Film-Noir Discussion/DVD Review Thread

[cigar joe]

CJ, can you name a black-and-white crime drama from the 40's or 50's that is not a noir?

Confidence Girl is one.

[drinkanddestroy]

Confidence Girl is one.

I've never heard of that movie (I see that it only has 36 votes on IMDB, so it must be one of those impossible-to-find movies).

It seems to me that just about every crime drama of the Noir Period (roughly '41 - '59) is labeled a "noir."
 Many of the so-called "sun baked noirs" of the 50's would just be called "crime dramas" if they were released in a later time period; they would not be called "neo noirs." eg. The Lineup (1958) and Suddenly (1954) would not be called "neo noirs" if they were made in 1980.

So basically, any crime drama of the 40's and 50's is called "noir," but later films are only called "neo noir" if it has real noir visual characteristics.

[cigar joe]

I've never heard of that movie (I see that it only has 36 votes on IMDB, so it must be one of those impossible-to-find movies).

It seems to me that just about every crime drama of the Noir Period (roughly '41 - '59) is labeled a "noir."
 Many of the so-called "sun baked noirs" of the 50's would just be called "crime dramas" if they were released in a later time period; they would not be called "neo noirs." eg. The Lineup (1958) and Suddenly (1954) would not be called "neo noirs" if they were made in 1980.

So basically, any crime drama of the 40's and 50's is called "noir," but later films are only called "neo noir" if it has real noir visual characteristics.

There are a lot of them for sure, straight police procedurals usually aren't though.

[drinkanddestroy]

There are a lot of them for sure, straight police procedurals usually aren't though.

a lot of what? you mean there are a lot of black-and-white crime dramas from the 40's & 50's that aren't called noirs?

Virtually all the ones I've seen are labeled "noir" by some outfit or another

[cigar joe]

Virtually all the ones I've seen are labeled "noir" by some outfit or another

Marketing "Noir" has a cachet.

[cigar joe]

The House On 92nd Street is another non Noir "Noir" FBI procedural on TCM as I type

[cigar joe]

New York Confidential(1955) listed as a Noir in Selby's book but its barely one. Conte is great as a mob hit man and Anne Bancroft's a knockout 7/10

[drinkanddestroy]

TCM just released "Glenn Ford: Undercover Crimes DVD" http://shop.tcm.com/detail.php?p=434142&ecid=PRF-TCM-100208&pa=PRF-TCM-100208

5 movies never-before released on dvd, at least in America. (Not all are considered noirs, but some are):


The Lady in Question (1939)

Framed (1947)

The Undercover Man (1949)

Mr. Soft Touch (1949)

Convicted (1950)

if anyone has seen these movies and could give ratings/recommendations, that would be awesome. If there are really some solid movies here and they are unavailable anywhere else, maybe I'd consider buying 'em sometime

[cigar joe]

TCM just released "Glenn Ford: Undercover Crimes DVD" http://shop.tcm.com/detail.php?p=434142&ecid=PRF-TCM-100208&pa=PRF-TCM-100208

5 movies never-before released on dvd, at least in America. (Not all are considered noirs, but some are):


The Lady in Question (1939)

Framed (1947)

The Undercover Man (1949)

Mr. Soft Touch (1949)

Convicted (1950)

if anyone has seen these movies and could give ratings/recommendations, that would be awesome. If there are really some solid movies here and they are unavailable anywhere else, maybe I'd consider buying 'em sometime

The Undercover Man (1949) http://www.fistful-of-leone.com/forums/index.php?topic=11345.msg158000#msg158000

Framed (1947) http://www.fistful-of-leone.com/forums/index.php?topic=11489.msg160668#msg160668

[drinkanddestroy]

The Letter (1940) 7.5/10

It's done well, though the plot lacks the imaginative twists and turns you'd expect for a murder/legal mystery.

The final scene was (obviously) added to the original script to please the Hays Office

I'm not sure who decided that The Maltese Falcon was the first noir; this movie was released in 1940, a year before The Maltese Falcon, and has all the visuals you'd expect from a film noir

[dave jenkins]

Essential noir title The File on Thelma Jordan coming to Blu!: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00C3ALKWM/

[drinkanddestroy]

The Letter (1940) 7.5/10

It's done well, though the plot lacks the imaginative twists and turns you'd expect for a murder/legal mystery.

The final scene was (obviously) added to the original script to please the Hays Office

I'm not sure who decided that The Maltese Falcon was the first noir; this movie was released in 1940, a year before The Maltese Falcon, and has all the visuals you'd expect from a film noir

On TCM the other day, I caught a few minutes of another 1940 movie: Stranger on the Third Floor. Definitely looks as visually noir as any movie you'll see.


I see on wikipedia, there's some brief discussion (in the second paragraph on the page) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stranger_on_the_Third_Floor with some sources RE: whether this is the first film noir

[cigar joe]

On TCM the other day, I caught a few minutes of another 1940 movie: Stranger on the Third Floor. Definitely look as visually noir as any movie you'll see.


I see on wikipedia, there's some brief discussion (in the second paragraph on the page) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stranger_on_the_Third_Floor with some sources RE: whether this is the first film noir

A lot of horror films are visually noir for that matter.

[drinkanddestroy]

but this ain't a horror film. This seems to be a noir by any definition

[dave jenkins]

Noir City comes to LA: http://www.americancinemathequecalendar.com/content/noir-city-hollywood-15th-annual-festival-of-film-noir

How odd that nothing like it comes to NYC.