While many entries into the film noir genre may feel simply like a product of a bygone era in Hollywood’s history when watched today, others deserve to be classified as timeless classics. Even though several were released as far back as the days of World War II, they’re hardly outdated. Rather, this period in cinema produced many of the greatest movies ever made.
Being among such great company is a remarkable achievement, all things considered. One of the reasons film noir exists in the first place pertains to the severe limitations that were put on filmmakers between 1930 to 1968. Unlike the MPA system, which set up different age ratings to allow studios to make movies not suited for children, the Production Code forced all movies to abide by the same set of content rules.
Unsurprisingly, this put a massive creative leash on fillmmakers, creating all sorts of obstacles when it came to storytelling. Killing couldn’t be shown, criminals couldn’t get away with their crimes, and the American patriotism had to be promoted. But rather than allow this to be a crippling effect on their films, many directors accepted the challenge, and found ways around the Production Code to deliver the stories they wanted to tell.
The directing techniques and other methods from this time helped form the film noir genre. And because of these efforts, people can look back on movies from the likes of Humphrey Bogart, Robert Mitchum, and Burt Lancaster and appreciate them just as much – if not more – than the movies made today.
10
The Big Heat
Fritz Lang was decades ahead of his time when he took the helm of The Big Heat, an unforgettable crime thriller about a widower who takes the law into his own hands. Played by Glenn Ford, Dave Bannion is a by-the-book detective and a dutiful husband – until the day a bomb meant for him kills his wife. Pushed forward by an obsession for revenge, Bannion forsakes his job and stops at nothing to catch the criminals responsible, even if it means callously using the girlfriend of one of the killers for his own ends.
Dave Bannion’s revenge-driven crusade and Glenn Ford’s tortured performance as the character would most assuredly appeal to fans of modern-day action movies, including the John Wick franchise. But it’s important to note that the 1953 film doesn’t devolve into a simple vigilante action movie; it acknowledges Bannion’s growing penchant for violence, and doesn’t shy away from its ugly nature.
9
Shadow Of A Doubt
Albeit far from one of Alfred Hitchcock’s most famous movies, Shadow of a Doubt is certainly among his best film noir efforts. The 1943 film centers on Teresa Wright’s Charlie, a teenage girl who holds a deep level of admiration for her seemingly kind uncle, played by Joseph Cotten. But as Charlie comes to realize, her uncle may actually be a murderer.
Hitchcock demonstrates throughout Shadow of a Doubt all the reasons why the celebrated director was known as “The Master of Suspense.” But to Cotten’s credit, it wouldn’t have worked with him. There were various layers in his performance, in that he could depict his character as an uncle who enjoyed giving gifts to his niece, but did so without any sort of true warmth in his eyes. You could catch faint glimpses of his capacity for evil, which helped solidify him as a terrifying threat.
8
Gaslight
Directed by George Cukor, Gaslight is a 1944 all-time great film noir that stars Ingrid Bergman as a woman who unknowingly marries a murderer. Played by Charles Boyer, he presents himself as a loving but strict husband who forces his wife to endure a sheltered life to preserve her health, but his actions hide something considerably more sinister.
In the same year that he played the villain of Shadow of a Doubt, Joseph Cotten played the federal agent who comes to the rescue of Ingrid Bergman’s character in Gaslight.
Due to the clever machinations of her husband, she begins to question her own sanity. Gaslight’s compelling blend between film noir and what is arguably an early example of psychological horror makes it a timeless icon of cinema, a notion that’s reflected by the fact that a phrase still used today in everyday conversation – “gaslighting” – was popularized by the movie.
7
Double Indemnity
Double Indemnity stars Barbara Stanwyck as a woman who starts an affair with an insurance salesman (Fred MacMurray), who winds up becoming her co-conspirator in her plan to murder her husband and collect his life insurance money.
No single aspect of a story earns a movie the film noir label, as it’s various elements put together that make it worthy of that classification. Double Indemnity, on the other hand, is the embodiment of the genre, neatly encompassing a long list of tropes associated with film noir. It has everything, from a devious femme fatale, morally questionable main characters, dark themes, and an ending that defies the expectations of a Hollywood film.
Double Indemnity is rightfully put on a pedestal by film noir fans, and continues to be a gold standard in the 21st century that modern filmmakers can look to for inspiration.
