As this political season is beginning to resemble THE GLASS KEY, or some other black and white “political” film noir from my childhood, I fell asleep last night creating a little diversion for myself with an alphabet list of my favorite movies that more or less fit into the film noir category:
ASPHALT JUNGLE, THE
BIG SLEEP, THE
CHINATOWN (one of the few “modern” film noirs that qualifies, for my taste)
DOUBLE INDEMNITY
ELEVATOR TO THE GALLOWS (a French flick with a great Miles Davis soundtrack)
FAREWELL, MY LOVELY
GILDA
HIGH SIERRA
IN A LONELY PLACE
JOHNNY EAGER
KILLING, THE
LAURA
MALTESE FALCON, THE
NOBODY LIVES FOREVER
OUT OF THE PAST
PICK UP ON SOUTH STREET
QUICKSAND
RIFIFI (another French one)
STRANGERS ON A TRAIN
THIS GUN FOR HIRE
USUAL SUSPECTS, THE
VERTIGO (one of the few great film noirs not in black and white)
WHITE HEAT
X?
YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE (early and dark Henry Fonda flick)
Z?
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4 comments:
Lal--Let me offer two alternates for you Film Noir Alphabet List. Both feature a young, psychotically vicious Richard Widmark.
Under K--"Kiss Of Death," from 1947, Widmark's debut, as Tommy Udo, a killer so ruthless he ties Mildred Dunnock in her wheelchair and pushes her down a flight of stairs, cackling hysterically the while.
Under S--"Street With No Name," from 1948, in which Widmark plays a mobster who bitch-slaps his wife because he thinks, mistakenly, that she has betrayed him to the cops. And each time he slaps her, three times in all, forehand, backhand, forehand, he yells at her, "Ya tipped 'em! Ya tipped 'em! Ya tipped 'em!"
It doesn't much more noir than that.
Bob Berner
Bob, two great alternates. I thought of both of them, but chose the ones I did for personal reasons, like STRANGERS ON A TRAIN mentions my home town in it, which as a kid made me feel famous by proxy or something, plus I love Robert Walker. (especially when I grew up and got to Hollywood and a couple of oldtimers who knew him said I reminded them of him!)
great list - i've got some homework - only saw a handful of your selections [repeatedly] and never the ones bob mentioned - thanks ...
Coincidentally, I'm watching "Strangers On A Train" right now. It's preposterous to think a merry-go-round could spin as fast as they make it seem during the climatic fight but its still one of my favorite Hitchcock films.
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