griggs's - Noirvember 2024 (Ranked) List

Show moreShow less

Based on the smash Broadway hit, the gritty and gripping drama of Detective Story explodes onto the big screen under the capable direction of William Wyler.

Set amidst the hectic activity of a New York City police station, Kirk Douglas stars as the principled, rigid detective whose personal code has become twisted from dealing with too many criminals. Eleanor Parker is his wife, tormented by a guilty secret. While the business of the precinct swirls around them - from cases involving a frightened shoplifter (Lee Grant) to an amusing burglar (Joseph Wiseman) - the couple's personal conflict reaches an explosive, unforgettable climax.

Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray), naive insurance man. Falls for the seductive charms of his beautiful client Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck) Together they plot to get rid of her dull husband and collect on the "double indemnity" life policy.

Show moreShow less

Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer and Kirk Douglas star in this quintessential film noir which catapulted Mitchum into superstardom and set the standard for the genre for years to come.

When Kathie Moffett (Greer) shoots her admirer, Whit Sterling (Douglas), a big-time gambler, and absconds with $40,000 of his money, Starling hires private detective Jeff Bailey (Mitchum) to find her. Bailey leaves New York and catches up with Kathie in Mexico. Kathie denies taking the money and after falling for her charms, Bailey notifies Sterling that he could not find her.

Show moreShow less

Humphrey Bogart stars as Dixon Steele, a screenwriter who is faced with the odious task of scripting a trashy best-seller. He enlists hat-check girl Mildred Atkinson to tell him the story in her own words.

Later that night, Mildred is murdered and Steele is a prime suspect; his record of belligerence when angry and his macabre sense of humour implicate him. Fortunately, lovely neighbour Laurel Gray (Gloria Grahame) gives him an alibi. Laurel proves to be just what Steele needed. and their friendship ripens into love. m Will suspicion, doubt, and Steele's inner demons come between them?

Show moreShow less

Tennis star Guy Haines (Farley Granger) half-jokingly muses about killing his wife with a stranger he meets on a train, unhinged playboy Bruno Anthony (Robert Walker), who'd prefer his father be deceased. In theory, each could murder the other's victim. Crisscross. No motive. No clues. No problem...

except: Bruno takes the idea seriously, with deadly consequences.

Show moreShow less

In the story of Gilda, Johnny Farrell (Glenn Ford) goes to work for Ballin Mundson (George MacReady), the proprietor of an illegal gambling casino in a South American city, and quickly rises to become Mundson's "main man".

All is well until Mundson returns from a trip with his new bride, Gilda - a woman from Johnny's past. Mundson, unaware of the previous love affair, assigns Farrell the job of ensuring that Gilda is a faithful wife. Fraught with hatred, Gilda does her best to antagonize, intimidate, and instill jealousy in Farrell - until circumstances allow him to get even.

Show moreShow less

They say crime doesn't pay. Private detective Philip Marlowe (Dick Powell) knows better.

The fat wad of folding money warming his breast pocket is the kind of thing that keeps him going through thick and thicker as he wades chin deep into a mystery involving a missing necklace and a missing hoodlum's moll named Velma.

Show moreShow less

Having Graham Greene's riveting and authentic novel about the leader of a Brighton based gang of hoods and ne'er do wells as source material was an obvious advantage, but the Boulting Brothers (John directed, brother Roy produced) still managed to conjure arguably the finest British thriller ever

in what is a genuine and evocative film noir. Expressively shot by veteran cinematographer Harry Waxman (The Wicker Man), for many the film's most abiding quality is the outstanding, intense performance of a young Richard Attenborough as the emotionally and physically scarred gang leader Pinky Brown, who courts and marries a local waitress (Carol Marsh) he detests in order to stop her testifying against him. Beautifully scripted by Greene and Terence Rattigan (The Browning Version), whose eye for detail and atmosphere is astounding, Brighton Rock is utterly hard bitten in tone and abundant in cruel ironies, right up to its well-judged, refreshingly cynical ending.

Show moreShow less

You have a lot of time to think when you're locked away seven years. So criminal mastermind Doc (Sam Jaffe) conceives what he believes is the perfect heist.

