Film noir standouts
A selection of my favourites
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- DirectorCarlos DieguesStarsLeonardo VillarAnecy RochaAntonio PitangaLuzia comes from the backwoods of Northeast Brazil to Rio de Janeiro, in search of her fiancé. But soon she'll find out he has turned into a dangerous criminal and is being looked after by the police.
- DirectorLeón KlimovskyStarsGraciliano BatistaMaría Esther BuschiazzoHéctor CalcañoWhen a woman goes to see an ex-boyfriend who blackmails her, she leaves behind an earring and when she returns to retrieve it, she finds that he has been murdered.
- DirectorCharles FrankStarsJean SimmonsDerrick De MarneyKatina PaxinouFollowing her father's death, a teenage British heiress goes to live with her guardian uncle--who is broke and schemes to murder her for her inheritance.
- DirectorGuy HamiltonStarsAlastair SimArthur YoungOlga LindoA wealthy family is visited by a police inspector, who questions the family about the suicide of a young working-class woman.
- DirectorPierre ChenalStarsÁngel MagañaNélida BilbaoSebastián ChiolaOn the eve of his wedding, the groom thinks he has run down a cyclist with his roadster, after he had consumed too many drinks. After postponing his marriage for a while, he and his new bride are threatened by a blackmailer.
- DirectorCompton BennettStarsJames MasonAnn ToddHerbert LomA concert pianist with amnesia fights to regain her memory.
- DirectorChano UruetaStarsDavid SilvaMartha RothArturo Martínez
- DirectorBasil DeardenStarsJack WarnerDirk BogardeJimmy HanleyThe daily routine of two London Policemen is interrupted by a killer.
- DirectorDon NapyStarsJulián BourgesPedro BuchardoMargarita CoronaThree episodes: the one of a band players, the one of a drug trafficker and the hunt of an assailant and murder.
- DirectorRobert WiseStarsRichard BasehartValentina CorteseWilliam LundiganConcentration camp survivor Victoria Kowelska finds herself involved in mystery, greed, and murder after she assumes the identity of a dead friend in order to gain passage to America.
- DirectorMichael McCarthyStarsSydney TaflerBarbara MurrayPatricia OwensLarry Gordon, well-known crime writer, is on a train journey when a scream is heard. Upon investigation, the guard had been mugged and a man murdered. Another man is arrested but the full story is yet to be discovered.
- DirectorFernando A. RiveroStarsEmilia GuiúVíctor Manuel MendozaTito JuncoDuring a long train trip, the Police has discovered jewelries in the personal bag of an actress, but she turns out to be innocent.
- DirectorEdmond T. GrévilleStarsJohn JustinBarbara LaageDonald WolfitA Frenchwoman accused of the murder of her child's father in an English court rejects her defence lawyer. At the request of a Frenchman who saved his life during the war, a family solicitor reluctantly takes on the case.
- DirectorPeter Graham ScottStarsAdrienne CorriWilliam RussellIan ColinA clerk sees his big chance to escape a humdrum existence, but his resolve is tested as many unexpected obstacles arise.
- DirectorIrving PichelStarsRobert YoungSusan HaywardJane GreerOn trial for murdering his girlfriend, philandering stockbroker Larry Ballentine takes the stand to claim his innocence and describe the actual, but improbable-sounding, sequence of events that led to her death.
- DirectorHenry HathawayStarsMarilyn MonroeJoseph CottenJean PetersAs two couples are visiting Niagara Falls, tensions between one wife and her husband reach the level of murder.
- DirectorDavid EadyStarsJohn GregsonMai ZetterlingJohn IrelandBusinessman and inventor Richard Hammond is determined to develop and market the perfect light-bulb. In a freak lab accident he is blinded and suffers a partial breakdown. His wife, partner and brother take him to his country house, but then Hammond starts to suspect all is not what it seems.
- DirectorJohn BrahmStarsLaird CregarLinda DarnellGeorge SandersA promising classical musician finds his life poisoned by a music hall dancer -- and by the strange gaps in his memory.
