Category: Lists

List of Films Noir In US Library of Congress National Film Registry

Cat People (1942)

A reader has asked which American films noir have been inducted into the US Library of Congress National Film Registry.

I did a little digging and identified 26 Hollywood movies in the list that fall under the film noir umbrella.  There are 650 films in the list so the standard e&oe disclaimer applies.

 
Film Title Year of Release Year Inducted
Cat People 1942 1993
Detour 1945 1992
Double Indemnity 1944 1992
Force of Evil 1948 1994
Fury 1936 1995
Gilda 1946 2013
In a Lonely Place 1950 2007
Kiss Me Deadly 1955 1999
Laura 1944 1999
Mildred Pierce 1945 1996
Out of the Past 1947 1991
Sunset Boulevard 1950 1989
Sweet Smell of Success 1957 1993
The Asphalt Jungle 1950 2008
The Big Heat 1953 2011
The Big Sleep 1946 1997
The Hitch-Hiker 1953 1998
The Killers 1946 2008
The Lost Weekend 1945 2011
The Maltese Falcon 1941 1989
The Naked City 1948 2007
The Pawnbroker 1965 2008
The Thin Man 1934 1997
Touch of Evil 1958 1993
Vertigo 1958 1989
White Heat 1949 2003

Best Film Noir Movies: The Runners-Up

These are the runners-up to my listing of the best (5-star) films noirs. The combined list appears here as Essential Films Noir. The ‘almosts’ are 147 noir movies I rate as 4 or 4.5 stars…

These are the runners-up to my listing of the best (5-star) films noirs.  The combined list appears here as Essential Films Noir.

The ‘almosts’ are 147 noir movies I rate as 4 or 4.5 stars.   As with the all-time best noirs list, the films are listed by year of production and are not ranked.