6
The Postman Always Ring Twice
Something similar can be said of The Postman Always Rings Twice, a 1946 film noir that stars Lana Turner and Burt Lancaster. Feeling trapped in a loveless marriage, Turner’s Cora begins an affair with Frank, whom she quickly identifies as a solution to her problems. Although Frank is initially hesitant, the pair pull off the murder of Cora’s husband. Subsequently, a police investigation – coupled with their respective flaws – causes their relationship to unravel until they find themselves conspiring against each other.
The Postman Always RIngs Twice is ultimately a story driven by the sexual chemistry between the two main characters and the catastrophic consequences that stem from their toxic affair. Frank started the story as a somewhat decent person, but allowed his weakness (his love for Cora) to take him down the wrong path. Self-destructive romance has been the backbone of so many different Hollywood movies, but The Postman Always Rings Twice may be the best to ever tackle that theme.
5
The Third Man
Shadow of a Doubt and Gaslight aren’t Joseph Cotten’s only memorable contributions to film noir. The actor also starred in the 1949 British movie, The Third Man, alongside Alida Valli and Orson Welles. In The Third Man, Cotten plays a downtrodden writer who looks into the supposed death of his childhood friend and falls in love with the later’s girlfriend.
In true film noir fashion, The Third Man is unafraid to avoid the happy ending audiences may have expected – and wanted – to see for the male and female leads. Instead, the movie delivers one of the best and most realistic endings to a romance storyline, and even to this day, it still hasn’t been topped.
4
The Blue Dahlia
One of four movies to star the duo of Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake, The Blue Dahlia is a film noir with a great whodunnit plot. Ladd plays a soldier who angrily leaves his unfaithful wife after finding out that her drunken, party-going lifestyle led to the death of their son. When she turns up dead, he becomes the prime suspect. Ladd’s character then has to balance life on the run with an investigation into the people around her, who all turn out to have had motive.
Each of the characters connected to the murder in The Blue Dahlia, from the confused soldier suffering from PTSD to the self-absorbed victim herself are brought to life brilliantly and infused with so much emotion that it’s easy to imagine them existing in real life. What’s more, The Blue Dahlia weaves an excellent murder mystery as well as any recent whodunnit movie. It aptly received an Academy Award nomination for Best Screenplay, and today, the movie boasts a well-deserved 100% Rotten Tomatoes score.
3
Out Of The Past
Out of the Past stars film noir legend Robert Mitchum as Jeff Bailey, a reformed criminal trying to leave his old life behind by moving forward with his new girlfriend and running a gas station business. But his plans for his future are complicated when a large sum of stolen money brings gangsters and an old flame back into his orbit. Ultimately, he’s framed for a crime he didn’t commit.
On the surface, Out of the Past may sound like a standard 1940s film noir, but what really takes it beyond that is its ending. Not only does Jeff fail to outrun his past and die despite his best efforts to do the right thing, but the movie ends without his name being cleared. Its seemingly anticlimactic ending flies in the face of so many Hollywood standards – those that apply both to movies made then and now – that it’s bound to leave a lasting impression, regardless of when it’s seen.
2
Night Of The Hunter
Like Out of the Past, Night of the Hunter is a Robert Mitchum-led film noir, except in this movie, the actor gets a turn at playing an unapologetically evil character. Mitchum plays serial killer Harry Powell, a preacher who uses his Bible-touting persona to con his way into the life of a widow in the hopes of learning the whereabouts of money stolen by her now-deceased husband in a bank robbery.
The protagonist of Night of the Hunter is her young child, John (Billy Chapin), who becomes privy to what Harry is really after. He knows the truth, but Harry is too cunning and too smooth to make anyone else see him for who he is. Night of the Hunter uses this setup to inject terror into the lives of John and his sister.
Robert Mitchum’s performance is proof that movies don’t need special effects or scary monsters to make an incredible, suspense-filled horror film.
1
The Maltese Falcon
The most timeless film noir ever made has to be none other than The Maltese Falcon, the movie that handed filmmakers the blueprint for a film noir masterpiece. In The Maltese Falcon, Humphrey Bogart plays Sam Spade, a private detective who meets a collection of nefarious (but colorful) characters while looking into the murder of his partner.
Over the course of Spade’s investigation, The Maltese Falcon doled out an abundance of highly quoted one-liners (mostly delivered by Humphrey Bogart). Throughout the movie, Bogart brings a charm to Sam Spade that goes to show that there’s no better choice than him to play the hard-boiled detective.
This story originally appeared on Screenrant
