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TSPDT's 1,000 Noir Films

1000 films Ranked Updated 3 days ago
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Stranger on the Third Floor
Boris Ingster 1940 1h 4m 8.0

Newspaper reporter Michael Ward plunges into a nightmare of guilt, fearing that his "evidence" has sentenced the wrong man to death.

High Sierra
Raoul Walsh 1941 1h 40m 7.9

See Bogie at his best as world weary "Mad Dog Roy Earle" Given a pardon from jail he gets back into the swing of things as he robs a swanky resort.

I Wake Up Screaming
H. Bruce Humberstone 1941 1h 22m 7.3

A young promoter (Mature) is accused of the murder of Vicky Lynn (Landis), a young actress he "discovered" as a waitress while out with ex-actor Robin Ray and gossip columnist Larry Evans.

The Maltese Falcon
John Huston 1941 1h 40m 7.9

The Maltese Falcon is a mystery thriller detective film from John Huston starring Humphrey Bogart. The film is regarded as a landmark in the film-noir movement.

The Glass Key
Stuart Heisler 1942 1h 25m 7.5

When a corrupt politician Paul Madvig (Brian Donlevy) is accused of murder, his friend and right hand man Ed Beaumont (Alan Ladd) is determined to track down the real killer. Fending off amorous advances from his boss’ fiancée Janet Henry (Veronica Lake) and attacks from gangsters with nothing to lose, Beaumont’s loyalty is severely tested.

This Gun for Hire
Frank Tuttle 1942 1h 21m 8.4

When assassin Philip Raven shoots a blackmailer and his beautiful female companion dead, he is paid off in marked bills by his treasonous employer who is working with foreign spies.

Shadow of a Doubt
Alfred Hitchcock 1943 1h 47m 7.9

In sleepy Santa Rosa, restless young Charlie’s world brightens when her sophisticated Uncle Charlie arrives for a long visit. But as his behavior grows increasingly strange, she begins to suspect that her beloved uncle may be hiding a terrible secret—and that danger has quietly entered her home.

Double Indemnity
Billy Wilder 1944 1h 47m 8.5

Double Indemnity is a film noir thriller from directory Billy Wilder from 1944 in which the protagonist sets up an insurance fraud.

Laura
9.

Laura

Otto Preminger 1944 1h 28m 8.6

A police detective falls in love with the woman whose murder he's investigating.

Murder, My Sweet
Edward Dmytryk 1944 1h 35m 7.8

Detective Philip Marlowe (Dick Powell) is hired by hulking Moose Malloy (Mike Mazurki) to locate his old girlfriend that he lost track of while serving time in prison. With each lead he follows, Marlowe encounters lies, larceny, perjury, theft and a beautiful femme fatale (Claire Trevor).

Phantom Lady
Robert Siodmak 1944 1h 27m 8.0

A mystery woman is a murder suspect's only alibi for the night of his wife's death. Based on a story by noir scribe Cornell Woolrich.

The Woman in the Window
Fritz Lang 1944 1h 39m 8.0

A seductive woman gets an innocent professor mixed up in murder.

Detour
13.

Detour

Edgar G. Ulmer 1945 1h 8m 8.2

Al Roberts, a New York nightclub pianist, hitch-hikes to Hollywood to meet his girlfriend Sue. The gambler he's riding with, Charles, unexpectedly dies. Afraid the police wouldn't believe the truth, Al takes the man's identity. In a gas station, he gives a lift to Vera, a woman that knew Charles and blackmails Al with tragic consequences.

Fallen Angel
Otto Preminger 1945 1h 38m 8.3

An unemployed drifter, Eric Stanton wanders into a small California town and begins hanging around the local diner. While Eric falls for the lovely waitress Stella, he also begins romancing a quiet and well-to-do woman named June Mills. Since Stella isn't interested in Eric unless he has money, the lovelorn guy comes up with a scheme to win her ...

Leave Her to Heaven
John M. Stahl 1945 1h 50m 7.9

A socialite marries a prominent novelist, which spurs a violent, obsessive, and dangerous jealousy in her.

Mildred Pierce
Michael Curtiz 1945 1h 51m 8.4

After her cheating husband leaves her, Mildred Pierce proves she can become independent and successful, but can't win the approval of her spoiled daughter.