4/4.5 star Noirs

Titles with an  * are reviewed on FilmsNoir.Net – list of reviews here. All movies have a snap review.
*La Chienne 1931 France
*Fury 1936 US
*Guele d’Amour (aka Ladykiller) 1937 France
*Pépé le Moko 1937 France
*La Bête Humaine 1938 France
La Jour se Lève 1939 France
*Macao,L’enfer Du Jeu (aka ‘Gambling Hell’) 1939 France
*Stranger on the 3rd Floor 1940 US
*Blues in the Night 1941 US
*High Sierra 1941 US
*The Face Behind the Mask 1941 US
*Ossessione 1942 Italy
*This Gun For Hire 1942 US
*The Fallen Sparrow 1943 US
*The Ghost Ship 1943 US
*Betrayed (aka ‘When Strangers Marry’) 1944 US
*Moontide 1944 US
*Phantom Lady 1944 US
*The Mask of Dimitrios 1944 US
*The Woman in the Window 1944 US
*Cornered 1945 US
*Detour 1945 US
*Fallen Angel 1945 US
*Leave Her to Heaven 1945 US
*My Name Is Julia Ross 1945 US
*Black Angel 1946 US
*Deadline at Dawn 1946 US
*Decoy 1946 US
*Gilda 1946 US
*High Wall 1946 US
*Night Editor 1946 US
*Panique 1946 France
Suspense 1946 US
*The Blue Dahlia 1946 US
*The Chase 1946 US
*The Dark Corner 1946 US
*The Dark Mirror 1946 US
*The Locket 1946 US
*The Strange Love of Martha Ivers 1946 US
*The Stranger 1946 US
*Born to Kill 1947 US
Brute Force 1947 US
*Crossfire 1947 US
*Dead Reckoning 1947 US
*Desperate 1947 US
*Kiss of Death 1947 US
*Odd Man Out 1947 UJ
*Railroaded 1947 US
*The Devil Thumbs A Ride 1947 US
*The Long Night 1947 US
*The Unsuspected 1947 US
*The Woman On the Beach 1947 US
*They Made Me a Fugitive 1947 UK
*They Won’t Believe Me 1947 US
*lood on the Moon 1948 US
*Call Northside 777 1948 US
Cry of the City 1948 US
*I Love Trouble 1948 US
*I Walk Alone 1948 US
*Key Largo 1948 US
*Kiss the Blood Off My Hands 1948 US
*Moonrise 1948 US
*Night Has a Thousand Eyes 1948 US
*Pitfall 1948 US
*Road House 1948 US
*Ruthless 1948 US
*Secret Beyond the Door 1948 US
*Senza pietà (Aka Without Pity) 1948 Italy
*The Amazing Mr. X 1948 US
*The Big Clock 1948 US
*The Iron Curtain 1948 US
*The Naked City 1948 US
*A Woman’s Secret 1949 US
*Alias Nick Beal 1949 US
*Caught 1949 US
*Follow Me Quietly 1949 US
*I Married a Communist 1949 US
*The Big Steal 1949 US
*The Bribe 1949 US
*The Clay Pigeon 1949 US
*The Man Who Cheated Himself 1949 US
*The Window 1949 US
*Whirlpool 1949 US
*Armored Car Robbery 1950 US
*Gambling House 1950 US
*Gun Crazy 1950 US
*Manèges 1950 France
*No Way Out 1950 US
*Panic In the Streets 1950 US
*Side Street 1950 US
*Tension 1950 US
*The File On Thelma Jordan 1950 US
*The Killer That Stalked New York 1950 US
*The Second Woman 1950 US
*The Tattooed Stranger 1950 US
*Union Station 1950 US
*Walk Softly, Stranger 1950 US
*Where Danger Lives 1950 US
*Where the Sidewalk Ends 1950 US
*Woman on the Run 1950 US
*Young Man with a Horn 1950 US
*Detective Story 1951 US
*His Kind of Woman 1951 US
*I Can Get It for You Wholesale 1951 US
*I was a Communist for the FBI 1951 US
*Roadblock 1951 US
*The Big Night 1951 US
*The Well 1951 US
*Tomorrow Is Another Day 1951 US
*Angel Face 1952 US
*Kansas City Confidential 1952 US
*Scandal Sheet 1952 US
*The Narrow Margin 1952 US
*The Sniper 1952 US
*99 River Street 1953 US
*Pickup On South Street 1953 US
Split Second 1953 US
*The Blue Gardenia 1953 US
*The Glass Wall 1953 US
*The Hitch-Hiker 1953 US
*Human Desire 1954 US
*Pushover 1954 US
*The Good Die Young 1954 UK
Touchez pas au Grisbi 1954 France
*Witness to Murder 1954 US
*World For Ransom 1954 US
*Bob le Flambeur 1955 France
*The Phenix City Story 1955 US
*Patterns 1956 US
*People of No Importance (aka ‘Gens san Importance’) 1956 France
The Wrong Man 1956 US
*The Killing 1956 US
*Voici le temps des assassin (aka ‘Deadlier Than the Male’) 1956 France
*While the City Sleeps 1956 US
*Elevator to the Gallows 1958 France
*Endless Desire 1958 Japan
*Tread Softly Stranger 1958 UK
Underworld Beauty (aka ‘Ankokugai no bijo’) 1958 Japan
*Odds Against Tomorrow 1959 US
*The Crimson Kimono 1959 US
*The Bad Sleep Well (aka ‘Warui yatsu hodo yoku nemuru’) 1960 Japan
Shoot the Piano Player 1960 France
Blast of Silence 1961 US
*Le Doulos 1962 France
*High and Low (aka Tengoku to jigok) 1963 Japan
*The Naked Kiss 1964 US

All Time Greatest Films Noir By FilmsNoir.Net

The greatest films noir of all time. Ambitious and perhaps presumptuous. But without apology or regrets. A list of 65 movies which I rate 5-stars…

The greatest films noir of all time. Ambitious and perhaps presumptuous. But without apology or regrets.

A  list of 65  movies which I rate 5-star – the top films noir.  As  have an aversion to rankings, my list of the best films noir is listed by year of production.

