# Film Noir Movie Recommendations



## SoulfulRecover (Oct 20, 2015)

I have been wanting to watch some film noir movies but have zero idea where to start. What are some must see movies?


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## limr (Oct 20, 2015)

Well, of course there's _Casablanca_ which is one of my favorites, and the other Bogey classic, _The Maltese Falcon, _but I feel even more strongly that you definitely definitely need to see _The Third Man. _Orson Wells, Joseph Cotton. It's a great story, but also just a really beautiful film.


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## SoulfulRecover (Oct 20, 2015)

Thanks! Ive seen Casablanca before and it was good. The only other one I remember, is the opening scene was the longest running single shot in film history. Other than that, I don't remember what it was though and no idea if it still holds that title


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## Derrel (Oct 20, 2015)

One of my favorite movies was made with dozens of clips from film noir original master footage. The film was made in 1982, and it is Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid...it's a sort of tongue in cheek send-up that uses some of the most famous noir scenes and actors to create its plot action. Stars Steve Martin and the lovely  Rachel Ward, this is a movie I ran in its original theatrical release, and it is one of the films I've sat through literally over one hundred screenings of, and have not grown utterly sick of. Watch it, and then begin your noir film explorations.

The costumes for Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid were done by Edith Head, in her last film job ever. She did some of the original costumes, some 35- to 40 years earlier. Talk about continuity!


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## Derrel (Oct 20, 2015)

Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid has an excellent WIkipedia entry for it, which has a nice listing of the noir and pulp detective film clips that its old-time scenes were appropriated from. Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## SoulfulRecover (Oct 20, 2015)

I think I found the one I was talking about:


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## SoulfulRecover (Oct 20, 2015)

Derrel said:


> Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid has an excellent WIkipedia entry for it, which has a nice listing of the noir and pulp detective film clips that its old-time scenes were appropriated from. Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



very cool. definitely on the watch list. Going to find it this evening


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## vintagesnaps (Oct 20, 2015)

I took an online course on film noir this summer thru TCM and Ball State continuing ed. The website page is still up, and the course was still available in a Read Only format but the host site, Canvas Network, has since started new courses. There is a pdf link lower right that shows the list of movies - I had to look, there were so many...
TCM presents Summer of Darkness

Some of the 'on the run' movies that were good were Gun Crazy and They Live by Night, with a long sequence at the beginning shot from a helicopter (drones? nothing new under the sun... lol).

I like Blue Gardenia (Raymond Burr plays a heckuva slimeball), and The Asphalt Jungle (w/a small early role for Marilyn Monroe). I like The Naked City and Kansas City Confidential, and films like While the City Sleeps, crime dramas with location footage of the city.

Kiss Me Deadly is a good later noir Mike Hammer film; into the '50s they were still shooting these low budget B movies in B&W since they were the second movie shown in theaters after the feature film. D.O.A. is good, it's told by the guy who, well, he just isn't having a good day. Some like Lady in the Lake shown from the viewpoint of the detective are good, or The Glass Key or any of the Raymond Chandler or Dashiell Hammett. You can't beat Bogie.

One I'd never seen before was 99 River Street, that has a pulp art DVD cover that has nothing much to do with the movie! The Killers with Burt Lancaster is really good - the scene in the diner had me on the edge of my seat...

I've always liked these type movies but one of my favorites now is Elevator to the Gallows, w/a soundtrack by Miles Davis who apparently improvised watching the film. I love the scene where one of the main characters is wandering along the streets of Paris as she's waiting and wondering what's happened... It was filmed using just the streetlights and light from store fronts and car headlights; supposedly the negative was quiet dense and took some work developing it but the result I think captures the mood of Paris streets at night beautifully.


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## vintagesnaps (Oct 20, 2015)

How about a trailer for a taste of some noir...

I Walk Alone - (Original Trailer)


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## SoulfulRecover (Oct 21, 2015)

Ended up watching I Walk Alone last night and it was very enjoyable! Tonight we feel obligated to watch Back to the Future II but tomorrow we will try another noir film.


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## SoulfulRecover (Oct 21, 2015)

Found a HUGE lot of films on a youtube channel: Timeless Classic Movies


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## nycphotography (Oct 21, 2015)

SoulfulRecover said:


> Thanks! Ive seen Casablanca before and it was good. The only other one I remember, is the opening scene was *the longest running single shot in film history*. Other than that, I don't remember what it was though and no idea if it still holds that title



I don't think you mean Hitchcock's "Rope" , but it's similar in that the entire movie was edited to appear in real time and as a single running take.  It used very long takes and cleverly disguised the edit cuts.


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## limr (Oct 21, 2015)

SoulfulRecover said:


> Found a HUGE lot of films on a youtube channel: Timeless Classic Movies



Oooooh, cool!

