Film Noir: Blackmail.
A selection of film noir movies in which the plots feature various forms of blackmail.
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- DirectorFrank TuttleStarsAlan LaddVeronica LakeRobert PrestonWhen 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.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsAnny OndraJohn LongdenSara AllgoodAfter killing a man in self-defense, a young woman is blackmailed by a witness to the killing.
- DirectorAndrew L. StoneStarsJames MasonRod SteigerInger StevensDuped by former Army pal Paul Hoplin into building a time-bomb, New York shop owner Jim Molner and his family become hostages of Hoplin who uses bomb-threats to extort money from airlines.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsMontgomery CliftAnne BaxterKarl MaldenA priest, who comes under suspicion for murder, cannot clear his name without breaking the seal of the confessional.
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsHumphrey BogartLauren BacallJohn RidgelyPrivate 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.
- DirectorAlexander MackendrickStarsBurt LancasterTony CurtisSusan HarrisonPowerful but unethical Broadway columnist J.J. Hunsecker coerces unscrupulous press agent Sidney Falco into breaking up his sister's romance with a jazz musician.
- DirectorRobert AldrichStarsJack PalanceIda LupinoWendell CoreyHollywood actor Charles Castle is pressured by his studio boss into a criminal cover-up to protect his valuable career.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsEdward G. RobinsonJoan BennettRaymond MasseyWhen a conservative middle aged professor engages in a relationship with a femme fatale, he's plunged into a nightmarish world of blackmail and murder.
- DirectorLewis MilestoneStarsBarbara StanwyckVan HeflinLizabeth ScottA 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.
- DirectorTerence FisherStarsGeorge BrentMarguerite ChapmanRaymond HuntleyThe married owner of a bookstore is attracted to his sexy blonde clerk. He finally gives in to temptation and makes a pass at her, but that only results in him getting enmeshed in blackmail and murder.
- DirectorGeorge MarshallStarsAlan LaddVeronica LakeWilliam BendixAn ex-bomber pilot is suspected of murdering his unfaithful wife.
- DirectorMitchell LeisenStarsBarbara StanwyckJohn LundJane CowlA pregnant woman adopts the identity of a railroad-crash victim and starts a new life with the woman's wealthy in-laws, but is soon blackmailed by her devious ex.
- DirectorIrving PichelStarsMickey RooneyJeanne CagneyBarbara BatesAfter taking 20 dollars from his employer to go on a date with plans to repay it the next day, an auto mechanic falls into increasingly disastrous circumstances for more and more money which rapidly spirals out of his control.
- DirectorGeorge CukorStarsJoan CrawfordMelvyn DouglasConrad VeidtA female blackmailer with a disfiguring facial scar meets a plastic surgeon who offers her the possibility of looking like a normal woman.
- DirectorOtto PremingerStarsGene TierneyRichard ConteJosé FerrerA 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.
- DirectorLesley SelanderStarsWilliam MarshallAdele MaraRicardo CortezA private detective is approached by a wealthy entertainment executive to stop a blackmail scheme against him. Although he hasn't decided to take the job, the blackmailers believe that he already has, and he is marked for murder.
- DirectorRobert SiodmakStarsCharles LaughtonElla RainesDean HarensAn unhappily married man begins a flirtation with a younger woman. When his wife threatens to ruin her, he decides to take action.
- DirectorPeter GodfreyStarsHumphrey BogartBarbara StanwyckAlexis SmithAn artist forms an attachment with a woman on holiday in the country. As the relationship develops, his behavior and information about his past cause her increasing concern.
- DirectorHerbert I. LeedsStarsLloyd NolanHeather AngelDoris MerrickOne of the "Michael Shayne" detective series, Time to Kill was based on The High Window, by Raymond Chandler. Private dick Mike Shayne (Lloyd Nolan) is hired by wealthy Mrs. Murdock (Ethel Gryffies) to retrieve a stolen rare coin she is convinced her daughter-in-law has stolen. Shayne uncovers a gang of counterfeiters and a surfeit of coins as he stumbles his way into and out of evidence and gangsters, and romance.
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsWilliam HoldenGloria SwansonErich von StroheimA screenwriter develops a dangerous relationship with a faded film star determined to make a triumphant return.
- DirectorJacques TourneurStarsRobert MitchumJane GreerKirk DouglasA 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.
- DirectorEdward DmytrykStarsDick PowellClaire TrevorAnne ShirleyAfter being hired to find an ex-con's former girlfriend, Philip Marlowe is drawn into a deeply complex web of mystery and deceit.
