Summary

• Classic film noirs were categorized a by brooding black-and-white style, crime stories, often in the detective genre.
• Hollywood stars like Humphrey Bogart and major directors such as Billy Willy made acclaimed film noirs.
• The genre peaked in the 1940s and 1950s but has remained popular to this day.

The darkest, grittiest, and most memorable movies of Hollywood’s Golden Age have come from the film noir genre which produced some of the best movies of all time. Featuring corrupt cops, cunning criminals, darling dames, and frantic femme fatales, film noirs were generally stylistic Hollywood crime dramas with a much darker twist that pushed the boundaries of contemporary filmmaking starting in the 1940s. Led by massive movie stars, such as Humphrey Bogart and Robert Mitchum, the film noir genre was categorized primarily by black and white movies with dynamic cinematography.

There was no one defining factor that made a movie a film noir, but they all shared a common aesthetic and sense of style. Encoming a wide range of plot points from private investigators looking into mysterious murders, to law-abiding citizens drawn into complex conspiracies, the best film noirs have left a lasting impact on modern filmmaking. With contributions from iconic directors like Billy Wilder and Stanley Kubrick, although the genre peaked more than 50 years ago, that did not stop the greatest film noirs from being some of the most important and influential movies ever made.

15 The Big Heat (1953)

Directed By Fritz Lang

The icon of German Expressionism director Fritz Lang, who had already delivered the sci-fi masterpiece Metropolis and film noir crime precursor M, produced a film noir classic with The Big Heat in 1953. Based on a serial (and later a novel) by William P. McGivern, the movie is about a cop who goes to war with a crime syndicate running wild in his city.

The Big Heat stars Glenn Ford (Blackboard Jungle) as Dave Bannion, the homicide detective trying to take down the crime syndicate. It features all the tropes of an iconic film noir, complete with a no-nonsense police officer, femme fatale love interest, and fast-talking, double-crossing murder mysteries.

It was selected for inclusion in the Library of Congress' National Film Registry in 2011.

A fun and engaging picture of tremendous excitement, The Big Heat stands as one of the great film noirs. The Academy Film Archive preserved the movie in 1997, and it was selected for inclusion in the Library of Congress' National Film Registry in 2011.

14 Kiss Me Deadly (1955)

Directed By Robert Aldrich

With a stylish and sinister aesthetic, Kiss My Deadly was a prime example of film noir’s most gritty aspects and acted as a compelling mystery instigated after a detective picked up a female hitchhiker. The movie has a great pedigree, as it is based on the novel of the same name by legendary mystery author Mickey Spillane, and this is one of his iconic Mike Hammer stories. Ralph Meeker plays Mike Hammer, while a young Cloris Leachman also appears in the movie.

Kiss Me Deadly had a direct influence on Quentin Tarantino’s glowing briefcase in Pulp Fiction.

Directed by Robert Aldrich, Kiss Me Deadly was an influential film that acted as a metaphor for the paranoia and fear viewers at the time were feeling toward an impending nuclear war with Russia. A nihilistic but frighteningly engaging movie, Kiss Me Deadly had a direct influence on Quentin Tarantino’s glowing briefcase in Pulp Fiction (via Far Out).

13 The Long Goodbye (1973)

Directed By Robert Altman

The Long Goodbye was a satirical film noir that played with clichés and tropes of the genre and breathed new life into the Raymond Chandler character of Philip Marlowe. The character of Philip Marlowe has appeared in 31 stories by Chandler and 11 different big-screen movies, and this remains one of his most iconic appearances, with Elliott Gould starring as the private detective.

Led by an extraordinary performance by Gould, The Long Goodbye was a clever movie that paid homage to film noir classics of the past while showcasing the style still had something to offer amid the New Hollywood movement of the 1970s. The Long Goodbye was misunderstood when it was first released but has since gone on to achieve a cult following. It was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 2021.

12 The Third Man (1949)

Directed By Carol Reed

Consistently ranking among the best British films of all time, The Third Man stars Joseph Cotten and Orson Welles in an expressionistic murder mystery with exquisite use of lighting, camera angles, and music. Cotton stars as Holly Martins, an author who learns his friend Harry Lime (Welles) has died. When he goes to Vienna to pay his respects, he sees Welles on the streets, alive and well, and sets out to learn the truth about the deception.

The Third Man even won an Oscar for its cinematography.

A masterpiece of its era, The Third Man captured the ruined society of post-War Europe and the troubled trauma of its inhabitants. A success at the box office, The Third Man was the top film of 1949 in Britain (via The Courier-Mail) and to this day stands as a classic of the film noir genre. The Third Man even won an Oscar for its cinematography, and Carol Reed earned a Best Director nomination.

