Noir Writers

A listing of novelists and screenwriters with the associated film noir. Thanks to Fanglei from China who provided the initial list of names of screenwriters.

Gerald Drayson Adams (1900-1988)
Armored Car Robbery (1950) (screenplay)
Dead Reckoning (1947)(story) (as Gerald Adams)
His Kind of Woman (1951)(story) (uncredited)
The Big Steal (1949) (screenplay)

Eric Ambler (1909-1998)
Journey Into Fear (1943) (novel)
The Mask of Dimitrios (1944) (novel)

Maxwell Anderson (1888-1959)
Key Largo (1948)(play)
The Wrong Man (novel “The True Story of Christopher Emmanuel Balestrero”)
(screenplay)

Edna & Edward Anhalt
Panic in the Streets (1950)(story)
The Sniper (1950) (story)

Sydney Boehm (1908-1990)
Black Tuesday (1954) (writer)
Branded (1950) (screenplay)
High Wall (1947) (writer)
Mystery Street (1950) (writer)
The Raid (1954) (screenplay)
Rogue Cop (1954) (writer)
Second Chance (1953) (writer)
Side Street (1950) (writer)
The Big Heat (1953) (screenplay)
The Savage (1952) (screenplay)
Union Station (1950) (writer)

A. I. Bezzeridis (1909-2007)
A Bullet for Joey (1955) (writer)
Desert Fury (1947) (writer)
Kiss Me Deadly (1955) (writer)
On Dangerous Ground (1952) (adaptation) (screenplay)
They Drive by Night (1940) (novel “Long Haul”)
Thieves’ Highway (1949) (novel “Thieves’ Market”) (screenplay)

Charles Brackett (1892-1969)
Edge of Doom (1950) (uncredited)
Niagara (1953) (writer)
Sunset Blvd. (1950) (writer)

Richard Brooks (1912-1992)
Brute Force (1947) (writer)
Crossfire (1947) (novel “The Brick Foxhole”)
Elmer Gantry (1960) (screenplay)
Key Largo (1948) (writer)
Mystery Street (1950) (writer)
The Killers (1946) (uncredited)

W. R. Burnett (1899–1982)
Little Caesar (1931) (writer)
High Sierra (1941) (writer)
This Gun for Hire (1942) (writer)
Nobody Lives Forever (1946) (writer)
The Asphalt Jungle (1950) (writer)
I Died a Thousand Times (1955) (writer/screenplay)

Gerald Butler (1907–1988)
Kiss The Blood Off My Hands (1948) (novel “Mad with Much Heart”)
On Dangerous Ground (1952) (novel)

James M. Cain (1892–1977)
Double Indemnity (1944) (writer)
Mildred Pierce (1945) (writer)
The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) (writer)

Raymond Chandler (1888–1959)
Double Indemnity (1944) (co-screenwriter) (James M. Cain novel)
Farewell, My Lovely (aka Murder, My Sweet) (1944) (writer)
Lady in The Lake (1947) (writer)
Playback (1949) – un-produced screenplay
Playback (1959) (writer) – novelisation of un-produced screenplay
Strangers on a Train (1951) (screenplay)
The Big Sleep (1946) (writer)
The Blue Dahlia (1946) (screenplay)
The Brasher Doubloon (1947) (writer) (novel “The High Window”)
The Long Goodbye (1973) (writer)
Time to Kill (1942) (writer) (novel “The High Window”)

Jules Dassin
Du rififi chez les hommes (1955) (screenplay)

Mel Dinelli (1912-1991)
Beware, My Lovely (1952) (screenplay) (story and play “The Man”)
Cause for Alarm! (1951) (writer)
House by the River (1950) (writer)
Jeopardy (1953) (writer)
The Reckless Moment (1949) (adaptation)
The Window (1949) (screenplay)

Jay Dratler (1911-1968)
Call Northside 777 (1948) (screenplay)
Impact (1949) (story) (writer)
Laura (1944) (screenplay)
Pitfall (1948) (novel “The Pitfall”)
The Dark Corner (1946) (screenplay)

Jo Eisinger (1909-1991)
Crime of Passion (1957) (screenplay) (story)
Gilda (1946) (adaptation)
Night and the City (1950) (screenplay)
The Sleeping City (1950) (screenplay) (story)

Kenneth Fearing (1902-1961)
The Big Clock (1948) (novel)

Steve Fisher (1912–1980)
I Wake Up Screaming (1941) (writer)
I Wouldn’t Be in Your Shoes (1948)
Johnny Angel (1945) (screenplay)
Lady in the Lake (1947) (screenplay)
Roadblock (1951) (screenplay)
City That Never Sleeps (1953) (screenplay)
36 Hours (1953) (screenplay)

Carl Foreman (1914-1984)
Champion (1949)
The Clay Pigeon (1949)
Young Man with a Trumpet (1950)

