Image from classicfilmnoir.com Some of the most brutal noirs of the 1940s came from the man who would go on to win Best Director Oscars for West Side Story (1961) and The Sound of Music (1965), a fact that amazes me every time I think about it. Much like Anthony Mann, who went from noirs to Westerns, Robert Wise went from noirs to dramas and musicals, and is undoubtedly more celebrated for the latter two, but there is something to be said for his noirs. Born to Kill (1947) is one of the few I can barely sit through, due to its immensely evil nature, I Want To Live! (1958) is equally devastat ..read more

Image from the AvaGardnerMuseum page Who killed the chauffeur? Why isn't Kansas City Confidential (1952) called Tijuana Confidential? How come Dan Duryea always managed to open every door despite the fact that he couldn't possibly have had the keys to any of them? These are questions we have all asked ourselves at some point in our lives... at least, I have. And maybe three other people. Well, you can add 'why didn't the Swede fight back?'. The answer may or may not lie with Kitty Collins. Based on the Ernest Hemingway short story of the same name, which I've actually read, The Killers (1946 ..read more

Image from classicfilmnoir.com Much like Dix and Laurel from In A Lonely Place (1950), Keechie and Bowie from They Live by Night (1948) belong somewhere other than the dirty streets of film noir. Nicholas Ray evidently liked his couples desperately in love and essentially doomed. Come to think of it, that's perfect for film noir. Based on the Edward Anderson novel ‘Thieves Like Us’, They Live By Night starts off noir-ish enough: Arthur 'Bowie' Bowers (Farley Granger) has just escaped from prison with the help of two bank robbers, Chicamaw, played by the always great to watch Howard da Silva ..read more

Image from dvdbeaver.com All of the losers featured here, Sam Masterson is the only one who isn't really a loser. In fact, the only reason I chose him over Kirk Douglas' Walter or Barbara Stanwyck's Martha, is because he represents one of my favorite tropes in film noir: going back to your hometown and regretting it. And because Van Heflin is fantastic as usual. Pennsylvania, 1928. A young Martha Ivers (Janis Wilson) tries to run away with her friend Sam Masterson (Darryl Hickman), but she's captured and returned to her mansion, under the watchful eye of Mrs Ivers (Judith Anderson). Later th ..read more

Image from speakupaskanswer.com 'First half, good girl. Second half, bad girl', said Jacques Tourneur to Jane Greer. Apart from the advice Michael Curtiz allegedly gave Ingrid Bergman about her character's love triangle debacle in Casablanca ('Play it in between'), this is one of the greatest pieces of acting advice ever from a director. Because it is Kathie Moffat to a T. Written by Daniel Mainwaring, based on his own novel 'Build My Gallows High', Out of the Past (1947, dir. Jacques Tourneur) opens with Joe Stefanos (Paul Valentine) arriving at a gas station in Bridgeport, California. He's ..read more

Image from classicfilmnoir.com Noir and melodrama often go hand in hand. Especially if Barbara Stanwyck has anything to do with it. And Clash by Night's Mae Doyle may just be one of the most perfect examples of that. One of the greatest performances in a career that, may I point out since we're in award season, went Oscar-less. Written by Alfred Hayes and based on the Clifford Odets play of the same name, Clash by Night (1952, dir. Fritz Lang) tells the story of Mae Doyle (Barbara Stanwyck), a cynical and bitter woman who returns to her hometown, Monterey, Calif., after a decade in New York ..read more

Image from BAMF Style Of all the characters in all the films noir in all of Hollywood, Dix Steele is the most relatable to me. I, too, am a grumpy, temperamental screenwriter who's a little bit in love with Gloria Grahame. I just don't live in a lavish apartment in Hollywood. Action! Los Angeles, California. Dix Steele (Humphrey Bogart) has to read a book that he's going to adapt for the screen. He doesn't want to, so he gets hat-check girl Mildred Atkinson (Martha Stewart) to come home with him so she can tell him the story, since she's so clearly engrossed by it. The next day, she is found ..read more

Image from www.eoeconomist.com If the streets of noir world had names, Arrogant Alley would surely be one of them. And Waldo Lydecker would be its most prominent resident. Clifton Webb's return to the screen at the age of fifty-four gave him his most enduring film role and us the most acerbic wit ever in film noir. Based on the Vera Caspary novel of the same name, Laura (1944, dir. Otto Preminger) is a classic whodunnit. Who killed advertising executive and socialite Laura Hunt (Gene Tierney) and why? That's what Detective Mark McPherson (Dana Andrews) wants to know. We have Waldo Lydecker ..read more

Image from criminalelement.com If you thought comedy and horror get overlooked at the Oscars, you should have a word with film noir. Noir was consistently ignored by the Academy back in the day, which is why this is the *first* Oscar-nominated performance ever featured on The Losers of Film Noir. Everyone's ultimate character actress Thelma Ritter was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role as police informant in Pickup on South Street (1953) and what a deserved nomination that was. Written and directed by Samuel Fuller, the titular pickup in Pickup on South Street happens on a Ne ..read more

Image from classicfilmnoir.com Before he started rolling around on the beach with Deborah Kerr, ordering Tony Curtis around, or diving in everyone's swimming pools, Burt Lancaster played naive fools in 1940s noirs. Robert Siodmak, in particular, clearly thought he had a knack for it, as he played a similar character in not one but two of his films. One is The Killers (1946). The other is Criss Cross (1949) - see if you can spot Curtis’ early cameo. Based on Don Tracy's novel of the same name, Criss Cross stars Burt Lancaster as an armored truck driver caught up on a bad case of double crossi ..read more