Classic Noir Films
by TheLastDriveIn | created - 16 Jan 2012 | updated - 15 Sep 2017 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. 13 Rue Madeleine (1946)
Approved | 95 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
When spy chief Bob Sharkey finds out one of his agents-in-training is actually a Nazi double agent, his strategic decision not to arrest him results in tragedy.
Director: Henry Hathaway | Stars: James Cagney, Annabella, Richard Conte, Frank Latimore
Votes: 2,639
2. 13 West Street (1962)
Passed | 80 min | Crime, Drama
An aerospace engineer (Ladd) ignores a policeman (Steiger) and hunts down a gang of juvenile delinquents.
Director: Philip Leacock | Stars: Alan Ladd, Rod Steiger, Michael Callan, Dolores Dorn
Votes: 471
3. The 39 Steps (1935)
Not Rated | 86 min | Mystery, Thriller
A man in London tries to help a counter-espionage Agent. But when the Agent is killed, and the man stands accused, he must go on the run to save himself and stop a spy ring which is trying to steal top secret information.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Robert Donat, Madeleine Carroll, Lucie Mannheim, Godfrey Tearle
Votes: 50,754
4. Above Suspicion (1943)
Passed | 90 min | Drama, Thriller
Two newlyweds spy on the Nazis for the British Secret Service during their honeymoon in Europe.
Director: Richard Thorpe | Stars: Joan Crawford, Fred MacMurray, Conrad Veidt, Basil Rathbone
Votes: 1,800
5. The Accused (1949)
Approved | 101 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Thriller
A beautiful psychology professor tries to hide a self-defense killing.
Director: William Dieterle | Stars: Loretta Young, Robert Cummings, Wendell Corey, Sam Jaffe
Votes: 742
6. Act of Violence (1949)
Passed | 82 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Thriller
An embittered, vengeful POW stalks his former commanding officer who betrayed his men's planned escape attempt from a Nazi prison camp.
Director: Fred Zinnemann | Stars: Van Heflin, Robert Ryan, Janet Leigh, Mary Astor
Votes: 4,343
7. All Through the Night (1942)
Approved | 107 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
Runyonesque Broadway gamblers turn patriotic when they stumble onto a cell of Nazi saboteurs.
Director: Vincent Sherman | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Conrad Veidt, Kaaren Verne, Jane Darwell
Votes: 3,780
8. Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)
Passed | 97 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A priest tries to stop a gangster from corrupting a group of street kids.
Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, Humphrey Bogart, Ann Sheridan
Votes: 19,495
9. Apology for Murder (1945)
Approved | 67 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
When a reporter helps his girlfriend murder her rich husband, an innocent man gets the blame and faces execution.
Director: Sam Newfield | Stars: Ann Savage, Hugh Beaumont, Russell Hicks, Charles D. Brown
Votes: 215
10. Appointment with Danger (1950)
Approved | 90 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
When ruthlessly dedicated postal inspector investigates the murder of a co-worker, he finds that the sole witness, a nun, has been targeted by the killers.
Director: Lewis Allen | Stars: Alan Ladd, Phyllis Calvert, Paul Stewart, Jan Sterling
Votes: 1,052
11. The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
Passed | 112 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A major heist goes off as planned, but then double crosses, bad luck and solid police work cause everything to unravel.
Director: John Huston | Stars: Sterling Hayden, Louis Calhern, Jean Hagen, James Whitmore
Votes: 23,544
12. Berlin Express (1948)
Approved | 87 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A multinational group of train passengers become involved in a post-World War II Nazi assassination plot.
Director: Jacques Tourneur | Stars: Merle Oberon, Robert Ryan, Charles Korvin, Paul Lukas
Votes: 2,895
13. Backfire (1950)
Passed | 91 min | Crime, Film-Noir, Mystery
While recuperating from wartime back injuries at a hospital, veteran Bob Corey is visited on Christmas Eve by a beautiful stranger with an even stranger message.
Director: Vincent Sherman | Stars: Viveca Lindfors, Dane Clark, Virginia Mayo, Edmond O'Brien
Votes: 1,031
14. Beware, My Lovely (1952)
Approved | 77 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A psychopath on the run takes a job as a handyman at the house of a lonely war widow.
