The following is a list of films and television series often described as film noir.
Film noir is a loosely defined category that refers primarily to stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize moral ambiguity, sexual motivations and an overall pessimistic tone. The original 1955 definition by Borde and Chaumeton noted a requirement for "oneiric, strange, erotic, ambivalent, and cruel" elements in a film noir. Pappas in 2005 declared film noir to be "the language of losers...always about the same things: Sex. Violence. Money." Despite decades of debate between these two definitions, no true consensus on what constitutes film noir is generally accepted today. Thus, the applicability of the term film noir to characterize any given movie is subjective. The term was used neither in the American movie industry nor in American film criticism during most of the 1940s and 1950s, the period when the pictures now regarded as classics of film noir were created. For many films there is substantial difference of opinion on whether or not they should be categorized as noir; notable films from the "classic period" for which this is the case include Casablanca (1942) and the Alfred Hitchcock films Rebecca (1940), Suspicion (1941), and Spellbound (1945).
The relevance of the term to any movies (and television programs) made before or after the "classic period" of the 1940s and 1950s is still debated. The terms used here to describe various periods and variations of film noir are not definitive. They are used as an aid to navigating the list rather than as a critical argument.
As befits the above description, the following list is composed largely of U.S. productions. Movies described as noir made outside the United States are also listed, without any pretense to comprehensiveness. Multinational productions are identified only by the lead country, determined first by the primary language of the film, next by the nationality of the director.
Proto-noir/1900s–1920s
- 1909
- In the Watches of the Night—one-reeler
- Through the Breakers—one-reeler
- The Restoration—one-reeler
- 1912
- 1914
- 1927
- 1928
- 1929
Proto-noir/1930s
- 1931
- 1932
- 1933
- 1934
- 1935
- 1936
- 1937
- 1938
- 1939
Classic film noir/1940s
- 1940
- 1941
- 1942
- 1943
- 1944
- 1945
- 1946
- 1947
- 1948
- 1949
Classic film noir/1950s
- 1950
- 1951
- 1952
- 1953
- 1954
- 1955
- 1956
- 1957
- 1958
- 1959
Classic era color film noir
Classic era noir-comedy crossovers
Classic era noir-Western crossovers
Classic era noir-SF crossovers
Classic era miscellaneous crossovers
Post-classic noir/1960s
Post-classic noir/1970s
Post-classic noir/1980s
Post-classic noir/1990s
Post-classic noir/2000s
Psycho-noir/1980s–2000s
Post-classic noir-comedy crossovers
Post-classic noir-Western crossovers
Post-classic noir-SF crossovers
Post-classic miscellaneous crossovers
Post-classic noir TV series
Proto-noir/non-U.S.
- Der blaue Engel (The Blue Angel) (1930) (Germany)
- La Chienne (1931) (France)
- M (1931) (Germany)
- Der Mann, der seinen Mörder sucht (1931) (Germany)
- Voruntersuchung (1931) (Germany)
- La nuit du carrefour (Night at the Crossroads) (1932) (France)
- Quick (1932) (Germany)
- Stürme der Leidenschaft (1932) (Germany)
- Brennendes Geheimnis (The Burning Secret) (1933) (Germany)
- Cargaison blanche (Traffic in Souls) (1937) (France)
- Mollenard (1937) (France)
- La Serpiente roja (1937) (Cuba)
- Pépé le Moko (1937) (France)
- La Bête humaine (1938) (France)
- Quai des brumes (Port of Shadows) (1938) (France)
- Le Dernier tournant (1939) (France)
- Le Jour se lève (1939) (France)
- Pièges (Snares) (1939) (France)
Classic film noir/non-U.S.
- 1940s
- 1950s
- Cronaca di un amore (Chronicle of a Love / Story of a Love Affair) (1950) (Italy)
- Night and the City (1950) (UK)
- Casque d'or (Golden Marie) (1952) (France)
- The Gambler and the Lady (1952) (UK)
- The Last Page (aka Man Bait) (1952) (UK)
- Nous sommes tous des assassins (1952) (France)
- Stolen Face (1952) (UK)
- Wings of Danger (1952) (UK)
- The Flanagan Boy (aka Bad Blonde) (1953) (UK)
- Quand tu liras cette lettre (1953) (France)
- 36 Hours (aka Terror Street) (1953) (UK)
- Le Salaire de la peur (The Wages of Fear) (1953) (France)
- Avant le déluge (Before the Flood) (1954) (France)
- Les Femmes s'en balancent (Dames Don't Care) (1954) (France)
- Five Days (aka Paid to Kill) (1954) (UK)
- Le Grand jeu (1954) (France)
- The House Across the Lake (aka Heat Wave) (1954) (UK)
- Murder by Proxy (aka Blackout) (1954) (UK)
- Touchez pas au grisbi (1954) (France)
- Bob le flambeur (1955) (France)
- Cast a Dark Shadow (1955) (UK)
- Les Diaboliques (1955) (France)
- Le Dossier noir (1955) (France)
- The Glass Cage (aka The Glass Tomb) (1955) (UK)
- Die Ratten (1955) (Germany)
- Razzia sur la Chnouf (1955) (France)
- Du rififi chez les hommes (Rififi) (1955) (France)
- Nachts, wenn der Teufel kam (The Devil Strikes at Night) (1956) (Germany)
- Ascenseur pour l'échafaud (Elevator to the Gallows) (1958) (France)
- The Rough and the Smooth (1959) (UK)
Post-classic noir/non-U.S.
- 1960s
- 1970s
- Le Boucher (1970) (France)
- Le Cercle rouge (1970) (France)
- Get Carter (1971) (UK)
- Un Homme est mort (The Outside Man) (1972) (France)
- Un Flic (1972) (France)
- Pulp (1972) (UK)
- The Castle of Sand (1974) (Japan)
- Der Amerikanische Freund (The American Friend) (1977) (Germany)
- Série noire (1979) (France)
- 1980s
- 1990s
- 2000s
Psycho-noir/non-U.S.
Post-classic crossovers/non-U.S.
Post-classic noir TV/non-U.S.
Sources
- Borde, Raymond, and Etienne Chaumeton (2002 [1955]). A Panorama of American Film Noir, 1941–1953, trans. Paul Hammond. San Francisco: City Lights Books. ISBN 0-87286-412-X
- Pappas, Charles (2005). It's A Bitter Little World. Cincinnati: Writer's Digest Books. ISBN 1-58297-387-3
No comments have been added.