Film Noir

All of the movies listed here came out
before 1950. I'm trying to work my way
through the film noir decade, pretty
much the 1940's.
The heroines were generally babes, or
so naive that they wound up dead
five minutes after the titles appeared.
If a babe was married, it was usually
to some old guy who was bound to get
bumped off. The hero was usually
a Private Eye, or a guy who just got out
of the slammer. Everyone smoked, drank,
doublecrossed, all this while making out.
All the babes had great wardrobes although
they never held a job. All the guys wore suits
with very big shoulders. Oh yes, and they
did it in black and white.

1. THE BIG SLEEP (1946) Bogart and Bacall

(Humphrey and Lauren). Detective Philip

Marlowe, blackmail, murder, mayhem, worth

the effort for Bacall's profile.

x

2. DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944) Fred MacMurray,

and femme fatale Barbara Stanwyck plot her

husband's accidental death. Will they get away with

the loot?

x

3. LAURA (1944) Otto Preminger directed this

enigmatic mystery. A NYC Detective, Dana Andrews,

investigates the murder of Laura, Gene Tierney.

Look for a shocking twist or two. With Clifton Webb

and Vincent Price, getting into trouble.

x

4. THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI (1948) Orson

Welles, directed, wrote and stars with Rita

Hayworth as the babe married to an older guy

who owns this yacht, so...anyway, there's a

famous "sequence of mirrors" at the end of

the film. Incredible.

x

5. DECEPTION (1946) Bette Davis thinks her lover,

Paul Henreid, was killed in the war. He comes back,

she has to hide her affair with Claude Rains. Drastic

measures ensue. Lots of classical music. Classy.

6. THE BIG STEAL ( 1949) Robert Mitchum

sets out to clear his name for a crime he didn't

commit. Can he do it? Maybe, with the help

of Jane Greer, good hair.

x

7. KISS OF DEATH (1947) Richard Widmark

and Victor Mature (muscles) as two-bit hoods and stoolies

caught in a heist. Nasty Richard was nominated

for an Oscar, his first role. A real creep.

x

8. I WAKE UP SCREAMING (1941) Victor

Mature (muscles), caught between Carole Landis,

quickly dead, and Betty Grable as the distrustful

sister, might be a hero, then again..

x

9. THE STRANGER (1946) Orson Welles as a

Nazi fugitive hiding out in a small Connecticut

town. Edward G. Robinson is the detective out

to uncover his identity. Strong photography.

x

10. THE MALTESE FALCON ( 1941) The noir

classic. Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade. Trio

of criminals, Mary Astor, Sydney Greenstreet,

Peter Lorre, looking for a priceless bird.

Double-crossing at its peak.

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