Film Noir Classics Help!

[m_burlock]

I'm new to the genre that I believe is known as "Noir", I need guidence. What "Noir" films are widely considered to be classics of the genre? Please list them below. Thank-you.

[kpkelley]

The Third Man
The Maltese Falcon
Double Indemnity
M
Rafifi
Sunset Boulevard

[csdot]

The Big Heat
The Asphalt Jungle
The Woman in the Window
The Killing
Odd Man Out
The Killers

maybe not considered classics but in addition to what was already posted these are some of my favorites.

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by kpkelley

The Third Man
The Maltese Falcon
Double Indemnity
M
Rafifi
Sunset Boulevard

That pretty much covers THE essentials, except for The Big Sleep, and maybe if we stretch the definition to put
- Ace in the Hole
- Sweet Smell of Success
and Treasure of the Sierra Madre in there too.

(Haven't seen the original Postman Always Rings Twice, though, so can't comment.)

[Hawkguy]

I'd add Sweet Smell of Success, Pickup on South Street and Out of the Past.

[legendarymatt92]

Originally Posted by CoopFilm

I'd add Sweet Smell of Success, Pickup on South Street and Out of the Past.

You must watch Out of the Past - that is my favourite Noir of all time. Plus, just to be pedantic, but Noir isn't technically a "genre"...critics more regard it as a style. I only point that out in case you do film studies or something and need to write something about it.

The Maltese Falcon is really an early example of Noir, because it combines hard-boiled dialogue with burts of comedy. The Third Man is brilliant, and not only because it has Orson Welles in it

[tommyboy81]

L.A. Confidential
Chinatown

[m_burlock]

Pardon my ignorance but I thought that film noir was all about things like: a private detective investigating a murder, cool jazz music (i.e. a saxophone over drums and a bass), smoking, neon lights, a male character monologing off camera like a narrator might, the use of the word "dames" for example, some romance, a former "flame", beautiful black and white cinematography, the kind of hat called the fedora, trenchcoats, some gun fire, and maybe the mob??

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by m_burlock

Pardon my ignorance but I thought that film noir was all about things like: a private detective investigating a murder, cool jazz music (i.e. a saxophone over drums and a bass), smoking, neon lights, a male character monologing off camera like a narrator might, the use of the word "dames" for example, some romance, a former "flame", beautiful black and white cinematography, the kind of hat called the fedora, trenchcoats, some gun fire, and maybe the mob??

Okay, I'll pardon your ignorance.

It CAN be about those things...
But being "noir", it must first be about black hearts, to go with black streets.
Diabolique, for ex., has none of those things, but it's as noir as they come.

(You're thinking of the Raymond Chandler stories, and even The Big Sleep didn't have the narration.
Double Indemnity probably comes closest to what you're looking for, although that wasn't one of his.)

[toddly6666]

Originally Posted by m_burlock

I'm new to the genre that I believe is known as "Noir", I need guidence. What "Noir" films are widely considered to be classics of the genre? Please list them below. Thank-you.

There are many that are good and some that are excellent once, but here are the ones that are amazing, unique, ground-breaking, and extremely rewatchable:

The Killing
Rififi
The Night of the Hunter

[J. J. Hunsecker]

The essentials:
The Asphalt Jungle
Bad Day at Black Rock (not really sure if this movie counts as noir)
The Big Sleep
Bob le flambeur
Brute Force
Citizen Kane
Champion (1949)
Criss Cross
Les Diaboliques
Double Indemnity
Gun Crazy (1949)
The Hoodlum
Key Largo
The Killers (1946)
The Killing
Kiss of Death (1947)
The Lodger (1944)
The Maltese Falcon
Mildred Pierce (1945)
Night and the City
The Night of the Hunter
Nightmare Alley
Out of the Past
Rebecca (1940)
Rififi (1955)
Scarlet Street
The Set-Up
Sorry, Wrong Number
The Spiral Staircase
Strangers on a Train
Sunset Blvd.
Sweet Smell of Success
The Third Man
This Gun for Hire
Touch of Evil
Vertigo
The Wages of Fear

