944)
Passed | 114 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Ten years after her aunt was murdered in their London home, a woman returns from Italy in the 1880s to resume residence with her new husband. His obsessive interest in the home rises from a secret that may require driving his wife insane.
Director: George Cukor | Stars: Charles Boyer, Ingrid Bergman, Joseph Cotten, May Whitty
Votes: 33,875
71. Scarlet Street (1945)
Approved | 102 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A man in mid-life crisis befriends a young woman, though her fiancé persuades her to con him out of the fortune they mistakenly assume he possesses.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett, Dan Duryea, Margaret Lindsay
Votes: 19,170
72. Fury (1936)
Not Rated | 92 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
When a wrongly-accused prisoner barely survives a lynch-mob attack and is presumed dead, he vindictively decides to fake his death and frame the mob for his supposed murder.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Sylvia Sidney, Spencer Tracy, Walter Abel, Bruce Cabot
Votes: 13,725
Exceptional 30's 'Noir-ish' film. Truly a Moral Code theme, wherein Spencer Tracy is transformed into a vengeful, hateful character by an immoral, rudderless lynch mob. I'd be kinda' pissed, too!!
73. Whirlpool (1950)
Approved | 98 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A woman suffering from kleptomania is hypnotized in an attempt to cure her. Soon afterwards, she's found at the scene of a murder with no memory of how she got there, and seemingly no way to prove her innocence.
Director: Otto Preminger | Stars: Gene Tierney, Richard Conte, José Ferrer, Charles Bickford
Votes: 4,793
74. Kiss of Death (1947)
Approved | 99 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A crook arrested for a jewelry heist initially refuses to give up his accomplices, but he changes his mind once his wife dies under worrying circumstances.
Director: Henry Hathaway | Stars: Victor Mature, Brian Donlevy, Coleen Gray, Richard Widmark
Votes: 9,567
A very strong story sets you up for a twisty, squirmy ending. Richard Widmark in his debut. He pushes his character to some insane limits and really nails it. He got nominated for Best Supprting Actor for this, his first role in film. Widmark continues to really stand out in this list of films.
75. The African Queen (1951)
PG | 105 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
In WWI East Africa, a gin-swilling Canadian riverboat captain is persuaded by a strait-laced English missionary to undertake a trip up a treacherous river and use his boat to attack a German gunship.
Director: John Huston | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Katharine Hepburn, Robert Morley, Peter Bull
Votes: 84,297 | Gross: $0.54M
Good, but not as Great as I would have thought. Fine film.
76. The Lady Vanishes (1938)
Not Rated | 96 min | Mystery, Thriller
While travelling in continental Europe, a rich young playgirl realizes that an elderly lady seems to have disappeared from the train.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Margaret Lockwood, Michael Redgrave, Paul Lukas, May Whitty
Votes: 57,141
Hitchcock mystery. Well done.
77. Suspicion (1941)
Approved | 99 min | Film-Noir, Mystery, Thriller
A shy young heiress marries a charming gentleman, and soon begins to suspect he is planning to murder her.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Cary Grant, Joan Fontaine, Cedric Hardwicke, Nigel Bruce
Votes: 42,406 | Gross: $4.50M
78. The Narrow Margin (1952)
Approved | 71 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A woman planning to testify against the mob must be protected against potential assassins on the train trip from Chicago to Los Angeles.
Directors: Richard Fleischer, William Cameron Menzies | Stars: Charles McGraw, Marie Windsor, Jacqueline White, Gordon Gebert
Votes: 8,653
79. Irma la Douce (1963)
Approved | 147 min | Comedy, Romance
When a policeman falls in love with a prostitute, he doesn't want her to see other men, so he creates an alter-ego who will be her only customer.
Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Lou Jacobi, Bruce Yarnell
Votes: 21,357 | Gross: $25.25M
It's way down here, and that's a shame. Its really a great film with Lemmon and Mclaine. I'd say it's 'Required Classic'.
80. Call Northside 777 (1948)
Approved | 112 min | Drama, Film-Noir
Chicago reporter P.J. McNeal re-opens a decade-old murder case.
Director: Henry Hathaway | Stars: James Stewart, Richard Conte, Lee J. Cobb, Helen Walker
Votes: 10,235
True story, filmed in the actual locales, as well. Jimmy Stewart makes a darn fine 'newspaper man".
81. Some Like It Hot (1959)
Passed | 121 min | Comedy, Music, Romance
After two male musicians witness a mob hit, they flee the state in an all-female band disguised as women, but further complications set in.
Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, George Raft
Votes: 283,453 | Gross: $25.00M
Funny that it's down here. It is a Classic to the core, and probably would stand more to the top if I'd just looked at it as a comedy (that it is...).
82. Out of the Past (1947)
Approved | 97 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A private eye escapes his past to run a gas station in a small town, but his past catches up with him. Now he must return to the big city world of danger, corruption, double crosses, and duplicitous dames.
Director: Jacques Tourneur | Stars: Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, Kirk Douglas, Rhonda Fleming
Votes: 40,898
83. The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)
Unrated | 116 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Romance
A man is reunited with his childhood friend and her husband who believes he knows the truth about the death of her rich aunt years earlier.
Director: Lewis Milestone | Stars: Barbara Stanwyck, Van Heflin, Lizabeth Scott, Kirk Douglas
Votes: 11,086
Barbara Stanwyck is very good in this 'blackmail mystery'. Lizabeth Scott's 2nd film, and she's a little 'forced' in her attempt to capture the Bacall persona.
