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I just got my end-of-year bonus and wanted to spend it on dvds (why not?) and was wondering what noir films would others suggest to get? All I currently have are Killer's Kiss and The Killing so I am open to any and all suggestions. thanks

In A Lonely Place is one of my favorites. And also Double Indemnity...isn't the new DVD version supposed to come out anytime soon?

May I give the obvious, safe suggestion?

OUT OF THE PAST (Jacques Tourneur, 1947)

Double Indemnity is on TCM this month to hold you until the DVD comes out.

good popular choices:
The Warner Bros. Noir Box Set
Kiss Me Deadly
The Postman Always Rings Twice

Double Indemnity is on TCM this month

Thanks for the head up. It will be on the 18th at 8:00 pm. Must see!

Noir has always been a favorite for me, of the previously mentioned titles and a few more I would rank them as follows:
Must haves
Out Of The Past
Double Indemnity (hopefully a new release soon)
Laura
The Postman Always Rings Twice
Gun Crazy
Mildred Pierce
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers

Others that NEED to be released on DVD
The Narrow Margin
Phantom Lady
The Woman in the Window
Born to Kill

Robert Mitchum film noir that I hope will be released soon
Macao
The Big Steal
His Kind of Woman
Angel Face

Jean-Pierre Melville film noir
Le Samourai
Bob le flambeur
Le Cercle Rouge
Un flic

While many will argue that some films don't meet all the 'criteria' of noir, I certainly find the influence in each film listed. The upcoming Dassin releases are great choices as well.

I love film noir, but rather than list a whole slew of titles, I'll just urge everyone to watch The Hitch-Hiker (Ida Lupino, 1953), an extremely rich film that has been grossly undervalued.
Also, hold off on buying any of the following DVDs from Image until Jan. 18, when they will drop in price:
Blue Gardenia
D.O.A. (1950)
Detour
Impact
Kansas City Confidential
The Thief (1952)
Too Late For Tears

http://www.mindjack.com/film/filmnoir.html

Covers a few cheap noir collections (some overlap with the more expensive Image titles), I've been meaning to try one and see how bad the quality is.

also...

The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
The Killers (both versions)
The Lineup (1958)

Wait a second. I had no idea Double Indemnity is finally being rereleased. Who is putting it out??

I can't believe nobody's mentioned Force of Evil or T-Men. Both of these are at the pinnacle of noir - Alton's photography on T-Men is iconic. Force of Evil is simply one of the all-time greatest American movies, and the Lions Gate DVD seems to be OK, according to the Beaver. There's a cheap T-Men around which is OK, as I recall.

Let's not forget Shack Out on 101 or On Dangerous Ground by Nick Ray

The Questar Five Film Noir Killer Classics is actually a very good deal for the money. Deepdiscount is selling it for under $17. The transfers are not definitive but they are very acceptable with the exception of Scarlett Street which I think is poor but watchable. The extras disk has a few interesting short documentaries and a slew of trailers. Movies included are D.O.A, Detour, The Stranger, Scarlet Street, Killer Bait.

Eyes Wide Shut.

The Invunche wrote:Eyes Wide Shut.

you just knocked another three years off dvdane's life span.

Also, hold off on buying any of the following DVDs from Image until Jan. 18, when they will drop in price:
Blue Gardenia
D.O.A. (1950)
Detour
Impact
Kansas City Confidential
The Thief (1952)
Too Late For Tears

Are you sure about this? Looks like they were reissued on the 18th at the same (high) price.

Yeah, it sure looks that way. I got the information from a thread at DVDTalk, which I believe is maintained by someone in the trade and is reliable. According to DVDPriceSearch.com, these are available for around $10 from a few retailers I'm not in the habit of ordering from (Best Prices, Buy.com), so maybe other retailers will drop the prices in time. If not, sorry for passing along a bum tip, and it's a shame because Detour is one of the great films of its era, but I've been holding off for a better price.

Well, I don't know what it was priced at before but I'm waiting on my copy of The Thief to arrive from amazon and I paid a paltry $9.99 for it.

These films are public domain, so you may pick them up cheap. But the Image releases usually have the better transfers.

But the Image releases usually have the better transfers.

I'd go Roan Group ahead of Image... usually cheaper too as well as better quality very often.

We have listed all the Classic Noir's here with link to reviews and comparisons... (and links then to buy)

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/film-noir.htm

BTW, I agree with Gregory about Hitch-hiker...

Best,
Gary

Lets open this one back up. Lately it seems I have been watching nothing but noir--just about anything I can get my hands on. As much as I love the classics, I am really enjoying the lesser known gems such as Detour, T-Men, D.O.A., Hitch-Hiker etc.

Can anyone recommend any more films in this vein? I'd also be thrilled to learn about more non-American films.

(Sock it to me, Zedz)

Depends on what you consider Film Noir I suppose, if you mean by narrative or literal filmic qualities, but here are some of my favorite noirs that you may like...


La Bete Humaine
The Killers
Touch of Evil
The Third Man
Laura
Touchez pas au grisbi
Bob le flambeur

Only one of those films I haven't seen is La Bete Humaine, which of course I've been meaning to check out. I guess I'm just wanting to dig a little deeper--films that don't usually end up on "top 10 or 20" lists, but are great just the same.

Chase is a nice little noir. Make sure you get VCI disc of it. The other film in a double feature disc, Bury Me Dead is not so great, but worth one viewing. All films shot by John Alton worth a look, like The Big Combo (Image or Geneon disc), He Walked by Night (MGM disc), Raw Deal (VCI disc), The Crooked Way (Geneon disc). In fact, I recently was surprised by The Crooked Way. The plot is similar to Somewhere in the Night, but on many levels I enjoyed it more. Another VCI double feature, The Scar and The Limping Man worth a look. The first is an ok noir with a great ending, and the second is an engaging Brit-noir with a terrible ending.

I'm afraid my noir knowledge falls well short of comprehensive, but do seek out any of the Mann /Alton films. Ted Tetzlaff's short, sharp The Window is a must-see as well.

'Foreign' noir is a problematic classification (and dissenters tend to throw things), but there are strongs and obvious precursors in Germany - when the Expressionists moved on from strict Expressionism much of what they did looked rather a lot like noir (see Asphalt, for example, or the obvious Langs). And there are a lot of similarities with French 'poetic realism.' La Bete humaine is obviously in the same ballpark, plus Le Jour se leve and Gueule d'amour. It might even be possible to argue that Gabin was the definitive noir hero, even if he never appeared in a strictly-defined film noir. (I'm sure David Hare has an opinion on this!)

When considering these definitions, it's important to remember that film noir was never an 'authentic' genre, but a critical construct devised after the fact to account for perceived similarities that were, to a degree, trans-generic, so the extent of its scope depends on how persuasive an argument you can make for the inclusion of any given film.