Film Noir Guide: 745 Films of the Classic Era 1940-1959
by FilmCuckoo | created - 21 Nov 2017 | updated - 05 Mar 2023 | PublicThis is a complete list of all the titles listed in the book "Film Noir Guide - 745 Films of the Classic Era, 1940-1959" by Michael F. Keaney. This book is by far one of the most useful and well thought out book in the subject of Film Noir ever published. I Haven't come across another encyclopedic type of film book, which would offer such a wide and extremely useful way of categorizing Film Noir titles under various themes and sub genres - which I have to say is a brilliant idea! -However, it must be pointed out that, although IMDb doesn't recognize all of the movies listed in Keaney's book as Film Noir - it is good to remember just how difficult task it is to categorize precisely what is Film Noir and what isn't. In any case, I would still recommend this book unreserved to anyone interested in Film Noir.
All the movies are listed here by default in the year of release according to the book. However, there are several clear errors with dates in the book, which you can easily correct by choosing "Release Date (US)" as sorting order, because IMDb's dates are remarkably correct, at least when it comes to first date of publish in US, as most Film Noir titles are after all American made. Of course we do need to keep in mind, that there are lots of British Film Noirs, plus quite a few pure Film Noirs made in other countries as well - need I remind that Kurosawa's "Stray Dog (1949)" is an excellent example of non-American made "true" Film Noirs.
Finally, selecting "IMDb Rating" as sorting order, reveals few unexpected results, which are very very interesting, which in turn reveals yet again the incomprehensible way, how IMDb ratings are "calculated" using a truly bizarre formula which uses meaningless values such as "Popularity" and user location.
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1. Angels Over Broadway (1940)
Passed | 79 min | Adventure, Comedy, Crime
A cuckolded embezzler on the verge of suicide is helped by a tout, an alcoholic playwright, and a pick-up girl to reimburse the money with a gambling sting.
Directors: Ben Hecht, Lee Garmes | Stars: Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Rita Hayworth, Thomas Mitchell, John Qualen
Votes: 1,336
2. City for Conquest (1940)
Passed | 104 min | Drama, Sport
Danny is a content truck driver, but his girl Peggy shows potential as a dancer and hopes he too can show ambition. Danny acquiesces and pursues boxing to please her, but the two begin to spend more time working than time together.
Directors: Anatole Litvak, Jean Negulesco | Stars: James Cagney, Ann Sheridan, Arthur Kennedy, Donald Crisp
Votes: 2,709
3. The Letter (1940)
Not Rated | 95 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
The wife of a rubber plantation administrator shoots a man to death and claims it was self-defense, but a letter written in her own hand may prove her undoing.
Director: William Wyler | Stars: Bette Davis, Herbert Marshall, James Stephenson, Frieda Inescort
Votes: 14,595
4. Rebecca (1940)
Approved | 130 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
A self-conscious woman juggles adjusting to her new role as an aristocrat's wife and avoiding being intimidated by his first wife's spectral presence.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine, George Sanders, Judith Anderson
Votes: 146,715 | Gross: $4.36M
5. Stranger on the Third Floor (1940)
Approved | 64 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
An aspiring reporter is the key witness at the murder trial of a young man accused of cutting a café owner's throat and is soon accused of a similar crime himself.
Director: Boris Ingster | Stars: Peter Lorre, John McGuire, Margaret Tallichet, Charles Waldron
Votes: 4,609
6. They Drive by Night (1940)
Approved | 95 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
When one of two truck-driving brothers loses an arm, they both join a transport company where the other is falsely charged as an accessory in the murder of the owner.
Director: Raoul Walsh | Stars: George Raft, Humphrey Bogart, Ann Sheridan, Ida Lupino
Votes: 8,821
7. Among the Living (1941)
Approved | 67 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Mystery
A mentally unstable man who has been kept in isolation for years escapes and causes trouble for his identical twin brother.
Director: Stuart Heisler | Stars: Albert Dekker, Susan Hayward, Frances Farmer, Harry Carey
Votes: 829
8. Blues in the Night (1941)
Passed | 88 min | Crime, Drama, Music
"Jigger' Pine forms a band that includes singer Ginger 'Character' Powell, wife of the trumpeter Leo Powell, and Nickie Haroyen and Peppi. All of them dedicate themselves to work as a unit ... See full summary »
Director: Anatole Litvak | Stars: Priscilla Lane, Betty Field, Richard Whorf, Lloyd Nolan
Votes: 1,306
9. Citizen Kane (1941)
PG | 119 min | Drama, Mystery
Following the death of publishing tycoon Charles Foster Kane, reporters scramble to uncover the meaning of his final utterance: 'Rosebud.'
Director: Orson Welles | Stars: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Dorothy Comingore, Agnes Moorehead
Votes: 465,963 | Gross: $1.59M
10. The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941)
Passed | 107 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
A nineteenth-century New Hampshire farmer makes a pact with Satan for economic success, then enlists famed orator Daniel Webster to extract him from his contract.