Director: Harry Horner | Stars: Ida Lupino, Robert Ryan, Taylor Holmes, Barbara Whiting
Votes: 1,565
15. Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (1956)
Not Rated | 80 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A novelist aided by his future father-in-law conspires to frame himself for the murder of a burlesque dancer as part of an effort to ban capital punishment.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Dana Andrews, Joan Fontaine, Sidney Blackmer, Arthur Franz
Votes: 4,629
16. The Big Clock (1948)
Not Rated | 95 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A magazine tycoon commits a murder and pins it on an innocent man, who then tries to solve the murder himself.
Director: John Farrow | Stars: Ray Milland, Maureen O'Sullivan, Charles Laughton, George Macready
Votes: 7,610
17. The Big Combo (1955)
Not Rated | 87 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A police lt. is ordered to stop investigating deadly crime boss Mr. Brown, because he hasn't been able to get any hard evidence against him. He then goes after Brown's girlfriend who despises him, for information instead.
Director: Joseph H. Lewis | Stars: Cornel Wilde, Richard Conte, Jean Wallace, Brian Donlevy
Votes: 6,407
18. The Big Knife (1955)
Not Rated | 111 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Hollywood actor Charles Castle is pressured by his studio boss into a criminal cover-up to protect his valuable career.
Director: Robert Aldrich | Stars: Jack Palance, Ida Lupino, Wendell Corey, Jean Hagen
Votes: 3,265
19. The Big Sleep (1946)
Not Rated | 114 min | Crime, Film-Noir, Mystery
Private detective Philip Marlowe is hired by a wealthy family. Before the complex case is over, he's seen murder, blackmail, and what might be love.
Director: Howard Hawks | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, John Ridgely, Martha Vickers
Votes: 77,720 | Gross: $6.54M
20. The Big Steal (1949)
Approved | 71 min | Crime, Film-Noir, Romance
An army lieutenant accused of robbery pursues the real thief on a frantic chase through Mexico aided by the thief's fiancee.
Director: Don Siegel | Stars: Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, William Bendix, Patric Knowles
Votes: 4,065
21. Black Angel (1946)
Passed | 81 min | Adventure, Crime, Film-Noir
When Kirk Bennett is convicted of a singer's murder, his wife tries to prove him innocent...aided by the victim's ex-husband.
Director: Roy William Neill | Stars: Dan Duryea, June Vincent, Peter Lorre, Broderick Crawford
Votes: 2,658
22. Blonde Ice (1948)
Approved | 73 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A society reporter keeps herself in the headlines by marrying a series of wealthy men, all of whom die under mysterious circumstances.
Director: Jack Bernhard | Stars: Robert Paige, Leslie Brooks, Russ Vincent, Michael Whalen
Votes: 903
23. The Blue Dahlia (1946)
Not Rated | 96 min | Crime, Film-Noir, Mystery
An ex-bomber pilot is suspected of murdering his unfaithful wife.
Director: George Marshall | Stars: Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, William Bendix, Howard Da Silva
Votes: 7,341 | Gross: $2.70M
24. The Blue Gardenia (1953)
Not Rated | 90 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A telephone operator ends up drunk and at the mercy of a cad in his apartment. The next morning she wakes up with a hangover and the terrible fear she may be a murderess.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Anne Baxter, Richard Conte, Ann Sothern, Raymond Burr
Votes: 4,428
25. A Blueprint for Murder (1953)
Approved | 77 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Whitney Cameron suspects his sister-in-law has poisoned his brother and niece, but without proof how does he prevent the murder of his nephew?
Director: Andrew L. Stone | Stars: Joseph Cotten, Jean Peters, Gary Merrill, Catherine McLeod
Votes: 1,324
26. Body and Soul (1947)
Approved | 104 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Sport
A talented boxer's young career hits difficult terrain when an unethical promoter takes interest in him.
Director: Robert Rossen | Stars: John Garfield, Lilli Palmer, Hazel Brooks, Anne Revere
Votes: 4,241
27. Boomerang! (1947)
Not Rated | 88 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
The true story of a prosecutor's fight to prove the innocence of a man accused of a notorious murder.
Director: Elia Kazan | Stars: Dana Andrews, Jane Wyatt, Lee J. Cobb, Cara Williams
Votes: 3,978
28. Border Incident (1949)
Passed | 94 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Mexican and American federal agents tackle a vicious gang exploiting illegal farm workers in southern California.
