41 Movies - NOIR FORTIES
by milam_ogden | created - 10 Dec 2014 | updated - 10 Dec 2014 | PublicRichard Lengeman has written an excellent US history book entitled Noir Forties. Beginning with VJ Day and ending with the Korean War in 1953, Lengeman gives the reader an indepth look at our society and culture between two wars. He uses movies and Hollywood to illustrate his point. Lots of the movies mentioned are of the film noir genre. Here is a list of movies that Lengeman used in his book.
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1. I'll Be Seeing You (1944)
Approved | 85 min | Drama, Family, Romance
A soldier suffering from combat fatigue meets a young woman on Christmas furlough from prison and their mutual loneliness blossoms into romance.
Directors: William Dieterle, George Cukor | Stars: Ginger Rogers, Joseph Cotten, Shirley Temple, Spring Byington
Votes: 2,520
2. Spellbound (1945)
Approved | 111 min | Film-Noir, Mystery, Romance
A psychiatrist protects the identity of an amnesia patient accused of murder while attempting to recover his memory.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Ingrid Bergman, Gregory Peck, Michael Chekhov, Leo G. Carroll
Votes: 52,199 | Gross: $7.00M
3. Phantom Lady (1944)
Passed | 87 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A devoted secretary risks her life to try to find the elusive woman who may prove her boss didn't murder his selfish wife.
Director: Robert Siodmak | Stars: Franchot Tone, Ella Raines, Alan Curtis, Aurora Miranda
Votes: 5,744
4. The Woman in the Window (1944)
Passed | 107 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
When a conservative middle aged professor engages in a relationship with a femme fatale, he's plunged into a nightmarish world of blackmail and murder.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett, Raymond Massey, Edmund Breon
Votes: 17,750
5. None Shall Escape (1944)
Approved | 85 min | Drama, War
The career of a German officer shown as flashbacks from his trial as a war criminal.
Director: André De Toth | Stars: Marsha Hunt, Alexander Knox, Henry Travers, Erik Rolf
Votes: 975
6. Scarlet Street (1945)
Approved | 102 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A man in mid-life crisis befriends a young woman, though her fiancé persuades her to con him out of the fortune they mistakenly assume he possesses.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett, Dan Duryea, Margaret Lindsay
Votes: 19,149
7. My Name Is Julia Ross (1945)
Not Rated | 65 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Julia Ross secures employment through a rather nosy employment agency, with a wealthy widow, Mrs. Hughes, and goes to live at her house. 2 days later, she awakens - in a different house, in... See full summary »
Director: Joseph H. Lewis | Stars: Nina Foch, May Whitty, George Macready, Roland Varno
Votes: 3,735
8. Strange Illusion (1945)
Passed | 87 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Paul dreams that his father's fatal accident actually was murder. When details of his dream repeat themselves in reality he seeks the help of psychiatrist Dr. Vincent, and they attempt to solve the riddle - with dangerous consequences.
Director: Edgar G. Ulmer | Stars: Jimmy Lydon, Sally Eilers, Warren William, Regis Toomey
Votes: 1,132
9. The Dark Mirror (1946)
Approved | 85 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A man is found murdered, and witnesses are sure about the woman they saw leaving his apartment. However, it becomes apparent that the woman has a twin, and finding out which one is the killer seems impossible.
Director: Robert Siodmak | Stars: Olivia de Havilland, Lew Ayres, Thomas Mitchell, Richard Long
Votes: 5,667
10. Mildred Pierce (1945)
Approved | 111 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A hard-working mother inches towards disaster as she divorces her husband and starts a successful restaurant business to support her spoiled daughter.
Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: Joan Crawford, Jack Carson, Zachary Scott, Eve Arden
Votes: 28,623
11. Gilda (1946)
Approved | 110 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Romance
A small-time gambler hired to work in a Buenos Aires casino discovers his employer's new wife is his former lover.
Director: Charles Vidor | Stars: Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford, George Macready, Joseph Calleia
Votes: 35,230
12. The Stranger (1946)
Passed | 95 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
An investigator from the War Crimes Commission travels to Connecticut to find an infamous Nazi.
