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Films with the genre "Noir", sorted by rating
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Dark Passage (1947)
, 1h46Directed by Delmer Daves
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Noir, Crime, Romance
Actors Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Agnes Moorehead, Bruce Bennett, Clifton Young, Douglas Kennedy
Vincent Parry, a man convicted of killing his wife, escapes from San Quentin prison by stowing away in a supply truck. He evades police and hitches a ride with a passing motorist named Baker. Parry's odd clothes and a news report on the radio about an escaped convict make Baker suspicious. When questioned, Parry beats him unconscious. Irene Jansen, who had been painting nearby, picks up Parry and smuggles him past a police roadblock into San Francisco, offering him shelter in her apartment.
The Letter (1940)
, 1h35Directed by William Wyler
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Noir, Crime, Romance
Themes Films based on plays
Actors Bette Davis, Herbert Marshall, James Stephenson, Gale Sondergaard, Cecil Kellaway, Bruce Lester
On a moonlit, tropical night, the native workers are asleep in their outdoor barracks. A shot is heard; the door of a house opens and a man stumbles out of it, followed by a woman who calmly shoots him several more times, the last few while standing over his body. The woman is Leslie Crosbie (Bette Davis), the wife of a British rubber plantation manager in Malaya; the man whom she shot her manservant recognizes as Geoff Hammond, a well-regarded member of the European community. Leslie tells the servant to send for her husband Robert (Herbert Marshall), who is working at one of the plantations. Her husband returns, having summoned his attorney and a British police inspector. Leslie tells them that Geoff Hammond "tried to make love to me" and that she killed him to save her honor.
Murder, My Sweet (1945)
, 1h35Directed by Edward Dmytryk
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Noir, Crime
Actors Dick Powell, Claire Trevor, Anne Shirley, Otto Kruger, Mike Mazurki, Douglas Walton
Temporarily blinded with his eyes bandaged, private detective Philip Marlowe (Dick Powell) is being interrogated by police lieutenant Randall (Don Douglas) about two murders.
Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
, 1h46Directed by Robert Aldrich
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Noir, Crime
Themes Politique, Political films
Actors Ralph Meeker, Maxine Cooper Gomberg, Albert Dekker, Paul Stewart, Juano Hernández, Cloris Leachman
Ralph Meeker plays Mike Hammer, a tough Los Angeles private eye who is almost as brutal and corrupt as the crooks he chases. Mike and his assistant/secretary/lover, Velda (Maxine Cooper), usually work on "penny-ante divorce cases."
The Naked City (1948)
, 1h36Directed by Jules Dassin
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Documentary, Noir, Crime
Actors Barry Fitzgerald, Howard Duff, Don Taylor, Ted de Corsia, David Opatoshu, James Gregory
In the late hours of a hot New York summer night, a pair of men subdue and kill Jean Dexter, an ex-model, by knocking her out with chloroform and drowning her in her bathtub. When one of the murderers, conscience-stricken, gets drunk, the other kills him, then lifts his body into the air and throws it into the East River.
Baby Face (1933)
, 1h11Directed by Alfred E. Green
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Noir, Romance
Actors Barbara Stanwyck, George Brent, Donald Cook, Henry Kolker, Margaret Lindsay, Alphonse Ethier
Lily Powers (Barbara Stanwyck) works for her father in a speakeasy during Prohibition in Erie, Pennsylvania. Her life is miserable; since the age of 14, her father (Robert Barrat) has had her sleep with many of his customers. The only man she trusts, a cobbler who admires Friedrich Nietzsche, is upset with her lack of ambition and counsels her to try for greater things. When Lily's father is killed when his still explodes, she sheds no tears for him. She visits the cobbler, who tells her to make for the city and use her charms to her advantage. She and her African American co-worker/friend Chico (Theresa Harris) hop on a freight train out of town but are discovered by a railroad worker who threatens to have them thrown in jail. She says, "Wait ... can't we talk this over?" It is strongly implied that she has sex with him during a filmmaking fadeout to get him to change his mind.
Sudden Fear (1952)
, 1h50Directed by David Miller
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Noir
Actors Jack Palance, Joan Crawford, Gloria Grahame, Mike Connors, Virginia Huston, Bruce Bennett
Myra Hudson (Crawford) is a successful Broadway playwright who rejects Lester Blaine (Palance) as the lead in her new play. Later, she meets Lester on a train bound for San Francisco, is swept off her feet, and, after a brief courtship, marries him.
Thieves' Highway (1949)
, 1h34Directed by Jules Dassin
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Noir, Crime
Themes Transport films, Films about the labor movement, Trucker films, Road movies, Children's films
Actors Richard Conte, Valentina Cortese, Lee J. Cobb, Barbara Lawrence, Jack Oakie, Millard Mitchell
A war-veteran-turned-truck driver Nico "Nick" Garcos (Richard Conte) arrives at home to find that his foreign-born father, a fruit farmer, has lost his legs and was forced to sell his truck. He learns that his father was crippled at the hands of an unscrupulous produce dealer in San Francisco, Mike Figlia (Lee J. Cobb). Garcos vows revenge.
High Sierra (1941)
, 1h40Directed by Raoul Walsh
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Comedy, Action, Adventure, Noir, Crime, Romance
Themes Heist films, Gangster films, Escroquerie
Actors Ida Lupino, Humphrey Bogart, Alan Curtis, John Arthur Kennedy, Cornel Wilde, Henry Travers
An aged gangster, Big Mac (Donald MacBride), is planning a robbery at a California resort in Palm Springs. He wants the experienced Roy Earle (Humphrey Bogart), just released from an eastern prison by a governor's pardon, to lead the heist and to take charge of the operation.
