Noirs checklist
by tobiasoe | created - 1 month ago | updated - 3 weeks ago | PublicNoir/noirish films seen and to be seen.
If someone passionately feels there is a gross omission, please comment.
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1. Underworld (1927)
Not Rated | 80 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Boisterous gangster kingpin Bull Weed rehabilitates his former lawyer from his alcoholic haze, but complications arise when he falls for Weed's girlfriend.
Directors: Josef von Sternberg, Arthur Rosson | Stars: George Bancroft, Clive Brook, Evelyn Brent, Fred Kohler
Votes: 2,315 | Gross: $0.75M
2. The Docks of New York (1928)
Not Rated | 76 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A blue-collar worker on New York's depressed waterfront finds his life changed after he saves a woman attempting suicide.
Director: Josef von Sternberg | Stars: George Bancroft, Betty Compson, Olga Baclanova, Clyde Cook
Votes: 3,610
3. M (1931)
Not Rated | 99 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
When the police in a German city are unable to catch a child-murderer, other criminals join in the manhunt.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Peter Lorre, Ellen Widmann, Inge Landgut, Otto Wernicke
Votes: 132,392 | Gross: $0.03M
4. Little Caesar (1931)
Not Rated | 79 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A small-time criminal moves to a big city to seek bigger fortune.
Director: Mervyn LeRoy | Stars: Edward G. Robinson, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Glenda Farrell, William Collier Jr.
Votes: 11,077
5. The Public Enemy (1931)
Not Rated | 83 min | Crime, Drama
A young hoodlum rises up through the ranks of the Chicago underworld, even as a gangster's accidental death threatens to spark a bloody mob war.
Director: William A. Wellman | Stars: James Cagney, Jean Harlow, Edward Woods, Joan Blondell
Votes: 16,483
6. I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)
Passed | 92 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Wrongly convicted James Allen serves in the intolerable conditions of a southern chain gang, which later comes back to haunt him.
Director: Mervyn LeRoy | Stars: Paul Muni, Glenda Farrell, Helen Vinson, Noel Francis
Votes: 10,818
7. Scarface (1932)
PG | 93 min | Action, Crime, Drama
An ambitious and nearly insane violent gangster climbs the ladder of success in the mob, but his weaknesses prove to be his downfall.
Directors: Howard Hawks, Richard Rosson | Stars: Paul Muni, Ann Dvorak, Karen Morley, Osgood Perkins
Votes: 23,559
8. Fury (1936)
Not Rated | 92 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
When a wrongly accused prisoner barely survives a lynch mob attack and is presumed dead, he vindictively decides to fake his death and frame the mob for his supposed murder.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Sylvia Sidney, Spencer Tracy, Walter Abel, Bruce Cabot
Votes: 10,467
9. The Petrified Forest (1936)
Not Rated | 82 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Romance
A waitress, a hobo and a bank robber get mixed up at a lonely diner in the desert.
Director: Archie Mayo | Stars: Leslie Howard, Humphrey Bogart, Bette Davis, Genevieve Tobin
Votes: 11,591
10. Dead End (1937)
Approved | 93 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
The lives of a young man and woman, an infamous gangster and a group of street kids converge one day in a volatile New York City slum.
Director: William Wyler | Stars: Sylvia Sidney, Joel McCrea, Humphrey Bogart, Wendy Barrie
Votes: 5,679
11. Pépé le Moko (1937)
Not Rated | 94 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
A wanted gangster is both king and prisoner of the Casbah. He is protected from arrest by his friends, but is torn by his desire for freedom outside. A visiting Parisian beauty may just tempt his fate.
Director: Julien Duvivier | Stars: Jean Gabin, Gabriel Gabrio, Saturnin Fabre, Fernand Charpin
Votes: 5,830 | Gross: $0.15M
12. You Only Live Once (1937)
Passed | 86 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
The public defender's secretary and an ex-convict get married and try to make a life together, but a series of disasters sends their lives spiraling out of control.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Sylvia Sidney, Henry Fonda, Barton MacLane, Jean Dixon
Votes: 5,132
13. Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)
Passed | 97 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A priest tries to stop a gangster from corrupting a group of street kids.
Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, Humphrey Bogart, Ann Sheridan
Votes: 18,729
14. La Bête Humaine (1938)
Not Rated | 100 min | Crime, Drama
In this classic adaptation of Emile Zola's novel, a tortured train engineer falls in love with a troubled married woman who has helped her husband commit a murder.
Director: Jean Renoir | Stars: Jean Gabin, Julien Carette, Simone Simon, Fernand Ledoux
Votes: 6,303
The Human Beast
15. The Roaring Twenties (1939)
Not Rated | 106 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Three men attempt to make a living in Prohibitionist America after returning home from fighting together in World War I.