Scarlet Street
Fritz Lang 1945 1h 43m 8.5

A man in mid-life crisis befriends a young woman after rescuing her from an attack. She believes he is rich and her boyfriend persuades her to con him out of his fortune.

The Big Sleep
Howard Hawks 1946 1h 54m 7.7

The Big Sleep is a film noir based on the novel of the same name by Raymond Chandler. Directed by Howard Hawks and starring Humphrey Boogart and Lauren Becall.

Black Angel
Roy William Neill 1946 1h 21m 8.0

A falsely convicted man's wife, Catherine, and an alcoholic composer and pianist, Martin, team up in an attempt to clear her husband of the murder of a blonde singer, who is Martin's wife.

The Blue Dahlia
George Marshall 1946 1h 39m 6.8

This film noir stars Alan Ladd as a war veteran framed for the murder of his own wife and follows his search for the real murderer. Veronica Lake plays the sultry femme fatale who provides unexpected help.

The Dark Corner
Henry Hathaway 1946 1h 39m 8.5

Ex con turned private investigator Bradford Galt (Mark Stevens) suspects someone is following him and maybe even trying to kill him. With the assistance of his spunky secretary, Lucille Ball, he dives deep into a mystery in search of answers.

The Dark Mirror
Robert Siodmak 1946 1h 25m 8.5

De Havilland plays two roles in this entertaining psychological drama. A sister and her disturbed twin are implicated in a Hollywood murder and a police detective must figure out which one's the killer.

Gilda
23.

Gilda

Charles Vidor 1946 1h 50m 8.2

A gambler discovers an old flame while in Argentina, but she's married to his new boss.

The Killers
Robert Siodmak 1946 1h 43m 8.7

Hit men kill an unresisting victim, and investigator Reardon uncovers his past involvement with beautiful, deadly Kitty Collins.

Notorious
25.

Notorious

Alfred Hitchcock 1946 1h 43m 8.0

Released shortly after the war, this classic Hitchcock film illustrates the battle between German Nazis and American spies and the trafficking of drugs.

The Postman Always Rings Twice
Tay Garnett 1946 1h 53m 7.2

Illicit lovers plot to kill the woman's older husband.

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers
Lewis Milestone 1946 1h 55m 7.3

Three childhood friends, Martha, Walter and Sam, share a terrible secret. Over time, the ambitious Martha and the pusillanimous Walter have married. She is a cold businesswoman; he is the district attorney: a perfect combination to dominate the corrupt city of Iverstown at will. But the unexpected return of Sam, after years of absence, deeply di...

The Stranger
Orson Welles 1946 1h 35m 7.7

An investigator from the War Crimes Commission travels to Connecticut to find an infamous Nazi.

Body and Soul
Robert Rossen 1947 1h 44m 7.5

Charley Davis, against the wishes of his mother, becomes a boxer. As he becomes more successful the fighter becomes surrounded by shady characters, including an unethical promoter named Roberts, who tempt the man with a number of vices. Charley finds himself faced with increasingly difficult choices.

Born to Kill
Robert Wise 1947 1h 32m 7.0

Helen Brent (Claire Trevor) has just received a Reno divorce. That night, she discovers one of her neighbors, Laury Palmer, and a gentleman caller murdered in Palmer's home. The killer is her neighbor's other boyfriend, Sam Wilde (Lawrence Tierney), an insanely jealous man who won't abide anyone "cutting in" on him.

Brute Force
Jules Dassin 1947 1h 38m 8.2

Prison inmates revolt against a sadistic guard.

Crossfire
32.

Crossfire

Edward Dmytryk 1947 1h 26m 7.0

This unusual and worthwhile black-and-white film noir was one of the first movies to deal with issues of anti-Semitism.

Dark Passage
Delmer Daves 1947 1h 46m 8.1

Bogart is Vincent Parry, a prison escapee framed for murder who emerges from plastic surgery with a new face. Bacall is Irene Jansen, his lone ally.

Dead Reckoning
John Cromwell 1947 1h 40m 7.0

War heroes Rip Murdock and Johnny Drake are sent to Washington, D.C, to receive top honors for their service. Johnny, seemingly terrified by the publicity that awaits him, jumps off the train and later turns up dead. Suspecting foul play, Rip begins digging into his pal's past. He encounters cover-ups, threats to his own life and deadly femme fa...

