Top 10 Film Noir Movies

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What is film noir? Are they films about hard boiled detectives and seductive femme fatales? Are they about troubled heroes with soiled pasts that keep catching up with them? Are they all about black and white chiaroscuro lighting, dark offices with light shining in through the blinds, and cigarette smoke that takes on a life of its own? Maybe.

And maybe not. What we do know is that the great film noirs were originally created as pulp B-movies that usually concerned private eyes, cops, and criminals. One of the defining characteristics of the genre is that the characters all inhabited a grey area of morality. But is that enough to qualify a movie as a film noir? For decades, film critics have debated about which movies count as film noir and some films have fallen in and out of favor for various reasons. However, there has always been a short list of films that are universally agreed to be definitive examples of the genre.

Here, I have gathered ten classic era film noir movies for your consideration. They are listed chronologically from the time that they first premiered. So grab a fedora, a cigarette, and a bottle of whiskey, for these are the top ten classic era film noir.

10. The Maltese Falcon

Considered by many to be the very first film noir, John Huston’s directorial debut would go down in history as one of the great detective movies. The film is based on Dashiell Hammett’s book (also called The Maltese Falcon) and star Humphrey Bogart in one of his best roles as private eye Sam Spade. The story starts with the ****** of Spade’s partner Miles Archer. Although he never really liked him, Spade is honor bound by his personal code of ethics to track down his ****ers. Along the way he will get involved with the sultry Miss Wanderly and a group of criminals who seek a gold-encrusted falcon sculpture known as the Maltese Falcon. As Spade gets closer and closer to discovering the identity of his partner’s ****er, he gets more and more involved with the search for the priceless statue. Is the death of his partner linked with the statue? Why are so many people so desperate to find it? And how is the mysterious Miss Wanderly involved? Complete with evocative cinematography and camera angles that recall Citizen Kane (released the same year), The Maltese Falcon is both a technical and thematic milestone for film noir- the characters and filming techniques continue to be emulated today.

Best Hardboiled Line

When a man’s partner is ****ed, he’s supposed to do something about it. It doesn’t make any difference what you thought of him. He was your partner and you’re supposed to do something about it. And it happens we’re in the detective business. Well, when one of your organization gets ****ed, it’s – it’s bad business to let the ****er get away with it, bad all around, bad for every detective everywhere.

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9. Double Indemnity

Late one night, successful insurance salesman Walter Neff breaks into his office building in Los Angeles. Bleeding and in pain, he begins to recite his story into a Dictaphone for his colleague Barton Keyes to find the next morning. His story is one of deception and betrayal. So begins Billy Wilder’s gritty masterpiece, based on the book by James M Cain. As we sit and watch, we learn how Walter began an affair with the captivating Phyllis Dietrichson, played by the ultimate femme fatale actress, Barbara Stanwyck. It isn’t long before she convinces him to help her ****** her husband, Mr. Dietrichson, in order to collect his life insurance money. The trouble is, the ****** must look like an accident in order for them to collect on his insurance’s double indemnity clause. The ****** is done sloppily and it isn’t long before the authorities are on his trail. Is it possible that he was betrayed? As more details come to light, it becomes evident that Phyllis isn’t who she claims she is. Double Indemnity is one of the most influential film noirs ever made for its pioneering use of the femme fatale character archetype. With one of the cinema’s greatest plot twists and a performance by Stanwyck that would make Phyllis Dietrichson one of the greatest villains of all time, Double Indemnity has inspired countless imitators and remakes, including the superb 1981 neo-noir Body Heat.

Best Hardboiled Line

How could I have known that ****** could sometimes smell like honeysuckle?