Director: Raoul Walsh | Stars: James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, Priscilla Lane, Gladys George
Votes: 11,751
16. Black Friday (1940)
Approved | 70 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
Dr. Sovac transplants the brain of a gangster into his professor friend's body to save his life, but there is a side effect that causes a dangerous split personality.
Director: Arthur Lubin | Stars: Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Stanley Ridges, Anne Nagel
Votes: 1,842
17. The Letter (1940)
Not Rated | 95 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
The wife of a rubber plantation administrator shoots a man to death and claims it was self-defense, but a letter in her own hand may prove her undoing.
Director: William Wyler | Stars: Bette Davis, Herbert Marshall, James Stephenson, Frieda Inescort
Votes: 10,711
18. Rebecca (1940)
Not Rated | 130 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
A self-conscious woman juggles adjusting to her new role as an aristocrat's wife and avoiding being intimidated by his first wife's spectral presence.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine, George Sanders, Judith Anderson
Votes: 113,704 | Gross: $4.36M
19. Stranger on the Third Floor (1940)
Approved | 64 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
An aspiring reporter is the key witness at the murder trial of a young man accused of cutting a café owner's throat and is soon accused of a similar crime himself.
Director: Boris Ingster | Stars: Peter Lorre, John McGuire, Margaret Tallichet, Charles Waldron
Votes: 3,303
20. They Drive by Night (1940)
Approved | 95 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
When one of two truck-driving brothers loses an arm, they both join a transport company where later, the other is falsely charged as an accessory in the murder of the owner.
Director: Raoul Walsh | Stars: George Raft, Humphrey Bogart, Ann Sheridan, Ida Lupino
Votes: 6,617
21. High Sierra (1941)
Passed | 100 min | Action, Adventure, Crime
After being released from prison, notorious thief Roy Earle is hired by his old boss to help a group of inexperienced criminals plan and carry out the robbery of a California resort.
Director: Raoul Walsh | Stars: Ida Lupino, Humphrey Bogart, Alan Curtis, Arthur Kennedy
Votes: 13,966
22. I Wake Up Screaming (1941)
Passed | 82 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Why is Inspector Ed Cornell trying to railroad Frankie Christopher for the murder of model Vicky Lynn?
Director: H. Bruce Humberstone | Stars: Betty Grable, Victor Mature, Carole Landis, Laird Cregar
Votes: 3,435
23. The Maltese Falcon (1941)
Not Rated | 100 min | Film-Noir, Mystery
A private detective takes on a case that involves him with three eccentric criminals, a gorgeous liar, and their quest for a priceless statuette.
Director: John Huston | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Gladys George, Peter Lorre
Votes: 142,862 | Gross: $2.11M
24. Suspicion (1941)
Not Rated | 99 min | Mystery, Thriller
A shy young heiress marries a charming gentleman, and soon begins to suspect he is planning to murder her.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Cary Grant, Joan Fontaine, Cedric Hardwicke, Nigel Bruce
Votes: 29,819 | Gross: $4.50M
25. The Big Shot (1942)
Approved | 82 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Fearing life in prison for a fourth offense, convict Duke Berne pulls out of an armored car robbery, planned by his crooked lawyer, but he is framed for the robbery anyway.
Director: Lewis Seiler | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Irene Manning, Richard Travis, Susan Peters
Votes: 679
26. The Glass Key (1942)
Not Rated | 85 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A crooked politician finds himself being accused of murder by a gangster from whom he refused help during a re-election campaign.
Director: Stuart Heisler | Stars: Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, Brian Donlevy, Bonita Granville
Votes: 5,148
27. This Gun for Hire (1942)
Passed | 81 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
When assassin Philip Raven shoots a blackmailer and his beautiful female companion dead, he is paid off in marked bills by his treasonous employer who is working with foreign spies.
Director: Frank Tuttle | Stars: Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, Robert Preston, Laird Cregar
Votes: 7,711
28. Le Corbeau (1943)
Not Rated | 92 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
French village doctor becomes target of poison-pen letters sent to village leaders, accusing him of affairs and practicing abortion.
Director: Henri-Georges Clouzot | Stars: Pierre Fresnay, Ginette Leclerc, Micheline Francey, Héléna Manson
Votes: 8,065 | Gross: $0.03M
The Raven
29. Journey Into Fear (1943)
Approved | 68 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Thriller
An American ballistics expert in Turkey finds himself targeted by Nazi agents. Safe passage home by ship is arranged for him, but he soon discovers that his pursuers are also on board.
