These are my personal, perhaps idiosyncratic, takes on these films. Don’t expect lengthy plot outlines or arcane trivia. I focus on each film as the story on the screen, which is all that really matters. The articles are short and I hope to the point. – Tony D’Ambra

Over 200 Quick Film Noir Reviews here.

Warning: I try to avoid them but some reviews may contain spoilers

36 Quai des Orfèvres (France 2004): Brilliant Neo-Noir
711 Ocean Drive (1950)
99 River Street (1953)
Ace In The Hole (1952): The Media Circus
Act of Violence (1948): “No law says you got to be happy”
The Amazing Mr. X (1948)
Angel Face(1952): Gothic Noir
The Air I Breathe (2007): Noir Liberation
Alias Nick Beal (1949): The Devil wears Armani
Allotment Wives (1945): The main squeeze is a dame!
Apology for Murder (1945)
Armored Car Robbery (1950): Solid B-Noir
The Asphalt Jungle (1950): When The City Sleeps
The Big Combo (1955): Quintessential Noir
The Big Heat (1953): Film Noir As Social Criticism
The Big Night (1951)
The Big Heat (1953) Revisited
The Big Sleep (1946): Love’s Vengeance Lost
The Big Steal (1949): “Oh Mexico”
Black Angel (1946)
The Black Cat (1934): Erotic nightmare
The Blue Gardenia (1953)
Blues in the Night (1941): Noir Counterpoint
Blood on the Moon (1948): Quintessential Noir Western
The Blue Dahlia (1946): Fade To Gray
Body and Soul (1947): “Everybody dies”
Boomerang (1947): Not Noir
The Breaking Point (1950)
The Bribe (1949): Too late the fireworks
Brick (2005) – Disappointing
Brighton Rock (1947 UK)
The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (Germany 1919)
Caged (1950): “the plot of our life sweats in the dark like a face”
Call Northside 777 (1948): “It’s a good world outside”
Cat People (1942): Another sound – the panther – it screams like a woman
Caught (1949)
Christ in Concrete (1949): Simply a masterpiece
Clash By Night (1952): Love… because we’re bored
The Clay Pigeon (1949): Snappy B Thriller
A Colt is My Passport (Koruto wa ore no pasupoto – Japan 1967)
Crack-Up (1946)
The Crimson Kimono (1959): Little Tokyo Rift
Crime Wave (1954): On The Streets of LA
Criss-Cross(1949)
Crossfire(1947)
Cry Danger (1951): About as noir as white coffee
A Cry in the Night (1956): The art of the interlude…
Dark City (1998) The Director’s Cut: Zapped by the biochemist
The Dark Corner (1946)
The Dark Knight (2008): Still a comic
The Dark Mirror (1946 ): On the other side
Dark Passage (1947): Not so dark
Dead Reckoning (1947): “Sorry gorgeous I didn’t see what you looked like…”
Decoy (1946): B- Psuedo-Noir
Desert Fury (1947): Technicolor Noir
Destination Murder (1950): The Alter-Ego and the Pianola
Detective Story (1951): “I built my whole life on hating my father”
Detour (1945): Serious Not
The Devil Thumbs A Ride (1947): A Dark Little Gem
D.O.A (1950)
Double Indemnity (1944): Proto-Noir
Double Jeopardy (1955): Pulp Heaven
Drunken Angel (aka Yoidore tenshi) (1948 Japan)
Elevator to the Gallows (Ascenseur pour l’échafaud – France 1958)
Fallen Angel (1945)
Endless Desire (1958 Japan)
Escape (1948 UK)
The Face Behind the Mask (1941): Iconic proto-noir
Fear in the Night (1947): Wake in fright
The File On Thelma Jordan (1950): You always intend when you have to…
Five Star Final (1931): Down with the bosses!
Follow Me Quietly (1949): The Aesthetics of the B-Noir
Force of Evil (1948)
Full Confession (1939): Interesting Early Noir
Fury (1936): On The Threshold of Noir
Gambling House (1950): Obscure Gem
The Garment Jungle (1957): Gia Scala’s Picture
The Ghost Ship (1943): Noir at Sea
Gilda (1946): Lovely Rita…
The Glass Key (1942)
The Glass Web (1953) “:(“
The Good Die Young (UK 1954): British Noir
Gun Crazy (1950): Not so Bonnie and Clyde
The Harder They Fall (1956): For a few lousy bucks
Highway 301(1950)
The Hitch-Hiker (1953): Desert Noir
He Walked by Night (1948)
Hollow Triumph (1948): Baroque Noir
Hollywood Story (1951)
Hôtel du Nord (France 1938): Arletty as femme noir
The House Across the Lake (aka Heat Wave) (1954 – UK)
Human Desire (1954): The beast within
I Can Get it For You Wholesale (1951)
I Love Trouble (1948): Hot-jive noir
Impact (1949): Noir Mash-Up
In A Lonely Place (1950): The “Creative” Outsider
In A Lonely Place (1950): A Psychic Prison
In the Valley of Elah (2007): Responsibility and Chaos
I Wake Up Screaming (1941): Bizarre Transference
I Walk Alone (1948)
I Was a Communist for the FBI (1951)
Journey Into Fear (1943): Oriental Intrigue
Key Largo (1948): Almost Noir
The Killer That Stalked New York (1950)
The Killers (1946): Fata Morgana
The Killers (1946) Revisited: Noir As Tragedy
