Film Noir top 10

[wpqx]

For this post I will keep my selection classic 1941-1958, although LA Confidential and Chinatown are certainly worth including.

1. The Maltese Falcoln (1941)
2. Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
3. Touch of Evil (1958)
4. They Live by Night (1949)
5. Mildred Pierce (1945)
6. Force of Evil (1948)
7. The Big Heat (1953)
8. In a Lonely Place (1950)
9. Laura (1944)
10. Out of the Past (1947)

also worth mentioning:
The Third Man (1949) - I wasn't sure if it counted
The Lady From Shanghai (1948)
The Killers (1946) - I honestly prefer the remake
The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
Night and the City (1950)
Rififfi (1955)
Gun Crazy (1949)
The Big Sleep (1946)

[tabuno]

I have read somewhere that Bladerunner is also Film Noir. Is this true?

[oscar jubis]

"Videohound's Golden Movie Retriever" lists the following films under a category called "Contemporary Noir". If my Top 10 Noir list may include them, several below would be in the running.

After Hours
The American Friend
Betty Blue
Blade Runner
Blood Simple
Blue Velvet
Body Double
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia
Scorsese's Cape Fear
Chinatown
Choose Me
Cutter's Way
Devil in a Blue Dress
Dressed to Kill
Fatal Attraction
The Grifters
Hammett
The Last Seduction
The Long Goodbye
The Manchurian Candidate
Night Moves
No Way Out
One False Move
Red Rock West
Reservoir Dogs
Silence of the Lambs
Taxi Driver
Trouble in Mind
The Usual Suspects
Who'll Stop the Rain
Wild at Heart

[cinemabon]

Fascinating look at contemporary films in the Film Noir genre, Oscar. You omitted Blow Out and Obsession by DePalma but chose Dressed to Kill and Body Double... interesting. There was a resurgence of interest in film noir during the 70's which resulted in the style turning up as course study in film schools. Funny that wpqx doesn't care for the original The Killers, when this is one of the key films that helped define the genre.

Here's some more great ones:

DOA
Crossfire
Double Indemnity
Key Largo
Sunset Boulevard
The Bad and the Beautiful
The Big Heat
In a lonely Place
The Naked City
To Have and Have Not
White Heat
The Postman Always Rings Twice
The Killing
The Blue Dahlia
The Night of the Hunter

No one mentioned Vertigo, which seems the epiphany of such films.

[Johann]

You like Videohound, oscar? I love that tome. I've been using it for about 6 years, although some of their "Bone" ratings are ridiculous- Eyes Wide Shut got two..

It seems all the great noir titles have been mentioned- except The Grifters! I love that movie- watch it in black and white if you can- I know it's a color film but I read on some film website years back that if you watch the film in black and white (by adjusting the tinting on your TV) you'll see one of the best "noir" films ever. It works for me...


I stand corrected! The Grifters WAS mentioned- oscar jubis is GOD- I'm convinced.

[HorseradishTree]

Gaslight, anyone?

Also, Memento, though recent, manages to push its way into my top list:

1. The Name of the Rose
2. The Maltese Falcon
3. Blade Runner
4. Memento
5. Chinatown
6. The Usual Suspects

There are probably more, but blah.

You know, Kiss Me Deadly had me going, but afterwards I decided it was too cheesy for words.

[JustaFied]

I'll throw in some Coen Brothers' films here, because I'm a big fan:

"The Man Who Wasn't There" - Almost feels like a spoof of the genre at times, but it's still got the requisite Coens intellectualism, so it remains interesting after repeat viewing.

"Miller's Crossing" - More of a gangster flick, really, but it's got that hard-edge noir feel to it also.

"Blood Simple" - Already mentioned here. Noir set in 1980's Texas, the Coens manage to pull it off.


In my rather uninformed opinion, "Double Indemnity" is the epitome (or epiphany, if you will) of film noir. I haven't heard of half the movies you guys have listed, but that's par for the course on this site.

[wpqx]

Double Indemnity might be the most definitive of noir, but I can't really appreciate it. The main reason I dislike the film is Fred McMurray. His performance is one of the worst in all of noir. Barbara Stanwyck is great, and along with Edward G. Robinson almost makes me forget about the character of Walter Neff, but he is just too bad. My favorite thing about the film is Jean Heather, who made roughly two supporting appearances in film and dropped off the face of the earth. You might remember her from Going My Way (another very supporting role). She played Mrs. Dietrichson's adopted daughter. I do however believe that Wilder worked best in comedy, and most of his drama's are slightly flawed. I do like Sunset Boulevard but that film goes a littel too far over the top at times as well. Sylistically that film can also be considered noir, with its use of lighting, and of course a murder, and the ever present noir cliche of voice over narration.
As for your ignorance JustaFied, have patience. Along with Touch of Evil, Double Indemnity was the first noir film that I had seen. There is a new boxed set of five different noir films, all of which are essentials recently released, which is definitely worth checking out if you haven't seen any. If you're looking for suggestions, then just keep checking this thread.