- DirectorWerner HerzogStarsNicolas CageEva MendesRussell M. HaeuserTerence McDonagh is a drug- and gambling-addled detective in post-Katrina New Orleans investigating the killing of five Senegalese immigrants.
- DirectorJohn FarrowStarsRay MillandAudrey TotterThomas MitchellA district attorney rises to political success and the governorship but loses his sense of morality once he starts associating with the shadowy and perhaps diabolical Nick Beal.
- DirectorAntony DarnboroughTerence FisherStarsJean SimmonsDirk BogardeDavid TomlinsonVicky Barton visits Paris with her brother Johnny, only to discover the following morning he has gone missing and the hotel staff have no recollection of his presence.
- DirectorBasil DeardenStarsBonar ColleanoSusan ShawRenée AshersonWhen their ship docks the crew disembark as usual to pick up their lives in postwar London. For one of them his petty smuggling turns more serious when he finds himself caught up with a robbery in the City.
- DirectorRafael GilStarsAmparo RivellesAntonio VilarManolo MoránMauricio is a Frenchman who arrived in Barcelona fleeing from justice. He takes refuge in a pension in Chinatown (today called Raval) and falls in love with Pilar, the niece of the owner. Soon after, a murder is committed in the neighborhood and Mauricio, whose past is dark enough, it becomes the prime suspect.
- DirectorEdgar NevilleStarsConchita MontesFosco GiachettiMaria DenisBarcelona, in the forties. Young Andrea comes to town to start college in the midst of an oppressive environment and extreme poverty. She's staying at her aunt Angustias, along with other family members. But the quarrels between them are continuous, making evident the open wounds left by the Spanish civil war.
- DirectorJosé Luis Sáenz de HerediaStarsRaf ValloneElena VarziJulio PeñaMartin, a perfume seller coincide with his former classmate and bright, Roberto, who has left her lover planted tonight. Roberto Martin accompanies her home and meets his wife Berta, which falls in love. To get it, he will devise the perfect murder.
- DirectorLadislao VajdaStarsMilúGuillermo MarínManolo Morán
- DirectorVernon SewellStarsNicole MaureyDerek BondElwyn Brook-JonesAn adulterous husband plans to kill his invalid wife. He thinks that he has the perfect alibi, but an alert detective unravels his story.
- DirectorMichel DevilleStarsIsabelle HuppertJean-Louis TrintignantSandrine KljajicMelanie enjoys flirting and having little affairs. Her husband Victor seems to bear her antics with utmost calm and nonchalance. This impression turns out to be wrong, very wrong indeed.
- DirectorRaphaël JacoulotStarsJean-Pierre DarroussinGrégory GadeboisKarim LeklouIn a small village of the South of France, life is made difficult by a sweltering heat wave and its corollary, a worrisome lack of water. Everyone is under great pressure, especially the farmers whose fields are not irrigated. Which is the reason why the residents are less and less well-disposed toward one of them, Joseph, a mentally retarded young man whose never-ending antics are becoming, in such fraught context, something of an intolerable inconvenience. The mayor tries desperately to calm things down but nothing helps...
- DirectorChristy CabanneStarsDouglas FairbanksJewel CarmenHoward GayeIn the midst of an emotional depression, a man hires a murderer to kill him. But the despair soon passes, and the man must now escape the killer he's hired to end his life.
- DirectorDaniel TinayreStarsFanny NavarroMecha OrtizTita MerelloA nurse is framed for murder by negligence. She goes to prison pregnant by her rich boss.
- DirectorCarlos Hugo ChristensenStarsNéstor ZavarceBlanca del PradoFloren DelbeneThe plot centers on Lucio Santana, a lovable prankster and class clown whose dad happens to be a detective working on the serial killings of local children. When Lucho makes friends with a girl in his class, she divulges to him that a man who lives in the woods near the park has been giving her free lollipops, and plans to take her to his candy house. But she makes Lucho vow never to tell anyone. When the girl winds up murdered, Lucho is torn between honoring his word to his slain friend, or telling his father that he knows who the man is.
