THE DARK BEAUTY OF FILM NOIR IN 50 SHOTS
Film noir, like its protagonists, is hard to pin down. Is it a genre? A style? An attitude? A worldview?
Well, noir can’t be confined to a genre, surely. After all, the look and feel that we recognize as noir has a kind of alchemical effect, transforming and enriching films that seem to belong to established genres or categories.
On this list you’ll find so-called women’s pictures (see THE LETTER, MILDRED PIERCE, NORA PRENTISS), a horror movie (CAT PEOPLE), and a period thriller (REIGN OF TERROR). I’ve even included the Technicolor melodrama LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN, which Martin Scorsese calls “a film noir in color,” since it proves that noirish decadence can inhabit the sunniest and serenest of places. Despite their many differences, all of these films are located somewhere on the noir atlas. Watch them and behold the flexibility of noir in action.
Whatever it is exactly, noir wants to be noticed. It refuses to respect the harmonious, self-effacing style that classical Hollywood typically embraced.
Expressionistic shadows (THE LETTER, THE STRANGER ON THE THIRD FLOOR) evoke the brooding, nocturnal fears of the protagonists. Low-key lighting (OUT OF THE PAST, SUNSET BLVD., THE KILLING, and most screenshots here) adds striking contrasts to images, amping up the tension of any scene. Reflections (THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI, THE NARROW MARGIN, TOUCH OF EVIL) cram the frame with information and overwhelm the viewer with a choice of objects to look at. Characters break the fourth wall or come close (SHADOW OF A DOUBT, GUN CRAZY), aggressively invading the audience’s world.
I’ve tried to capture a diverse selection of films noirs in terms of budget, from prestigious productions with big-name stars (like MGM’s THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE and Paramount’s DOUBLE INDEMNITY) down to obscure thrillers made at “Poverty Row” studios (like PRC’s DETOUR, Monogram’s DECOY, and Republic's THE SPECTER OF THE ROSE). Yet, as the shots show, these films exemplify a kindred beauty, a dark, impossible-to-ignore splendor.
This selection also focuses on American films noirs made during the classic Hollywood era(pre-1965). That said, if the AFI can count THE THIRD MAN as an American film, then, damn it, so can I. Please don’t think of this list as anything like a definitive catalogue of films noirs. I had to eliminate a number of personal favorites (THE STRANGER, THE BLUE DAHLIA, THE DARK MIRROR) to get a sample of 50.
So, without further ado, mugs and molls, let’s go down those dark, crooked streets together.
THE LETTER (1940) Director of Photography: Tony Gaudio | Director: William Wyler
THE STRANGER ON THE THIRD FLOOR (1940) Director of Photography: Nicholas Musuraca | Director: Boris Ingster
I WAKE UP SCREAMING (1941) Director of Photography: Edward Cronjager | Director: H. Bruce Humberstone
THE MALTESE FALCON (1941) Director of Photography: Arthur Edeson | Director: John Huston
THE SHANGHAI GESTURE (1941) Director of Photography: Paul Ivano | Director: Josef von Sternberg
CAT PEOPLE (1942) Director of Photography: Nicholas Musuraca | Director: Jacques Tourneur
THIS GUN FOR HIRE (1942) Director of Photography: John F. Seitz | Director: Frank Tuttle
SHADOW OF A DOUBT (1943) Director of Photography: Joseph A. Valentine | Director: Alfred Hitchcock
DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944) Director of Photography: John F. Seitz | Director: Billy Wilder
LAURA (1944) Director of Photography: Joseph LaShelle | Director: Otto Preminger
MURDER, MY SWEET (1944) Director of Photography: Harry J. Wild | Director: Edward Dmytryk
PHANTOM LADY (1944) Director of Photography: Elwood Bredell | Director: Robert Siodmak
DETOUR (1945) Director of Photography: Benjamin H. Kline | Director: Edgar G. Ulmer
LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN (1945) Director of Photography: Leon Shamroy| Director: John M. Stahl
MILDRED PIERCE (1945) Director of Photography: Ernest Haller | Director: Michael Curtiz
SCARLET STREET (1945) Director of Photography: Milton R. Krasner | Director: Fritz Lang
THE BIG SLEEP (1946) Director of Photography: Sidney Hickox | Director: Howard Hawks
DECOY (1946) Director of Photography: L. William O’Connell | Director: Jack Bernhard
GILDA (1946) Director of Photography: Rudolph Maté | Director: Charles Vidor
THE KILLERS (1946) Director of Photography: Elwood Bredell | Director: Robert Siodmak
THE LOCKETT (1946) Director of Photography: Nicholas Musuraca | Director: John Brahm
THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE (1946) Director of Photography: Sidney Wagner | Director: Tay Garnett
SPECTER OF THE ROSE (1946) Director of Photography: Lee Garmes | Director: Ben Hecht
DARK PASSAGE (1947) Director of Photography: Sidney Hickox | Director: Delmer Daves
THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI (1947) Director of Photography: Charles Lawton Jr. | Director: Orson Welles
NIGHTMARE ALLEY (1947) Director of Photography: Lee Garmes | Director: Edmund Goulding
NORA PRENTISS (1947) Director of Photography: James Wong Howe | Director: Vincent Sherman
OUT OF THE PAST (1947) Director of Photography: Nicholas Musuraca | Director: Jacques Tourneur
THE UNSUSPECTED (1947) Director of Photography: Elwood Bredell | Director: Michael Curtiz
THE NAKED CITY (1948) Director of Photography: William H. Daniels | Director: Jules Dassin
RAW DEAL (1948) Director of Photography: John Alton | Director: Anthony Mann
CRISS CROSS (1949) Director of Photography: Franz Planer | Director: Robert Siodmak
REIGN OF TERROR (1949) Director of Photography: John Alton | Director: Anthony Mann
THE THIRD MAN (1949) Director of Photography: Robert Krasker | Director: Carol Reed
TOO LATE FOR TEARS (1949) Director of Photography: William C. Mellor | Director: Byron Haskin
THE ASPHAULT JUNGLE (1950) Director of Photography: Harold Rosson | Director: John Huston
GUN CRAZY (1950) Director of Photography: Russell Harlan | Director: Joseph H. Lewis
IN A LONELY PLACE (1950) Director of Photography: Burnett Guffey | Director: Nicholas Ray
SUNSET BLVD. (1950) Director of Photography: John F. Seitz | Director: Billy Wilder
THE PROWLER (1951) Director of Photography: Arthur C. Miller | Director: Joseph Losey
THE NARROW MARGIN (1952) Director of Photography: George E. Diskant | Director: Richard Fleischer
THE BIG HEAT (1953) Director of Photography: Charles Lang | Director: Fritz Lang
THE BLUE GARDENIA (1953) Director of Photography: Nicholas Musuraca | Director: Fritz Lang
THE HITCH-HIKER (1953) Director of Photography: Nicholas Musuraca | Director: Ida Lupino
THE BIG COMBO (1955) Director of Photography: John Alton | Director: Joseph H. Lewis
KISS ME DEADLY (1955) Director of Photography: Ernest Laszlo | Director: Robert Aldrich
THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER (1955) Director of Photography: Stanley Cortez | Director: Charles Laughton
THE KILLING (1956) Director of Photography: Lucien Ballard | Director: Stanley Kubrick
THE SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS (1957) Director of Photography: James Wong Howe | Director: Alexander Mackendrick
TOUCH OF EVIL (1958) Director of Photography: Russell Metty | Director: Orson Welles
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