Detective Movies & Film Noir
Barry Nelson
ChicagoPosts: 1,508MI6 Agent
I am a big fan of detective movies, especially those filmed in the film noir style. Movies like The Maltese Falcon, The Big Sleep and Chinatown are some of my favorites. Much to my disappointment, detective movies and film noir films don't seem to be made anymore. I know we have some great film buffs on this site, so I was wondering if anyone is aware of any recent detective movies that I have may missed. Also would like to know of any other detective, film noir, movies that you have seen and would recommend.
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http://www.martinsfilmnoir.com/
You probably already know these movies, but just in case:
-- Billy Wilder's stone-cold classic "Double Indemnity" with Fred MacMurray and THE femme fatale to end all femme fatales, Barbara Stanwyck (with a screenplay by Raymond Chandler, by the way). The contemporary "Body Heat" with William Hurt and Kathleen Turner, though different, draws its vibe from DI, and is very good as well.
"Out of the Past" with Robert Mitchum and Jane Greer is a classic. Think CR's plot is complicated? Check out this one ...
-- Not exactly film noir, but Bogart's "High Sierra" is a terrific film about a bank robber on the lam. "Look at this headline -- they called me a mad dog ..."
-- Orson Welles' "Touch of Evil" is a masterpiece, with Charlton Heston and Janet Leigh. Don't let Chuck scare you away if you haven't seen it. He plays a Mexican police detective (believe it or not), Vargas, and is quite good.
-- "Kiss of Death" with Victor Mature and Richard Widmark in a star-making role as a Johnny Udo, who pushed an old wheelchair-bound woman down a flight of stars while laughing hysterically.
-- "Murder My Sweet" with Dick Powell as Phil Marlowe
-- "The Big Heat" with Glenn Ford and Lee Marvin
-- "Laura" with Dana Andrews and Gene Tierney
For modern noirs, check out:
-- "Red Rock West" with Nicolas Cage
-- "Palmetto" with Woody Harrelson
-- "The Man Who Wasn't There" with Billy Bob Thorton
-- "The Grifters" with John Cusak (You'll love this one, if you like Annette Bening naked. I do)
Thnaks HH, I am familar with some, but not all those selections. I have heard many good things about Double Indemnity, but never saw it. Murder My Sweet is a good one. Never heard of Red Rock West, but will have to check it out.
Never seen "Double Indemnity"? In a way, you're lucky. Watching it fresh should be quite an experience. Oh -- Edward G. Robinson is in it, too. I forgot. Check out the opening credits, too. They're absolutely brilliant. If you haven't seen "Out of the Past," you'll love Mitchum. They don't make 'em like him anymore.
There were a lot of film noir films made in the early '90s. Unlike the films you've mentioned, though, most of these were told from the point of view of the criminals. These include Reservoir Dogs, Albino Aligator, LA Confidential, The Last Seduction, and Kiss of Death (the remake). The last detective-centered film noir movie I can think of is Blade Runner. Even though it's sci-fi, it's got the film noir look, Harrison Ford acts similar to a Bogart detective and Sean Young is certainly a femme fatale.
A good guide to film noir is Dark City by Eddie Muller. It's very comprehensive and also very funny. I read it straight through and I've returned to it many times as a guide to buying DVD's. Here are his favorites:
http://www.eddiemuller.com/top25noir.html
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By The Big Sleep, I assume you're talking about the Boagy version, not the 70s remake. If you are, then I agree big time: a great film. And I agree on Chinatown and The Maltese Falcon, as well.
Here's a few from my collection I recommend
Where The Sidewalk Ends
Whirlpool
Laura
Kiss Of Death (that's Tommy Udo, not Johnny)
Nightmare Alley
Fallen Angel
I Wake Up Screaming
Shock!
There were so many lesser known but still cool "B" Noirs out there as well. Recently I've been digging Hammer Studios' Brit Noir collection. With great titles like Man Bait and Bad Blonde. These are available R1.
If you like Detective movies I also love the German made krimis from the 60s. Most of these usually had Christopher Lee or Klaus Kinski. I just watched one with Lee, Kinski, and Marisa Mell. What a great cast, Lee plays an FBI man
Great call on The Grifters. A terrific flick.
A few more I'd like to mention:
* Sin City- I know, I know: it's a comic book adaptation. But the style is undeniably noir, and done very well in a modern context. Great flick.
* Blade Runner- I can't believe no one has mentioned this one yet. This is film noir detective story meets film noir. A great movie.
* The Good Thief- Another modern movie from the UK, with Nick Nolte as a thief in the South of France. It's a remake of the movie Bob Le Flambeur. Definitely a cool flick I'd recommend.
* The Third Man- A film with Joseph Cotton and Orson Wells from the late-40s about a writer in post-war Vienna whose friend is a black market profiteer.
* Cape Fear- Classic film noir with Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum. Terrifi film.
* The Killing- An early Kubrick film from the 1950s, and one of his best, IMO. This was before he started making Acid-induced films. (Although The Clockwork Orange and 2001: A Space Oddessy are two of my favorites)
* The Lady From Shanghai- Another great Wells noir flick.
* Pulp Fiction- Not really a detective flick, but one that has some noir elements. This is one of my favorite movies of all time, and one that I immediately stop whatever I'm doing to watch whenever it's on.
I find some glaring omissions so far from you guys: some noir Hitchcock films. Among my favorites include Notorious, The Wrong Man, Vertigo, Strangers on a Train, Shadow of a Doubt, and Rope.
Thankfully, the library at UNC has a terrific media resources center with a huge film-noir collection.
You said it
Firstly, I highly recommend ‘Brick.’ Film Noir conventions are cleverly relocated to High School, as a smart loner tries to figure out who killed the girl he loves. The use of language is brilliant, with the kids talking in an inspired take on hard-boiled dialogue.