5 star Noirs Click on the title for the FilmsNoir.Net review
La Nuit de Carrefour 1931
France		 Aka ‘Night at the Crossroads’. Early Jean Renoir poetics. Magically delicious femme-noir and a brilliant car chase at night. Moody and bizarrre!
You Only Live Once 1937
US		 Fritz Lang and Hollywood kick-start poetic realism! Henry Fonda and Sylvia Sidney are the doomed lovers on the run.
Hotel du Nord 1938
France		 Poetic realist melodrama of lives at a downtown Paris hotel. As moody as noir with a darkly absurd resolution.
Port of Shadows 1938
France		 Aka Le Quai des brumes. Fate a dank existential fog ensnares doomed lovers Jean Gabin and Michèle Morgan after one night of happiness.
I Wake Up Screaming 1941
US		 Early crooked cop psycho-noir. Redolent noir motifs, dark shadows, off-kilter framing and expressionist imagery.
The Maltese Falcon 1941
US		 Bogart as Sam Spade the quintessential noir protagonist. A loner on the edge of polite society, sorely tempted to transgress but declines and is neither saved nor redeemed.
Journey Into Fear 1943
US		 Moody Orson Welles’ noir. Exotic locales, sexy dames, weird villains, politics, wisdom, philosophy, and a wry humor.
The Seventh Victim 1943
US		 “Despair behind, and death before doth cast”. The terror of an empty existence. Brilliant Lewton gothic melodrama.
Double Indemnity 1944
US		 All the elements of the archetypal film noir are distilled into a gothic LA tale of greed, sex, and betrayal.
Laura 1944
US		 Gene Tierney is an exquisite iridescent angel and Dana Andrews a stolid cop who nails the killer after falling for a dead dame.
Murder, My Sweet 1944
US		 (Aka Farewell, my Lovely). The most noir fun you will ever have. Raymond Chandler’s prose crackles with moody noir direction from Edward Dmytryk.
Mildred Pierce 1945
US		 Joan Crawford in classy melodrama by Michael Curtiz lensed by Ernest Haller. Self-made woman escapes morass of greed.
The Lost Weekend 1945
US		 ‘Most men lead lives of quiet desperation. I can’t take quiet desperation.’ Ray Milland against type on a bender.
Ride the Pink Horse 1946
US		 Disillusioned WW2 vet arrives in a New Mexico town to blackmail a war racketeer. Imbued with a rare humanity.
Scarlet Street 1946
US		 Classic noir from Fritz Lang. Unremitting in its pessimism. A dark mood and pervading doom of devastating intensity.
The Big Sleep 1946
US		 Love’s Vengeance Lost. Darker than Dmytryk’s Murder, My Sweet. Bogart is tougher, more driven, and morally suspect.
The Killers 1946
US		 Siodmak’s classic noir. Burt Lancaster’s masterful debut performance in a tragedy of a decent man destroyed by fate.
The Postman Always Rings Twice 1946
US		 Fate ensures adulterous lovers who murder the woman’s husband, suffer definite and final retribution.
Body and Soul 1947
US		 A masterwork. Melodramatic expose of the fight game and a savage indictment of money capitalism. Garfield’s picture.
Brighton Rock 1947
UK		 Greatest British noir is dark and chilling. A cinematic tour-de-force: from the direction and cinematography to top cast and editing.
Nightmare Alley 1947
US		 Predatory femme-fatale uses greed not sex to trap her prey in a hell of hangmen at the bottom of an empty gin bottle.
Nora Prentiss 1947
US		 Doctor is plunged into a dark pool of noir angst in a turbo-charged melodrama of tortured loyalty and thwarted passion.
Out of the Past 1947
US		 Quintessential film noir. Inspired direction, exquisite expressionist cinematography, and legendary Mitchum and Greer.
The Gangster 1947
US		 Hell of a b-movie. Very dark noir ‘opera’ brutally critiques the ‘entrepreneurial spirit’. Bravado Dalton Trumbo script.
The Lady From Shanghai 1947
US		 Orson Welles’ brilliant jigsaw noir with a femme-fatale to die for and a script so sharp you relish every scene.
T-Men 1947
US		 Mann and Alton offer a visionary descent into a noir realm of dark tenements, nightclubs, mobsters, and hellish steam baths.
Act of Violence 1948
US		 Long-shot and deep focus climax filmed night-for-night on a railway platform: the stuff noirs are made of.
Drunken Angel 1948
Japan		 Aka ‘Yoidore tenshi’. Kurosawa noir. A loser doctor with soul takes on the fetid moral swamp of Yakuza degradation.
Force of Evil 1948
US		 Polonsky transcends noir in a tragic allegory on greed and family. Garfield adds signature honesty and gritty complexity .
Hollow Triumph 1948
US		 Baroque journey to perdition traversing a noir topography redolent with noir archetypes. Audacious and enthralling.
Raw Deal 1948
US		 Sublime noir from Anthony Mann and John Alton. Knockout cast in a strong story stunningly rendered as expressionist art.
They Live by Night 1948
US		 Nicholas Ray’s first feature. A tragedy of Shakespearean dimensions which transcends film noir.
Too Late For Tears 1948
