blessthemess

Gimme your Top 5 Noir films on dvd that defines the genre....

Tyler_Durden

Rififi
Out Of The Past
The Big Sleep
Kiss Me Deadly

I can't really decide what the fifth entry should be (I haven't seen nearly enough film noirs)... maybe The Maltese Falcon or The Killers (1946) or even Blade Runner.

Stormbull

There are so many good Noirs, but I think the below are pretty good examples of the genre.

Out of the Past*
Maltese Falcon
Detour
Double Indemnity
Sunset Boulevard

*not on DVD

Johnny Zhivago

http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showthr...hreadid=260301

Mazinger

The Killers
The Maltese Falcon
The Big Combo
Double Indemnity
The Big Sleep

markdclark43016

DOUBLE INDEMNITY
THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE (original version, of course)
RAW DEAL
THE HITCH-HIKER
KISS ME DEADLY

Inverse

DOA (the original)
Maltese Falcon
The Killers (original)
This Gun For Hire
Crossfire

EDIT: Crossfire and This Gun For Hire aren't on DVD yet - though they're out on VHS. (That'll teach me to actually read the results of my Google searches and not just skim 'em!)

Mazinger

This Gun for Hire.

Is this on DVD? It's one I've been waiting to get.

Caliking

rififi!

one of my all time favorite movies. the silent intensity is awesome!

Pants

In a Lonely Place
The Killers (I really like the '64 version)

ToddSm66

1. The Third Man
2. Touch of Evil
3. Sweet Smell of Success
4. Sunset Blvd.
5. Double Indemnity

markdclark43016

I could do a separate five for Bogart noir alone...

THE MALTESE FALCON
IN A LONELY PLACE
THE BIG SLEEP
KEY LARGO
DEAD RECKONING

.... also, since nobody has mentioned it yet, try Welles' THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI!

Gamblor187

Thanks for the plug for my little labor of love.

Top 5??? Sorry. I can't limit myself like that. Nor can I just limit myself to films available on DVD.

I am slowly building up material for a film noir web site that I hope to get going by the end of the year. (And, yes, when the site is finally up, I will devote a section to foreign films, so get off my back!) This is my top 30 at the moment. (It should be noted that this is a work in progress, and the final list will include my top 50. This should explain why great films such as "DOA", "The Third Man", and "Night Of The Hunter" aren't on my list. I just haven't determined where to put them in, yet.)

* = not available on R1 DVD

1.) Sweet Smell Of Success
2.) Double Indeminity (OOP on DVD)
3.) The Maltese Falcon
4.) The Killers (1946, of course)
5.) Criss Cross*
6.) The Big Carnival (aka "Ace In The Hole)*
7.) Out Of The Past*
8.) I Walk Alone*
9.) Touch Of Evil
10.) In A Lonely Place
11.) Force Of Evil*
12.) The Big Combo
13.) The Big Sleep
14.) The Big Heat
15.) Gun Crazy*
16.) The Glass Key*
17.) Sorry, Wrong Number
18.) This Gun For Hire*
19.) Laura*
20.) Key Largo
21.) Cry Of The City*
22.) Scarlet Street
23.) Where The Sidewalk Ends*
24.) The Lady From Shanghai
25.) The Hitch-Hiker
26.) Act Of Violence*
27.) Detective Story*
28.) The Sniper (1952)*
29.) Desperate*
30.) The Big Knife

It should be noted that many of the films not available on DVD are not available on VHS, either. (Some of them never even got a VHS release!) Thanks God for TCM and the Mystery Channel!

jim

shill66

Out of the Past is (was?) available on DVD in France.

inri222

The Killing
Journey Into Fear
The Asphalt Jungle
M
The Blue Dahlia
Murder, My Sweet
You Only Live Once
The Naked City
Fury
Gaslight
Night and the City
Kiss Me Deadly
Kiss of Death
Cry of the City
Criss Cross
The Letter
The Wrong Man
Rebecca
Shadow of a Doubt
Murder, My Sweet
The Woman in the Window
Detour
Spellbound
Notorious
The Stranger
Panic in the Streets
Diabolique
Vertigo
The Manchurian Candidate

mgoblue7

Maltese Falcon
The Big Sleep
Third Man
Riffi
Double Indemnity

I still get a kick out of showing my audio production class the looping demonstration from the Big Sleep disk. I hope it inspires some of them to watch the film.

Actually they may be in order of my preference...

HKFlix

I think Brian De Palma's new "Femme Fatale" is a surprisingly good neo-noir. That would be my addition to the above titles, which are also excellent.

caiman

Did you copyright the word "Quintessential"?

Phuzbox

Hokeyboy

It's not so unusual. I just copyrighted "groiny."

Buck Turgidson

Gamblor's list is pretty damned definitive for me. I wonder if someone would like to undertake a similar effort to list some neo-noir type films, since he (correctly) draws such a distinction between them, And maybe a secondary "near-noir" list for films like Leave Her To Heaven, which plays like a James M Cain story Directed by Douglas Sirk. Dark hearts in pretty color

Some obvious neos would be Chinatown, L.A. Confidential, Devil in a Blue Dress and Body Heat. Some less obvious ones would be stuff like Harper, Drowning Pool and Brown's Requiem.

Just a thought...

inri222

Klute
The Long Goodbye
Chinatown
The Conversation
Farewell, My Lovely
Night Moves
The Late Show
Body Heat
The Postman Always Rings Twice
Blade Runner
Against All Odds
Blood Simple
Blue Velvet
Black Widow
After Dark, My Sweet
The Grifters
The Hot Spot
Wild at Heart
Dead Again
Red Rock West
The Last Seduction
Se7en
The Usual Suspects
Bound
Johnny Handsome
L.A. Confidential
Dark City
Memento
The Man Who Wasn't There
Mulholland Dr.

Buck Turgidson

That's an excellent start. I think I would add Heat, Thief and Mulholland Falls

Mazinger

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I wonder if someone would like to undertake a similar effort to list some neo-noir type films
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Also Basic Instinct.

blessthemess

Heh heh.... that'll be..... Quintessential© 2003.