Heh - some of those look like they'd be great candidates for Mystery Science Theater 3000


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## SoulfulRecover (Oct 21, 2015)

limr said:


> SoulfulRecover said:
> 
> 
> > Found a HUGE lot of films on a youtube channel: Timeless Classic Movies
> ...



yeah im sure there are quite a few cheesy ones but hey, free classic movies!


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## The_Traveler (Oct 21, 2015)

Out of the Past  Out of the Past (1947) Robert Mitchum, Kirk Douglas Rhonda Fleming, Jane Greer - the first and best of the second wave, more sophisticated film noir.
Interesting and complex plot, great photography, great music.

The Third Man with Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli and a bunch of others.  Fantastic camera work adds to a great plot set in post-war Vienna The Third Man (1949)

Shadow of a Doubt - Jospeh Cotten Touch of Evil (1958)

The Stranger - Orson Welles, Edward G Robinson The Stranger (1946)

Touch of Evil Orson Welles Charleton Heston Janet Leigh   Shadow of a Doubt (1943)

Those 5  are just no miss (Touvh of Evil is sort of a miss but worth seeing)


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## vintagesnaps (Oct 21, 2015)

There was a link for the class for movies that are in the public domain, if I can find it I'll post it. I didn't use it because TCM had noir on Fridays over the summer, all day, all night... more than I could watch!


edit - Guess I didn't bookmark it. The Open Culture site has some but not exactly many of the best ones; probably a lot of those have been licensed so would be shown by a network and/or available on DVD. This site has some resources. Film Noir Foundation


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## terri (Oct 21, 2015)

ooo, ooo - I have to mention Body Heat, which is a kind-of remake of _Double Indemnity_.    Kathleen Turner and William Hurt - a nicely done, more modern film noir.


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## runnah (Oct 21, 2015)

The third man still holds up today.

LA confidential was a good modern noir film. If you want a super stylized noir film you could always see Sin City.


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## terri (Oct 21, 2015)

runnah said:


> The third man still holds up today.
> 
> LA confidential was a good modern noir film. If you want a super stylized noir film you could always see Sin City.


I remember LA Confidential!     Good call.


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## limr (Oct 21, 2015)

I had the chance to see _The Third Man_ in an actual movie theater a little while back, and it was even more impressive seeing it on the big screen. I've been thinking about that movie ever since this thread started. It's just so damn good! I am going to need to watch it again this weekend.

Hey Soulful, watch _The Third Man_ soon so we can all talk about it!


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## Derrel (Oct 21, 2015)

The Black Dahlia might resonate with a person in Colton's age bracket...


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## runnah (Oct 22, 2015)

A few more.

Blood Simple (Cohen bros)
Chinatown (great ending)
The Big Sleep
No Country for Old Men (kinda noir)


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## runnah (Oct 22, 2015)

As a side note it's depressing that nobody is really working in this genre anymore.


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## SoulfulRecover (Oct 22, 2015)

limr said:


> I had the chance to see _The Third Man_ in an actual movie theater a little while back, and it was even more impressive seeing it on the big screen. I've been thinking about that movie ever since this thread started. It's just so damn good! I am going to need to watch it again this weekend.
> 
> Hey Soulful, watch _The Third Man_ soon so we can all talk about it!



Tonight I have tax class right after work so I wont be free to watch it tonight unfortunately. Man I hate this job BUT I will for sure watch it.



Derrel said:


> The Black Dahlia might resonate with a person in Colton's age bracket...



Going to go find the trailer for it now! 



runnah said:


> As a side note it's depressing that nobody is really working in this genre anymore.



I completely agree! It would be a nice twist in the industry for someone to make a modern noir. If it was done right, it could be a huge success.


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## oldhippy (Oct 22, 2015)

Must mention

http://www.amazon.com/Maltese-Falcon-Humphrey-Bogart/dp/B003ZEQMH8?SubscriptionId=AKIAIH6BKLR7M6KSMDGQ&tag=aboutcom02classicfilm-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B003ZEQMH8/ref=as_at?tag=aboutcom02classicfilm-20&linkCode=as2&


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## SoulfulRecover (Oct 22, 2015)

Boss just left for the day. Time to watch a movie


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## KenC (Oct 23, 2015)

I agree with everything posted and was relieved as I read through this that someone finally mentioned The Big Sleep.  Here's a kind of offbeat one that I didn't see in here: Blade Runner.  Yeah, it's a sci-fi movie, but definitely done in that style with some great narrative over some of the scenes.  Interestingly, the Philip K. Dick novel this was based on (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?) had no hint of that atmosphere.  I don't know if it was a screenwriter or the director (Ridley Scott) who came up with that but I love it.


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## Jim Walczak (Oct 24, 2015)

While there are some very good suggestions here (including Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid and Blade Runner...love both of those!!!), I'm a little surprised that no one mentioned Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard.  Sunset Boulevard was arguably one of the definitive movies of the noir genre...it was certainly a must see when we covered noir in Film Appreciation back in college!


