The term Film Noir was created by French film critics to designate the movie genre that suddenly appeared in 1941. It very quickly disappeared in 1960. This genre was capturing the atmosphere of pessimism, cynicism, and distrust of everyone and everything. It resembled the emotional conditions of American people during the Second World War, and later the Cold War. This is perhaps the most masculine genre in the world, and although it has existed for nearly two decades, it has managed to generate several dozen masterpieces and has influenced the cinema industry.
To tell the truth, in Hollywood, they still haven’t come up with anything more stylish and brutal than a black-and-white film. A guy with a gun and a fatal wan: all the best noir movies were built according to this simple formula. Even today, despite the fact this genre is almost forgotten, there are people who believe that there is no better way to have a movie date together with your girlfriend than to watch and old-school noir movies. If for whatever reason, you don’t have a girlfriend, you may try to visit a website to find one. So, we decided to recall the main underestimated noir movies in this article.
- The Maltese Falcon (1941)
This movie was a debut of the great John Houston. This movie is considered to be the first noir in the history of cinema. And one of the best ones. Investigating the murder of his partner, detective Sam Spade gets involved in a dubious matter. He finds out that the girl who hired his partner is not at all what she claims to be. For Humphrey Bogart, who before the start of the forties played mainly gangsters, this character has become the most popular. The Maltese Falcon anticipated the whole genre in many ways, showing the audience the fear of the pre-war era and a visually perfect, but insanely dangerous world in which no one could be trusted.
- Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
This is very famous in the past Hitchcock’s thriller about a criminal case in the American outback. It was filmed according to all the laws of the genre that has not yet been fully formed. The plot begins when a distant relative arrives at the provincial town. As you have guessed, it turns out that he is a maniac. His cheerful niece gets instantly fascinated by the unsociable uncle. Nevertheless, as soon as she learns the truth about him, she confronts him. The plot of the film was based on the real story of serial killer Earl Leonard Nelson. Hitchcock is still one of the few creators who can truly scare the audience.
- Double Indemnity (1944)
The unpredictable story of the insurance agent Walter Neff, exploited by the fatal blonde. He agreed to stage the suicide of her husband, and because of that, he gets into an unpleasant story with an inevitably bloody denouement. In many ways, it was Double Indemnity that formed the genre of the film noir. It was highlighting all of its signature features: the brutal murder of a man who got into trouble, the fatal beauty, and impressive dialogues.
- Mildred Pierce (1945)
An exemplary noir about the investigation of the murder of a dishonest businessman. In the beginning, we suspect three people who could commit this crime: his wife Mildred Pearce, her ex-husband, and her business partner. Each of them had clear motives for killing this poor businessman. For the role of Mildred actress Joan Crawford earned an Oscar. Also, the film itself recently became the basis for the series with Kate Winslet.
- Gilda (1946)
In the beginning, the owner of a large casino saves the life of a small-time crook. With time, they even become friends. Everything goes to hell when, from one of his trips, the owner brings a new wife. As you have already guessed, she is a very beautiful girl called Guild. Rita Hayworth, who starred as Guild, eventually became one of the main noir actresses. Her popularity was so great that the atomic bomb was named in honor of her character.
- The Lady from Shanghai (1947)
At first, this movie, created by Orson Welles, was severely criticized. Only with time, it has become popular and became classical. The plot tells us about a simple guy who saved a stunning blonde from bandits. She turned out to be the wife of a famous lawyer. Having agreed to work on the rich man’s yacht, he immediately faces two problems. Firstly, the blonde obviously prefers him to the crippled spouse. Secondly, he agreed to help the lawyer’s partner to stage his death. The Lady from Shanghai is an example of a movie with a dashing combination of love affairs and psychologically authentic images. The famous scene in the mirror room forever entered the history of cinema.
- The Third Man (1949)
A relative bad writer Holly Martins arrives in post-war Vienna, where he learns about the death of his friend Harry Lyme. Trying to get to the bottom of the truth, he finds out that he didn’t know his friend as well as he thought. This movie destroyed all the fundamental principles of moviemaking for its time. The main character appears only an hour after the beginning of the movie. When watching this movie, be ready to find yourselves immersed in depression and hopelessness reigning in a dilapidated Europe.
- Sunset Boulevard (1950)
The plot tells us about a bad scriptwriter who meets a fading Hollywood actress. They agree that he will write a new script for her. She keeps it at home, gradually losing touch with reality. This is a very sad movie. After all, Billy Wilder, in the very beginning, shows the corpse of the protagonist floating in the water.
- The Killing (1956)
This is the third movie filmed by Stanley Kubrick. On the one hand, he shot a typical noir with long plans, a cynical view of the world, and a doomed protagonist. However, on the other, he didn’t even need to try to break the frames set by the genre to create a fascinating movie about the failed robbery of a hippodrome. This movie includes intersecting flashbacks, documentary materials, and shows events from different characters’ points.
- Touch of Evil (1958)
This movie is one of the last classic noirs. After it, every noir movie came with the prefix “neo.” The plot tells about terrible things that happen in a small town on the US-Mexican border. The Mexican policeman turns into a crazy avenger, his wife is raped and drugged, and the American detective does everything to solve his cases. This is definitely not the most romantic movie on Earth. However, it is not the romance we seek in noir movies, right?
Dianna Ranere