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Let us know by emailing us here. But be sure to include a solid argument for why a film does – or does not – belong on our list. We’re a pretty hard-boiled bunch ourselves. |
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Classic film noir, proto-noir, neo-noir, tech-noir and even B-movie noirs of the 1940s and ‘50s. The list of titles is enough to make even the most hard-boiled hero quake in his gum-soled shoes. For our timeline of film noir, however, we’ve chosen a narrower focus. Below is our list of classic noir films of the 1940s and ‘50s – with a few B movies thrown in for good measure.
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Stranger on the Third Floor (RKO, d. Boris Ingster)
They Drive by Night (Warner Bros., d. Raoul Walsh) |
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| 1941 |
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Among the Living (Paramount, d. Stuart Heisler)
High Sierra (Warner Bros., d. Raoul Walsh)
I Wake Up Screaming (20th Century Fox, d. Bruce Homberstone)
The Maltese Falcon (Warner Bros., d. John Huston) |
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| 1942 |
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This Gun For Hire (Paramount, d. Frank Tuttle) |
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| 1943 |
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Shadow of a Doubt (Skirball Productions, d. Alfred Hitchcock) |
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| 1944 |
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Detour (Producers Releasing Corp., d. Edgar G. Ulmer)
Double Indemnity (Paramount, d. Billy Wilder)
Laura (20th Century Fox, d. Otto Preminger)
Murder, My Sweet (RKO, d. Edward Dmytryk)
Phantom Lady (Universal, d. Robert Siodmak)
The Woman in the Window (International Pictures, d. Fritz Lang)
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| 1945 |
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Cornered (RKO, d. Edward Dmytryk)
Fallen Angel (20th Century Fox, d. Otto Preminger)
The House on 92nd Street (20th Century Fox, d. Henry Hathaway)
Mildred Pierce (Warner Bros., d. Michael Curtiz)
Scarlet Street (Fritz Lang Productions, d. Fritz Lang) |
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| 1946 |
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The Big Sleep (Warner Bros., d. Howard Hawks)
Black Angel (Universal Pictures, d. Roy William Neill)
The Blue Dahlia (Paramount, d. George Marshall)
The Dark Corner (20th Century Fox, d. Henry Hathaway)
Deadline at Dawn (RKO, d. Harold Clurman)
Gilda (Columbia, d. Charles Vidor)
The Killers (Universal, d. Robert Siodmak)
Notorious (Vanguard Films, d. Alfred Hitchcock)
The Postman Always Rings Twice (MGM, d. Tay Garnett)
Somewhere in the Night (20th Century Fox, d. Joseph L. Mankiewicz)
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (Hal Wallis Productions, d. Lewis Milestone)
The Stranger (International Pictures, d. Orson Welles)
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| 1947 |
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Boomerang (20th Century Fox, d. Elia Kazan)
The Brasher Doubloon (20th Century Fox, d. John Brahm)
Brute Force (Mark Hellinger Productions, d. Jules Dassin)
Calcutta (Paramount, d. John Farrow)
Crossfire (RKO, d. Edward Dmytryk)
Dark Passage (Warner Bros., d. Delmer Daves)
Dead Reckoning (Columbia, d. John Cromwell)
Fear in the Night (Pine-Thomas Productions, d. Maxwell Shane)
High Wall (MGM, d. Curtis Bernhardt)
Kiss of Death (20th Century Fox, d. Henry Hathaway)
The Lady in the Lake (MGM, d. Robert Montgomery)
The Lady From Shanghai (Columbia, d. Orson Welles)
The Naked City (Hellinger Productions, d. Jules Dassin)
Nightmare Alley (20th Century Fox, d. Edmund Goulding)
Out of the Past (RKO, d. Jacques Tourneur)
Possessed (Warner Bros., d. Curtis Bernhardt)
T-Men (Edward Small Productions, d. Anthony Mann)
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| 1948 |
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Act of Violence (MGM, d. Fred Zinnemann)
The Big Clock (Paramount, d. John Farrow)
Call Northside 777 (20th Century Fox, d. Henry Hathaway)
The Dark Past (Columbia Pictures, d. Rudolph Maté)
Force of Evil (Enterprise Productions, d. Abraham Polonsky)
I Walk Alone (Hal Wallis Productions, d. Byron Haskin)
Key Largo (Warner Bros., d. John Huston)
Pitfall (United Artists, d. Andre de Toth)
Secret Beyond the Door (Diana Production Company, d. Fritz Lang)
Sorry, Wrong Number (Hal Wallis Productions, d. Anatole Litvak)
They Live by Night (RKO, d. Nicholas Ray)
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| 1949 |
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Criss Cross (Universal International Pictures, d. Robert Siodmak)
The Third Man (London Film Productions, d. Carol Reed)
Whirlpool (20th Century Fox, d. Otto Preminger)
White Heat (Warner Bros., d. Raoul Walsh)
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| 1950 |
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The Asphalt Jungle (Paramount, d. John Huston)
D.O.A. (United Artists, d. Rudolph Mate)
Dark City (MGM, d. William Dieterle)
Deadly Is the Female/Gun Crazy (United Artists, d. Joseph H. Lewis)
The File on Thelma Jordan (Hal Wallis Productions, d. Robert Siodmak)
In a Lonely Place (Columbia, d. Nicholas Ray)
Panic in the Streets (20th Century Fox, d. Elia Kazan)
Southside 1-1000 (King Brothers Productions, d. Boris Ingster)
Sunset Boulevard (Paramount, d. Billy Wilder)
Where Danger Lives (RKO, d. John Farrow)
Where the Sidewalk Ends (20th Century Fox, d. Otto Preminger)
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| 1951 |
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Ace in the Hole (Paramount, d. Billy Wilder)
Detective Story (Paramount, d. William Wyler)
The Enforcer (United States Pictures, d. Bretaigne Windust)
Strangers on a Train (Warner Bros., d. Alfred Hitchcock)
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| 1952 |
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Angel Face (RKO, d. Otto Preminger)
On Dangerous Ground (RKO, d. Nicholas Ray)
Rancho Notorious (Fidelity Pictures, d. Fritz Lang)
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| 1953 |
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The Big Heat (Columbia, d. Fritz Lang)
The Blue Gardenia (Blue Gardenia Productions, d. Fritz Lang)
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| 1954 |
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Johnny Guitar (Republic Pictures, d. Nicholas Ray) |
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| 1955 |
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The Big Combo (Security Pictures, d. Joseph H. Lewis)
Kiss Me Deadly (Parklane, d. Robert Aldrich)
Night of the Hunter (Paul Gregory Productions, d. Charles Laughton)
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| 1956 |
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Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (Bert E. Friedlob Productions, d. Fritz Lang)
The Killing (Harris-Kubrick Productions, d. Stanley Kubrick)
The Wrong Man (Warner Bros., d. Alfred Hitchcock)
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| 1957 |
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Sweet Smell of Success (Hill-Hecht-Lancaster Productions, d. Alexander Mackendrick) |
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| 1958 |
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Touch of Evil (Universal, d. Orson Welles) |
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