There’s also Christopher Nolan’s ‘Memento,’ starring Guy Pearce.
Shane Black’s ‘Kiss Kiss Bang Bang,’ with Val Kilmer and Robert Downey Jnr trading wisecracks as they investigate a Hollywood murder.
‘The Salton Sea.’ Val Kilmer again, this time as a jazz musician, moving amongst the underworld drug scene in an attempt to find the killers of his wife.
A Mike Hodges double-bill, ‘Croupier’ and ‘I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead,’ both starring Clive Owen.
Carl Franklin’s ‘Devil in a Blue Dress,’ Denzil Washington as novelist Walter Mosley’s fictional hero, Easy Rawlins.
‘This World Then the Fireworks,’ underrated film based on an unfinished novel by ‘The Grifters’ writer, Jim Thompson.
There’s also ‘Miller’s Crossing,’ a beautifully written Prohibition-set Coen brothers movie, or Neil Jordan’s 80’s classic ‘Mona Lisa.’
If you can bear subtitles you might want to check out the recent Korean movie, ‘A Bittersweet Life,’ which sees a hitman targeted for death when he disobeys an order to kill his boss’s girlfriend.
You might also want to look at some of the classic French films inspired by the original American Noir movies. In particular Godard’s ‘A Bout de Souffle,’ with Jean-Paul Belmondo as a Bogart-obsessed criminal, or ‘Alphaville,’ which is a detective story combined with science fiction. Or you can try Jean-Pierre Melville’s ‘Le Samurai,’ with Alain Delon as cinema’s first lonely hitman.
And finally, I’d check out the TV show ‘Veronica Mars,’ about a High School girl who moonlights as a private detective. Sounds juvenile, but it’s one of the smartest shows in years, with a tough-minded adult worldview and some great writing.
I think Denzil and Carl Franklin wanted to make more, but it just wasn't viable. I should really check Mosely out. I haven't read his books, but I really like fiction that interacts with historical events. Especially America in the 50's, which for me is a fascinating decade. I've read James Ellroy, who kind of does something similar, but I've yet to see the film version of 'The Black Dahlia.' I did see 'Hollywoodland,' which I really liked. However the reviews in the UK weren't kind, which I thought was a shame.
KISS KISS BANG BANG is also a great modern (and fun!) reworking of older pulpy-style material.
DANCER IN THE DARK and MATCH POINT are two good modern examples of non-detective noirs IMO, I usually don't like those kinda stories but those two films are each gripping in their own way, DITD especially so.
THE COOLER is good, great score too.
And DOGVILLE should probably be in there somewhere, another non-detective noir that really sticks to your ribs.
Thanks to everyone for your suggestions, looking forward to some great future viewing.
i bet my smalltown blockbuster will have none of these films but Im going to compile myself a list anyway
is the Blue Dahlia out on DVD yet? (Blue not Black)
I believe that was Chandlers only all original screenplay, and starred Veronica Lake and Alan Ladd
last time I checked this was yet to be released on DVD
the same two actors also did This Gun for Hire and The Glass Key, both very good highly influential early noirs, esp the 2nd (a Dashiell Hammett adaptation)
Chandler also wrote the screenplay adaptations for Double Indemnity and Strangers On a Train, but did not enjoy his experience as a Hollywood writer and had bad things to say, including calling Hitchcock a fat basstard!
Orson Welles made at least one other noir as well as the ones so far mentioned: The Lady From Shanghai with Rita Hayworth, and its ending in a hall of mirrors
you know Akira Kurosawa made a few Japanese noirs with Toshiru Mifune? not all his films were samurai epics, and the ones that were modernday were in the style of morally ambiguous american crime dramas
the best one I thought was Stray Dog about the blackmarkets in Tokyo in the late 40s
so many modern directors have been influenced by noir
David Lynchs films are full of the style and mood of film noir though he mixes it up to make his own unique vision
and the Coen Brothers: almost every film they make references vintage noir classics in some way
even The Big Lebowski, which could be described as Raymond chandler meets Cheech and Chong
then theres Chinatown, the best Raymond Chandler story Chandler never wrote
de Palmas Black Dahlia was a waste of 2.5 hours of my life however: a textbook example of tasteful influences not being enough to make a good film, a filmmaker actually needs original ideas not just hep visual quotes
I havent seen Robert Mitchums Marlowe movies in a long time but would like to now that Ive read the source material
anybody ever see the Elliot Gould/Robert Altman version of The Long Goodbye?
as good as the Bogie/Bacall version of the Big Sleep is, they managed to totally trash Chandlers story by expanding Bacalls character and minimising the little sisters part, including the key narrative revelation that she was the one who killed Rusty Regan! Hollywood producers and their skewed priorities...
And MULHOLLAND DRIVE is definiately a good modern noir, the best of Lynch's attempts IMHO.
CAPE FEAR, the original, has to be my favorite noirish film of back then, not a true noir but Mitchum is simply incredible in it. He's also great in OUT OF THE PAST, my favorite old-timey detective noir.
Saw SCARLET STREET recently, Edward G. is great in that, also Joan Bennett. Lang really hit the mark with that one, a real Goodis feel to it. Robinson is also very fine in THE RED HOUSE, a sort of country noir.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
And I couldn't be more grateful.
http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=20807
A really well done Marlowe, is "Farewell My Lovely", with Robert Mitchum. Directed by Dick Richards, also stars Charlotte Rampling - came out the same years as "Chinatown". Its a remake of a Bogart version and I think very effective.
My favorite Mitchum is "His Kind of Woman" with an outstanding supporting role by Vincent Price.
Bond’s Beretta
The Handguns of Ian Fleming's James Bond