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Film noirs to die for.
The Killing [1956]The Killing [1956]
Buy new: £2.98 / Used from: £3.20
Dazzling performances, great story, a genuine noir masterpiece. Sterling Hayden is great in one of my top five noirs. A twisting plot with some cracking one-liners and the fab Marie Windsor.
Pickup On South Street [1953]Pickup On South Street [1953]
Buy new: £4.98
Richard Widmark and Jean Peters sizzle together and Thelma Ritter is fab as the world weary Moe. Sam Fullers great noir. I love the close-ups of the leads in all their snarly, sweaty glory.
Where The Sidewalk Ends [1950]Where The Sidewalk Ends [1950]
Buy new: £6.85 / Used from: £6.85
Dana Andrews may be wooden but Ben Hechts screenplay isn't, neither is Otto Premingers direction. Fatalistic noir, fab.
Gangsters Guns & Floozies Crime Collection: Raw Deal [1948] (REGION 1) (NTSC)Gangsters Guns & Floozies Crime Collection: Raw Deal [1948] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Buy used from: £11.70
Brutal noir, deserves repeated viewing, the more I watch it the more I love it. All 3 leads work brilliantly together as the love triangle with dewy eyes and sensuality. Glorious.
The Night Of The Hunter [1955]The Night Of The Hunter [1955]
Buy new: £3.85 / Used from: £3.25
Who knew Bob Mitchum could act?! Charles Laughtons only film as director, shame, imagine what else he could have achieved after this stunning debut.
The Big Heat [1953]The Big Heat [1953]
Buy new: £4.48 / Used from: £9.57
Great film, Gloria Grahame is outstanding, Glenn Ford isn't bad either, great tale of revenge and redemption.
Detour [1945]Detour [1945]
Buy new: £3.97 / Used from: £3.57
Very low budget film, great nonetheless. Ann Savages shrewish Vera grates against desperate Tom Neal, tightly directed by Edgar G Ulmer.
Force Of Evil [1948]Force Of Evil [1948]
Buy new: £4.98 / Used from: £10.98
Blacklisted Abraham Polonsky wrote and directed this classic starring the divine John Garfield. Classic noir, it really doesn't come any better than this.
Gun Crazy [1949] (REGION 1) (NTSC)Gun Crazy [1949] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Buy used from: £6.46
Check out the cover artwork! Peggy Cummins and John Dall smoulder in this doomed tale of guns and lust.
The Big Combo [1955] (REGION 1) (NTSC)The Big Combo [1955] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Buy used from: £22.75
Obsessive and sexy, not great but enough good moments for repeated viewing. Check out the hint of oral sex and the swallowing salami line, novel ways of avoiding the censor!
Crossfire [1947]Crossfire [1947]
Buy new: £4.98 / Used from: £4.86
HUAC snitch Edward Dmytryk directs this menacing noir. Robert Ryan is genuinely chilling as an anti Semite and Robert Mitchum is great as the GI out to bring him in.
Kansas City Confidential [1952]Kansas City Confidential [1952]
Buy new: £3.97
John Payne is great as the ex con framed for a robbery he didn't commit and sets out to bring the guilty parties to justice.
Double IndemnityDouble Indemnity
Buy used from: £3.19
Sublime noir directed by genius Billy Wilder, Stanwyck is outstanding as the frustrated and amoral Phyllis and with a screenplay by Chandler what could be better?
The Spiral Staircase [1946]The Spiral Staircase [1946]
Buy used from: £4.85
Genuinely creepy noir with an unsettling performance from Ethel Barrymore in a spooky old house. Watch on a dark and stormy night.
The Asphalt Jungle [1950]The Asphalt Jungle [1950]
Buy new: £5.97 / Used from: £8.00
Awesome heist movie with a great cast and direction from John Huston.
Criss Cross [1948] (REGION 1) (NTSC)Criss Cross [1948] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Buy used from: £4.41
Great noir with Dan Duryea,Burt Lancaster and Yvonne de Carlo, the latter pair fairly sizzle together as he cannot take his eyes from her. Seductive and very watchable.
Out Of The Past [1947]Out Of The Past [1947]
Buy new: £4.98 / Used from: £7.78
Bob Mitchum and Kirk Douglas in love with Jane Greer in this stylish noir with some cracking dialogue.
The Reckless Moment [1949]The Reckless Moment [1949]
Buy new: £5.98 / Used from: £13.58
An underrated noir with blackmailer James Mason falling for victim Joan Bennett, classy stuff.
Vertigo [1958]Vertigo [1958]
Buy new: £5.98 / Used from: £3.20
Only Hitchcock could have got away with this twisted psychological tale of obsession and death.
Murder, My Sweet [1944] (REGION 1) (NTSC)Murder, My Sweet [1944] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Buy used from: £6.80
Love this film, not everyone liked Dick Powell as Marlowe, but I think he does justice to the role in this moody noir.
The Big Sleep [1946]The Big Sleep [1946]
Buy new: £4.98
Eddie Muller describes this as cheerfully incoherent and he's right, great film and great cast.
The Postman Always Rings Twice [1946]The Postman Always Rings Twice [1946]
Buy new: £3.98 / Used from: £3.99
Ahh the divine John Garfield again, sizzling script, great performances and gorgeously shot.
The Maltese Falcon [1941]The Maltese Falcon [1941]
Where would noir be without Bogie? One of the best noirs, period.
Laura [1944] (REGION 1) (NTSC)Laura [1944] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Buy used from: £4.49
Dana Andrews falls in love with the dead Gene Tierney is this atmospheric tale.
Kiss Me Deadly [1955]Kiss Me Deadly [1955]
Buy new: £2.98 / Used from: £5.00
Sleazy, vicious and truly hard boiled. What a story!