Director: William Dieterle | Stars: Edward Arnold, Walter Huston, Jane Darwell, Simone Simon
Votes: 5,607
11. High Sierra (1940)
Passed | 100 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
After being released from prison, notorious thief Roy Earle is hired by his old boss to help a group of inexperienced criminals plan and carry out the robbery of a California resort.
Director: Raoul Walsh | Stars: Ida Lupino, Humphrey Bogart, Alan Curtis, Arthur Kennedy
Votes: 19,239
12. Highway West (1941)
Passed | 64 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Claire Foster (Brenda Marshall) discovers that her respectable-businessman husband George Foster (Arthur Kennedy) isn't respectable and isn't a businessman, but a gunman in this remake-version of "Heat Lightning".
Director: William C. McGann | Stars: Brenda Marshall, Arthur Kennedy, William Lundigan, Olympe Bradna
Votes: 156
13. I Wake Up Screaming (1941)
Passed | 82 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Why is Inspector Ed Cornell trying to railroad Frankie Christopher for the murder of model Vicky Lynn?
Director: H. Bruce Humberstone | Stars: Betty Grable, Victor Mature, Carole Landis, Laird Cregar
Votes: 5,377
14. Ladies in Retirement (1941)
Passed | 91 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
The housekeeper to a retired actress tries at the same time to look after her own two emotionally disturbed sisters, with dramatic results.
Director: Charles Vidor | Stars: Ida Lupino, Louis Hayward, Evelyn Keyes, Elsa Lanchester
Votes: 1,808
15. The Maltese Falcon (1941)
Passed | 100 min | Crime, Film-Noir, Mystery
San Francisco private detective Sam Spade takes on a case that involves him with three eccentric criminals, a gorgeous liar and their quest for a priceless statuette, with the stakes rising after his partner is murdered.
Director: John Huston | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Gladys George, Peter Lorre
Votes: 166,579 | Gross: $2.11M
16. Out of the Fog (1941)
Passed | 85 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A Brooklyn pier racketeer bullies boat-owners into paying protection money but two fed-up fishermen decide to eliminate the gangster themselves rather than complain to the police.
Director: Anatole Litvak | Stars: Ida Lupino, John Garfield, Thomas Mitchell, Eddie Albert
Votes: 2,262
17. Rage in Heaven (1941)
Approved | 85 min | Drama, Thriller
Robert Montgomery and George Sanders team-up to play against type in this probing psychological thriller that features Ingrid Bergman as the object of their obsessions.
Directors: W.S. Van Dyke, Robert B. Sinclair, Richard Thorpe | Stars: Robert Montgomery, Ingrid Bergman, George Sanders, Lucile Watson
Votes: 1,352
18. Sealed Lips (1942)
Passed | 62 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A detective begins to suspect that a man may be in prison for a crime he didn't commit.
Director: George Waggner | Stars: William Gargan, June Clyde, John Litel, Anne Nagel
Votes: 98
19. The Shanghai Gesture (1941)
Approved | 95 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
In Shanghai, dragon lady 'Mother' Gin Sling operates a gambling house for wealthy patrons but she clashes with influential land developer Sir Guy Charteris who wants to put her out of business.
Director: Josef von Sternberg | Stars: Gene Tierney, Walter Huston, Victor Mature, Ona Munson
Votes: 2,966
20. Suspicion (1941)
Approved | 99 min | Film-Noir, Mystery, Thriller
A shy young heiress marries a charming gentleman, and soon begins to suspect he is planning to murder her.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Cary Grant, Joan Fontaine, Cedric Hardwicke, Nigel Bruce
Votes: 42,432 | Gross: $4.50M
21. A Woman's Face (1941)
Passed | 106 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Thriller
A female blackmailer with a disfiguring facial scar meets a plastic surgeon who offers her the possibility of looking like a normal woman.
Director: George Cukor | Stars: Joan Crawford, Melvyn Douglas, Conrad Veidt, Osa Massen
Votes: 3,778
22. Casablanca (1942)
PG | 102 min | Drama, Romance, War
A cynical expatriate American cafe owner struggles to decide whether or not to help his former lover and her fugitive husband escape the Nazis in French Morocco.
Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains
Votes: 606,002 | Gross: $1.02M
23. Cat People (1942)
Not Rated | 73 min | Fantasy, Horror, Thriller
An American man marries a Serbian immigrant who fears that she will turn into the cat person of her homeland's fables if they are intimate together.
Director: Jacques Tourneur | Stars: Simone Simon, Tom Conway, Kent Smith, Jane Randolph
Votes: 25,991 | Gross: $4.00M
24. Crossroads (1942)
Passed | 83 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
An amnesiac French diplomat is blackmailed for crimes that he committed before he lost his memory.
Director: Jack Conway | Stars: William Powell, Hedy Lamarr, Claire Trevor, Basil Rathbone
Votes: 1,698
25. Fly-By-Night (1942)
74 min | Comedy, Drama, Film-Noir
After being charged with the murder of a scientist, a young doctor must track down a Nazi spy ring to clear his name.