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## Jim Walczak (Oct 24, 2015)

KenC said:


> I agree with everything posted and was relieved as I read through this that someone finally mentioned The Big Sleep.  Here's a kind of offbeat one that I didn't see in here: Blade Runner.  Yeah, it's a sci-fi movie, but definitely done in that style with some great narrative over some of the scenes.  Interestingly, the Philip K. Dick novel this was based on (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?) had no hint of that atmosphere.  I don't know if it was a screenwriter or the director (Ridley Scott) who came up with that but I love it.




Ok, it's been years since I've seen the commentaries on that movie, however as I recall, they had REALLY struggled with the screen play for that one and I seem to remember they went through several drafts (and a few different writters) over the course of a year or two before they finally ended up where the did.  You right in that the movie really has very little to do with the book...at least beyond some suggestive metaphors (although personally I feel both stand up well).  On the other hand, it's a screenplay...they're not always intended to specifically represent the original piece they're based on.  The Will Smith version of "I Robot" for example, certainly had nothing to do with the classic Isamov novel, LOL!  Unfortunately, books don't always translate well into film and vice-versa.

The interesting thing about Blade Runner is that Harrison Ford and Ridley Scott both fought the studio over the voice overs...the very thing that gives the movie it's noir feel (in my opinion at least).  In fact I've seen the director's cut where Harrison's voice overs were removed and I felt the film came up lacking as a result.  It's one of those rare moments in film making history where I had to agree with the studios regarding the production values.


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## jaomul (Oct 25, 2015)

I originally thought Blade Runner was rubbish because of the voice over, so much so I gave up on it after about 40 minutes. Later when the directors cut came out I gave it another go and loved it. I read afterwards that neither Ridley Scott or Harrison Ford wanted the narrative in, but that it was thought by the film company that the film needed extra explaining to the audience. As a result Harrison Ford apparently admitted years later that he did the narrative in as dreary and boring a voice as he could possibly do without making it to obvious, in the hope that they would not use it.


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## Jim Walczak (Oct 25, 2015)

jaomul said:


> I originally thought Blade Runner was rubbish because of the voice over, so much so I gave up on it after about 40 minutes. Later when the directors cut came out I gave it another go and loved it. I read afterwards that neither Ridley Scott or Harrison Ford wanted the narrative in, but that it was thought by the film company that the film needed extra explaining to the audience. As a result Harrison Ford apparently admitted years later that he did the narrative in as dreary and boring a voice as he could possibly do without making it to obvious, in the hope that they would not use it.




Yea, I'm just the opposite there.  I -like- the voice over...always have.  Again I feel it gives the film that noir feel that simply doesn't exist without it.  That said, I have always been a great fan of both sci-fi AND noir, so to me it was a brilliant combination of the two.  The narrative in Blade Runner could have started out with the classic "It was a dark and stormy night..." (as apposed to "Sushi...") which would have been equally appropriate, LOL!  I also feel the narrative explains a few details that get left out of the visual telling of the story (which I suspect was the studio's view point as well).  Yea, perhaps it's a tad cliche, however I personally feel it makes the film...it's what gives the film that "Philip Marlow" 30's/40's detective feel and I really don't think the film would have ever reached the cult classic status it has today had the narrative of been excluded originally.  

Different strokes for different folks I guess.....


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## Jim Walczak (Oct 25, 2015)

Oh...oh!!!!!!  In terms of noir style narrations, when considering those contemporary "tips of the hat", lest we not forget Stanley Kubrick's cult classic, "_A Clockwork Orange_"!!!  While this is perhaps a bit arguable, I feel that Kubrick is a freakin' genius and as with my comments about Blade Runner, the noir-like voice over in A Clockwork Orange, gives the film an added dimension, in this case as it applies to the concept of an anti-hero.  A tad disturbing perhaps, it's really a brilliant piece of cinimatography.  At the very least, for someone interested or studying film noir, A Clockwork Orange certainly gives one a degree of insight as to just how influential the noir genre was as a whole.


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## The_Traveler (Oct 25, 2015)

Sunset Bld- one of the very few movies that were narrated by a corpse - American Beauty, Casino (the Joe Pesci parts), Lovely Bones, Wristcutters and Tupac Resurrection (I didn't see the latter three.)

Sunset Blvd and American Beauty are both great movies, imo. (Who can forget Gloria Swanson playing herself,  Kevin Spacey playing every man in a bad marriage who falls in love with youth and beauty and Chris Cooper in his first big, great role.)
Casino = gets old on the 5th pr 6th viewing.


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## Rick Waldroup (Oct 30, 2015)

The Killers
Hard Eight
Drunken Angel
Night of the Hunter
Old boy
Drive
White Heat


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## SoulfulRecover (Nov 2, 2015)

thank you again everyone. I have a lot of movies to catch up on!


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