Director: Orson Welles | Stars: Orson Welles, Edward G. Robinson, Loretta Young, Philip Merivale
Votes: 28,693
13. The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
Approved | 170 min | Drama, Romance, War
Three World War II veterans, two of them traumatized or disabled, return home to the American midwest to discover that they and their families have been irreparably changed.
Director: William Wyler | Stars: Myrna Loy, Dana Andrews, Fredric March, Teresa Wright
Votes: 70,477 | Gross: $23.65M
14. The Blue Dahlia (1946)
Passed | 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: 9,651 | Gross: $2.70M
15. Cloak and Dagger (1946)
Passed | 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: 3,437
16. Out of the Past (1947)
Approved | 97 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A private eye escapes his past to run a gas station in a small town, but his past catches up with him. Now he must return to the big city world of danger, corruption, double crosses, and duplicitous dames.
Director: Jacques Tourneur | Stars: Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, Kirk Douglas, Rhonda Fleming
Votes: 40,871
17. The Long Night (1947)
Passed | 101 min | Drama, Film-Noir
Police surround the apartment of apparent murderer Joe Adams, who refuses to surrender although escape appears impossible. During the siege, Joe reflects on the circumstances that led him to this situation.
Director: Anatole Litvak | Stars: Henry Fonda, Barbara Bel Geddes, Vincent Price, Ann Dvorak
Votes: 2,007
18. Crossfire (1947)
Approved | 86 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A man is murdered, apparently by one of a group of demobilized soldiers he met in a bar. But which one? And why?
Director: Edward Dmytryk | Stars: Robert Young, Robert Mitchum, Robert Ryan, Gloria Grahame
Votes: 9,696 | Gross: $1.30M
19. The Lost Weekend (1945)
Passed | 101 min | Drama, Film-Noir
The desperate life of a chronic alcoholic is followed through a four-day drinking bout.
Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: Ray Milland, Jane Wyman, Phillip Terry, Howard Da Silva
Votes: 40,165 | Gross: $9.46M
20. Cornered (1945)
Approved | 102 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Thriller
Canadian flyer Laurence Gerard finds that his wife has been murdered by a French collaborator. His quest for justice leads him to Switzerland and Argentina.
Director: Edward Dmytryk | Stars: Dick Powell, Walter Slezak, Micheline Cheirel, Nina Vale
Votes: 2,463
21. Kiss of Death (1947)
Approved | 99 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A crook arrested for a jewelry heist initially refuses to give up his accomplices, but he changes his mind once his wife dies under worrying circumstances.
Director: Henry Hathaway | Stars: Victor Mature, Brian Donlevy, Coleen Gray, Richard Widmark
Votes: 9,560
22. 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: 9,523
23. The Street with No Name (1948)
Approved | 91 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A covert FBI agent infiltrates a ruthless gangster mob, but his life is at risk from a mysterious informant who funnels inside information to the hoodlums.
Director: William Keighley | Stars: Mark Stevens, Richard Widmark, Lloyd Nolan, Barbara Lawrence
Votes: 3,337
24. Laura (1944)
Passed | 88 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Mystery
A police detective falls in love with the woman whose murder he is investigating.
Directors: Otto Preminger, Rouben Mamoulian | Stars: Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews, Clifton Webb, Vincent Price
Votes: 51,365 | Gross: $4.36M
25. The Naked City (1948)
Not Rated | 96 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A step-by-step look at a murder investigation on the streets of New York.
Director: Jules Dassin | Stars: Barry Fitzgerald, Howard Duff, Dorothy Hart, Don Taylor
Votes: 15,481
26. Force of Evil (1948)
Passed | 79 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
An unethical lawyer who wants to help his older brother becomes a partner with a client in the numbers racket.
Director: Abraham Polonsky | Stars: John Garfield, Thomas Gomez, Beatrice Pearson, Marie Windsor
Votes: 7,661
27. The Dark Past (1948)
Passed | 73 min | Crime, Film-Noir, Thriller
An escaped psychopathic killer who takes the family and neighbors of police psychologist hostage reveals a recurring nightmare to the doctor.
