Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Thank you very much and God bless you.
Posted on 08/08/2026 2:55:55 PM PDT by Tacrolimus1mg
I'm looking to introduce my future husband to some film noir, either on DVD, streaming or film (I have a number of projectors to choose from). He didn't watch a lot of classic movies growing up, and we're both late eighties babies, so there wasn't a ton of it on TV to begin with. I didn't really get to indulge this hobby until my dad started restoring projectors.
List me your favorite noir films, popular or obscure. I'd like to see some I haven't heard of before.
Thank you in advance!
|
|
Click here: to donate by Credit Card Or here: to donate by PayPal Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794 Thank you very much and God bless you. |
Blood Simple Modern film nor
The Man with the Golden Arm is a Classic, but Suddenly, is a sleeper. Sort of a prelude to Manchurian Candidate. I won’t give the spoiler, but have given enough away already. Then there are dvd bundles with Film Noir offerings. like Mickey Rooney come to mind, etc. Some could argue anything by Ele Kazan (sic) would fit the bill.
In fact, Man On A Tightrope comes to mind. Fredric March, based on a true story. I like it because its about my peeps., the circus folks. Having been a showman for several years, I identify with the characters. B/W of course. I bought it so I think I will watch it tonight....
Movies post world war 2 would be considered in the Film Noir genre. Casablanca was during the war, and although B/W and featuring a hard boiled character with a sentimental side—it does not qualify. There is the one where Humphrey plays an escaped convict in the Bridgeport, Lone PIne area of the Eastern Sierra Nevada, I think that would qualify...
It's difficult to select a favorite from the vast library of noir, but Sunset Boulevard is definitely one of the greats.
Here are a few links that focus on noir films --especially those of the 40s and 50s of last century.
Looks like yor Dad's projectors will be getting quite a workout.
A couple of great neo noir films with excellent femmes fatale are The Last Seduction (Linda Fiorentino) and Red Rock West (Lara Flynn Boyle). The latter also has Nicholas Cage, Dennis Hopper, and the always fun to watch JT Walsh.
Film noir is a genre or style of cinema that is part of the crime film category in France (which is confused with the crime film genre, a term more used in Anglo-Saxon countries and in Quebec). He was inspired by hard boiled crime literature and authors such as Dashiell Hammett (considered the founder of the genre in literature), Raymond Chandler and James M. Cain. Revolving around resolutely pessimistic and tragic themes, such as fatality, anguish, betrayal or machination, film noir is subject to formal and narrative codes that characterize it, such as the use of suspense, flashback, voice-over; the use of characters that later became stereotypes such as the femme fatale, the detective, the weak guy (the poor guy or the ordinary man), the psychopathic killer, or the couple on the run; in places that are generally urban and often filmed in natural settings and in black and white.
Most of the English-language movies you've been told are film noir aren't.
Casablanca (1942) — 8.5 stars on IMDB
Sunset Boulevard (1950) — 8.4 stars on IMDB
Double Indemnity (1944) — 8.3 stars on IMDB
The Maltese Falcon (1941) — 7.9 stars on IMDB
The Killing (1956) — 7.9 stars on IMDB
The Big Sleep (1946) — 7.9 stars on IMDB
Strangers on a Train (1951) — 7.9 stars on IMDB
Out of the Past (1947) — 7.9 stars on IMDB
Casablanca might not be noir, but close, and the best movie anyone has mentioned.
The Maltese Falcon will be in theaters this year as early as September and into December, depending on location.
https://www.fandango.com/the-maltese-falcon-85th-anniversary-244295/movie-overview
Dana Andrews. Wonder how many here happened to watch a dvd of his last night?
It was Hot Rods To Hell. Young hot rodders take over streets and he has to look inside himself to see if he’ll always just surrender in order to nonviolently protect his wife (Jeanne Crain) and two kids. as the conventional law-abiding nonviolent suburban male.
He then ends up the movie saying: “I finally learned from inside myself that I could kill them and wanted to kill them.” He doesn’t kill them and even sees a little hope in the worthless young people so he lies to the cop and lets them go, possibly so the one guy his teenage daughter has a crush on can develop character and integrity after the filming ends.
I watched it because Mimsy Farmer from Riot On Sunset Strip was in it. Her dance while tripping on LSD she didn’t know someone drugged her with was outstanding. That true incident of young people congregating was the same as the inspiration for Stephen Stills’ song For What It’s Worth (stop, what’s that sound, everybody look what’s goin’ down.)
Image from her dance.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062203/mediaviewer/rm1428919042/?ref_=tt_ph_2
“...to introduce my future husband...”
-
Congratulations!
Based on your description, I’m inclined to think that “Young Frankenstein” is film noir.
Almost everything with Humphrey Bogart
Angel Heart. 1987. Mickey Rourke played NYC Private Investigator Harry Angel.
Any movie starring William Powel and any movie starring Cary Grant. Enjoy!
LA Confidential
You’re welcome
“Dr. Strangelove!”
Great movie dealing with Nuclear danger during the “Cold War.”
I’m partial to vote for the movie because I was a B-52 Pilot.
Hence, my FR name, a character in an early scene of the movie.
But the best film noir of all is Body Heat, 1981! In fact, that's one of the best movies ever made.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.