Noirvember 2021 - 30 days of film noir

[traths]

Originally Posted by MalteseCrow

I'm gonna try to do this. I've got a lot of unwatched noir that's been piling up and this is as good an excuse as any to work through the stacks.

If anyone is jumping into the Noir pool for the first time or just wants recommendations by the year, here are my favorites for each year in the range (keeping in mind I haven't seen EVERYTHING). All of the below are available on Blu-ray.

[Show spoiler]40:
41: I Wake Up Screaming, The Maltese Falcon
42: The Glass Key, This Gun for Hire
43: Shadow of a Doubt
44: Double Indemnity, Woman in the Window, Murder My Sweet, Ministry of Fear
45: Scarlet Street, Leave Her to Heaven, Detour, My Name is Julia Ross, Mildred Pierce
46: The Killers, Panique, The Blue Dahlia, Black Angel
47: Out of the Past, Nightmare Alley, Body & Soul, T-Men, Kiss of Death
48: The Big Clock, Raw Deal, They Live By Night, Sorry Wrong Number, The Naked City
49: The Third Man, The Set-Up, Thieves Highway, Criss Cross, Champion
50: The Breaking Point, Asphalt Jungle, Night and the City, Sunset Boulevard, Gun Crazy
51: Strangers on a Train, Cry Danger
52: Kansas City Confidential
53: Pickup on South Street, City That Never Sleeps, The Big Heat
54:
55: Kiss Me Deadly, The Big Combo, Rififi
56: The Killing, While The City Sleeps
57: Sweet Smell of Success
58: Vertigo, Elevator to the Gallows
59: Anatomy of a Murder*

*(Not generally considered noir. I respectfully disagree, but if you want to go with the consensus ruling, you may wish to look elsewhere for a '59 film that most agree is a legit film noir.)

If anyone has any recommendations for 1940 and 1954 (and 1959 so I have a non-controversial pick for that year), I'd love to fill out my list. For the record, I've seen The Letter (1940), Human Desire (1954), Suddenly (1954), Private Hell 36 (1954), Drive a Crooked Road (1954), Naked Alibi (1954), Shield for Murder (1954), The Crimson Kimono (1959) and Odds Against Tomorrow (1959) and wasn't enamored enough with any of them to feel like I could put them on my favorites list or recommend them without reservations.

I recommend Laura (1944) if you haven't seen it.