- DirectorJack ConwayStarsWilliam PowellHedy LamarrClaire TrevorAn amnesiac French diplomat is blackmailed for crimes that he committed before he lost his memory.
- DirectorRobert StevensonStarsRobert RyanLaraine DayJohn AgarSuccessful, newly married Brad Collins once belonged to the Communist Party of the USA, and now the Party will stop at nothing to use him.
- DirectorElia KazanStarsDana AndrewsJane WyattLee J. CobbThe true story of a prosecutor's fight to prove the innocence of a man accused of a notorious murder.
- DirectorR.G. SpringsteenStarsRaymond GreenleafMarjie MillarJohn HudsonFaced with blackmail, a town's prosecutor intentionally throws the case of a big-time mobster.
- DirectorSeymour FriedmanStarsGeorge RaftDorothy HartPaul StewartAt the request of factory owners and union leaders, a tough ex-con infiltrates a gang of loan sharks who are preying on financially desperate factory workers.
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsTyrone PowerMarlene DietrichCharles LaughtonA veteran British barrister must defend his client in a murder trial that has surprise after surprise.
- DirectorJean NegulescoStarsPeter LorreSydney GreenstreetZachary ScottMystery writer Cornelius Leyden becomes intrigued after the murdered body of a vicious career criminal washes up in the Bosphorus.
- DirectorJack BernhardStarsRobert PaigeLeslie BrooksRuss VincentA society reporter keeps herself in the headlines by marrying a series of wealthy men, all of whom die under mysterious circumstances.
- DirectorFred F. SearsStarsLee J. CobbPatricia MedinaEdward ArnoldMiami cop Bart Scott tracks down, in Cuba, a fugitive witness who can shed light in a double homicide and about the activities of a Miami mob lawyer who uses murder and blackmail in order to force the legalization of gambling in Florida.
- DirectorRobert GordonStarsChester MorrisConstance DowlingSteven GerayA mystery writer accused of murdering his publisher sets out to discover the real killer.
- DirectorCy EndfieldStarsLloyd BridgesMoira ListerAlan WheatleyAn American WWII veteran goes back to England after the war only to discover that his wartime sweetheart has got mixed up with a dangerous spy ring.
- DirectorZoltan KordaStarsCharles BoyerAnn BlythJessica TandyA cheating husband is charged in the poisoning death of his invalid wife, in spite of other women and suicide also being suspected.
- DirectorCurtis BernhardtStarsRobert TaylorAudrey TotterHerbert MarshallAfter a brain-damaged man confesses to murder and is committed, Dr. Ann Lorrison tries to prove his innocence.
- DirectorJoseph PevneyStarsHoward DuffPeggy DowBrian DonlevyUnscrupulous and opportunistic San Francisco news media photographer Jack Early steps on and uses folks to get ahead, but in the end he tangles with the wrong people.
- DirectorJohn SturgesStarsRicardo MontalbanSally ForrestBruce BennettA small-town policeman is assisted by a Harvard professor after the discovery of a human skeleton on a Massachusetts beach.
- DirectorRoy William NeillStarsDan DuryeaJune VincentPeter LorreWhen Kirk Bennett is convicted of a singer's murder, his wife tries to prove him innocent...aided by the victim's ex-husband.
- DirectorOrson WellesStarsCharlton HestonOrson WellesJanet LeighA stark, perverse story of murder, kidnapping and police corruption in a Mexican border town.
- DirectorJohn H. AuerStarsJohn CarrollVera RalstonRobert PaigeA woman falls for the victim of an intended blackmail plot.
- DirectorRoy RowlandStarsVan JohnsonAnn BlythSteve CochranIn an effort to improve the circulation of his notorious scandal magazine, unscrupulous owner, editor and publisher H. R. Manley spares nobody.
- DirectorVincent ShermanStarsAnn SheridanLew AyresZachary ScottA Los Angeles socialite kills a man while home alone one night and claims he was an intruder she did not know. It seems like a clear case of self defense until the story hits the papers and people connected to the dead man come forward.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsFarley GrangerRobert WalkerRuth RomanA 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.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsGlenn FordGloria GrahameJocelyn BrandoTough cop Dave Bannion takes on a politically powerful crime syndicate.
- DirectorWilliam WylerStarsBette DavisHerbert MarshallJames StephensonThe 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.
- DirectorTay GarnettStarsLana TurnerJohn GarfieldCecil KellawayA married woman and a drifter fall in love and then plot to murder her husband.
- DirectorElmer CliftonStarsMilburn StoneKatherine DeMillePaul GuilfoyleA crooked lawyer blackmails a client into a murder plot against his wife.
- DirectorJoseph KaneStarsDavid BrianVera RalstonSidney BlackmerPolice detective falls for singer, gets involved with gangster killing.
- DirectorGene RaymondStarsGene RaymondOsa MassenFrancis Lederer2 people - a middle-aged stockbroker and a young widow are passengers on the same flight from California to Hawaii. For different reasons, they've both fled the state with secrets. Neither knows of the others' situation and they both turn to each other for help.
- DirectorSam WoodStarsJoan CrawfordRobert ArmstrongMarie PrevostMary Turner goes up for three years on a crime she didn't commit. Once out she and former prison mates plan a scam in which old men can be sued for breach of promise - the "heart balm" racket. After plotting verious ways to get back at the men who set her up initially, she softens and settles down.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsGlenn FordGloria GrahameBroderick CrawfordA Korean War vet returns to his job as a railroad engineer and becomes involved in an affair with a co-worker's wife following a murder on a train where they meet.
- DirectorSam NewfieldStarsMarjorie LordRobert ShaynePierre WatkinHoping to bury her criminal past, Jenny Hadley settles into a comfortable existence as Gina, the wife of the politician Clinton Crane. When her former associate Floyd Durant shows up to blackmail Gina, she has no choice but to murder him. Things take a bizarre turn when Barbara Arnold is charged with Durant's murder and Gina is selected to serve on the jury.
- DirectorEdmund GouldingStarsTyrone PowerJoan BlondellColeen GrayThe rise and fall of Stanton Carlisle, a mentalist whose lies and deceit prove to be his downfall.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsEdward G. RobinsonJoan BennettDan DuryeaA 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.
- DirectorStuart HeislerStarsHumphrey BogartAlexander KnoxFlorence MarlyAn American returns to Tokyo try to pick up threads of his pre-WW2 life there, but finds himself squeezed between criminals and the authorities.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsClaude RainsJoan CaulfieldAudrey TotterThe secretary of an affably suave radio mystery host mysteriously commits suicide after his wealthy young niece disappears.
- DirectorOrson WellesStarsOrson WellesPeter van EyckMichael RedgraveAn elusive billionaire hires an American smuggler to investigate his past, leading to a dizzying descent into a cold-war European landscape.
- DirectorAnthony MannStarsBrenda MarshallWilliam GarganHillary BrookeA research scientist conducting experiments on a new anesthetic finds herself being blackmailed by a woman she accidentally knocked down with her car; the woman wasn't hurt, but a scheming attorney has convinced her she can get a lot of money for the "accident". Meanwhile, the scientist's research assistant, who is in love with her boss' boyfriend, arranges for an explosion in the laboratory that disfigures the scientist's face, in order to take the boyfriend away from her. The scientist has plastic surgery to make her look like the woman who tried to blackmail her - who while struggling with the scientist fell out of a window and was killed - and determines to get back her boyfriend and punish her scheming assistant.
- DirectorReginald Le BorgStarsTeala LoringRobert ArmstrongLeo PennTom Cochrane (Leo Penn'), full of dope (cocaine) and covered with blood, is picked up by the police and then questioned by detectives Shannon (Douglas Fowley) and Taylor (Harry Strang), but manages to escape. His girl friend Lois Walter (Teala Loring) , against the wishes of her guardian, Jim Grosset (Charles Arnt), assists Tom and his police-officer brother-in-law Mac McLane (Robert Armstrong) in trying to clear Tom of a possible murder charge. Tom only recalls meeting a man in a bar and going to a party. Tom and Mac find the man, Joe (Elisha Cook Jr.), who takes them to the party scene, the apartment of the Sindells. They find the body of a murdered girl in the apartment above.
- DirectorMax OphülsStarsJames MasonJoan BennettGeraldine BrooksAfter discovering the dead body of her teenage daughter's lover, a housewife takes desperate measures to protect her family from scandal.
- DirectorRobert MontgomeryStarsRobert MontgomeryThomas GomezWanda HendrixWW2 veteran Lucky Gagin arrives in a New Mexico border-town intent on revenging against mobster Frank Hugo but FBI agent Bill Retz, who also wants Hugo, tries to keep Gagin out of trouble.