Directors: Norman Foster, Orson Welles | Stars: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Dolores del Rio, Ruth Warrick
Votes: 3,623
30. Ossessione (1943)
TV-14 | 140 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
Gino, a drifter, begins an affair with inn-owner Giovanna as they plan to get rid of her older husband.
Director: Luchino Visconti | Stars: Clara Calamai, Massimo Girotti, Dhia Cristiani, Elio Marcuzzo
Votes: 6,236
Obsession
31. Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
PG | 108 min | Thriller
A young woman discovers her visiting uncle may not be the man he seems to be.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Teresa Wright, Joseph Cotten, Macdonald Carey, Henry Travers
Votes: 55,260
32. Double Indemnity (1944)
Passed | 107 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
An insurance representative lets himself be talked by a seductive housewife into a murder/insurance fraud scheme that arouses the suspicion of an insurance investigator.
Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson, Byron Barr
Votes: 132,360 | Gross: $5.72M
33. Gaslight (1944)
Not Rated | 114 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Years after her aunt was murdered in her home, a young woman moves back into the house with her new husband. However, he has a secret that he will do anything to protect, even if it means driving his wife insane.
Director: George Cukor | Stars: Charles Boyer, Ingrid Bergman, Joseph Cotten, May Whitty
Votes: 21,891
34. Laura (1944)
Passed | 88 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Mystery
A police detective falls in love with the woman whose murder he is investigating.
Director: Otto Preminger | Stars: Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews, Clifton Webb, Vincent Price
Votes: 39,575 | Gross: $4.36M
35. The Lodger (1944)
Approved | 84 min | Crime, Horror, Mystery
A landlady suspects her new lodger is Jack the Ripper.
Director: John Brahm | Stars: Laird Cregar, Merle Oberon, George Sanders, Cedric Hardwicke
Votes: 2,844
36. The Mask of Dimitrios (1944)
Approved | 95 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Mystery writer Cornelius Leyden becomes intrigued when the murdered body of a vicious career criminal washes up in the Bosphorus.
Director: Jean Negulesco | Stars: Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet, Zachary Scott, Faye Emerson
Votes: 2,869
37. Ministry of Fear (1944)
Not Rated | 86 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Stephen Neale has just been released from an asylum during World War 2 in England when he stumbles on a deadly Nazi spy plot by accident, and tries to stop it.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Ray Milland, Marjorie Reynolds, Carl Esmond, Hillary Brooke
Votes: 6,163
38. Murder, My Sweet (1944)
Approved | 95 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
After being hired to find an ex-con's former girlfriend, Philip Marlowe is drawn into a deeply complex web of mystery and deceit.
Director: Edward Dmytryk | Stars: Dick Powell, Claire Trevor, Anne Shirley, Otto Kruger
Votes: 11,145
39. Phantom Lady (1944)
Not Rated | 87 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A devoted secretary risks her life to try to find the elusive woman who may prove her boss didn't murder his selfish wife.
Director: Robert Siodmak | Stars: Franchot Tone, Ella Raines, Alan Curtis, Aurora Miranda
Votes: 3,926
40. The Woman in the Window (1944)
Approved | 107 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
When a conservative middle-aged professor engages in a minor dalliance with a femme fatale, he is plunged into a nightmarish quicksand of blackmail and murder.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett, Raymond Massey, Edmund Breon
Votes: 12,485
41. Conflict (1945)
Passed | 86 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Mystery
An engineer trapped in an unhappy marriage murders his wife in the hope of marrying her younger sister.
Director: Curtis Bernhardt | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Alexis Smith, Sydney Greenstreet, Rose Hobart
Votes: 2,934
42. Dead of Night (1945)
Approved | 77 min | Drama, Horror
Architect Walter Craig (Mervyn Johns) senses impending doom as his half-remembered recurring dream turns into reality. The guests at the country house encourage him to stay as they take turns telling supernatural tales.
Directors: Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden, Robert Hamer | Stars: Mervyn Johns, Michael Redgrave, Roland Culver, Mary Merrall
Votes: 9,962
43. Detour (1945)
Not Rated | 68 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Chance events trap hitch-hiker Al Roberts in a tightening net of film noir trouble.
Director: Edgar G. Ulmer | Stars: Tom Neal, Ann Savage, Claudia Drake, Edmund MacDonald
Votes: 13,366 | Gross: $0.02M
44. Fallen Angel (1945)
Approved | 98 min | Crime, Film-Noir, Mystery
A slick con man arrives in a small town looking to make some money, but soon gets more than he bargained for.
Director: Otto Preminger | Stars: Alice Faye, Dana Andrews, Linda Darnell, Charles Bickford
Votes: 4,307
45. The Great Flamarion (1945)
Approved | 78 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Mystery