- DirectorEdward L. CahnStarsDonald CookEvalyn KnappWarren HymerA federal agent goes undercover to avenge the murder of a friend but one of the gang thinks he seems familiar.
- DirectorCurtis HansonStarsKevin SpaceyRussell CroweGuy PearceAs corruption grows in 1950s Los Angeles, three policemen - one strait-laced, one brutal, and one sleazy - investigate a series of murders with their own brand of justice.
- DirectorEdgar G. UlmerStarsZachary ScottLouis HaywardDiana LynnA poor boy who saved a rich girl from drowning is adopted by her family, but he grows into a money-hungry ruthless businessman who would step on others to get to the top of the social ladder.
- DirectorGordon DouglasStarsJames CagneyBarbara PaytonHelena CarterStarting with a violent prison break, clever, ruthless Ralph Cotter corrupts everyone around him.
- DirectorOrson WellesStarsCharlton HestonOrson WellesJanet LeighA stark, perverse story of murder, kidnapping and police corruption in a Mexican border town.
- DirectorClint EastwoodStarsKevin CostnerClint EastwoodLaura DernA kidnapped boy strikes up a friendship with his captor, an escaped convict on the run from the law, while the search for him continues.
- DirectorJohn DahlStarsNicolas CageDennis HopperLara Flynn BoyleUpon arriving to a small town, a drifter is mistaken for a hitman, but when the real hitman arrives, complications ensue.
- DirectorRobert WiseStarsJohn ForsytheJoan CamdenHarold J. KennedyA small town newspaperman's investigation into a local bookie operation turns up a web of organized crime.
- DirectorMaxwell ShaneStarsPaul KellyDeForest KelleyKay ScottA man dreams he committed murder, then begins to suspect it was real.
- DirectorCharles CrichtonStarsDirk BogardeJon WhiteleyElizabeth SellarsA violent fugitive and a mistreated small boy team up to flee from authority.
- DirectorJulien DuvivierStarsViviane RomanceMichel SimonMax DalbanAfter an elderly maid is murdered, opinions are manipulated, evidence is planted, violence erupts, and panic ensues.
- DirectorFeng YuehStarsGuang BaiJuanjuan ChenZhan-Yuan Gao
- DirectorBimal RoyStarsDilip KumarVyjayanthimalaJohnny WalkerA young man takes shelter in a mansion when a landslide blocks his route to the railway station. Then, he finds the mansion familiar and soon learns about the story of his previous birth.
- DirectorBodil IpsenStarsJohannes MeyerBerthe QvistgaardAage FønssThe middle-aged manufacturer Jens Steen is on his way to his summer house by the sea to rest for a few days. All alone. At the same time, the 20-year-old Else Petersen is out on the road hitchhiking - in search of a free holiday. Jens gives Else a lift. She accompanies him to the summer house. It will be crucial moments in his life; he is immediately obsessed with Else's beauty and youth.
- DirectorRaj KhoslaStarsDev AnandMadhubalaNalini JaywantBased on A.J.Cronin's 'Beyond This Place', this movie narrates the story of an untiring crusade for justice. A young man, learning about his father's wrongful implication in a fifteen-year-old murder, vows to bring the true criminals to justice and release his innocent father from 'kaala paani' (life imprisonment), for which he enlists the help of a press reporter, a retired police inspector and an unwitting prostitute who happens to possess some key evidence.
- DirectorTeuvo TulioStarsRegina LinnanheimoOscar TengströmVille SalminenThe daughter of a lighthouse keeper runs away with a shipwrecked businessman to the city. But instead of her dreams, she finds herself selling herself in the streets, until a painter finds her as an ideal model for his next painting.
