Things are going to be quiet around the blog for the next few days, so I thought I’d let all the film noir fans chew on this for awhile: I recently read (and greatly enjoyed) Mark Fertig’s excellent book Film Noir 101: The 101 Best Film Noir Posters from the 1940s-1950s. Fertig’s 101 choices are not only great posters, but also great movies.
I decided to make a list of the films from that book that I haven’t seen, or haven’t seen in a long time (20+ years). A couple of these I actually own on DVD (or recently ordered) and others I have in my streaming queue through Amazon, Warner Archive, etc.(Those are marked in bold), but many of them I’d have to seek out elsewhere.
So here are two questions I have for you:
1) Which of the following films noir should I make it a point to watch immediately before watching any of the others?
2) What films noir should be on this list, but aren’t?
Thanks in advance for your comments!
In a Lonely Place (1950) Nicholas Ray
This Gun for Hire (1942) Frank Tuttle
White Heat (1949) Raoul Walsh
The Set-Up (1949) Robert Wise
Brute Force (1947) Jules Dassin
Force of Evil (1948) Abraham Polonsky
The Prowler (1951) Joseph Losey
The Breaking Point (1950) Michael Curtiz
Thieves’ Highway (1949) Jules Dassin
Champion (1949) Mark Robson
Body and Soul (1947) Robert Rossen
Odds Against Tomorrow (1959) Robert Wise
The Dark Corner (1946) Henry Hathaway
T-Men (1947) Anthony Mann
Phantom Lady (1944) Robert Siodmak
The Woman in the Window (1944) Fritz Lang
Kiss of Death (1947) Henry Hathaway
Leave Her to Heaven (1945) John M. Stahl
Crossfire (1947) Edward Dmytryk
Caged (1950) John Cromwell
99 River Street (1953) Phil Karlson
The Narrow Margin (1952) Richard Fleischer
The Sound of Fury (1950) Cy Endfield
Cry of the City (1948) Robert Siodmak
Kansas City Confidential (1952) Phil Karlson
Night Has a Thousand Eyes (1948) John Farrow
He Walked by Night (1948) Alfred L. Werker (Anthony Mann)
Hollow Triumph (a.k.a. The Scar) (1948) Steve Sekely
Gilda (1946) Charles Vidor
Black Tuesday (1954) Hugo Fregonese
Fallen Angel (1945) Otto Preminger
Moonrise (1948) Frank Borzage
Too Late for Tears (1949) Byron Haskin
Edge of Doom (1950) Mark Robson
The Reckless Moment (1949) Max Ophuls
The Sniper (1952) Edward Dmytryk
Ride the Pink Horse (1947) Robert Montgomery
Human Desire (1954) Fritz Lang
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (1956) Fritz Lang
Appointment with Danger (1951) Lewis Allen
The Blue Dahlia (1946) George Marshall
Side Street (1949) Anthony Mann
Loophole (1954) Harold Schuster
Pickup (1951) Hugo Haas
Somewhere in the Night (1946) Joseph Mankiewica
Framed (1947) Richard Wallace
Sudden Fear (1952) David Miller
Journeys in Darkness and Light 
I will probably see The Glass Key next, since it’s part of a TCM collection I already have. I saw Gilda and White Heat so many years ago I have practically forgotten them! I’m hoping some of those appear either streaming or in Blu-ray re-issues.
LikeLike
I would have said Phantom Lady, but I see you’ve already gotten there. I would add Gilda, White Heat, The Reckless Moment, and Somewhere in the Night.
If you haven’t seen The Glass Key, that should be on the list. You have the two other Ladd & Lake films (This Gun for Hire and The Blue Dahlia), and The Glass Key is the best of the three.
LikeLike