Noirvember 2021 - 30 days of film noir

[kingdoxie]

Noirvember.jpg

2nd Annual Blu-ray.com Noirvember - 30 Days of Film Noir!

Past Noirvember threads:

2020

The Challenge
Watch films noir to attain the following levels based on common film noir characters:

5 films: Unsuspecting Dope or fall guy
10 films: Dirty Cop
15 films: Nightclub Owner
20 films: Femme Fatale
25+ films: Private Detective

District Attorney Challenge
The set-up: you’re the Big City DA with political ambitions and an eye on the Governor’s mansion, but you’re behind in the polls. You need a conviction against Mr. Big and his crime syndicate to turn your campaign around. To get the conviction you’ll need to watch at least one film from each year of the classic film noir period (1940-1959); build a case with these 20 films and you’ll get your conviction.

The Films
Every time you watch a film, post your rating and thoughts on the film and be sure to use spoiler tags when appropriate. Hopefully everyone can discover a new dark alley to wander down or an irresistible femme fatale that just blew into town.

[kingdoxie]

Starting the thread early if you want extra time for proto/neo noir or if you'll be out of town for Thanksgiving or other activities.

The DA challenge was inspired by Al_The_Strange for referring to the films as case files last year

If you're new to film noir, be sure to check out the Official Film Noir thread

For a searchable list of films noir and the sources used for the list, here is a link to a .pdf document. You can download it by signing up for a free account. If the link doesn't work, just Google: consensus film noir pdf

[kingdoxie]

Noirvember 2020

Recent:

GuiltyBystander1.jpgWindow1.jpgPulp1.jpgPlaid1.jpgFatalInstinct1.jpg

Total: 33

DA Case files
1940: The House Across the Bay ⭐⭐⭐½
1941: High Sierra ⭐⭐⭐⭐½
1942: This Gun for Hire ⭐⭐⭐⭐
1943: Shadow of a Doubt ⭐⭐⭐⭐
1944: The Suspect ⭐⭐⭐⭐
1945: Detour ⭐⭐⭐⭐½
1946: Lady in the Lake ⭐⭐⭐⭐
1947: Crossfire ⭐⭐⭐⭐
1948: Larceny ⭐⭐⭐⭐
1949: The Crooked Way ⭐⭐⭐⭐½; The Window ⭐⭐⭐⭐
1950: House by the River ⭐⭐⭐; Guilty Bystander ⭐⭐⭐
1951: On Dangerous Ground ⭐⭐⭐⭐; Tomorrow is Another Day ⭐⭐⭐⭐
1952: The Captive City ⭐⭐⭐⭐
1953: The Big Heat ⭐⭐⭐⭐½; The Hitch-Hiker ⭐⭐⭐⭐½
1954: Pushover ⭐⭐⭐⭐; A Bullet is Waiting ⭐⭐⭐
1955: Chicago Syndicate ⭐⭐⭐; Storm Fear ⭐⭐⭐; Big House, U.S.A. ⭐⭐⭐⭐½
1956: The Harder They Fall ⭐⭐⭐⭐½
1957: Man in the Shadow ⭐⭐⭐⭐
1958: The Man Who Died Twice ⭐⭐⭐½
1959: City of Fear ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Neo noir/Noir spoof
1. Body Heat ⭐⭐⭐⭐
2. The Long Goodbye ⭐⭐½
3. Sin City ⭐⭐⭐
4. Fatal Instinct ⭐⭐⭐⭐
5. Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid ⭐⭐⭐⭐
6. Pulp ⭐⭐⭐

[traths]

How about if you only watch one the entire month, you could be the dead guy.

[october27]

I just looked at last year's thread and had completely forgotten I participated. Looking forward to Noirvember 2021!

[chidecki]

Cool! I have a ton of Blu's I haven't watched. Thanks for the nudge

[jayrobb9]

Cool idea. I'm in

[Travis]

1. Doomed to Die (1940)
2. High Sierra (1941)
3. Lady Gangster (1942)
4. Laura (1944) 1/2
5. Calcutta (1946)
6. An Act of Murder (1948) 1/2
7. Abandoned (1949) 1/2
8. The Sleeping City (1950) 1/2
9. Thunder on the Hill (1951)
10. The Night of the Hunter (1955)
11. The Price of Fear (1956)
12. The Female Animal (1958) 1/2

[odguitar]

Recent Evidence

[Show spoiler]

