Film Noir

[Wemick]

Any Film Noir fans? I've been getting a hankering for watching them, but know little about them. Can you offer some recommendations to get me started? Thanks.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

There's an OTA TV network called MOVIES! that runs films noir twice a week, Sunday and Thursday evenings. Here's a link: https://moviestvnetwork.com/schedule/

Most of them were B movies in their day ... but I see the Thursday night schedule has "Possessed" with Joan Crawford and Van Heflin. A little convoluted, but the cast is great.

 

[marko]

Here's a Wikipedia list of the old ones: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_film_noir_titles

More recently produced ones I loved: Mulholland Drive, Chinatown, LA Confidential, Body Heat, Fargo, Wild Things. Generally known as 'neo-noir' films.

Blade Runner is also on my list but it's a bit different from the above.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

One of my absolute favorite film noir flicks is "DOA" starring Edmond O'Brien and a youthful Neville Brand. "Double Indemnity" is also a classic with Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwick and Edward G. Robinson. The basic themes are the epitome of film noir plots: An average guy gets drawn into a downward spiral of personal destruction and murder while going about his daily life.

 

[Wemick]

Thank you, gentlemen. I will have to look into these. I don't have a TV and don't subscribe to a movie service like "Netflix". This is unusual, I know, but will have to inquire about a service that works on demand. They won't make much money, I'm afraid.

Mr. Graybeard, spiraling into personal destruction sounds like it is right up my alley. Were the characters corrupt before they started the spiral or were they corrupted?

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

Thank you, gentlemen. I will have to look into these. I don't have a TV and don't subscribe to a movie service like "Netflix". This is unusual, I know, but will have to inquire about a service that works on demand. They won't make much money, I'm afraid.

Mr. Graybeard, spiraling into personal destruction sounds like it is right up my alley. Were the characters corrupt before they started the spiral or were they corrupted?

In the case of MacMurray in "Double Indemnity," he's an insurance salesman who sells a life policy to the wife of femme fatale Stanwick, who recruits Fred to help knock off Barbara's now-insured spouse, making it look like an accident so they can claim the double payout. In the case of "DOA," O'Brien is a notary public who puts his stamp on a shady bill of sale and is dosed with a slow-acting poison as a result. He spends most of the movie trying to track down his killer.

 

[Nemo2]

Does Pulp Fiction qualify?

 

[Steeler75]

+1 for Double Indemnity-fantastic!

The Big Sleep with Humphrey Bogart is also high on my list of noir movies. Public Enemy with James Cagney too.

 

[Wemick]

The only neo-noir movie I saw was Sin City, if that qualifies.

For B-rated flicks, the film noir boasts some big names, both actors and directors. They must have been popular given that so many were made.

 

[Nemo2]

The Big Sleep with Humphrey Bogart is also high on my list of noir movies. Public Enemy with James Cagney too.

And Key Largo with Bogie.

Also White Heat with Cagney.

 

[MichaelB]

Just curious, but how do you plan on watching if you don't have a tv?

 

[Nemo2]

Just curious, but how do you plan on watching if you don't have a tv?

Osmosis?

 

[Sunset]

Thank you, gentlemen. I will have to look into these. I don't have a TV and don't subscribe to a movie service like "Netflix". This is unusual, I know, but will have to inquire about a service that works on demand. They won't make much money, I'm afraid.

...

OK, so I'm curious.
I can picture you using a computer (netflix works on that very well).
You can try netflix for free for 1 month (they usually have a free month offer).

 

[Wemick]

ESP, but really, the computer video monitor.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

Here's "DOA," free on YouTube.

 

[T-Minus]

While technically not “film noir”, (and not shown in the Wikipedia link above)The Wages of Fear (http://sensesofcinema.com/2011/cteq/the-wages-of-fear/) is closely related, unexpectedly powerful and hauntingly memorable. Strongly recommended.

 

[Nemo2]

While technically not “film noir”, (and not shown in the Wikipedia link above)The Wages of Fear (The Wages of Fear • Senses of Cinema) is closely related and hauntingly memorable. Strongly recommended.

+1 Saw it as a young guy...Yves Montand was great!

 

[marko]

Does Pulp Fiction qualify?

Absolutely! Forgot that one!

 

[audreyh1]

The Good Sheppard - 2006

 

[FrankiesGirl]

The Maltese Falcon of course.


Sunset Boulevard (one of my personal favorites)


Hitchcock's contributions: Shadow of a Doubt 1943, Notorious (1946), Strangers on a Train (1951), The Wrong Man (1956).


It is absolutely amazing seeing them on the big screen. Fathom events tends to do 1-2 day showings of classic films in most medium/larger cities. I can't even tell you how wonderful it was watching Casablanca in a darkened theater with a crowd of enraptured watchers. The subtle bon mots you notice but may not react to are quite different in mass as the laughs or gasps of surprise roll through the theater. Unfortunately there's no awesome noir films so far scheduled this year, but might want to check this out every once in a while: www.fathomevents.com


I've seen Casablanca, Frankenstein/Bride of Frankenstein, Dracula (1931) & the Spanish version filmed at night using the same props but completely different actors and much more lively (heh) script, Singin' In The Rain, and many others in the theater and it was wonderful.

 

[Nemo2]

Frankenstein/Bride of Frankenstein

Can't forget Nosferatu!

 

[audreyh1]

Notorious - Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman. Watched it about a year ago when it was mentioned in a book I was reading.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

Nice films, folks, but not really true film noir if the movie ends happily or with an overall positive resolution.

Hitchcock often used noir techniques in his direction, but his films usually wrap up pretty neatly. "Rear Window" for instance has a very noir beginning with Jimmy Stewart spying on his neighbors, but in the end the villain is vanquished and Jimmy is OK, albeit slightly worse for wear. "The Birds" is about the only Hitchcock film that approaches a noir conclusion IMO, because who knows what those wacky birds are going to do next.

I'd say the one telling feature of noir cinema is that the viewer should feel slightly unsettled when the movie is over.

The movie "Possessed" is an example of film noir. Like "DOA" it's told in a flashback style. The "average guy" hero, Van Heflin, ends up getting shot and the anti-heroine, Joan Crawford ends up insane and institutionalized.

"Sunset Boulevard" is another film noir classic with a similar plot. Hero William Holden is dead, Gloria Swanson is ready for the close-up that exists only in her deranged mind, and Erich von Stroheim looms silently in the background.

 

[MichaelB]

ESP, but really, the computer video monitor.

Ok, thanks.

+1@ Sin City, although I’m not sure it will show well on a smaller screen. Many scenes are quite dark.

A more recent example of Film Noir would be “The Last Seduction” with Linda Florentino. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110308/

 

[Wemick]

I have been able to find a lot of the film noir genre on youtube. One even has greek subtitles. I should have paid more attention in my language classes!