US		 Preposterous chance event launches wild descent into dark avarice and eroticised violence as relentless as fate.
Bitter Rice 1949
Italy		 Aka ‘Riso Amaro’. Classic neo-realist socialist melodrama. Homme-fatale destroys a passionate innocent. A bad girl is redeemed and homme-fatale meets a gruesome noir end in an abattoir.
Border Incident 1949
US		 Subversive expressionist noir from Dir Anthony Mann DP John Alton and writer John C Higgin indicts US agribusiness.
Criss-Cross 1949
US		 Accomplished noir showcased by Siodmak’s masterful aerial opening shot into parking lot onto a passing car exposing the doomed lovers to the spotlight.
Stray Dog 1949
Japan		 Aka ‘Nora inu’. Kurosawa’s ying and yang take on reality informs this 5-star noir: the pursuer could as easily have been the pursued.
The Reckless Moment 1949
US		 Max Ophuls takes a blackmail story and infuses it with a complexity and subtlety rarely matched in film noir.
The Set-Up 1949
US		 Robert Ryan is great as washed-up boxer in Robert Wise’ sharp expose of the fight game. Brooding and intense noir classic.
The Third Man 1949
UK		 Sublime. An engaging cavalcade of characters in a human comedy of love, friendship, and the imperatives of conscience.
Thieves’ Highway 1949
US		 Moody Richard Conte hauling fruit to Frisco. Rich socio-realist melodrama from Jules Dassin and A.I. Bezzerides. AAA.
Une Si Jolie Petite Plage 1949
France		 Aka ‘Riptide’. Iron in the soul: savage irony, withering subversion, and desolation mark the rain-sodden angst of a young man’s end.
White Heat 1949
US		 Fission Noir. Taut electric thriller straps you in an emotional strait-jacket released only in the final explosive frames.
Breaking Point 1950
US		 Great John Garfield vehicle with strong social subtext. Much stronger than from the same source To Have and Have Not.
Caged 1950
US		 Eleanor Parker leads a great female cast in a dark women’s prison picture with a savage climax and a gutsy downbeat ending.
D.O.A. 1950
US		 Gritty on-the-street in-your-face melodrama of innocent act a decent man’s un-doing. Edmund O’Brien is intense. The goons rock!
In A Lonely Place 1950
US		 Nick Ray deftly explores effect of isolation, frustration, and anxiety on the creative psyche as noir entrapment.
Night And the City 1950
US/UK		 Dassin’s stark existential journey played out in the dark dives of post-war London as a quintessential noir city.
Sunset Boulevard 1950
US		 Wilder’s sympathetic story of four decent people each sadly complicit in the inevitable doom that will engulf them.
The Asphalt Jungle 1950
US		 Quintessential heist movie transcends melodrama and noir. A police siren wails: “Sounds like a soul in hell.”
The Sound of Fury 1950
US		 Great noir! Outdoes Lang’s Fury and brilliantly prefigures Wilder’s Ace in the Hole. Climactic mob scenes mesmerise.
On Dangerous Ground 1951
US		 City cop battling inner demons is sent to ‘Siberia’. A film of dark beauty and haunting characterisations.
The Prowler 1951
US		 Van Heflin is homme-fatale in Tumbo thriller. Director Losey is unforgiving. Each squalid act is suffocatingly framed.
Ace in the Hole 1952
US		 A savage critique of a corrupted and corrupting modern mass media. Billy Wilder’s best movie. Kirk Douglas owns it.
Clash By Night 1952
US		 Cheating wife Stanwyck faces the music. Fritz Lang puts sexual license and existential entitlement on trial and wins.
The Big Heat 1953
US		 Gloria Grahame as existential hero in Fritz Lang’s brooding socio-realist noir critique.
Crime Wave 1954
US		 Andre de Toth noir masterwork set on the streets of LA is so authentic it plays for real with each character deeply drawn.
Kiss Me Deadly 1955
US		 Anti-fascist Hollywood Dada. Aldrich’s surreal noir a totally weird yet compelling exploration of urban paranoia.
Rififi 1955
France		 Dassin’s classic heist thriller culminating in the terrific final scenes of a car desperately careening through Paris streets.
The Big Combo 1955
US		 “I live in a maze… a strange blind backward maze’. Obsessed cop hunts down a psychotic crime boss in the best noir of 50s.
Sweet Smell of Success 1957
US		 DP James Wong Howe’s sharpest picture. As bracing as vinegar and cold as ice. Ambition stripped of all pretense.
Touch of Evil 1958
US		 Welles’ masterwork is a disconnected emotionally remote study of moral dissipation. Crisp b&w lensing by Russell Metty.
Underworld USA 1961
US		 Fast and furious pulp from Sam Fuller. Revenge finds redemption in death up a back alley the genesis of dark vengeance.
A Colt is My Passport 1967
Japan		 Aka ‘Koruto wa ore no pasupoto’. Hip acid Nikkatsu noir with surreal spaghetti-western score.
Klute 1971
Japan		 Alan J. Pakula’s signature reworking of classic noir motifs in a masterly study of urban paranoia and alienation. Jane Fonda earned an Oscar for her brilliant portrayal of articulate b-girl the target of mystery psychopath.