DA Case Files
1940: Stranger on the Third Floor 3.5/5
1941: I Wake Up Screaming 4/5
1942: This Gun for Hire 4/5
1943: Hangmen Also Die! 3.5/5
1944: The Woman in the Window 3.5/5
1945:
1946: The Killers 4/5
1947: Nightmare Alley 4/5
1948: Force of Evil 4/5
1949:
1950: Night and the City 4.5/5
1951: On Dangerous Ground 4/5
1952: The Big Sleep 5/5
1953:
1954: Riot in Cell Block 11 4/5
1955:
1956:
1957: Sweet Smell of Success 5/5
1958:
1959:

Bogart Noir
1. Dark Passage 4/5
2. The Maltese Falcon 4/5
3. Key Largo 3.5/5
4. The Big Sleep 4/5
5. Deadline - U.S.A. 3.5/5
6. In a Lonely Place 5/5

Neo-Noir
1. The Killers (1964) 3.5/5
2. Dirty Harry 4/5
3. Medium Cool 4.5/5

Newer Neo-Noir
1. Fargo 5/5
2. L.A. Confidential 4.5/5
3. Gone Baby Gone 4.5/5

Misc. Noir
1. On the Waterfront 5/5
2. Double Indemnity 5/5

Total: 27

[kingdoxie]

Case file 1946:
Lady in the Lake ⭐⭐⭐⭐ The whole film has a first person perspective from Philip Marlowe and he is only seen in mirror reflection and a few monologues where he talks directly to the audience.

[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.

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.

[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.

[MalteseCrow]

Originally Posted by traths

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

I like Laura (1944), but I need to watch it again. On the first viewing, it didn't wow me as much as those other '44 movies. There's a lot of good competition that year for noir.

[kingdoxie]

Originally Posted by MalteseCrow

I like Laura (1944), but I need to watch it again. On the first viewing, it didn't wow me as much as those other '44 movies. There's a lot of good competition that year for noir.

Same here, much better second time around.

[MalteseCrow]

Originally Posted by kingdoxie

Same here, much better second time around.

Well, Noirvember’s as good a time as any to revisit it.

[kingdoxie]

Originally Posted by MalteseCrow

[Show spoiler]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.

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've got two first time watches lined up for those years so don't know enough to recommend them yet. Not a whole lot of noir on Blu from 1940 so I'm going with The House Across the Bay on Amazon Prime. 1940 and 1943 are the only years I don't own any noir on Blu yet. For 1954 I'm watching Pushover from the Indicator Columbia Noir #4 set. If you have an interest in foreign language noir (I see Rififi on your list), Touchez Pas au Grisby from 1954 is excellent, I highly recommend it.

Agree with The Crimson Kimono, love Sam Fuller but not my favorite...House of Bamboo is better.

[MalteseCrow]

Originally Posted by kingdoxie

I've got two first time watches lined up for those years so don't know enough to recommend them yet. Not a whole lot of noir on Blu from 1940 so I'm going with The House Across the Bay on Amazon Prime. 1940 and 1943 are the only years I don't own any noir on Blu yet. For 1954 I'm watching Pushover from the Indicator Columbia Noir #4 set. If you have an interest in foreign language noir (I see Rififi on your list), Touchez Pas au Grisby from 1954 is excellent, I highly recommend it.

Thanks! I'll probably give all three of these a spin as I haven't seen any of them. Really glad to hear that Grisby is excellent, since I already own it and have been meaning to watch it anyway. Pushover has been on my radar as one I wanted to check out at some point, but I'd never heard of The House Across the Bay.

1943 is a pretty lean year as noirs go. I'd love to catch Journey into Fear at some point, but I'd prefer to wait until it hits Blu. I get so much added enjoyment out of watching these films in HD on my home projector with a good sound system.

[kingdoxie]

Originally Posted by MalteseCrow

Thanks! I'll probably give all three of these a spin as I haven't seen any of them. Really glad to hear that Grisby is excellent, since I already own it and have been meaning to watch it anyway. Pushover has been on my radar as one I wanted to check out at some point, but I'd never heard of The House Across the Bay.

1943 is a pretty lean year as noirs go. I'd love to catch Journey into Fear at some point, but I'd prefer to wait until it hits Blu. I get so much added enjoyment out of watching these films in HD on my home projector with a good sound system.

I have over 100 noir titles on Blu and supplement heavily with TCM and a little more from MGM HD and Prime.

[Al_The_Strange]

Thank you for the invite kingdoxie! I forgot this was going to be a regular annual challenge. I plan on working through my own little caseload soon, especially since I have a few blind-buys sitting around waiting for some attention.

On the docket:
The Amazing Mr. X
The Chase
He Walked By Night
The Hot Spot
House of Games
Leave Her To Heaven
The Man Who Laughs
Raw Deal
Running Time
The Stranger
T-Men
Whirlpool

[nashcameronn]

I'm down to participate. First Noirvember for me.