Director: Anthony Mann | Stars: Ricardo Montalban, George Murphy, Howard Da Silva, James Mitchell
Votes: 2,143
29. Borderline (1950)
Approved | 88 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Two undercover agents infiltrate a drug-smuggling ring in Mexico, but neither is aware of the other's identity.
Director: William A. Seiter | Stars: Fred MacMurray, Claire Trevor, Raymond Burr, José Torvay
Votes: 1,114
30. Born to Kill (1947)
Approved | 92 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A calculating divorcée risks her chances at wealth and security with a man she doesn't love by getting involved with the hotheaded murderer romancing her foster sister.
Director: Robert Wise | Stars: Claire Trevor, Lawrence Tierney, Walter Slezak, Phillip Terry
Votes: 4,458
Deadlier Than The Male
31. The Brothers Rico (1957)
Passed | 92 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A retired mob accountant is drawn back in when his brothers, who have recently made a hit for the organization, decide to go to the authorities.
Director: Phil Karlson | Stars: Richard Conte, Dianne Foster, Kathryn Grant, Larry Gates
Votes: 881
32. Brute Force (1947)
Passed | 98 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
At a tough penitentiary, prisoner Joe Collins plans to rebel against Captain Munsey, the power-mad chief guard.
Director: Jules Dassin | Stars: Burt Lancaster, Hume Cronyn, Charles Bickford, Yvonne De Carlo
Votes: 8,788
33. Caged (1950)
Not Rated | 96 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A naive nineteen year old widow becomes coarsened and cynical when she is sent to a woman's prison and is exposed to hardened criminals and sadistic guards.
Director: John Cromwell | Stars: Eleanor Parker, Agnes Moorehead, Ellen Corby, Hope Emerson
Votes: 3,434
34. Call Northside 777 (1948)
Approved | 112 min | Drama, Film-Noir
Chicago reporter P.J. McNeal re-opens a ten year old murder case.
Director: Henry Hathaway | Stars: James Stewart, Richard Conte, Lee J. Cobb, Helen Walker
Votes: 7,823
35. The Chase (1946)
Approved | 86 min | Crime, Film-Noir, Thriller
Chuck Scott gets a job as chauffeur to tough guy Eddie Roman; but Chuck's involvement with Eddie's fearful wife becomes a nightmare.
Director: Arthur Ripley | Stars: Robert Cummings, Michèle Morgan, Steve Cochran, Lloyd Corrigan
Votes: 1,514
36. Chicago Deadline (1949)
Approved | 86 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
On Chicago's South Side reporter Ed Adams finds the body of a dead girl. Her address book leads to a host of names of men frightened by her death but claiming never to have known her. Adams comes to know quite a lot, dangerously so.
Director: Lewis Allen | Stars: Alan Ladd, Donna Reed, June Havoc, Irene Hervey
Votes: 263
37. City of Fear (1959)
Approved | 81 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A vicious killer escapes from San Quentin with a cannister of what he believes to be heroin but is actually a radioactive substance that threatens all Los Angeles.
Director: Irving Lerner | Stars: Vince Edwards, Lyle Talbot, John Archer, Steven Ritch
Votes: 829
38. Clash by Night (1952)
Approved | 105 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Romance
Mae Doyle comes back to her hometown a cynical woman. Her brother Joe fears that his love, fish cannery worker Peggy, may wind up like Mae. Mae marries Jerry and has a baby; she is happy but restless, drawn to Jerry's friend Earl.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Ryan, Paul Douglas, Marilyn Monroe
Votes: 5,567
39. Cloak and Dagger (1946)
Approved | 106 min | Adventure, Film-Noir, Romance
In WW2, the Allies race against time to persuade two nuclear scientists working for the Germans to switch sides.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Gary Cooper, Robert Alda, Lilli Palmer, Vladimir Sokoloff
Votes: 2,420
40. Conflict (1945)
Passed | 86 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Mystery
An engineer trapped in an unhappy marriage murders his wife in the hope of marrying her younger sister.
Director: Curtis Bernhardt | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Alexis Smith, Sydney Greenstreet, Rose Hobart
Votes: 3,209
41. Convict's Code (1939)
62 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir