Film Noir suggestions

[psufootball07]

Any suggestions on either hidden film noir lists or a really complete list of classic noir. I have seen most of the best (Double Indemnity, Sunset Blvd, Third Man, Maltest Falcon among them) and some lesser films like Scarlet Street, Kurosawa, French noir, and all of the Hitchcock's that are considered noir. So if anyone has any thorough classic noir lists online that would be helpful, or even any suggestions or personal lists.

[Cash Flagg]

DVD Beaver has one.

[foggy eyes]

I have seen most of the best (Double Indemnity, Sunset Blvd, Third Man, Maltest Falcon among them) and some lesser films like Scarlet Street

What?

Anyway, this is probably what you need - think of it as an annotated list. The Movie noir compilation (long OOP, unfortunately) and Frank Krutnik's In a Lonely Street are v. useful too.

[psufootball07]

Thanks for the lists, although maybe you "love" Scarlet Street, it definitely had some great shots and scenes, more towards the end of the film, the beginning was really slow paced. Plus the fact that it is a re-make or a better Noir with the same characters, "Woman in the window" which I absolutely was enthralled by.

[tojoed]

Thanks for the lists, although maybe you "love" Scarlet Street, it definitely had some great shots and scenes, more towards the end of the film, the beginning was really slow paced. Plus the fact that it is a re-make or a better Noir with the same characters, "Woman in the window" which I absolutely was enthralled by.

"Scarlet Street" is not a remake of "Woman in the Window", a companion piece, maybe. It's Lang's version of Renoir's "La Chienne".

[domino harvey]

I have seen most of the best (Double Indemnity, Sunset Blvd, Third Man, Maltest Falcon among them) and some lesser films like Scarlet Street

What?

I'm still trying to figure out how he knows he's seen "most of the best" if he needs a list of noir films

[psufootball07]

Well basically I'm looking to fill the gaps in, as my Philosophy of Film course is focusing on essential film noir for the past 2 months. So I think I have seen the best, but still am missing many great films. After looking on DVDBeaver link it is clear I have to see The Postman Always Rings Twice and Key Largo ASAP, but I was curious that Death of a Cyclist and Ace in the Hole are noirs.

[HerrSchreck]

Imagine thinking you've seen "the best" of film noir without mentioning the name Anthony Mann, or Jules Dassin, without mentioning Henry Hathaway, or Robert Siodmak, without mentioning Ulmer, or Otto Preminger... without mentioning Jacques Tourneur or Raoul Walsh, or Edward Dmytryk or Robert Rossen, Abraham Polonsky or Sam Fuller, Charles Laughton or Henri-Georges Clouzot, without mentioning Julien Duvivier or Robert Wise, Nick Ray or Lupino... no Cavalcanti no Melville no Aldrich no Carne?

..and I think Scarlet Street is a masterpiece (like You Only Live Once, or Fury)-- Lang himself thought it was his finest American film. If you want to talk about his 'minor' (if there really are any) noirs you step down to fabulous films like House By The River, While The City Sleeps, Woman In The Window, Secret Beyond The Door, The Big Heat, The Blue Gardenia, etc.. but they're all great films and essentially companion pieces... pretty much individual installments-- chapters-- in Lang's ongoing fuming against The Basic Problem of the Phenomenon of the Human Scumbag (and his ongoing contention with the ever ill-prepared Decent Fellow).

[Napier]

I have a credo when it comes to Noir. Because I'm a total junkie for the genre. There's no such thing as bad Film Noir. But if I had to pick favorites, Thieves Highway and Pickup on South Street are two of the best.

[goodfelladh]

I'm a noir addict as well, along with being a sucker for making lists, so here is how I've ranked my favorite 25 noirs in my collection. The first six on this list I rate 10/10 and are absolute must-sees for anyone interested in film in general, let alone noir. Also, HerrSchreck already mentioned Robert Siodmak and I could agree more... make sure you check out his work, he's a great director. On this list, I didn't include some outstanding French films that are often considered noir, so be sure to check out stuff like Rififi as well. Obviously, this is purely subjective.

1. Out of the Past (Tourneur, 1947)
2. Criss Cross (Siodmak, 1949)
3. The Killers (Siodmak, 1946)
4. Touch of Evil (Welles, 1958)
5. The Killing (Kubrick, 1956)
6. Sunset Boulevard (Wilder, 1950)
7. The Postman Always Rings Twice (Garnett, 1946)
8. Sweet Smell of Success (Mackendrick, 1957)
9. Double Indemnity (Wilder, 1944)
10. Strangers on a Train (Hitchcock, 1951)
11. Gilda (Vidor, 1946)
12. The Asphalt Jungle (Huston, 1950)
13. In a Lonely Place (Ray, 1950)
14. The Big Heat (Lang, 1953)
15. Detour (1945)
16. The Big Sleep (Hawks, 1946)
17. House of Strangers (Mankiewicz, 1949)
18. The Third Man (Reed, 1949)
19. The Big Combo (Lewis, 1955)
20. Nobody Lives Forever (Negulesco, 1946)
21. The Maltese Falcon (Huston, 1941)
22. Scarlet Street (Lang, 1945)
23. Mildred Pierce (Curtiz, 1945)
24. Born to Kill (Wise, 1947)
25. Brute Force (Dassin, 1947)

[Murdoch]

My suggestion is to pick up a couple of the Warner, Fox, or Kino noir sets. You can find them for cheap and they offer a great variety of films, even if I wouldn't consider all of them noir (Gun Crazy for instance). For noir you can't assume you've seen most of the best, there's far too many films out there.