71 articles
Ossessione
Ossessione (Obsession), Luchino Visconti's 1943 debut feature, is an unofficial adaptation of James M. Cain's The Postman Always Rings Twice set in the Po Valley, acknowledged as the first Italian neorealist film, censored and destroyed by Fascist authorities but preserved in a hidden negative.
Out of the Past
Out of the Past (1947) is a Jacques Tourneur film noir from RKO starring Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, and Kirk Douglas, adapted from Daniel Mainwaring's novel Build My Gallows High; a National Film Registry classic remade as Against All Odds.
Phantom Lady
Phantom Lady (1944) is a Universal film noir directed by Robert Siodmak, based on Cornell Woolrich's novel, starring Franchot Tone, Ella Raines, and Alan Curtis; Joan Harrison's first producing credit and Siodmak's first Hollywood noir.
Salón México
Salón México (1949), also known as Salon Mexico, is an Emilio Fernández cabaretera melodrama starring Marga López, with Gabriel Figueroa cinematography, an Ariel for López, and a 1996 remake with María Rojo.
Scarlet Street
Scarlet Street (1945) is Fritz Lang's film noir remake of Renoir's La Chienne, starring Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett, and Dan Duryea; first Diana Productions film, banned in New York, Atlanta, and Milwaukee, now in the US public domain.
Shock Corridor
Shock Corridor is Samuel Fuller's 1963 psychological thriller, also called Straitjacket or The Long Corridor, in which reporter Johnny Barrett feigns insanity to solve an asylum murder and wins a Pulitzer Prize at the cost of his sanity.
Shoot the Piano Player
Shoot the Piano Player (Tirez sur le pianiste) is François Truffaut's 1960 French New Wave neo-noir, adapted from David Goodis's Down There, starring Charles Aznavour as a former concert pianist in a Paris bar.
Sorry, Wrong Number
Sorry, Wrong Number is a 1948 Paramount film noir directed by Anatole Litvak, written by Lucille Fletcher from her 1943 Suspense radio play, starring Barbara Stanwyck as an invalid who overhears a murder plot, her own, by phone.
Stage Fright (1950 film)
Stage Fright (1950) is an Alfred Hitchcock Warner Bros. thriller based on Selwyn Jepson's Man Running, starring Jane Wyman, Marlene Dietrich, and Richard Todd, famous for its lying flashback and Cole Porter's "The Laziest Gal in Town."
Strangers on a Train (film)
Strangers on a Train is Alfred Hitchcock's 1951 Warner Bros. thriller based on Patricia Highsmith's novel, in which Robert Walker's Bruno murders Farley Granger's tennis-star wife after a criss-cross murder-swap pact; a National Film Registry selection noted for its suspense set pieces.
Sunset Boulevard (film)
Sunset Boulevard (Sunset Blvd.), 1950 Billy Wilder Paramount film noir starring Gloria Swanson as faded silent star Norma Desmond and William Holden as screenwriter Joe Gillis; 11 Oscar nominations, 3 wins, 1989 National Film Registry.
Sweet Smell of Success
Sweet Smell of Success (1957), Alexander Mackendrick's film noir with Burt Lancaster as columnist J.J. Hunsecker and Tony Curtis as press agent Sidney Falco, from a Lehman novelette, a 1957 flop later canonized.
The Big Clock
The Big Clock (1948) is a Paramount film noir directed by John Farrow, starring Ray Milland and Charles Laughton, adapted from Kenneth Fearing's 1946 novel about an editor hunting himself; remade as No Way Out (1987).
The Big Combo
The Big Combo is a 1955 American film noir directed by Joseph H. Lewis, starring Cornel Wilde as Lt. Leonard Diamond pursuing gangster Mr. Brown (Richard Conte), famed for John Alton's extreme low-key cinematography and a 2025 4K restoration.
The Big Sleep (1946 film)
The Big Sleep (1946 film): Howard Hawks film noir for Warner Bros. adapting Raymond Chandler's 1939 novel, starring Humphrey Bogart as Philip Marlowe and Lauren Bacall, written by Faulkner, Brackett, and Furthman, with a famous unsolved-chauffeur plot and a 1945 pre-release cut.
