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“A near nihilistic obsession with fatalism pervades noir as whole but particularly in the branch of “heist gone wrong.” The Killing practically announces its failed central conceit from the outset, The Asphalt Jungle follows all its thieves as they die, and into this gloomy outlook comes Criss Cr” read more
“B-picture director extraordinaire, Robert Siodmak, crafts this taunt little thriller about a devoted secretary (Ella Raines) going above and beyond to clear the name of her framed boss. That’s essentially the beginning and the end of the film aside from a few sequences of tremendous visual and ton” read more
“A minor noir about the ways in which family can be an albatross around your neck, The Brothers Rico is unremarkable if solid. Eddie (Richard Conte) is living the straight life in Miami when his brothers’ presence causes him to get pulled back into the criminal underworld. Much like Michael Corleon” read more
“I’m not sure if I could dream-up a better swan song for Humphrey Bogart than that of hardboiled reporter blowing the lid off of fixing in boxing. It combines everything that had made Bogart a major star: a combination of weary cynicism and righteous morality, dripping in noirish signposts and a br” read more
“Director Phil Karlson is something of a minor critic’s darling with his beloved noirs The Phenix City Story and Kansas City Confidential frequently getting thrown around on lists of the greatest examples of the genre. Even some of his lesser-known works exhibit a competency with mood and genre tha” read more
“Here’s a little hidden gem in the film noir genre. A nasty little thing that depicts the dire state of mental health services in 1952 (sadly, not much has changed) and a disturbing portrait of a serial killer seeking methods to stop yet incapable of doing so, The Sniper is nearly radical in its pr” read more
“After a four-year absence from the screen, Rita Hayworth returned with frequent co-star Glenn Ford in a film that feels like a rehash of Gilda with a healthy portion of various Hitchcock thrillers thrown in for flavor. The resulting films is a mess of generic plotting and beats that felt rusty in th” read more
“Something of a dry run for On the Waterfront, The Mob is another expose of the subterranean connections lurking within the waterfront. Broderick Crawford stars as an undercover cop who witnesses a homicide and assumes a new identity to explore the dockworkers union for corruption and mob ties. He fi” read more
“A movie star remake of 1939’s proto-noir Blind Alley, The Dark Past substitutes that film’s sweaty intensity for a glossier approach. The results are a mixed bag as William Holden does well as the psychologically fraught prison escapee while Lee J. Cobb overacts, as was his wont, as the college ” read more