International Neo-Noirs

2046

Widen your cinematic experience and consider these neo-noir releases:

The Conformist (Italy – 1970)
Get Carter (UK – 1971)
The American Friend (Germany – 1977)
Veronika Voss (Germany – 1982)
Le Femme Nikita (France – 1990)
Zentropa (Denmark – 1991)
Foreign Land (Brazil – 1995)
Croupier (UK – 1997)
Insomnia (Norway – 1997)
Fallen Angel (Hong Kong – 2000)
Lantana (Australia – 2001)
City Of God (Brazil – 2002)
2046 (Hong Kong – 2004)
36 Quai des Orfèvres (France – 2004)
El Aura (Argentina- 2005)

Film Noir Essays On-Line

Brute Force The Maltese Falcon

These on-line essays are well-written and serious studies of the film noir genre:

No Place for a Woman: The Family in Film Noir by John Blaser

Film Noir’s Progressive Portrayal of Women by John Blaser

Film Noir & the Hard-Boiled Detective Hero by John Blaser

The Outer Limits of Film Noir by John Blaser

Nietzsche and the Meaning of Noir by Mark Conard

Dark Art by Chris Fujiwara

An Introduction to Neo-Noir by Lee Horsley

The Urban Landscape of Marxist Noir by Alan Wald

European Film Noir by K H Brown

Film Noir: Fear In The City by Bruce Hodsdon

Film Noir and the German-Hollywood Connection by Hyde Flippo

Film Noir as Deferred Action by Steffen Hantke

Rerunning Film Noir by Richard Schickel

Shades Among Shadows: The Murder Mystery, Film Noir, and Poetry by David Lehman

Lost in the Dark: The Elusive Film Noir by Patrick Ellis

The Cinematic Flaneur:
Manifestations of modernity in the female protagonist of 1940s film noir
by Dr Petra Désirée Nolan

Film Noir: You sure you don’t see what you hear? by Raffaele Caputo

Film Noir: Another Recommended Reading List

Another list of recommended books on Film Noir History & Theory from an Amazon.com customer with comments:

Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the American Style, Third Edition

by Alain Silver
Buy new: $25.55 / Used from: $14.35
The essential reference book for film noir of the classic period. Includes some discussion of neo-noir. Plot summaries, names, dates, and critical analysis for nearly 300 films.