The Fallen Idol
The Fallen Idol (1948) is a British thriller directed by Carol Reed, scripted by Graham Greene from his story "The Basement Room", starring Ralph Richardson and child actor Bobby Henrey; it won the BAFTA for Best British Film and Oscar nominations for direction and screenplay.
The Friends of Eddie Coyle
The Friends of Eddie Coyle: 1973 Paramount crime drama directed by Peter Yates, starring Robert Mitchum as a Boston gunrunner turned informant; adapted from George V. Higgins's 1972 debut novel, foundational to later Boston crime films.
The Glass Key
The Glass Key (1942) is a Paramount film noir directed by Stuart Heisler, starring Brian Donlevy, Alan Ladd, and Veronica Lake, adapted from Dashiell Hammett's 1930 novel; second adaptation after the 1935 George Raft version.
The Hitch-Hiker (1953 film)
The Hitch-Hiker (1953) is a 71-minute American film noir directed by Ida Lupino, generally considered the first noir directed by a woman, starring Edmond O'Brien, Frank Lovejoy, and William Talman, based on the Billy Cook murder spree and added to the National Film Registry in 2000.
The Killers (1946 film)
The Killers (1946 film), Robert Siodmak's Universal film noir adapted from Hemingway's 1927 short story, produced by Mark Hellinger; Burt Lancaster's debut as the Swede, Ava Gardner's breakthrough, eleven flashbacks, nicknamed the Citizen Kane of noir.
The Kneeling Goddess
The Kneeling Goddess (La diosa arrodillada) is a 1947 Mexican film noir melodrama by Roberto Gavaldón starring María Félix and Arturo de Córdova, about a marble statue of a mistress that triggers blackmail, a suspicious death, and suicide.
The Letter (1940 film)
The Letter (1940) is William Wyler's Warner Bros. drama starring Bette Davis as Leslie Crosbie, a planter's wife who kills her lover; seven Oscar nominations, Maugham adaptation, PCA-forced ending change.
The Lineup
The Lineup (1958) is a Don Siegel film noir, spun off from the CBS TV series, starring Eli Wallach as killer Dancer recovering heroin hidden in travelers' luggage in San Francisco.
The Lost Weekend
The Lost Weekend is a 1945 American black-and-white drama directed by Billy Wilder, adapted from Charles R. Jackson's 1944 novel; it won four Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
The Man with the Golden Arm
The Man with the Golden Arm, Otto Preminger's 1955 drama starring Frank Sinatra as recovering heroin addict Frankie Machine, adapted from Nelson Algren's novel; released without a Production Code seal, it prompted the 1956 amendment of the Code's drug statute.
The Naked City
The Naked City (1948) is Jules Dassin's police procedural, produced and narrated by Mark Hellinger, shot on 107 New York locations from Weegee's 1945 photo book, winner of two Academy Awards and template for the TV series Naked City.
The Naked Kiss
The Naked Kiss (1964) is Samuel Fuller's black-and-white neo-noir melodrama, written, produced, and directed by Fuller, starring Constance Towers as ex-prostitute Kelly, with Anthony Eisley and Michael Dante; made for Allied Artists, famous for its subjective-camera opening beating.
The Night of the Following Day
The Night of the Following Day is a 1969 neo-noir kidnapping thriller directed by Hubert Cornfield, starring Marlon Brando, Richard Boone, and Rita Moreno, adapted from Lionel White's novel The Snatchers, filmed in France, released by Universal in 1969.
The Night of the Hunter (film)
The Night of the Hunter (1955) is Charles Laughton's only film as director, a black-and-white Southern Gothic thriller starring Robert Mitchum as preacher Harry Powell, adapted from Davis Grubb's novel, a 1955 box-office failure now ranked in the Sight and Sound 2022 poll.
The Paradine Case
The Paradine Case is Alfred Hitchcock's 1947 courtroom drama for David O. Selznick, his last film under the Selznick contract, starring Gregory Peck, Alida Valli, Charles Laughton, and Ann Todd, adapted from Robert Hichens' 1933 novel.