Samuel Fuller (1912-1997)
House of Bamboo (1955) (additional dialogue)
Pickup on South Street (1953) (screenplay)
Scandal Sheet (1952) (novel “The Dark Page”)
Shock Corridor (1963) (writer)
Shockproof (1949) (writer)
Targets (aka Before I Die) (1968) (co-screenwriter) (uncredited)
The Crimson Kimono (1959) (writer)
The Naked Kiss (1964) (writer) … aka The Iron Kiss
Underworld U.S.A. (1961) (writer)

Jules Furthman (1888-1966)
Nightmare Alley (1947) (screenplay)
The Big Sleep (1946) (screenplay)
The Shanghai Gesture (1941) (collaborator for adaptation)
To Have and Have Not (1944) (screenplay)

David Goodis (1917–1967)
Dark Passage (1946) (writer)
The Unfaithful (1947) (screenplay)
Nightfall (1957) (writer)
The Burglar (1953)
Shoot the Piano Player (1960) (writer) (novel “Down There”)

Dashiell Hammett (1894–1961)
The Glass Key (1935) (writer)
The Maltese Falcon (1941) (writer)
The Glass Key (1942) (writer)

Ben Hecht (1894-1964)
Angel Face (1952) (uncredited)
Angels with Dirty Faces (1938) (uncredited)
Cornered (1945) (screenplay)
Cornered (1945) (uncredited)
Crack-Up (1946) (writer)
Crossfire (1947) (writer)
Cry of the City (1948) (uncredited)
Edge of Doom (1950) (uncredited)
Gilda (1946) (uncredited)
Journey Into Fear (1943) (uncredited)
Kiss of Death (1947) (screenplay)
Murder, My Sweet (aka Farewell My Lovely (UK)) (1944) (screenplay)
Notorious (1946) (writer)
Ride the Pink Horse (1947) (writer)
Rope (1948) (uncredited)
Spellbound (1945) (screenplay)
Strangers on a Train (1951) (uncredited)
The Man with the Golden Arm (1955) (uncredited)
Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950) (screenplay)
Whirlpool (1949) (screenplay)

Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961)
The Killers (1946) (story)
To Have and Have Not (1944) (novel)
The Breaking Point (1950) (novel “To Have and Have Not”)

John C. Higgins (1908-1995)
Big House, U.S.A. (1955) (writer)
Border Incident (1949) (story) (writer)
He Walked by Night (1948) (screenplay)
Railroaded! (1947) (screenplay)
Raw Deal (1948) (writer)
Shield for Murder (1954) (writer)
T-Men (1947) (writer)

Roy Huggins (1914–2002)
Pushover (1954) (writer) Too Late for Tears (1949) (story) (screenplay)
Woman in Hiding Roy (1950) Huggins (adaptation), Oscar Saul (screenplay)

Dorothy B. Hughes (1904–1993)
In a Lonely Place (1950) (novel)
Ride the Pink Horse (1947) (novel)
The Fallen Sparrow (1943) (novel)
Beat the Devil (1953) (writer)
Dark Waters (1944) (uncredited)
High Sierra (1941) (screenplay)
Key Largo (1948) (writer)
The Asphalt Jungle (1950) (screenplay)
The Killers (1946) (uncredited)
The Maltese Falcon (1941) (screenplay)
The Stranger (1946) (uncredited)
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) (screenplay)

Paul Jarrico (1915-1997)
The Face Behind the Mask (1941) (screenplay)
The Las Vegas Story (1952) (screenplay)

Virginia Kellogg (1907-1981)
Caged (1950) (screenplay) (story “Women Without Men”)
White Heat (1949) (story)
T-Men (1947) (story)

Jonathan Latimer (1906–1983)
The Glass Key (1942) (screenplay)
Nocturne (1946) (writer)
They Won’t Believe Me (1947) (writer)
The Big Clock (1948) (screenplay) (Kenneth Fearing novel)
Night Has a Thousand Eyes (1948) (screenplay based on Cornell Woolrich novel)
Alias Nick Beal (1949) (screenplay)(Mindret Lord story) The Unholy Wife (1957) (writer)

Charles Ledere (1911–1976)
The Lady from Shanghai (1947) (uncredited)
Ride the Pink Horse (1947) (writer)
Kiss of Death (1947) (screenplay)

Barré Lyndon (1896-1972)
Hangover Square (1945) (screenplay)
Night Has a Thousand Eyes (1948) (screenplay based on Cornell Woolrich novel) The House on 92nd Street (1945) (screenplay)
They Came by Night (1940) (play)

Horace McCoy (1897–1955)
Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye (1950) (writer)
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? (1969) (writer)

Ranald McDougall (1915-1973)
Mildred Pierce (1945) (screenplay)
Possessed (1947) (screenplay)
The Unsuspected (1947) (screenplay)

William P. McGivern (1918-1982)
The Big Heat (1953) (writer) (Saturday Evening Post serial)
Shield for Murder (1954) (writer)
Rogue Cop (1954) (writer)
Odds Against Tomorrow (1959) (writer)