As in 'The Maltese Falcon' and 'The Treasure of the Sierra Madre', director John Huston explores the feverish grab for the big score and how it unravels in 'The Asphalt Jungle', a renowned tale of dishonour among thieves whose cast includes Sam Jaffe as Doc and Sterling Hayden as Doc's unflappable gundel. Louis Calhern portrays Emmerich, the shady lawyer for whom "crime is only a left-handed form of human endeavour". And rising star Marilyn Monroe grabs everyone's attention as the doxie who briefly provides Emmerich with the most gorgeous alibi ever to reach the screen.

Show moreShow less

Christopher Cross (Edward G. Robinson) is a meek but respected bank clerk who, on his way home from a dinner in recognition of his service, goes to the aid of Kitty Marsh (Joan Bennett) who is being attacked by Johnny Prince, her lowlife boyfriend (Dan Duryea).

Attracted by her beauty, but contrary to his usual persona, he takes Kitty for a drink and tells her that he is a famous painter. Kitty and Johnnie soon plan to take Chris for all he's got. He is pulled into a world of crime and deception by this seductive femme fatale and her manipulative boyfriend. For their sins Kitty and Johnnie pay a heavy price but, after a bizarre chain of events and sordid brutality, it is Chris who is left a broken man, deranged - and in a living hell.

Show moreShow less

Alicia Huberman (Ingrid Bergman) gains notoriety when her father, a Nazi spy is convinced of treason against the US following World War II. At a party thrown soon after, Alice meets a handsome stranger named Devlin (Cary Grant) who reveals after a clash of wits and temperament that he is a U.S.

Intelligence Agent. Because she has fallen in love with the dashing FBI Agent, Alicia is persuaded into helping Devlin trap and catch Nazi mastermind Alex Sebastian. The more she gets involved in her work, the more at risk she becomes...

Show moreShow less

Police detective Mark McPherson (Dana Andrews) is drawn into Manhattan high society as he investigates the death of stunning ad exec Laura Hunt (Gene Tierney), apparently shotgunned in her own apartment.

The slithery suspects are numerous, led by effete, snobbish columnist Waldo Lydecker (Clifton Webb), and Laura's philandering fiancee Shelby (Vincent Price), who's also been cavorting with Laura's wealthy aunt (Judith Anderson). McPherson begins to fall in love with Laura through a portrait in her home and the memories relayed by those who knew her...just as it becomes apparent that even the basic facts of the case might not be what they seemed.

Show moreShow less

Ernest Hemingway s spare, laconic short story about two professional killers and their encounter with a mysteriously unresisting victim was significantly expanded into this all-time film noir classic, which Hemingway said was the first adaptation of his work that he really admired.

As washed-up boxer turned hitman victim Ole 'Swede' Andreson, Burt Lancaster made his screen debut, and was catapulted to instant stardom, not least for the screen chemistry that he showed opposite sultry Ava Gardner, whose Kitty Collins is the very personification of the femme fatale. German émigré Robert Siodmak was one of the filmmakers who helped create film noir, and Elwood Bredell s high-contrast cinematography, all harsh lighting and long shadows, elevates the film far above a conventional crime drama. But even on that level it s a first-rate demonstration of how to maintain narrative tension, with the flashback structure withholding crucial details until almost the very end.

Al Roberts (Tom Neal) decides to hitchhike to California to follow his girlfriend Sue (Claudia Drake). After discovering one of the drivers who has given him a lift dead, Al assumes his identity for fear of being charged with his murder. This leads him into trouble and blackmail along the way.

Show moreShow less

The sign outside the roadside diner says "Man Wanted." Drifter Frank Chambers knows the sign has more than one meaning when he eyes pouty, luminous Cora, the much-younger bride of the diner's proprietor. Based on the same-titled novel by James M.

Cain (Double Indemnity, Mildred Pierce), this quintessential film-noir classic combines studio-system gloss with Cain's hard-bitten tale of murderous attractions. John Garfield and Lana Turner give career-benchmark performances as Frank and Cora, illicit lovers who botch a first attempt to bump off Cora's hubby, pull it off, betray each other at trial and yet wriggle free. But their volatile tale does not end there. As the film's metaphorical title indicates, fate is sure to ring again.