Director: Robert Siodmak | Stars: Nancy Kelly, Richard Carlson, Albert Bassermann, Miles Mander
Votes: 384
26. The Glass Key (1942)
Passed | 85 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A crooked politician finds himself being accused of murder by a gangster from whom he refused help during a re-election campaign.
Director: Stuart Heisler | Stars: Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, Brian Donlevy, Bonita Granville
Votes: 7,398
27. Hitler's Children (1943)
Passed | 82 min | Drama, Romance, War
This lurid exposé of the Hitler Youth follows the woes of an American girl declared legally German by the Nazi government.
Directors: Edward Dmytryk, Irving Reis | Stars: Tim Holt, Bonita Granville, Kent Smith, Otto Kruger
Votes: 998 | Gross: $3.36M
28. Johnny Eager (1941)
Passed | 107 min | Crime, Film-Noir, Mystery
The step-daughter of a district attorney falls in love with a gangster on parole who her father originally imprisoned.
Director: Mervyn LeRoy | Stars: Robert Taylor, Lana Turner, Edward Arnold, Van Heflin
Votes: 3,420
29. Journey Into Fear (1943)
Approved | 68 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Thriller
An American ballistics expert in Turkey finds himself targeted by German agents. Safe passage home by ship is arranged for him, but he soon discovers that his pursuers are also on board.
Directors: Norman Foster, Orson Welles | Stars: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Dolores Del RÃo, Ruth Warrick
Votes: 4,687
30. Keeper of the Flame (1942)
Passed | 100 min | Drama, Mystery
Journalist Steve O'Malley (Spencer Tracy) wants to write a biography of a national hero who died when his car ran off a bridge. Steve receives conflicting reports and tales that make him question what the truth about the hero is.
Director: George Cukor | Stars: Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Richard Whorf, Margaret Wycherly
Votes: 3,225
31. Lady Gangster (1942)
Passed | 62 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Acting as a decoy in a bank robbery Dot get arrested. But before going to jail she manages to steal the $40, 000 loot from her accomplices. Her arrest attracts the attention of her former sweetheart Ken who believes her innocent.
Director: Robert Florey | Stars: Faye Emerson, Julie Bishop, Frank Wilcox, Roland Drew
Votes: 784
32. Moontide (1942)
Approved | 94 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
In California, Bobo and his mooching pal Tiny are doing odd jobs and getting drunk and they hide a secret about the unsolved murder of sailor Pop Kelly but suicidal waitress Anna, saved by Bobo, unravels the mystery.
Directors: Archie Mayo, Fritz Lang | Stars: Jean Gabin, Ida Lupino, Thomas Mitchell, Claude Rains
Votes: 2,228
33. Obsession (1943)
TV-14 | 140 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
Gino, a drifter, begins an affair with inn-owner Giovanna, and they plan to get rid of her older husband.
Director: Luchino Visconti | Stars: Clara Calamai, Massimo Girotti, Dhia Cristiani, Elio Marcuzzo
Votes: 8,274
34. Street of Chance (1942)
Approved | 74 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
After an accident, a New York man with amnesia finds out the ugly truth about his real identity and past by interacting with people who seem to know him well.
Director: Jack Hively | Stars: Burgess Meredith, Claire Trevor, Louise Platt, Sheldon Leonard
Votes: 742
35. This Gun for Hire (1942)
Passed | 81 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
When assassin Philip Raven shoots a blackmailer and his beautiful female companion dead, he is paid off in marked bills by his treasonous employer who is working with foreign spies.
Director: Frank Tuttle | Stars: Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, Robert Preston, Laird Cregar
Votes: 10,616
36. A Tragedy at Midnight (1942)
Passed | 68 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
This Republic murder mystery starts with a radio broadcast by Greg Sherman who solves cases on the air that the local police cannot solve. As he names the perpetrator of a recent murder we ... See full summary »
Director: Joseph Santley | Stars: John Howard, Margaret Lindsay, Roscoe Karns, Mona Barrie
Votes: 162
37. Flesh and Fantasy (1943)
Approved | 94 min | Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
An anthology of three loosely connected occult tales, with ironic and romantic twists.
Director: Julien Duvivier | Stars: Edward G. Robinson, Charles Boyer, Barbara Stanwyck, Betty Field
Votes: 1,151
38. Hangmen Also Die! (1943)
Passed | 134 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Thriller
After the German administrator of Czechoslovakia is shot, his assassin tries to elude the Gestapo and struggles with his impulse to give himself up as hostages are executed.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Brian Donlevy, Walter Brennan, Anna Lee, Gene Lockhart
Votes: 6,388
39. I Walked with a Zombie (1943)
Passed | 69 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
A nurse is hired to care for the wife of a sugar plantation owner, who has been acting strangely, on a Caribbean island.
Director: Jacques Tourneur | Stars: Frances Dee, Tom Conway, James Ellison, Edith Barrett
Votes: 13,665
40. The Leopard Man (1943)
Approved | 66 min | Film-Noir, Horror, Thriller