Film Noir by Andrew Spicer

Buy new: $10.17 / Used from: $5.72
Concise and readable introduction to film noir theory. Covers classic, modern, and post-modern noir. Includes essays on 3 directors and lists of films.

The Dark Side of the Screen: Film Noir by Foster Hirsch

Buy new: $19.77 / Used from: $10.32
Another introductory text. Published in 1981, this was one of the first books on film noir written in English. Older and less comprehensive than the Spicer book, but still a solid introduction.

Dark City: The Lost World of Film Noir by Eddie Muller

Buy new: $16.47 / Used from: $11.94
Engaging survey of classic film noir written for a popular audience. Not intended to be comprehensive, but an winning introduction to great films for casual fans and noir buffs.

A Panorama of American Film Noir, 1941-1953 by Raymond Borde

Buy new: $11.53 / Used from: $6.95
Noir film theory’s seminal work, first published in France in 1955, on which all subsequent theory was built. Amazingly insightful, considering it lacked the benefit of hindsight.

Film Noir Reader by Alain Silver

Buy new: $22.95 / Used from: $5.60
Collection of essays written 1950s-1990s. Important seminal works, including Schrader’s “Notes on Film Noir”, plus modern studies of specific films and directors. Classic and neo-noir.

Film Noir Reader 2 by Alain Silver

Buy new: $15.60 / Used from: $6.85
More seminal essays, including Nino Frank’s, and an eclectic assortment of more recent essays that explore films, directors, themes, influences, and music. Classic and neo-noir.

Film Noir Reader 3: Interviews with Filmmakers of the Classic Noir Period by Alain Silver

Buy new: $22.50 / Used from: $14.06
Interviews with 18 directors, cinematographers, actresses, composers, writers, producers of the classic noir period, conducted by Robert Porfirio, Alain Silver, and James Ursini.

Film Noir Reader 4: The Crucial Films and Themes by Alain Silver

Buy new: $17.21 / Used from: $9.32
Mostly modern essays discussing key films and themes. Mixed bag. Some excellent historical studies, but too many essays rooted in socio-political agendas.

More than Night: Film Noir in Its Contexts by James Naremore

Buy new: $17.95 / Used from: $11.01
A scholarly analysis of “film noir” as an idea formed ex post facto that continues to resonate through contemporary media. Classic noir, neo-noir, and related crime films.

Detours and Lost Highways: A Map of Neo-Noir by Foster Hirsch

Buy new: $20.00 / Used from: $5.94
Follows neo-noir 1960-1999, as the style became a Hollywood mainstay. Analysis of old ideas and new trends, from the surprisingly retro to audaciously original films. Best book on neo-noir.

Shades of Noir: A Reader (Haymarket)

Buy new: $20.00 / Used from: $6.20
Ten highly academic essays focus on the origins of film noir motifs and their relationships to American culture. Classic & neo-noir. Dense, hard-core film theory. Not for casual fans.

New York Noir: Crime Photos from the Daily News Archive by William Hannigan

Buy new: $19.77 / Used from: $18.98
Not film theory, but it should be. These tabloid photographs from 1920s-1950s will disabuse you of the widely held belief that film noir’s vice, violence, and realism were products of the WWII era.

Somewhere in the Night by Nicholas Christopher

Buy used from: $2.31
Personal treatise focusing on elements of post-WWII urban environment which the author believes shaped film noir style. Interesting, thoughtful, but a stretch in terms of theory.

Out of the Past: Adventures in Film Noir by Barry Gifford

Buy new: $20.00 / Used from: $8.20
Barry Gifford’s personal take on 118 crime films released 1933-1988. If you find most film noir books too dry or academic, these energetic, entertaining essays might suit you.

L. A. Noir: Nine Dark Visions of the City of Angels by William Hare

Buy new: $39.95 / Used from: $25.00
Analysis of 7 classic noir films and 2 neo-noir films that take place in Los Angeles. Includes discussion of related films and the directors, actors, and writers involved in their creation.