Director: Rudolph Maté | Stars: William Holden, Nina Foch, Lee J. Cobb, Adele Jergens
Votes: 2,140
28. The Boy with Green Hair (1948)
Approved | 82 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
This parable looks at public reaction when the hair of an American war orphan mysteriously turns green.
Director: Joseph Losey | Stars: Pat O'Brien, Robert Ryan, Barbara Hale, Dean Stockwell
Votes: 3,255
29. Thieves' Highway (1949)
Passed | 94 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Thriller
A war veteran turned truck driver attempts to avenge the crippling and robbing of his father at the hands of an amoral produce scofflaw.
Director: Jules Dassin | Stars: Richard Conte, Valentina Cortese, Lee J. Cobb, Barbara Lawrence
Votes: 6,862
30. Walk a Crooked Mile (1948)
Approved | 91 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
During the Cold War, at a California atomic research plant, an FBI agent and a Scotland Yard inspector join forces to eliminate a foreign atomic spy ring operating in the USA and the UK.
Director: Gordon Douglas | Stars: Louis Hayward, Dennis O'Keefe, Louise Allbritton, Carl Esmond
Votes: 1,133
31. 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: 29,900
32. D.O.A. (1949)
Approved | 83 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Frank Bigelow, told he's been poisoned and has only a few days to live, tries to find out who killed him and why.
Director: Rudolph Maté | Stars: Edmond O'Brien, Pamela Britton, Luther Adler, Beverly Garland
Votes: 13,072
33. Outrage (1950)
Passed | 75 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A young woman who has just become engaged has her life completely shattered when she is raped while on her way home from work.
Director: Ida Lupino | Stars: Mala Powers, Tod Andrews, Robert Clarke, Raymond Bond
Votes: 1,817
34. In a Lonely Place (1950)
Not Rated | 94 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Mystery
A potentially violent screenwriter is a murder suspect until his lovely neighbor clears him. However, she soon starts to have her doubts.
Director: Nicholas Ray | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Gloria Grahame, Frank Lovejoy, Carl Benton Reid
Votes: 35,193
35. The Men (1950)
Passed | 87 min | Drama
A paralyzed war vet tries to adjust to the world without the use of his limbs.
Director: Fred Zinnemann | Stars: Marlon Brando, Teresa Wright, Everett Sloane, Jack Webb
Votes: 5,095 | Gross: $7.10M
36. The Next Voice You Hear... (1950)
83 min | Drama, Fantasy
Over a period of a week the voice of God is heard on radios all over the world.
Director: William A. Wellman | Stars: James Whitmore, Nancy Reagan, Gary Gray, Lillian Bronson
Votes: 931
37. I Was a Communist for the F.B.I. (1951)
Not Rated | 83 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
In Pittsburgh, PA, an F.B.I. agent works to undermine the Communist party, but his brothers and his teenage son think he's a real Red.
Director: Gordon Douglas | Stars: Frank Lovejoy, Dorothy Hart, Philip Carey, James Millican
Votes: 964
38. Gun Crazy (1950)
Passed | 87 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Two disturbed young people release their fascination with guns through a crime spree.
Director: Joseph H. Lewis | Stars: John Dall, Peggy Cummins, Berry Kroeger, Morris Carnovsky
Votes: 14,806
39. Let There Be Light (1980)
Not Rated | 58 min | Documentary, War
A group of mentally traumatized veteran patients is followed as they go through psychiatric treatment.
Director: John Huston | Stars: Walter Huston, Benjamin Simon
Votes: 2,025
40. The Steel Helmet (1951)
Approved | 85 min | Action, Drama, War
A ragtag group of American stragglers battles against superior Communist troops in an abandoned Buddhist temple during the Korean War.
Director: Samuel Fuller | Stars: Gene Evans, Robert Hutton, Steve Brodie, James Edwards
Votes: 4,733
41. Big Jim McLain (1952)
Approved | 90 min | Crime, Drama, History
In the post-war Hawaii, House Un-American Activities Committee investigators Jim McLain and Mal Baxter hunt down Communists.
Director: Edward Ludwig | Stars: John Wayne, Nancy Olson, James Arness, Alan Napier
Votes: 2,357
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