- DirectorHarold ClurmanWilliam Cameron MenziesStarsSusan HaywardPaul LukasBill WilliamsAfter a woman he meets is murdered, a soon-to-ship-out sailor has until dawn to find the killer, aided by a weary dance hall girl.
- DirectorRussell RouseStarsJack PalanceHarold J. StoneEdward PlattSan Quentin prison inmate Arnie Judlow asks his twin brother Bill and his wife Ruth to assist him in a daring escape plan.
- DirectorGeorge WaggnerStarsWilliam GarganJune ClydeJohn LitelA detective begins to suspect that a man may be in prison for a crime he didn't commit.
- DirectorJean YarbroughStarsWallace FordJune VincentMark RobertsA wife convinces her husband to fake his death so they can collect on the life insurance. However, he doesn't know that she has been having an affair for some time, and she has plans for the money - and they don't include him.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsMarlene DietrichJane WymanRichard ToddA struggling actress tries to help a friend prove his innocence after he's accused of murdering the husband of a high-society entertainer.
- DirectorJohn BerryStarsRichard BasehartAudrey TotterCyd CharisseA meek pharmacist creates an alternate identity under which he plans to murder the bullying liquor salesman who has become his wife's lover.
- DirectorAbner BibermanStarsMerle OberonLex BarkerCharles DrakeThe co-owner of a dog track is framed for two crimes: the shotgun killing of his ex-partner and the hit-and-run death of an elderly man.
- DirectorStuart HeislerStarsAlan LaddVeronica LakeBrian DonlevyA crooked politician finds himself being accused of murder by a gangster from whom he refused help during a re-election campaign.
- DirectorLewis SeilerStarsCleo MooreRichard CrennaIsobel ElsomSexy blonde dance club girl learns the photography trade and moves to New York in pursuit of a new career.
- DirectorMarc AllégretStarsMai ZetterlingDirk BogardeFay ComptonMrs. Christopher (Fay Compton), a kindly volunteer worker at a large hospital, does a favor for a patient by delivering a sum of money to Mr. Sine (James Robertson Justice). After she discovers he is a blackmailer, she threatens to expose him, and a struggle ensues in which she kills him. Her willingness to take the law into her own hands has a disastrous effect on former victims of the blackmailer.
- DirectorArthur LubinStarsStewart GrangerJean SimmonsBill TraversIn early-1900s England, a maid tries to blackmail her master into romancing her when she discovers that he murdered his wife.
- DirectorCharles SaundersStarsGriffith JonesHazel CourtZena MarshallAn insurance investigator is framed for murder after a pretty woman hires him to recover a letter from a man who wants to blackmail her.
- DirectorJohn H. AuerStarsWendell CoreyEvelyn KeyesElsa LanchesterAn American woman goes to Hawaii to search for her husband, MIA since the war, but he's a fugitive from the law and involved in a private feud against his former crime syndicate partners.
- DirectorJoseph M. NewmanStarsEdmond O'BrienJoanne DruOtto KrugerAn electronics expert creates a huge bookie broadcast system for his crime boss, and takes over operations when his boss is murdered. His greed leads him on a deadly destructive path.
- DirectorLance ComfortStarsRobert HuttonLisa GastoniMartin BensonInternational crook Armstrong flees post-war Tangier with priceless forgery plates. International crook Voss sends pretty Michele after him. Arriving in London, Armstrong accidentally swaps coats in a barber's shop with film actor Chuck Collins. Through an address in his new coat's pocket, Collins meets up with Michele. Voss' partner, international crook Heinrich, starts to sense a double-cross. When Armstrong is thrown out of his hotel window, the police start to sense foul play.
- DirectorJohn G. BlystoneStarsJames CagneyMae ClarkeJames BurkeThe adventures of an investigator (Cagney) for the Bureau of Weights and Measures.
- DirectorLawrence HuntingtonStarsDerek FarrJoan HopkinsEdward ChapmanIn post-war Britain, an army deserter unwittingly gets involved in murder and armed robbery and enlists the aid of a war widow to help clear his name.
- DirectorPhil RosenStarsJoan WoodburyJack La RueLinda WareCircumstances force naive Dorothy Adams into serving an unjust prison term, but she emerges from it a cynical criminal who rises to power in the local crime organization.
- DirectorEdward LudwigStarsYvonne De CarloHoward DuffZachary ScottThe story of a café singer who buys a gambling casino, and the men who fall in love with her.