- DirectorGiuseppe De SantisStarsVivi GioiAndrea ChecchiCarla Del PoggioImmediately after the war, bandits attack a truck that is transporting newlyweds Michele and Giovanna and the accountant of an agricultural cooperative charged with bringing four million lire into office.
- DirectorJohn AltonLuis SaslavskyStarsLibertad LamarqueAngelina PaganoAgustín IrustaNina Miranda leaves after spending 20 years imprisoned for a murder that she insists she did not commit and recalls the time of her youth. He remembers the boyfriend who chose his love despite the threat of his millionaire aunts to disinherit him if he married the artist. Her brother Vividor, pressed her to continue acting but her boyfriend was strict: the theater or me, and she agrees to leave his profession. Already married, Nina thinks she is abandoned because of a misunderstanding caused by her brother and returns to the theater, where she sings the tango, La morocha, even though she knows she can provoke a scandal. There is a fight between her husband and brother during which the latter wields a revolver and she accidentally kills her husband and is doomed because they do not believe his version. Already free, when a criminal shoots his son, who ignores that it is his mother, to steal it, she interposes and receives the shot. His son holds up his arms and orders that the door of the family mansion that has always been closed be opened and there dies happy.
- DirectorAki KaurismäkiStarsJanne HyytiäinenMaria JärvenhelmiMaria HeiskanenIn Helsinki, a lonely night watchman is caught up in a series of misadventures with a femme fatale and a crooked businessman.
- DirectorJoel SchumacherStarsNicolas CageJoaquin PhoenixJames GandolfiniA private investigator is hired to discover if a "snuff film" is authentic or not.
- DirectorLuis SaslavskyStarsMaría FélixRossano BrazziVittorio GassmanAn amnesiac woman discovers her past was that of criminal.
- DirectorFrancisco Rovira BeletaStarsJorge MistralMarisa de LezaMara BerniThe handsome Andrade, the undergraduate Miguel and a street vendor called 'El Rubio' plan to steal a shipment of jewelry traveling aboard the express train of Andalusia. But to carry out the action they are forced to kill a couple of operators. The police will keep track of the three thieves, who have tried to sell that jewelry to the antiques dealer Salinas and his beautiful mistress Silvia.
- DirectorAnatoli RybakovStarsBoris BityukovMark BernesTatyana PiletskayaWhile investigating a regular traffic accident, detectives find evidence of foreign intelligence involvement.
- DirectorVáclav KrskaStarsOtýlie BenískováVáclav VoskaJaromír SpalGloomy gallery tenement house in the suburbs is crowded with people, discontent with their fate. Symbol of better life is for them a worn-out bag of old lady Sachová, and they think their uncommunicative neighbour has locked loads of money inside it. The idea that they might pay off their debts even drives an indebted traveller, poor watchmaker and an office servant to a murder attempt.
- DirectorBasil DeardenStarsNigel PatrickYvonne MitchellMichael CraigThe murder of a young woman in London exposes deep racial tensions and prejudices inherent in the area.
- DirectorMemduh ÜnStarsAyhan IsikFatma GirikNilüfer SezerBurhan works as a driver in the factory where his father works. At the same time, he is in preparation for marriage with Zehra, one of the factory workers. Zehra's older brother Hüsnü plans a robbery with Namik, the factory's accountant.
- DirectorGuilherme de Almeida PradoSara SilveiraStarsMaitê ProençaAntônio FagundesJosé LewgoyReal estate broker and former boxer enters an old cinema in the decadent downtown São Paulo and meets an intriguing and mysterious woman, very much alike the leading lady of the film. He gets involved with her and her problems and in no time is being accused of a crime.
- DirectorAndré De TothStarsMerle OberonFranchot ToneThomas MitchellA woman returns to the USA after a German U-boat sank her ship, and finds out that someone wants to kill her for her inheritance.
- DirectorHenry HathawayStarsJames StewartRichard ConteLee J. CobbChicago reporter P.J. McNeal re-opens a decade-old murder case.
