Portable DVD players are joining cell phones, MP3 players, and notebooks as must-haves for discriminating travelers--or at least parents who want to keep the kids from killing one another during...
Here's the list of my film noir favorites ordered from "fantastic" to "merely great." Note that I consider "Laura" to be the best film noir I've ever seen:
The picture nobody wanted, Laura was one of Fox's most notorious bad-luck pictures, and some of the bad luck stuck. After all the studio's A-list directors had turned it down (one of whom, John...
It was a very hot day when Laura Hunt was murdered by a shotgun blast. Mr. Waldo Lydecker was questioned by another detective, Mark MacPherson. Lydecker writes a...
A young man working with the carnival crew is looking for a way to become an entertainer. Surrounded by professionals skilled with magic acts, reading people's emotional needs and fine art of...
This is one of the darkest, most depressing and creepy films I have ever seen. After watching this, I almost wanted to take the dvd outside my house and set it on fire.
This Film Noir just not suitable for Tyrone Power.
After devouring quite a few of the Noir genre' movies of the the 40's & early 50's recently, notably Street with No Name & Laura, this one just doesn't measure up. It may be Power is not right as...
It was interesting and clever that director Elia Kazan used the New Orleans docks as the backdrop for this gritty noir film that features actor Jack Palance's movie debut. Shot on location with...
This is one of those films that looks great when you read the cast list, but that suffers in the execution. It is the terrific acting that carries the viewer through Panic in the Streets' non-plot...
Despite the fact that THE ASPHALT JUNGLE was a film noir that came out in 1950, as the noir cycle was beginning to shift focus, this movie is one of the classics of the film noir genre. From the...
I think that in its time (50+ years ago), "The Ashphalt Jungle" must have been a daring and innovative movie, but it's been so comprehensively and competently ripped off since then (e.g. "The...
The Asphalt Jungle is a classic film noir directed by one of cinema's greatest, John Huston. It's a heist film, but what makes it different from others is that it is more concerned with the...
Intense characters, led by Glenn Ford's portrayal of "Det. Sgt. Dave Bannion," make this one of the better film noirs of the period, at least one of the ones most people seemed to enjoy the...
What more can I say about how beautiful and sexy Gloria Grahame is on the silver screen. I thought she was unbelievable in another noir classic, In A Lonely Place. Certainly she had a juicier...
I can't believe anyone would rate this movie highly. The plot is predictable from the start. The writing is cliched to the max. At times I found myself saying, "they'd never do that, or say that."...
In THE DESPERATE HOURS, Humphrey Bogart, returned to his signature bad guy roles after years of playing the world weary hero. Fredric March co-starred in this classic thriller, directed by William...
Hammy and cheesey. Very midcentury family values. Home invasion movies were somewhat popular then. Sort of a fantasy of average man rising to the occassion. That's not necessarily a bad thing...
Unlike many other reviewers, I found this movie TERRIBLE! If it were newly released today, I think people would laugh at it, as I often did during its playing time.
This is Bogart at his best. What a great movie. I have watched it over and over, it is that good. This movie was made before I was born, FILM NOIR, I love it. The old movies are made with such...
Elsewhere in this space I have noted my love for film noir. The black and white photography, the story lines, the sparse and functional language. However, not all film noir is created equal and...
A Huge Bogart Fan...couldn't watch the whole thing.
The plot drags. Bogart is magnetic, but seems bored, and the film tries to milk his presence instead of working the plotline or magnifying the other characters.
Force Of Evil just doesn't measure up to its press clippings. The convuluted plot lacks action and the acting of Garfield is strictly wooden. He produces no empathy for the character and can...
A dark, cynical film about the culture of greed in America, "Force of Evil" helped earn director Polonsky and its talented star, John Garfield, a place on the Hollywood blacklist. With its edgy...
A movie that feels limited when it should feel claustrophobic, Key Largo has an undeserved reputation of a classic when in fact it's one of Huston's weaker films; with a...
The fourth & final pairing of Bogey & Bacall is a real treat. Also, it's another pairing for Bogey & Eddie G. but this time Bogey got the top billing. This Bogey & Bacall pairing doesn't smolder on...
This VHS recording, although used, was in terrible condition. The tape is not playable at all. On a positive note, they did ship quickly...too bad I could't use the tape for my research project.
A little known and little seen film. A gem of a movie that should have a wider viewing audience. Barbara Payton and James Cagney make a dynamic duo when it comes to screen chemistry. This film...
How can anyone be so dumb? Oh yeah. He was trying to impress Rita Hayworth.
I am always looking for a good San Francisco story (I watch and review San Francisco detective/noir movies), so was curious about The Lady from Shanghai. Yes, it has beautiful views of post-WWII...
A bit of a different take: Could the vindictiveness between Welles and Studio head Harry Cohn have ultimately saved this film and turned it into a out-of-sync classic? It truly is a bizarre...
This movie isn't bad, it has some scenes that do make it worth watching. The end is especially fabulous. Unfortunately, this film was subjected to the cutting table without Welles' aproval of the...
RKO turned out some of the best film noir drama of the forties and fifties and did it with sound economy, capitalizing on multiple talent working in a coordinated fashion.
A weak-chinned Dick Powell makes a decidedly lightweight Philip Marlowe in this moderately effective adaptation Raymond Chandler's "Farewell, My Lovely." Powell doesn't have the physical presence...