Desperate
35.

Desperate

Anthony Mann 1947 1h 13m 8.0

An innocent trucker takes it on the lam when he's accused of robbery.

Kiss of Death
Henry Hathaway 1947 1h 39m 7.7

Ex hood Nick Bianco rats on vicious killer Tommy Udo. But when at trial Udo is acquitted, Bianco is sure that Udo will be out for revenge.

The Lady from Shanghai
Orson Welles 1947 1h 27m 8.1

A romantic drifter gets caught between a corrupt tycoon and his voluptuous wife.

Lady in the Lake
Robert Montgomery 1947 1h 45m 6.4

Private eye Phillip Marlowe wants to get out of the detective racket and into crime writing. But when he's called to the office of editor Adrienne Fromsett, it's not to talk about his story ideas — she wants him to locate the missing wife of her boss, Mr. Kingsby. The assignment quickly becomes complicated when bodies start turning up.

Nightmare Alley
Edmund Goulding 1947 1h 52m 7.7

The movie follows the rise and fall of a con man — a story that begins and ends at a seedy travelling carnival. Stanton Carlisle (Tyrone Power) joins the carnival, working with "Mademoiselle Zeena" (Joan Blondell) and her alcoholic husband, Pete (Ian Keith).

Out of the Past
Jacques Tourneur 1947 1h 37m 8.4

Out of the Past is a classic later Film Noir.

Ride the Pink Horse
Robert Montgomery 1947 1h 41m 8.0

WW2 veteran Lucky Gagin arrives in a New Mexico border-town intent on revenging against mobster Frank Hugo but FBI agent Bill Retz, who also wants Hugo, tries to keep Gagin out of trouble.

T-Men
42.

T-Men

Anthony Mann 1947 1h 32m 8.0

Two T-men, U.S. Treasury agents, go undercover in Detroit, and then Los Angeles, in an attempt to break a U.S. currency counterfeiting ring.

The Big Clock
John Farrow 1948 1h 35m 7.8

George Stroud, a crime magazine's crusading editor, has to postpone a vacation with his wife - again - when a glamorous blonde is murdered and he is assigned by his publishing boss to find the killer. As the investigation proceeds to its conclusion, Stroud must try to disrupt his ordinarily brilliant investigative team as they increasingly build...

Call Northside 777
Henry Hathaway 1948 1h 51m 7.0
Cry of the City
Robert Siodmak 1948 1h 35m 7.7

Gangster Martin Rome is seriously wounded during a gun-battle where he has killed a policeman. Police Lieutenant-Detective Candella, who is an old friend of the Rome family, is trying to solve another murder where he suspects Rome may have been involved. When Rome escapes from the hospital, Candella investigates the case and has to chase Rome.

Force of Evil
Abraham Polonsky 1948 1h 19m 7.6

Lawyer Joe Morse wants to consolidate all the small-time numbers racket operators into one big powerful operation. But his elder brother Leo is one of these small-time operators who wants to stay that way, preferring not to deal with the gangsters who dominate the big-time.

He Walked by Night
Alfred L. Werker 1948 1h 19m 7.8

After killing a cop, a burglar fights to evade the police.

Hollow Triumph
Steve Sekely, Paul Henreid 1948 1h 23m 8.0

A film noir drama in which a sophisticated con man, who has just stolen from the mob, is forced to impersonate a psychiatrist who looks just like him, going so far as to cut himself on the cheek to duplicate a similar scar on the doctor. When he takes matters even further, karma arrives, forcing him to pay the debts of his double.

Key Largo
49.

Key Largo

John Huston 1948 1h 40m 7.4

A hurricane swells outside, but it's nothing compared to the storm within the hotel at Key Largo. There, sadistic mobster Johnny Rocco (Robinson) holes up -- and holds at gunpoint hotel owner Nora Temple (Bacall), her invalid father-in-law (Barrymore) and ex-GI Frank McCloud (Bogart).

The Naked City
Jules Dassin 1948 1h 36m 7.8

The Naked City portrays the police investigation that follows the murder of a young model. A veteran cop is placed in charge of the case and he sets about, with the help of other beat cops and detectives, finding the girl's killer.

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