- DirectorRichard TuggleClint EastwoodStarsClint EastwoodGeneviève BujoldDan HedayaNew Orleans single dad and cop Wes Block goes after a serial rapist-killer, but when he gets too close the hunter suddenly becomes the hunted.
- DirectorRafael GilStarsMaría FélixAntonio VilarMary DelgadoA woman who has walked out of an unhappy marriage is unsuccessful trying to earn herself a new living and gets mixed with a man who is a murderer and tries to incriminate her.
- DirectorCharles LaughtonStarsRobert MitchumShelley WintersLillian GishA self-proclaimed preacher marries a gullible widow whose young children are reluctant to tell him where their real dad hid the $10,000 he'd stolen in a robbery.
- DirectorJean NegulescoStarsPeter LorreSydney GreenstreetZachary ScottMystery writer Cornelius Leyden becomes intrigued after the murdered body of a vicious career criminal washes up in the Bosphorus.
- DirectorLewis MilestoneStarsBarbara StanwyckVan HeflinLizabeth ScottA man is reunited with his childhood friend and her husband who believes he knows the truth about the death of her rich aunt years earlier.
- DirectorCarol ReedStarsJames MasonRobert NewtonCyril CusackA wounded Irish nationalist leader attempts to evade police following a failed robbery in Belfast.
- DirectorHenri DecoinStarsMichel SimonJany HoltJean WallAn alcoholic doctor accidentally kills someone and manages to make the death look like an accident. The episode triggers a sense of confidence and he resolves to correct the miseries of his life.
- DirectorRoberto GavaldónStarsMaría FélixArturo de CórdovaRosario GranadosA artist model who leads the ever hapless Arturo de Córdova away from the arms of his innocent, blue-eyed wife and down, down, down into the ecstatic depths of degradation which include a stop at seedy Panamanian nightclub.
- DirectorMiguel MoraytaStarsAntonio BadúLeticia PalmaLuis BeristáinTired of working in seedy places, a stripper turns to prostitution in the streets.
- DirectorHerbert MasonStarsMichael RedgraveSally GrayPaul LukasA passerby witnesses a murder through the windows of a passing train, then tries to track down the killer.
- DirectorAllen H. MinerStarsGeorge MontgomeryDiane BrewsterTom PittmanIn a New Mexico town, two former pals from the Civil War meet again but one is the town marshal and the other is a wanted bank robber.
- DirectorMichael RitchieStarsLee MarvinGene HackmanSissy SpacekA vicious Kansas City slaughterhouse owner and his hick family are having a bloody "beef" with the Chicago crime syndicate over profits from their joint illegal operations. Top enforcer Nick Devlin is sent to straighten things out.
- DirectorMartin GabelStarsRobert CummingsSusan HaywardAgnes MooreheadA publisher insinuates himself into the mouldering mansion of the centenarian lover of a renowned but long-dead poet to find his lost love letters.
- DirectorFrank LaunderStarsDeborah KerrTrevor HowardRaymond HuntleyA young Irish woman hates England so much she becomes a spy for Germany.
- DirectorCarol ReedStarsJames MasonClaire BloomHildegard KnefIn post-WW2 Berlin, when travel to the East was still possible, the sister of a British officer from West Berlin is abducted by Communist agents and taken into the Soviet sector where her eventual rescue is arranged by a German smuggler.
- DirectorLewis GilbertStarsDirk BogardeMargaret LockwoodKay WalshEdward "Teddy" Bare is a delusional psychotic with a lust for wealth, older women and murder. Having committed what he thinks is the perfect murder of his elderly wife; Teddy sets his sights on new targets when her fortune goes elsewhere.
- DirectorGovind NihalaniStarsOm PuriSmita PatilAmrish PuriA newly appointed police rookie deals with corruption, romance, and brutality.
- DirectorPeter YatesStarsRobert MitchumPeter BoyleRichard JordanAfter his last crime has him looking at a long prison sentence for repeat offenses, a low level Boston gangster decides to snitch on his friends to avoid jail time.
