Your top ten favorite noirs.

[jamesjazzguitar]

Well, that goes to my point.  The parameters of film noir for most people is much too vague and amorphous.  For me, a film noir has to have a corrosive thread of existential fatalism running through it. Pickup on South Street violates this rule because of its insistence of dancing itself offstage with a fake happy ending.  Not that it isn't a good movie; it is. It's very good, but as film noir, it's deficient.  The Big Sleep, because of the nature of the characters and the core relationship it focuses on, can't, to my mind, be film noir.  You need a Brigid O'Shaugnessy or a Jeff Bailey for that.  And it's just not moody enough.  It's an upbeat movie, whatever the tangential topics it includes. A film noir is a subgenre of tragedy.

 

At this forum you will find that most people define noir in very specific terms.   e.g.  the movie can  NOT be color.  So a film like Leave Her to Heaven isn't 'noir' because it is in color (as well as having too  many outdoor scenes).

 

While Pickup on South Street does have an imposed happy ending the film is full of tragedy.   e.g. the killing of the Ritter character.  

 

I don't agree that for a film to be noir it can't have a non tragic ending.   Not all noirs need to end like Out of the Past or Angel Face.   So I find that POV too limiting but of course it all relates to the quest for a 'true' noir  (a fun by needless quest in my view).

 

While I do find discussing 'what is noir' interesting,  at the end what is important is if I enjoy a film or not and find the film interesting.  

 

I enjoy all of the films you listed since it is one fine list of noir movies.   But I'm surprised you didn't include Sunset Boulevard.     That film has a tragic beginning as well as ending and for two different characters!  

[traceyk65]

Sorry, can;t do just 10...

 

Sunset Boulevard

The Killers

The Lady from Shanghai

The Third Man

Murder My Sweet

Martin Roumagnac (I don't know if it's classified as a noir, but that's what it is, even though it takes place in a rural french village and not the big city and it's much better than rumor has it)

The Big Sleep

In a Lonely Place

The Letter (another that doesn;t take place in the city, but is no less a noir than any on this list)

The Big Heat

The Maltese Falcon

Scarlet Street

Double Indemnity

Leave Her to Heaven

 

And as a bonus, this is my favorite tribute video ever...

 

[cinemaspeak59]

In no particular order:

 

The Maltese Falcon

Out of the Past

Double Indemnity

Murder, My Sweet

The Killers

Dead Reckoning

Phantom Lady

The Lady from Shanghai

The Letter (Bette Davis one)

This Gun for Hire

 

 

[timberic]

No particular order, although KMD is my favorite!

1. Kiss Me Deadly

2. Murder My Sweet

3. T-Men

4. The Line-Up

5. DOA

6. The Big Sleep

7. His Kind of Woman

8. Vertigo

9. Notorious

10. Breathless

 

[Moorman]

I will revist this.  A rushed list...

1.  Night of the Hunter.  ( Hard to classify this one but it has noir elements)

2. Scarlet Street

3.  Woman in the Window

4. Double Indemnity

5. Strangers on a Train

6. Too Late for Tears

7.  Sunset Boulevard

8.  Tension

 

[jamesjazzguitar]

3 hours ago, Moorman said:

I will revist this.  A rushed list...

1.  Night of the Hunter.  ( Hard to classify this one but it has noir elements)

2. Scarlet Street

3.  Woman in the Window

4. Double Indemnity

5. Strangers on a Train

6. Too Late for Tears

7.  Sunset Boulevard

8.  Tension

 

 Nice list but something tells me you really like E.G. Robinson.   (ha ha).    Hey, anyone that doesn't hasn't seen enough of his film!

 

 

 

[Hoganman1]

Here's my top ten

1. The Maltese Falcon

2. Double Indemnity

3. The Big Sleep

4. Out of the Past

5. Dark Passage

6. Murder My Sweet

7. The Lady in the Lake

8. Laura

9. The Woman in the Window

10. The Killers

[Hoganman1]

On 3/25/2020 at 5:55 PM, Hoganman1 said:

Here's my top ten

1. The Maltese Falcon

2. Double Indemnity

3. The Big Sleep

4. Out of the Past

5. Dark Passage

6. Murder My Sweet

7. The Lady in the Lake

8. Laura

9. The Woman in the Window

10. The Killers

I have to give honorable mention to The Glass Key because there's a character named Eloise Matthews which was my mother's name.

[Det Jim McLeod]

I came up with my list before I looked at everyone else's, then I compared:

1. Kiss Of Death (1947)

2. The Window (1949)

3. Witness To Murder (1954)

4. This Gun For Hire (1942)

5. The Killing (1956)

6. Double Indemnity (1944)

7. The Narrow Margin (1952)

8. White Heat (1949)

9. The Hitch Hiker (1953)

10. Ride The Pink Horse (1947)

I noticed no one else picked my #3, or #8 to 10. I am not sure if they are not considered noir or if they are not very well liked.

[jamesjazzguitar]

3 hours ago, Det Jim McLeod said:

I came up with my list before I looked at everyone else's, then I compared:

1. Kiss Of Death (1947)

2. The Window (1949)

3. Witness To Murder (1954)

4. This Gun For Hire (1942)

5. The Killing (1956)

6. Double Indemnity (1944)

7. The Narrow Margin (1952)

8. White Heat (1949)

9. The Hitch Hiker (1953)

10. Ride The Pink Horse (1947)

I noticed no one else picked my #3, or #8 to 10. I am not sure if they are not considered noir or if they are not very well liked.

I like all the films on your list (and consider them all to be "noir"),    but as a top-10 film noir list it is missing iconic noir actors like Bogie,  Mitchum,   Duryea,  and Andrews.  

My top 10 has films with those 4:   E.g.   The Big Sleep,  Out of the Past,   Criss Cross,   and Laura.