Also good:
Ace in the Hole
The Big Clock
The Big Combo
Black Angel
The Blue Dahlia
The Blue Gardenia
Body and Soul
Crime Wave
The Damned Don't Cry!
Detour
Dial M for Murder
D.O.A.
Force of Evil
The Glass Key
Hangover Square
He Walked by Night
High Wall
The Hitch-Hiker
The House on Telegraph Hill
Impact
In a Lonely Place
I Wake Up Screaming
Kansas City Confidential
Kiss Me Deadly
The Lady from Shanghai
Laura
Ministry of Fear
Mr. Akardin (or Confidential Report)
The Naked City
The Narrow Margin
On Dangerous Ground
Panic in the Streets
Possessed (1947)
The Postman Always Rings Twice
Railroaded!
Raw Deal (1948)
The Red House
Rope
The Sniper
Stranger on the Third Floor
Tension
Too Late for Tears
White Heat
The Window
The Woman in the Window
A Woman's Face
The Wrong Man

By the '60s what was thought of as "film noir" disappears, and the crimes films of the post '60s era are usually labeled "neo noir". (Maybe Psycho [1960], The Trial [1962], Blast of Silence [1961], and What Ever Happened to Baby Jane [1962] would count as noir?)

If you'd like to know more about what type of movies are considered film noir (since it's not really a genre), the following article may help: http://www.filmsite.org/filmnoir.html

[retablo]

Originally Posted by J. J. Hunsecker

The essentials:
The Asphalt Jungle
Bad Day at Black Rock (not really sure if this movie counts as noir)
The Big Sleep
Bob le flambeur
Brute Force
Citizen Kane
Champion (1949)
Criss Cross
Les Diaboliques
Double Indemnity
Gun Crazy (1949)
The Hoodlum
Key Largo
The Killers (1946)
The Killing
Kiss of Death (1947)
The Lodger (1944)
The Maltese Falcon
Mildred Pierce (1945)
Night and the City
The Night of the Hunter
Nightmare Alley
Out of the Past
Rebecca (1940)
Rififi (1955)
Scarlet Street
The Set-Up
Sorry, Wrong Number
The Spiral Staircase
Strangers on a Train
Sunset Blvd.
Sweet Smell of Success
The Third Man
This Gun for Hire
Touch of Evil
Vertigo
The Wages of Fear

Also good:
Ace in the Hole
The Big Clock
The Big Combo
Black Angel
The Blue Dahlia
The Blue Gardenia
Body and Soul
Crime Wave
The Damned Don't Cry!
Detour
Dial M for Murder
D.O.A.
Force of Evil
The Glass Key
Hangover Square
He Walked by Night
High Wall
The Hitch-Hiker
The House on Telegraph Hill
Impact
In a Lonely Place
I Wake Up Screaming
Kansas City Confidential
Kiss Me Deadly
The Lady from Shanghai
Laura
Ministry of Fear
Mr. Akardin (or Confidential Report)
The Naked City
The Narrow Margin
On Dangerous Ground
Panic in the Streets
Possessed (1947)
The Postman Always Rings Twice
Railroaded!
Raw Deal (1948)
The Red House
Rope
The Sniper
Stranger on the Third Floor
Tension
Too Late for Tears
White Heat
The Window
The Woman in the Window
A Woman's Face
The Wrong Man

By the '60s what was thought of as "film noir" disappears, and the crimes films of the post '60s era are usually labeled "neo noir". (Maybe Psycho [1960], The Trial [1962], Blast of Silence [1961], and What Ever Happened to Baby Jane [1962] would count as noir?)

If you'd like to know more about what type of movies are considered film noir (since it's not really a genre), the following article may help: http://www.filmsite.org/filmnoir.html

Pretty thorough list, but I'd definitely put Laura, Woman In The Window, D.O.A. and In A Lonely Place in the "essentials" list, as well as Gilda and Pickup On South Street. I was always partial to Phantom Lady as well, but I haven't seen it in forever.

[MarkJ801]

[J. J. Hunsecker]

Originally Posted by m_burlock

Pardon my ignorance but I thought that film noir was all about things like: a private detective investigating a murder, cool jazz music (i.e. a saxophone over drums and a bass), smoking, neon lights, a male character monologing off camera like a narrator might, the use of the word "dames" for example, some romance, a former "flame", beautiful black and white cinematography, the kind of hat called the fedora, trenchcoats, some gun fire, and maybe the mob??