- DirectorGeorge KingStarsDouglass MontgomeryHazel CourtPatricia BurkeAn ex-serviceman plans to escape his faithless wife.
- DirectorHarry HornerStarsIda LupinoRobert RyanTaylor HolmesA mentally disturbed handyman on the run, for reasons even he doesn't understand, takes a job at the house of a lonely war widow in 1918.
- DirectorMario SofficiStarsAmelia BenceCarlos CoresNelly PanizzaA young woman receives a stranger in her home who has an accident, they both get married and she inherits a fortune due to the death of her uncle. Later, she will discover that there is a connection between the events.
- DirectorRobert WiseStarsRobert MitchumBarbara Bel GeddesRobert PrestonUnemployed cowhand Jim Garry is hired by his dishonest friend Tate Riling as muscle in a dispute between homesteaders and cattleman John Lufton.
- DirectorBrian Desmond HurstStarsRalph RichardsonDiana WynyardRomney BrentA barber commits a petty theft, which leads to his becoming involved in blackmail and murder.
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsFred MacMurrayBarbara StanwyckEdward G. RobinsonA Los Angeles insurance representative lets an alluring housewife seduce him into a scheme of insurance fraud and murder that arouses the suspicion of his colleague, an insurance investigator.
- DirectorByron HaskinStarsBurt LancasterLizabeth ScottKirk DouglasFrankie Madison leaves prison expecting a share from his ex-partner. But Prohibition bootlegging didn't prepare Frankie for Big Business.
- DirectorJohn H. AuerStarsWendell CoreyEvelyn KeyesElsa LanchesterAn American woman goes to Hawaii to search for her husband, MIA since the war, but he's a fugitive from the law and involved in a private feud against his former crime syndicate partners.
- DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsHarrison FordBetty BuckleyEmmanuelle SeignerIn a hotel room in Paris, a doctor comes out of the shower and finds that his wife has disappeared. He soon finds himself caught up in a world of intrigue, espionage, gangsters, drugs and murder.
- DirectorRoy Ward BakerStarsJohn MillsJoan GreenwoodEdward ChapmanWhen the murder of a young woman happens, her next-door neighbor is under suspicion due to his previous stay in a mental hospital.
- DirectorJohn GuillerminStarsJohn MillsCharles CoburnBarbara BatesAt a local tennis club in a posh London suburb, an attractive but flirty young woman is murdered, prompting a Scotland Yard investigation.
- DirectorRobert HamerStarsJohn MillsJohn McCallumElizabeth SellarsReleased from prison after twelve years, a wrongfully convicted British man seeks revenge on the witnesses who lied at his trial.
- DirectorAnthony KimminsStarsJohn MillsPhyllis CalvertEileen MooreA British aircraft engineer accidentally kills his daughter's nasty foreign boyfriend, then tries to cover up his deed.
- DirectorJohn HustonStarsHumphrey BogartMary AstorGladys GeorgeSan Francisco private detective Sam Spade takes on a case that involves him with three eccentric criminals, a gorgeous liar and their quest for a priceless statuette, with the stakes rising after his partner is murdered.
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsHumphrey BogartLauren BacallJohn RidgelyPrivate detective Philip Marlowe is hired by a wealthy family. Before the complex case is over, he's seen murder, blackmail and what might be love.
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsWilliam HoldenGloria SwansonErich von StroheimA screenwriter develops a dangerous relationship with a faded film star determined to make a triumphant return.
- DirectorMarcel CarnéStarsJean GabinMichel SimonMichèle MorganA military deserter finds love and trouble (and a small dog) in a foggy, French port city.
- DirectorJean GrémillonStarsCharles VanelHabib BengliaGaston DuboscShades of Othello loom in this engrossing exploration of class, race, and murder set on an ocean liner. Young Dainah encounters an engineer on board who mistakes pleasantries for flirtation. When she disappears the next day, suspicion spreads not only to the engineer but also to Dainah's husband. Forward-thinking and absorbing.