AFI Again Ignores Film Noir Heritage

For what it’s worth, a new AFI list of the Top 100 Movies of All Time has been published, with only nine movies with noir credentials making the list:

3 Casablanca (-1)
9 Vertigo (+52)
16 Sunset Blvd. (-4)
21 Chinatown (-2)
29 Double Indemnity (+9)
31 The Maltese Falcon (-8)
48 Rear Window (-6)
55 North By Northwest (-15)
97 Blade Runner ( -)

I would contend that only four of these movies: Subnset Blvd, Chinatown, Double Indemnity, and The Maltese Falcon are true noirs. So only three out of a 100 is bad. Even if one is not an afficianodo of film noir, I cannot comprehend how Orson Welles’ The Third Man, is not on the list.

These 22 noirs were listed in the ballot of 400 films sent to voters, but did not make the final cut:

The Big Sleep
Gilda
Gun Crazy
I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang
LA Confidential
Laura
Little Caesar
The Lost Weekend
Memento
Mildred Pierce
The Night Of The Hunter
Out Of the Past
The Postman Always Rings Twice
Rear Window
Scarface
Strangers On A Train
The Sweet Smell Of Success
The Thin Man
The Third Man
Touch Of Evil
White Heat