Sure, those are the cliches of what film noir was supposedly about. Movies like Out of the Past, Lady in the Lake, and Murder My Sweet all contain detective mysteries with voice over narration, beautiful black and white photography, '40s slang and costumes. (The Maltese Falcon and The Big Sleep didn't contain narration. Double Indemnity and Sunset Blvd. do have narrators, but they weren't detectives per se.) But noir wasn't a specific genre -- it was more about the dark themes, as well as the inky cinematography, of the '40s and '50s American crime movies the French saw post WWII. The French thought of those movies as nihilistic or containing existential dread. Their own crime films of the '50s and '60s (Breathless, Shoot the Piano Player, A Band of Outsiders, Bob le flambeur, etc.) were based on what they thought of as specifically American qualities (the gangster of Breathless even admires Humphrey Bogart). A decent noir film contains a healthy dollop of paranoia, or the feeling that fate is out to get them. Ironic or tragic endings are common too, something that was usually avoided in other American film genres of the era.

Film noir movies of the forties dealt with other sub-genres of the crime thrillers besides the detective film, such as a jewel heist (The Asphalt Jungle, Rififi); or two doomed lovers on the run (Gun Crazy, They Lived by Night). Usually they involved average men who are duped into committing serious crimes by a conniving woman, the "femme fatale", (Double Indemnity, Scarlet Street, Criss Cross). There are films about the mob's involvement in the sport of boxing (The Set-Up, Body and Soul). There's the "police procedural" drama, years before TV shows like NCIS did it, (He Walked by Night, The Naked City, The Street With No Name, Border Incident, T-Men). The innocent man accused of a crime he didn't commit and who must solve it on his own (Kansas City Confidential, The Wrong Man, The 39 Steps, Saboteur, The Man Who Knew Too Much -- Hitchcock practically made a career out of the genre). There were a lot of Amnesiacs trying to solve crimes too, years before Nolan's Memento (Street of Chance, Somewhere in the Night, Black Angel, Spellbound, High Wall, The Crooked Way). Psychotic gangsters were a big theme, too (Kiss of Death, White Heat, The Hoodlum).

Sorry for the long post. Hope it clarified things somewhat.

[J. J. Hunsecker]

Originally Posted by retablo

Pretty thorough list, but I'd definitely put Laura, Woman In The Window, D.O.A. and In A Lonely Place in the "essentials" list, as well as Gilda and Pickup On South Street. I was always partial to Phantom Lady as well, but I haven't seen it in forever.

Thanks. The list represents my bias I'm afraid. I liked the majority of the movies you mentioned but never loved them as much as the other films in the "essentials" section of my list. I didn't care for Gilda that much, either. (It seemed a bit too silly to me the first time I saw it.)

[m_burlock]

D.O.A.? As in the movie starring Meg Ryan and Dennis Quaid??

[Monterey Jack]

Originally Posted by m_burlock

D.O.A.? As in the movie starring Meg Ryan and Dennis Quaid??

It's a remake of a 1950 film of the same name.

[m_burlock]

Ahhhhh! ok. Thanks for clarifying. And thanks to all who have contributed to this thread. It is much appreciated. Thank-you.

[legendarymatt92]

Were you looking for specifically Noir titles? Because there are lots of brilliant neo-noirs, which start from the 60s - A Touch of Evil pretty much finishes the entire noir oeuvre.

Some good neo-noirs are:

L.A. Confidential
After Dark, My Sweet
Last Seduction
Red Rock West
Memento (pretty much everything Nolan does has an element of neo-noir to it)


One to watch out for is Romeo is Bleeding - starring Gary Oldman, it's a terrible, terrible film.

[legendarymatt92]

Originally Posted by J. J. Hunsecker

Sure, those are the cliches of what film noir was supposedly about.

They weren't necessarily clichés, more conventions - they feature in some of the better known film noirs and have become a focal point for those who look into it because of the stark difference between those and other releases in the Hollywood Classic Period. Most noirs features a fragmented narrative, often with a piece told in flashback - this was a pretty bold move at that point, because most films coming out of America - and, indeed, the world at that time - featured a linear structure. Through this fragmented narrative, truths about the anti-hero protagonist would be found out -- usually that he led another life before adopting a different identity to leave behind whatever mess he was in.

I could talk all day about noir, but J. Hunsecker did a really good job of summing it all up well to be fair.