L.A. Noir: The City as Character by Alain Silver

Buy new: $14.96 / Used from: $12.75
Classic and neo-noir in Los Angeles, with emphasis on how the city and its landmarks help create the noir mood. More than 150 b&w photos including many location photos indexed with addresses.

Film Noir by Alain Silver

Buy new: $13.59 / Used from: $6.20
Sleek, attractive showcase of over 180 photographs from classic noir films. Somewhat cursory analysis of 10 noir motifs and 10 representative films. Heavy on visuals, light on information.

Art of Noir: The Posters And Graphics From The Classic Era Of Film Noir

by Eddie Muller
Buy new: $34.65 / Used from: $25.00
A wonderful showcase of the brash, lurid poster art of classic film noir. 338 posters and lobby cards are reproduced in eye-popping color. Captions and essays expound on the bold styles.

Painting With Light by John Alton

Buy new: $19.77 / Used from: $11.99
Not film theory, but lighting theory. A handbook to cinematography written in 1949 by John Alton, low key lighting specialist and one of film noir’s most recognizable and revered cinematographers.

Its A Bitter Little World: The Smartest Toughest Nastiest Quotes From Film Noir

Buy new: $10.39 / Used from: $1.78
A nice little volume of hard-boiled quotes from film noir 1940-2005. Organized by date, theme, and indexed by film.

Hard Boiled: Great Lines from Classic Noir Films by Peggy Thompson

Buy used from: $1.88
Book of quotes from film noir and crime films 1932-1964. Organized by film, indexed by artist and first line. Includes reproductions of more than 60 movie stills and lobby cards.

Film Noir: Recommended Reading

BuddBottiecher's Behind Locked Doors (1948)

I came across this interesting Film Noir Recommended Reading List by an Amazon.Com customer and his comments:

Dark City: The Lost World of Film Noir by Eddie Muller

Buy new: $16.47 / Used from: $11.94
Eddie Muller’s Dark City is one of the best books on noir out there.

Dark City: The Film Noir by Spencer Selby

Buy new: $30.00 / Used from: $29.98
A great “list” book. Noirheads use this one to keep track of what they’ve seen and what they want to see.

Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the American Style, Third Edition

by Alain Silver
Buy new: $25.55 / Used from: $14.35
Another excellent “List” book. Not much in the way of photos, but this is probably the most comprehensive list of film noir out there.

A Panorama of American Film Noir, 1941-1953 by Raymond Borde

Buy new: $11.53 / Used from: $6.95
This is the book that started it all. A must for film fans.

Death on the Cheap: The Lost B Movies of Film Noir by Arthur Lyons

Buy new: $17.50 / Used from: $9.00
The ultimate reference of all B-film noir. The book is entertaining and really digs deep trying to find some forgotten gems (and more than a few stinkers).

Early Film Noir: Greed, Lust and Murder Hollywood Style by William Hare

Buy new: $37.95 / Used from: $35.00
A collection of essays on great film noir.

The Noir Style by Alain Silver

Buy new: $48.00 / Used from: $17.99
A enjoyable coffee-table sized book with images from film noir.

Art of Noir: The Posters And Graphics From The Classic Era Of Film Noir

by Eddie Muller
Buy new: $34.65 / Used from: $25.00
This one goes great with Noir Style. A collection of colorful film noir movie posters in coffee-table-book size.

Painting With Light by John Alton

Buy new: $19.77 / Used from: $11.99
The famed movie-maker’s book on lighting. A must for noir fans and film makers. The book references The Amazing Mr. X.

Anthony Hopkins: Influenced by Film Noir

Anthony Hopkins in an interview with Cinema Blend about his new film, Slipstream, which he not only wrote and directed, but in which he also stars and wrote the music, says of his influences:

Our existence is beyond our explanation… I believe that everything is illusory, because we can’t grasp anything… The films that I really like were the film noir movies […] Those film noir things just got to me as a kid. A film that’s non-linear, Burt Lancaster in The Killers…

thekiillers01.jpg