Ben Maddow (1909-1992)
Framed (1947) (writer)
Johnny Guitar (1954) (uncredited)
Kiss the Blood Off My Hands (1948) (adaptation)
Murder by Contract (1958) (uncredited)
The Asphalt Jungle (1950) (screenplay)
The Naked Jungle (1954) (screenplay) (front for Philip Yordan)

Daniel Mainwaring (as Geoffrey Homes) (1902-1977)
A Bullet for Joey (1955) (writer)
Out of the Past (1947)(novel “Build My Gallows High”)
(screenplay)
Roadbloack (1951) (story)
The Big Steal (1949) (screenplay)
They Made Me a Killer (1946) (screenplay)
The Phenix City Story (1955) (writer)

Richard Murphy (1912-1993)
Boomerang! (1947) (screenplay)
Cry of the City (1948) (screenplay)
Panic in the Streets (1950) (screenplay)

Clifford Odets (1906-1963)
Clash by Night (1952) (play)
Deadline at Dawn (1946)(screenplay)
Sweet Smell of Success (1957) (screenplay)

John Patrick (1905-1995)
Framed (story)
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946) (story “Love Lies Bleeding”) (as Jack
Patrick)
Second Chance (1947) (story)

John Paxton (1911-1985)
Cornered (1945) (screenplay)
Crossfire (1947) (writer)
Crack-Up (1946) (writer)
Murder, My Sweet (1944) (screenplay) aka Farewell My Lovely (UK)

Abraham Polonsky (1910-1999)
Body and Soul (1947) (writer)
Force of Evil (1948) (screenplay)
Madigan (1968) (screenplay)
Odds Against Tomorrow (1959) (screenplay) (front John O. Killens)

Allen Rivkin (1903-1990)
Dead Reckoning (1947) (adaptation)
Tension (1949) (story and screenplay)
The Strip (1951) (writer)

Dalton Trumbo (1905-1976)
The Boss (1956)
The Brothers Rico (1957)
The Gangster (1947)
Gun Crazy (1950)
He Ran All the Way (1951)
The Prowler (1951)

Orson Welles (1915-1985)
Citizen Kane (1941) (screenplay)
Journey Into Fear (1943) (uncredited)
Mr. Arkadin (1955) (screenplay) (story)
The Lady from Shanghai (1947) (screenplay)
The Stranger (1946) (uncredited)
The Third Man (1949) (uncredited)
Touch of Evil (1958) (screenplay)

Crane Wilbur (1886-1973)
Crime Wave (1954) (writer)
He Walked by Night (1948) (screenplay) (story)
I Was a Communist for the FBI (1951) (writer)
The Amazing Mr. X (1948) (story)
The Phenix City Story (1955) (writer)
Women’s Prison (1955) (writer)

Billy Wilder (1906-2002)
Ace in the Hole (aka The Big Carnival)) (1951) (writer)
Double Indemnity (1944) (screenplay)
Sunset Blvd. (1950) (writer)
The Lost Weekend (1945) (screenplay)
Witness for the Prosecution (1957) (screenplay)

Cornell Woolrich (1903–1968)
Street of Chance (1942) (writer) (novel “The Black Curtain”)
The Mark of the Whistler (1944) (writer) (story “Dormant Account”)
The Leopard Man (1943) (writer) (novel “Black Alibi”)
Phantom Lady (1944) (writer)
Deadline at Dawn (1946) (writer)
Black Angel (1946) (writer)
The Chase (1946) (writer) (novel “The Black Path of Fear”)
Fall Guy (1947) (writer) (story “C-Jag”)
Fear in the Night (1947) (writer) (story “And So to Death” (aka “Nightmare”))
The Guilty (1947) (writer) (story “He Looked Like Murder”)
I Wouldn’t Be in Your Shoes (1948) (writer)
Night Has a Thousand Eyes (1948) (writer)
The Window (1949) (writer) (story “The Boy Cried Murder”)
Convicted (1950) (writer) (novel “Face Work”)
No Man of Her Own (1950) (writer) (novel “I Married a Dead Man”)
Nightmare (1956) (writer) (story “And So to Death” (aka “Nightmare”))
The Bride Wore Black (France 1968) (writer)

Gertrude Walker (1902-1995)
Railroaded! (1947) (story)
The Damned Don’t Cry (1950) (story “Case History”)

Philip Yordan (1914-2003)
Detective Story (1951) (writer)
Dillinger (1945) (screenplay)
Edge of Doom (1950) (writer)
Johnny Guitar (1954) (screenplay)
The Naked Jungle (1954) Reign of Terror (1949) (story and screenplay)
Suspense (1946) (screenplay) (story)
The Big Combo (1955) (writer)

George Zuckerman (1916-1996)
99 River Street (1953) (story)
Border Incident (1949)(story)
The Tattered Dress (1957) (writer)
Trapped (1949) (story) (screenplay)
Under the Gun (1951) (writer)
The Chase (1946) (writer)
The Harder They Fall (1956) (screenplay)
Whistle Stop (1946) (screenplay)