84. Dead Reckoning (1946)
Passed | 100 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A soldier runs away rather than receive the Medal of Honor, so his buddy gets permission to investigate, and love and death soon follow.
Director: John Cromwell | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Lizabeth Scott, Morris Carnovsky, Charles Cane
Votes: 8,716
85. Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
Passed | 108 min | Film-Noir, Thriller
A teenage girl, overjoyed when her favorite uncle comes to visit the family in their quiet California town, slowly begins to suspect that he is in fact the "Merry Widow" killer sought by the authorities.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Teresa Wright, Joseph Cotten, Macdonald Carey, Henry Travers
Votes: 70,481
86. The Glass Key (1942)
Passed | 85 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A crooked politician finds himself being accused of murder by a gangster from whom he refused help during a re-election campaign.
Director: Stuart Heisler | Stars: Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, Brian Donlevy, Bonita Granville
Votes: 7,399
87. Nightmare Alley (1947)
Passed | 110 min | Drama, Film-Noir
The rise and fall of Stanton Carlisle, a mentalist whose lies and deceit prove to be his downfall.
Director: Edmund Goulding | Stars: Tyrone Power, Joan Blondell, Coleen Gray, Helen Walker
Votes: 13,412
88. Now, Voyager (1942)
Passed | 117 min | Drama, Romance
A frumpy spinster blossoms under therapy and becomes an elegant, independent woman.
Director: Irving Rapper | Stars: Bette Davis, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, Gladys Cooper
Votes: 19,010
89. Rope (1948)
Approved | 80 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Two men attempt to prove they committed the perfect crime by hosting a dinner party after strangling their former classmate to death.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: James Stewart, John Dall, Farley Granger, Dick Hogan
Votes: 153,577
Good Hitchcock mystery. Not in his 'very best' caliber, though IMHO.
90. Tomorrow Is Forever (1946)
Not Rated | 104 min | Drama, Romance, War
An American World War I soldier whose disfigured face is reconstructed by Austrian plastic surgeons returns home after 20 years, but no one recognizes him, his widow is married to another man, and his son is a grown young man.
Director: Irving Pichel | Stars: Claudette Colbert, Orson Welles, George Brent, Lucile Watson
Votes: 2,984 | Gross: $3.25M
91. Crossfire (1947)
Approved | 86 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A man is murdered, apparently by one of a group of demobilized soldiers he met in a bar. But which one? And why?
Director: Edward Dmytryk | Stars: Robert Young, Robert Mitchum, Robert Ryan, Gloria Grahame
Votes: 9,702 | Gross: $1.30M
92. Thieves' Highway (1949)
Passed | 94 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Thriller
A war veteran turned truck driver attempts to avenge the crippling and robbing of his father at the hands of an amoral produce scofflaw.
Director: Jules Dassin | Stars: Richard Conte, Valentina Cortese, Lee J. Cobb, Barbara Lawrence
Votes: 6,868
Good. Not terrific. Good.
93. The Naked City (1948)
Not Rated | 96 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A step-by-step look at a murder investigation on the streets of New York.
Director: Jules Dassin | Stars: Barry Fitzgerald, Howard Duff, Dorothy Hart, Don Taylor
Votes: 15,495
Same as above... Good. Not terrific. Good. Haven't been wildly impressed by Dassin's films.. It's clear what he's doing, but I don't find it particularly compelling. Good....
94. I Walk Alone (1947)
Approved | 97 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Frankie Madison leaves prison expecting a share from his ex-partner. But Prohibition bootlegging didn't prepare Frankie for Big Business.
Director: Byron Haskin | Stars: Burt Lancaster, Lizabeth Scott, Kirk Douglas, Wendell Corey
Votes: 3,287
95. I Confess (1953)
Not Rated | 95 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A priest, who comes under suspicion for murder, cannot clear his name without breaking the seal of the confessional.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Montgomery Clift, Anne Baxter, Karl Malden, Brian Aherne
Votes: 23,242
96. Criss Cross (1949)
Not Rated | 84 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
An armored truck driver and his ex-wife conspire with a gang to have his own truck robbed on the route.
Director: Robert Siodmak | Stars: Burt Lancaster, Yvonne De Carlo, Dan Duryea, Stephen McNally
Votes: 9,597
97. Patterns (1956)
Approved | 83 min | Drama
When Fred Staples is recruited onto the board of a high-powered New York corporation, he finds his ethics and ambition at odds.
Director: Fielder Cook | Stars: Van Heflin, Everett Sloane, Ed Begley, Beatrice Straight
Votes: 3,542
98. Rebecca (1940)
Approved | 130 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
A self-conscious woman juggles adjusting to her new role as an aristocrat's wife and avoiding being intimidated by his first wife's spectral presence.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine, George Sanders, Judith Anderson
Votes: 146,675 | Gross: $4.36M
99. The 39 Steps (1935)
Approved | 86 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
A man in London tries to help a counter-espionage agent, but when the agent is killed and the man stands accused, he must go on the run to save himself and stop a spy ring that is trying to steal top-secret information.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Robert Donat, Madeleine Carroll, Lucie Mannheim, Godfrey Tearle
Votes: 61,524
OK. It should be watched for its classic nature. It's not bad at all. I just wouldn't start here.
100. Boomerang! (1947)
Passed | 88 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
The true story of a prosecutor's fight to prove the innocence of a man accused of a notorious murder.
Director: Elia Kazan | Stars: Dana Andrews, Jane Wyatt, Lee J. Cobb, Cara Williams
Votes: 5,058
A bit disappointing, in that is on so many lists, and yet not all that great. It's OK, but....
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