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8. Laura

There are some who would argue that film noir is the genre of obsession. If that is true, then Laura is the shining jewel in the genre’s crown. It follows detective Mark McPherson as he investigates the death of famous advertising executive Laura Hunt. Suspects include the venomous newspaper columnist Waldo Lydecker, the man who promoted Laura at the start of her career, her fiancé Shelby Carpenter, her rich aunt Ann Treadwell, and her housekeeper Bessie Clary. As he begins to interview them, he begins to realize that every one of them was in love with Laura. Even stranger, he discovers that he is beginning to fall in love with her as well, at least until Laura shows up alive one night at her front door. Featuring a notoriously labyrinthine plot, Laura is a devastating ****** mystery. It develops a powerful intensity as the characters delve further and further into their own neuroses and motivations. Universally praised when it first debuted, Laura has gained a powerful following as one of the great early film noirs. With sumptuous cinematography that earned it an Academy Award, Laura is a fabulously beautiful film. But you will be too obsessed with the plot to care. Who ****ed Laura? And more importantly, who is Laura?

Best Hardboiled Line

I shall never forget the weekend Laura died. A silver sun burned through the sky like a huge magnifying glass. It was the hottest Sunday in my recollection. I felt as if I were the only human being left in New York… I had just begun Laura’s story when another of those detectives came to see me. I had him wait.

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7. Detour

Detour may take the prize as the purest distillation of film noir ever committed to film. Made on a pitifully small budget with limited resources in six days, Detour features all the great noir clichés: a down and out protagonist running from his past, a foul-tempered femme fatale, stylized dialogue, and a moody, bleak voiceover. It deals with a hitchhiker played by Tom Neal. He hitches a ride with a businessman one night who complains about his previous passenger, a crazy woman who scratched him. Much to the hitchhiker’s dismay, the businessman dies. He panics and throws his body into the desert and drives off. Too bad his next passenger is a fiery redhead who asks him where the real driver of the car is. She threatens to blackmail him because she knows that he has stolen the car. In that moment, their destinies become linked and they plunge towards a tragic outcome that they cannot escape. A filthy, messy production, Detour’s flaws become its greatest strength. It achieves a kind of transcendent power by wallowing in the filth of its story and creation. It is a dim, weary, claustrophobic masterpiece that will haunt you for the rest of your life. Just remember, be careful who you pick up by the side of the road at night…

Best Hardboiled Line

That’s life. Whichever way you turn, Fate sticks out a foot to trip you.

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6. The Big Sleep

To sum up the plot of The Big Sleep in one paragraph is almost impossible. It has what could very well be the most complicated plot in film noir history. Even Raymond Chandler, the author of the book that it was based on, once famously admitted that he didn’t know the answer to all of the plot twists and holes. But despite the nearly incomprehensible plot, The Big Sleep is universally regarded as one of the definitive masterpieces of the genre. This time Humphrey Bogart plays the famous hardboiled detective character (this time the famous Philip Marlowe). He finds himself in the employ of the sick and dying General Sternwood, who asks him to keep an eye on his daughter Carmen who has fallen in with a bad group of people. Too bad he is distracted by her beautiful older sister Mrs. Vivian Rutledge (played by the amazing Lauren Bacall). Things begin to get out of control as people start dying all around Marlowe and he gets involved with powerful criminals, an underground ****ography ring, and several nasty cases of blackmail. With some of the greatest ***ual chemistry ever captured on screen with Bogart and Bacall, The Big Sleep is an intoxicating affair that will keep you fascinated long after the story has stopped making sense.

Best Hardboiled Lines

Vivian: (speaking of horses) I like to play them myself. But I like to see them workout a little first, see if they’re front runners or come from behind, find out what their whole card is, what makes them run.
Marlowe: Find out mine?
Vivian: I think so.
Marlowe: Go ahead.
Vivian: I’d say you don’t like to be rated. You like to get out in front, open up a little lead, take a little breather in the backstretch, and then come home free.
Marlowe: You don’t like to be rated yourself.
Vivian: I haven’t met anyone yet that can do it. Any suggestions?
Marlowe: Well, I can’t tell till I’ve seen you over a distance of ground. You’ve got a touch of class, but I don’t know how, how far you can go.
Vivian: A lot depends on who’s in the saddle.