The Desperate Hours (1955)
, 1h48Directed by William Wyler, Charles C. Coleman, John Waters, Hilton A. Green
Genres Drama, Thriller, Action, Noir, Crime
Themes Films based on plays
Actors Humphrey Bogart, Fredric March, John Arthur Kennedy, Martha Scott, Dewey Martin, Gig Young
Glenn Griffin (Humphrey Bogart) is the leader of a trio of escaped convicts who invade the Hilliard family's suburban home in Indianapolis and hold four members of the family hostage. There they await the arrival of a package from Griffin's girlfriend, that contains funds to aid the three fugitives in their escape.
An Inspector Calls (1954)
, 1h20Directed by Guy Hamilton
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Drama, Thriller, Noir, Crime, Romance
Themes Théâtre, Films based on plays
Actors Alastair Sim, Jane Wenham, Brian Worth, Olga Lindo, Arthur Young, Bryan Forbes
Set in 1912, a dinner party held by the upper class Birling family is interrupted by a man calling himself Inspector Poole, investigating the suicide of a lower class girl Eva Smith whose death is linked to each family member.
The Breaking Point (1950)
, 1h37Directed by Michael Curtiz
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Noir, Crime, Politic
Themes Seafaring films, Transport films
Actors John Garfield, Patricia Neal, Juano Hernández, Phyllis Thaxter, Wallace Ford, Victor Sen Yung
Harry Morgan (John Garfield), is a sport-fishing boat captain whose business is on the skids and whose family is feeling the economic pinch. He begins to work with a shady lawyer, Duncan (Wallace Ford), who persuades him to run illegal immigrants into California. Harry also begins a flirtation with Leona Charles (Patricia Neal). When his plan with Duncan goes wrong, Harry comes even more under the influence of the lawyer, who blackmails him into helping the escape of a gang of crooks, who pull a racetrack heist, by using his fishing boat to get away from authorities. Harry convinces himself that his illegal activities will financially help his family. His wife, Lucy (Phyllis Thaxter), suspects Harry is breaking the law and urges him to stop for the sake of the family. Harry refuses and walks out. As Harry waits for Duncan and the crooks on his boat, Harry's partner, Wesley Park (Juano Hernandez), arrives. Not wanting Wesley around when the crooks arrive, Harry tries to send him on an errand. The crooks arrive before Wesley leaves, and kill him. Harry is horrified, but is forced at gunpoint to transport the crooks out to open sea without drawing the attention of the Coast Guard. Harry also learns that Duncan was killed during the escape from the heist. Wesley's body is dumped overboard along with Harry's only firearm. Harry uses a ploy to access a gun and kills all the crooks in a dramatic shoot out. Harry, however, is critically wounded. Authorities find his boat the next day and tow it to port. Lucy rushes to Harry's side and tries to convince Harry to allow his arm to be amputated to save his life. Harry reaffirms his love for Lucy and is taken to the hospital. In the final scene, Wesley's son, who was briefly introduced earlier in the film, stands alone on the dock looking around for his father.
Act of Violence (1949)
, 1h22Directed by Fred Zinnemann, John Sturges
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Noir, Crime
Actors Van Heflin, Robert Ryan, Janet Leigh, Bruce Bennett, Volkert Kraeft, Elsa Lanchester
Frank Enley (Van Heflin), returns home from World War II after surviving a German POW camp where the rest of his comrades had been murdered by guards during an escape attempt. The "war hero" is respected and praised for his fine character and good works in the California town of Santa Lisa, where he, his young wife and baby had settled after moving from the East. What his wife doesn't know is that Frank relocated them to get away from Joe Parkson (Robert Ryan), once his best friend, who also lived through the ordeal, though he was left with a crippled leg. In exchange for food, Frank had alerted the Nazi camp commander to their escape plans, thinking wrongly that the men would not be punished, and Joe is now determined finally to exact justice on Frank, whose location he has learned from a newspaper story commending him for his civic endeavors.
Deadlier Than the Male (1956)
, 1h53Directed by Julien Duvivier
Origin France
Genres Drama, Thriller, Noir
Actors Jean Gabin, Danièle Delorme, Gérard Blain, Lucienne Bogaert, Gabrielle Fontan, Germaine Kerjean
In Les Halles, in the heart of Paris, the restaurateur André Chatelin (Jean Gabin), leads an uneventful life until the arrival from Marseille of Catherine (Danièle Delorme), the daughter of his ex-wife Gabrielle (Lucienne Bogaert). She tells him her mother is dead and that she is without resources. Chatelin welcomes her under his roof - then marries her. Gérard (Gérard Blain), a young student that Chatelin looks upon as a son, becomes Catherine's lover, and she sets him at odds with Chatelin. She asks him to kill the restaurateur. He refuses. She kills him. Having discovered that Gabrielle is still alive, declined and drug addicted, Chatelin realises the darkness of Catherine's soul who has always lied to him.
Thief (1981)
, 2h2Directed by Michael Mann
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Action, Noir, Crime
Themes Mafia films, L'Outfit de Chicago, Heist films, Gangster films, Escroquerie
Actors James Caan, Tuesday Weld, Robert Prosky, James Belushi, Willie Nelson, Dennis Farina
Frank (James Caan) is a highly experienced jewel thief and hardened ex-convict who has a set structure to his life. With a pair of successful Chicago businesses (a bar and a car dealership) as fronts for his lucrative criminal enterprise, Frank sets out to fulfill the missing part of his life vision: a family beginning with Jessie (Tuesday Weld), a pretty cashier he has begun dating.