The Killing (1956) – Great But Not Noir
Kiss Me Deadly (1955): Hollywood Dada
Kiss Me Deadly (1955) – Is Mike Hammer Really Such a Bad Guy?
Kiss the Blood Off My Hands (1948)
Kiss of Death (1947): More Than Udo
Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye (1950)
Knock on Any Door (1949)
The Lady From Shanghai (1947): “Then the beasts took to eating each other”
LA Confidential (1997)
A Lady Without Passport (1950)
Laura (1944)
The Leopard Man (1943): Dated and Over-rated
The Locket (1946): Freudian Melodrama
The Long Night (1947)
The Lost Weekend (1945): “I can’t take quiet desperation”
Lucky Nick Cain (1950)
Lured (1947)
Macao (1952): “You’re up early for a loser”
Macao, L’enfer Du Jeu (1939): Only the Innocent Survive
The Maltese Falcon (1941): Love in Noir
Manèges (aka The Wanton 1950 – France)
Man Hunt (1941): The Thriller As Propaganda
The Man Who Cheated Himself (1949): True Noir
Michael Clayton (2007): Noir elements
Mildred Pierce (1945): “alligators have the right idea… they eat their young”
Moontide (1944)
Murder, My Sweet (1944): A face like a Sunday school picnic
My Name Is Julia Ross (1945)
The Naked Kiss (1964): Pulp Noir
The Naked City (1948): “There are 8 million stories… “
The Narrow Margin (1952): B plus
Night And the City (1950): A Near Perfect Noir
Night Editor (1946)
The Night of the Hunter (1955): Not Noir
Nightfall (1957): Final curtain call for classic noir
Night Has a Thousand Eyes (1948)
Nightmare Alley (1947): Geeks and Freaks
Nora Prentiss (1947): Turbo-charged Noir Melodrama
No Way Out (1950): ”Is it a question… or an answer?”
Obsession (1948 UK)
Of Missing Persons (1956 Argentina)
On Dangerous Ground (1951): “You get so you don’t trust anybody”
Out Of The Past (1947) – Tourneur’s Mise En Scene
Out Of The Past (1947) – Tourneur’s Mise En Scene Revisited
Panic In the Streets (1950): Neo-Realist Noir
Party Girl (1958)
Phantom Lady (1944)
The Phenix City Story (1955)
Pickup On South Street (1953)
Port of New York (1949): Cut-out Cops
Le quai des brumes (Port of Shadows – France 1938): Poetic Realism
Possessed (1947): Melodramatic Soap
The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
Private Hell 36 (1954)
The Prowler (1951): The Dark Side of the American Dream
Pursued (1947)
Pushover (1954)
Railroaded (1947)
Raw Deal (1948)
The Reckless Moment (1949): “we want to liquidate our stock… ”
Ride the Pink Horse (1947): A heart full of soul
Rififi (France 1955): America’s Loss France’s Gain
Roadblock(1951)
Road House (1948): Noirish Melodrama
Ruthless (1948): “Not a man, a way of life”
San Quentin (1946): B-noir filler
Scandal Sheet (1952)
Scarlet Street (1946): Unrelenting Noir
The Second Woman (1950)
Secret Beyond the Door (1948)
The Set-Up (1949)
The Seventh Victim (1943): “And all my pleasures are like yesterdays”
Shock (1946): The Killer Shrink from Frisco!
The Sleeping City (1950)
The Sniper (1952): Off Target
The Sound of Fury (1950)
Split Second (1953): No cops required
Stranger on The Third Floor (1940): The Noir Dream-Scape
The Stranger (1946): Jungian Noir
Strangers in the Night (1944)
Strange Illusion (1945)
Stray Dog (Japan 1949): Kurosawa 5-star Noir
Sunset Boulevard (1950): “I’m ready for my closeup”
Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
They Drive by Night (1938 UK)
They Live by Night (1948): Great but is it noir?
They Made Me a Criminal (1939)
They Made Me a Killer (1946): “You asked for it sister”
They Won’t Believe Me (1947): Guilt by Intention
Thieves’ Highway (1949)
The Third Man (1949): Sublime
This Gun For Hire (1942)
T-Men (1947): Electric Noir
Too Late For Tears (1948): Kiss of the Viper Woman
Touch of Evil (1958) – Some Kind of a Movie
Tread Softly Stranger (UK 1958)
The Unsuspected (1947)
Underworld USA (1961): “We got a right to climb out of the sewer and live… ”
Une Si Jolie Petite Plage (France 1949): Iron in the soul
Union Station (1950): On Ice in the Train Shed
Voici le temps des assassin (1956 France)
Vertigo (1958): Red for Noir
Walk Softly, Stranger (1950): Romantic Noir
The Web (1947)
The Well (1951)
When Strangers Marry (1944): Into the seething labyrinth
Where Danger Lives (1950): It’s a long road…
Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950)
White Heat (1949): Fission Noir
Whirlpool (1949)
Witness to Murder (1954)
The Woman in the Window (1944): Over-rated
The Woman On the Beach (1947)
The Woman on Pier 13 (1949): Better Wed than Red
Woman on the Run (1950): Intelligent B Thriller
A Woman’s Secret (1949)
World For Ransom (1954)
You Only Live Once (1937)
Young Man with a Horn (1950)