11 The Killing (1956)

Directed By Stanley Kubrick

Legendary director Stanley Kubrick showcased his skill for the film noir genre with his first major Hollywood movie The Killing. A stylish story of a crook named Johnny Clay, The Killing followed a criminal group’s plan to execute a daring racetrack robbery that cemented Kubrick’s reputation as a major contemporary director at the time. Kubrick made a choice to mostly keep the scenes in singular locations as the gang planned out the crime, making it a tense and mysterious noir movie.

With a low-budget aesthetic and raw uncompromising vision, The Killing was an underappreciated film noir triumph at the time that had the makings of a classic thanks to compelling characters, daring direction, and a strong script. Quentin Tarantino has said that this movie was what influenced him to make his debut film, Reservoir Dogs (via The Seattle Times).

10 Sweet Smell Of Success (1957)

Directed By Alexander Mackendrick

A snarky sense of cynicism was imbued into the film noir Sweet Smell of Success, which showcased the darker side of the newspaper business. The plot follows a newspaper columnist who uses his connections to ruin the life of a man dating his sister. Despite strong lead performances by Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis, Sweet Smell of Success was a controversial movie as its two stars disappointed audiences by playing against type.

J.J. Hunsecker was listed as one of the AFI's greatest movie villains.

However, in the years since its release, Sweet Smell of Success has gained a reputation as an acclaimed classic complete with strong performances, witty dialogue, and a compelling story. the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 1993 and J.J. Hunsecker was listed as one of the AFI's greatest movie villains. It was also turned into a musical in 2002.

9 Laura (1944)

Directed By Otto Preminger

While the majority of female characters in film noirs usually took a ing role as an enticing femme fatale, Laura put a woman front and center in an exciting tale of deceit, love, and, of course, murder. Laura featured Gene Tierney as Laura Hunt and Dana Andrews as Mark Mherson, a detective investigating what he believed was Laura’s murder, and was told mostly through flashback as everyone who encountered Laura fell in love with her.

A stylish film full of breathtaking black-and-white cinematography, Laura was a must-watch for any film noir connoisseur. The movie won the Oscar for Best Cinematography and Preminger was nominated as Best Director. It was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 1999. The AFI also named it one of its 10 best mystery movies of all time.

8 Touch Of Evil (1958)

Directed By Orson Welles

After already starring in the film noir classic The Third Man some years before, Orson Welles took on directing, writing, and acting duties for the iconic film noir masterpiece Touch of Evil. The movie sees a vehicle explode on the United States and Mexico border, and the law enforcement closes in to figure out who the culprit is.

With a complex production history, Touch of Evil was dismissed by film critics when it was first released due to its unconventional editing style, but has since been reappraised as a classic of the genre. Starring Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh, and Welles, Touch of Evil was a compelling story of murder, kidnapping, and corruption.

There was some controversy with Heston being cast as a Latino character in the project. That said, eventually the movie was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 1993.

7 In A Lonely Place (1950)

Directed By Nicholas Ray

There was a dark, sinister, and foreboding sense of dread hidden just beneath the surface of Nicholas Ray’s In a Lonely Place. Starring Humphrey Bogart in one of his best performances, In a Lonely Place followed the troubled and violent screenwriter Dixon Steele as he became worryingly obsessed with the beautiful Laurel Gray, played by Gloria Grahame.

Based on the novel by Dorothy B. Hughes, In a Lonely Place was a complex thriller that was hard to categorize and has grown in reputation over the years due to its mature themes and unusual depth for a film noir of its time. It has since been listed as one of the best in the genre, although it was overshadowed in 1950 by All About Eve, which was released in the same year. In a Lonely Place was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 2007.

6 Chinatown (1974)

Directed By Roman Polanski

Chinatown, starring Jack Nicholson, was a classic film noir mystery that was produced with just enough distance from the golden age of film noirs to pay homage to the conventions of the style while simultaneously bringing something new to it. The movie features the visual style, hard-boiled protagonist, and femme fatale archetype of the best film noirs.

Chinatown has also been listed as one of the greatest screenplays ever written

Chinatown had a cynical and gritty sense of realism as Jake Gittes found himself further embroiled in a criminal conspiracy involving the California water supply. A triumph of filmmaking, Chinatown has regularly been placed among the best films ever made.

Chinatown has also been listed as one of the greatest screenplays ever written (by Robert Towne) and won an Oscar for that while receiving 10 other nominations. The film was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Film Registry in 1991.