"Feelings don't count in my business, just evidence."
Watch-it-or-not-it-really-doesn't-matter film noir about a street tough cop (Ward Cleaver!) on the trail of a cop killer. Poor, poor O'Hara. There are plenty of clues at the crime scene and it...
In "Railroaded", Clara's Beauty Salon operates as a front for a gambling racket, and it's part of a chain of gambling joints owned by Jackland Ainsworth (Roy Gordon). Vicious hood, Duke Martin...
If Dassen's political views had been, say, right wing, would any of the "fillum" critics pay much attention to this at times interesting, overly long, and painfully melodramatic gangster movie? If...
In director Jules Dassin's "Rififi," Tony Stephanois has been released after spending five years in the slammer for a crime he didn't commit. Instead he took the rap for a friend, a kid brother...
Just watched Rififi on DVD from a local rental house prior to buying a copy. Guess what! The whole damn thing is out of sync by 1/2 second. Didn't even notice until they started using the hammers...
A reform candidate's efforts to clean up a mob-controlled town are compromised by his secretary's willingness to cut corners to assure his election as mayor. Meanwhile, the secretary's...
"Slightly Scarlet" was released in 1956. This was a period when the film industry had been rocked on its heels by what Hollywood insiders referred to sarcastically as that "little black box" that...
Ellen (Gene Tierney) is a beautiful, intelligent young woman. She is outwardly perfect in every regard. Unfortunately, she is lacking some things internally. Ellen has no conscience. She also lacks...
I was disappointed with Leave Her to Heaven after reading so many glowing reviews. It seemed too long, and it built far too slowly. Things didn't really get interesting until about an hour in.
This is a visually stunning but horribly acted movie. I was, at first, wondering if this was a colorized version of a black and white film. The colors are so vibrant, and the use of lighting and...
What a pleasure to watch this movie filled with great character actors and great sets. Ms Ball gives a very good performance as a dance hall hostess helping Scotland Yard track down her friend's...
wow catch her acting!! with anne bancroft and great richard widmark....all 3 actors are gone now..as is the elevator operator cousin to monroe's character...eddie jr...cant remember his whole...
'Don't Bother to Knock' looks promising from the outside. What could be better than seeing Marilyn Monroe give one of her few dramatic performances? After all, she was great in 'The Misfits',...
It's interesting that Criterion packaged the original fim adaptation of "The Killers" along with it's remake, or in this case, the reimaging. This is a case, however, where the original in terms...
The Killers (1946) is an excellent film noir that is virtual eye candy. Every scene is beautifully shot with intense blacks, pristine whites and shadowy silhouettes. Cinematographer Elwood Bredell...
More than sex, food or survival, we are creatures driven to find meaning in our lives (or so it's said by those who claim to know such things). A recent film that taps into that mindset, with...
An Apple a day should keep this movie away, this stunk
This was a TERRIBLE movie. Richard Conte as Nick plays s HUGE sap in trying to avenge his father. I had problems with this movie on so many levels, and its all about apples. There is Ed who is...
A fine Jules Dassin film, a bit over-balanced by Lee J. Cobb's criminally sly performance
Jules Dassin directed, in my opinion, two great dramas that happened to be crime films, Night and the City (1950) and Rififi (1955). Earlier, he made two near-great crime films, Naked City (1948),...
A simplistic plot, a crude point, one dimensional characters, and far too much deus ex machina. Its in black and white but the ending is so saccharine it can't be noir. All the makings of a one...
Until recently, I had never seen "The Spiral Staircase" (1945) but I had heard about it. A good director and two distinguished actresses convinced me it was time to try it. I was pleasantly...
This little independant film finally saw release on DVD this year, and if you are a fan of the genre or any of the actors involved, it is well worth seeking out. Familiar names in the cast include...
When comparing this movie to the earlier version, "I Wake Up Screaming", you'll certainly enjoy Victor Mature. He's a good actor and gives a lot more emphasis to his role than Reed in "Vicki".
The thing caught my attention about this film was how stylish it is. The use of shadows, the lighting, the composition of the scenes; everything about it has a beautiful sense that it flows...
'I Wake Up Screaming' was a tightly written, well directed, thoroughly intriging film noir with great performances from all it's leads. In contrast this lame remake boasts a lousy talky script...
This video is good for those of us who love Film Noir and want a listing of films that fall under this category. HOWEVER - they got some facts wrong. For instance, in the video they talk about...
This was a great movie for me to watch. I love 40's and 50's movies, so I thought the movie really showed a lot of the different movies from that time period. I even went out and bought a few of...
"the new jazzy film noir film" The last Heist"should make quentin tarrintino sit up and take notice!" he should veiw this good one and take notice and notes! THE CAMERIDERIE AND DIALOGUE IS REAL...
Robert Ryan & Robert Stack (yep, the guy from "Unsolved Mysteries") vie for control of Tokyo's underworld. In reality, it was the Yakuza that ruled the black-markets and pachinko parlors, and the...
I love Robert Ryan but even he could not save this boring script. What could have been an amazing piece of pop action history ends up a boring love story. BUMMER
Robert Ryan easily outshines Robert Stack in this rigid, brittle noir flick... The script is a bit clunky, but what's most fascinating here is the on-location shooting in an urban Japan that has...
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