Recently I put together a little primer on film noir for a friend of mine. Well, the dog knows we need content here, so here’s a copy ‘n’ paste post.

This is one possible film noir essentials list. Loads of great movies here, though let’s face it — it’s such a rich genre that you could throw darts at it blindfolded and come up with a terrific selection. Not exactly a ‘short list’ — though considering the hundreds (thousands?) of noir flicks out there, it is quite short, proportionately — but still, I’ll throw some asterisks on the extra special movies.

What is film noir? I will say it is a sort of ghost genre, haunting other genres: detective, police procedural, gangster, heist, even gothic horror or show biz. It is usually a crime movie with a certain sort of grit, moral ambiguity and an overriding sense of doom, shot with dark and striking cinematography. The classic noir storyline follows an ethically compromised protaganist as one wrong choice or bad twist of fate throws them onto a downhill path of inescapable doom.

But then again, “Is this noir?” is such a subjective question, often coming down to mood and tone and your own opinion. Bear in mind that for the first couple of decades, these filmmakers never considered themselves to be making a “film noir.” It is a genre that was defined in retrospect by French cinephiles. At the time, they were simply making crime dramas.

Take note of the year of release to avoid bad latter day remakes. It also might be instructive to watch these in order and see the form develop over the decades.

Regarding a child-safety rating, well… given the old production code, anything up to the early-60s should be more or less clean. That is if you don’t mind them watching nihilistic movies filled with low lives, crime and cold-blooded murder.

The list…

The Glass Key (1942)
Not quite noir yet, but almost. You have the dark mood, shaky ethics and a protaganist in over his head. Based on a novel by the patriarch of hard-boiled fiction, Dashiell Hammett.

The Seventh Victim (1943)
Another not quite noir, and not even a crime movie. Rather a gothic suspense. But it definitely has the cinematography and all the bleakness you can handle. Produced by the 1940s king of psychological horror, Val Lewton.

*Double Indemnity (1944)
Many people name this Billy Wilder film as the true beginning of film noir. I am not inclined argue with them. It has the classic storyline, great acting (Barbara Stanwyck, Fred MacMurray, Edward G. Robinson) and terrific cinematography (the film that invented the ‘venetian blind shadows’ cliche). Screenplay by Wilder and Raymond Chandler, from the novel by James M. Cain.

Murder, My Sweet (1944)
Detective sub-group — based on Raymond Chandler’s Farewell, My Lovely. Dick Powell as Philip Marlowe is not Bogart, but he’s not bad at all. It is perhaps better to have a Marlowe who seems more vulnerable than tough ol’ Bogie. Perhaps tilts more toward detective than noir, but quite worthwhile.

*Detour (1945)
Another classic. Cheap, short and bleak as hell. The plot epitomises the classic doomed noir storyline to a tee. One that’s on everyone’s short list.

*The Big Sleep (1946)
Tilting back to detective again. Based on Chandler’s novel of the same name, with Bogart as Marlowe and Lauren Bacall as the femme. Storywise, tilting a bit away from full-on noir (you never feel that Bogie isn’t in control), but the cinematography is right in there with the best. And Bogart & Bacall? Their (real-life) chemistry crackles like lightning.

The Killers (1946)
It’s no spoiler to say that Burt Lancaster gets killed by mobsters. It happens right at the start, and the rest of the film is an investigator’s flashback-enhanced uncovering of how it came to be. A fine meat and potato noir.

Lady In The Lake (1946)
One more Chandler/Marlowe adaptation. This one has the unusual gimmick of being filmed ‘first-person’ from Marlowe’s point of view. Surprisingly not-bad.

*The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
Definite noir, definite prestigious reputation, with career highlight performances by John Garfield and Lana Turner. Based on another James M. Cain novel. He really had the obsessively doomed behavior down pat.

Born To Kill (1947)
I cannot actually remember this one in enough detail to comment, but it is a good, solid, straight down the line noir. Lawrence Tierney as the protaganist? You know he’s got to give a great twitchy performance.

Out Of The Past (1947)
Another ‘big rep’ noir, directed by frequent Lewton collaborator, Jacques Tourneur. Stars the triangle of Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer and Kirk Douglas. Based on the novel, Build My Gallows High — now that’s a title, eh?

*The Lady From Shanghai (1947)
An Orson Welles noir… ’nuff said.

*Force Of Evil (1948)
Another fine performance by John Garfield as a lawyer working, ever more uneasily, for mobsters. A very urban noir.

They Live by Night (1948)
Nicholas Ray’s first feature can be thumbnailed as the 1940s incarnation of Badlands.

The Naked City (1948)
A landmark police procedural packed with amazing NYC location footage, shot in the middle of a summer heatwave.

He Walked By Night (1948)
The coastal flipside to the previous film, as police track a deviously clever killer (Richard Basehart) through plentiful LA locations. Jack Webb has a small role as a crime lab tech, and took much inspiration to a little project he was cooking up. This film and The Naked City cast long shadows over police dramas from Dragnet to the latest TV series.

Criss Cross (1949)
More Burt Lancaster, more LA locations and back to the classic noir storyline. Not great, but a fine straight-ahead noir. And I often think noir is served up better by the low profile programmers than the big prestige pictures.

*The Third Man (1949)
Welles. Well, directed by Carol Reed — Welles only acts, but it sure feels like his fingerprints are all over it. Written by Graham Greene — not just a great noir, but a great movie. Short list either way.

*Stray Dog (1949)
Directed by Akira Kurosawa, a crackling example of Japanese noir. Another police procedural set in a heatwave — a rookie cop loses his gun and sets out to track down the hood (practically his doppelganger) who is killing with it. Featuring remarkable street footage of Tokyo post-WWII.

*The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
Heist sub-group. Finely directed by John Huston, Sterling Hayden puts together a team to pull a big haul. And then the complications begin.

Dark City (1950)
Charlton Heston, Jack Webb, Ed Begley and Harry Morgan are low-life crooked gamblers caught up in trouble when something happens to one of their marks. The antagonistic baiting between future cop partners, Webb and Morgan, is morbidly fascinating.

D.O.A. (1950)
Edmond O’Brien is poisoned and sets out to find out who dunnit before he dies. A standard.

*Sunset Boulevard (1950)
Billy Wilder again, with a tour de force that shows noir isn’t only found in crime settings. The Hollywood movie biz is every bit as dark. Oh yes. Another great one.

Ace In The Hole (1951)
And one more from Wilder, some say his darkest ever. An examination of the tabloid news mentality, as the story of a man trapped in a cave is exploited to the hilt by venal journalist, Kirk Douglas.

The Narrow Margin (1952)
Noir on a train. Cop, Charles McGraw, tries to get endangered (and hostile) witness, Marie Windsor, through a cross-country train journey alive.

Kansas City Confidential (1952)
A complicated heist plot. Some noir elements missing, but a solid and reliable programmer.

*Pickup On South Street (1953)
Sam Fuller (who is practically a genre of his own) directs Richard Widmark as a NYC cannon (pickpocket) pulled between cops, cons and commie spies. Great, intense performances — but Fuller always pulled that from his actors.

Dragnet (1954)
A feature film version that is less flat-footed than you might expect. I’m not sure if the series had made the transition from radio to TV yet or not. Police procedural, not much noir, some nice LA footage.

Shield For Murder (1954)
Bad Lieutenant — 1950s version.

Killer’s Kiss (1955)
Kubrick’s first feature film, the story of a small-time boxer who becomes involved with a taxi dancer who has trouble in her life. Very low budget, which only adds to the charm. Nice gritty NYC locations.

*Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer character hits the celluoid in a beautifully pulpy hard-boiled flick. Probably tilts more toward detective than noir, but certainly has plenty of noir cues. You will note plenty of influences picked up in films of later decades.

*The Killing (1956)
Kubrick’s second feature — a top-notch heist film told in non-linear time and from differing viewpoints. Sterling Hayden is back with a new plan, backed by a fine cast of mid-century character actors.

*Sweet Smell Of Success (1957)
NY show-biz noir, featuring Burt Lancaster as an all-powerful (corrupts absolutely) newspaper columnist yanking a sleazy publicity agent (Tony Curtis) around to do his dirty work. Excellent.

The Lineup (1958)
Police procedural/crime procedural hybrid featuring Eli Wallach and plentiful SF location footage.

*Touch Of Evil (1958 — go for 1998 ‘restored edition’)
One more Orson Welles noir, and probably his best. Just incredibly well made throughout. The cinematography is particularly beautiful, with the camera almost never at rest — even on landscape shots.

Murder By Contract (1958)
How a hitman does his job.

Elevator To The Gallows (Ascenseur pour l’echafaud) (1958)
The French named it, now they send it back. Louis Malle directs a tight little tale of murder gone sideways. With music by Miles Davis.

Breathless (A Bout de Souffle) (1959)
One more from France… Jean-Luc Godard’s notorious first feature. Perhaps not so much a film noir as a film about a protagonist who has watched way too much noir. I didn’t realize until my most recent viewing that this movie has a lot more humor in it than overly serious film buffs credit.

*Odds Against Tomorrow (1959)
Nearing the end of the classic era, a fine cast of noir veterans (plus Harry Belefonte) assembles for a sharp heist film including a cool jazz soundtrack by John Lewis, of the Modern Jazz Quartet.

All Night Long (1961)
Shakespeare’s Othello reset at an all-night jazz session in a London loft. A rarely seen British production with appearances by some surprisingly major musicians (Charles Mingus! Dave Brubeck!). Patrick McGoohan (The Prisoner) plays the Iago of the piece, and does a fine job of drumming to boot. It’s great to see him cut loose as an out and out villain.

*Blast Of Silence (1961)
A cheap, bleak, existential tale of a hitman having a bad week. Really makes a positive of the low budget and cheap locations. The closing scene could almost be seen as a tombstone for the original noir era.

What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? (1962)
Oh, this really isn’t noir — more Hollywood Gothic, but it does have plenty of darkness and makes such a perfect bookend to Sunset Boulevard. I cannot resist throwing it in. Bette Davis and Joan Crawford play faded show biz sisters living out a private war in their shabby mansion. Ladled generously with black humor.

The Girl Hunters (1963)
Mickey Spillane stars as his own creation, Mike Hammer. And pretty woodenly at that. Not an especially good movie, but not bad either. Great novelty factor and sports an enjoyably sleazy and gritty aura to boot.

*Point Blank (1967)
Some call this the advent of psychedelic noir. Well, I suppose that could work. Lee Marvin is a force of nature as an ex-con hunting down the partners who stabbed him in the back. Although… when you really think about it after a viewing or two, there are some odd little points that have led some people to some odd little theories.

And this is where I will cut off the list. We’re certainly well past the original noir era at this point, and I will leave you to sift through the later, more self-conscious and revivalist offerings for yourself. Or dig into more of the old stuff. You can always go to the IMDB and get hundreds more suggestions.

Posted by M.Ace - March 28, 2010...Generic category. Follow comments via RSS 2.0. You may post a comment if you are registered. Pinging is currently not allowed.