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Film Noir Collections
Noir Films of America |
Noir Films of America {P to U}
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"Pickup On South Street"
[Fox June 1953]
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An unwitting courier of government secrets on microfilm has her purse stolen while under the eye of government agents. Her Commie spy ex-boyfriend helps her track down the thief, who is then captured by police, tipping off the thief that the film is of major importance.
Co-written & directed by Samuel Fuller; starring Richard Widmark, Jean Peters, Thelma Ritter {Oscar nom}, Murvyn Vye, Richard Kiley, Willis Bouchey & Milburn Stone Criterion b&w DVD [2/2004] for $26.99 Fox b&w VHS [1/98] for $18.98 full credits from IMDb |
"Pitfall" [Regal/United Artists Aug 1948]
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An insurance company executive meets a femme fatale whose robber boyfriend is in jail. The original plan to get her to return lavish gifts paid for from the loot is forgotten when he falls for her. Meanwhile, an insurance detective obsessed with the dame turns the soon-to-be-released boyfriend against the executive.
Directed by André De Toth; based on Jay Dratler's 1947 novel; starring Dick Powell, Lizabeth Scott, Jane Wyatt, Raymond Burr & John Litel
Republic b&w VHS [1/98] out of prodn/used full credits from IMDb |
"The Pledge"
movies based on "Das Versprechen" [1958] by Friedrich Dürrenmatt
Random House hardcover [6/59] out of print/used
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"It Happened In Broad Daylight" aka "Es geschah am hellichten Tag" [Germany June 1958, USA Sept 1960] A West German policeman tracks a perverted child murderer to a small village, where he befriends a mother & child, not telling them that he is waiting for the killer to strike again. Directed by Ladislao Vajda; starring Heinz Rühmann, Gert Fröbe, María Rosa Salgado & Anita von Ow video not available; full credits from IMDb |
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"The Cold Light of Day" remake [Netherlands Jan 1996]
A troubled Russian detective befriends a single woman & her daughter with the intention of using them as bait for a serial killer. Directed by Rudolf van den Berg; starring Richard E. Grant, Lynsey Baxter, Perdita Weeks, Simon Cadell & Thom Hoffman Polygram color VHS [3/97] out of prodn/used full credits from IMDb |
"The Pledge" remake [Morgan Creek/Warner Bros. Jan 2001]
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Not believing a confession followed by a suicide, a just-retired sheriff buys a gas station in the area where several kids have been abducted and killed, seeking the true culprit. He falls in love with the mother of such a girl, but his obsession puts mother and daughter in danger.
Directed by Sean Penn; starring Jack Nicholson, Robin Wright Penn, Vanessa Redgrave, Brittany Tiplady, Patricia Clarkson, Taryn Knowles, Benicio Del Toro, Adrien Dorval, Aaron Eckhart, Costas Mandylor, Helen Mirren, Tom Noonan & Michael O'Keefe Warner color DVD [6/2001] for $12.99 Warner color VHS [10/2001] out of prodn/used full credits from IMDb; official movie site |
"The Postman Always Rings Twice"
A drifter is hired as handyman by the middle-aged proprietor of a roadside restaurant/gas station.
He begins an affair with the owner's beautiful & unsatisfied wife, and then they plot the murder of the old man.
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M.G.M. b&w feature film [May 1946] Directed by Tay Garnett; starring John Garfield, Lana Turner, Cecil Kellaway, Hume Cronyn, Leon Ames & Audrey Totter Warner b&w DVD [1/2004] for $17.99 M.G.M. b&w VHS [6/96] out of prodn/used full credits from IMDb 11"x17" poster from Amazon for $9.99 |
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Lorimar/Northstar color remake [March 1981]
Produced & directed by Bob Rafelson; script by David Mamet; cinematography by Sven Nykvist; starring Jack Nicholson, Jessica Lange, John Colicos, Michael Lerner, John P. Ryan, Anjelica Huston & William Traylor Warner color DVD [8/97] for $9.98 Warner color VHS [1/93] out of prodn/used full credits from IMDb 11"x17" poster from Amazon for $9.99 |
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"Ossessione" Italian-language b&w feature film [Italy May 1943, USA Oct 1976] Co-written & directed by Luchino Visconti; starring Clara Calamai, Massimo Girotti, Dhia Cristiani, Elio Marcuzzo, Michele Riccardini & Juan de Landa Image Ent. b&w DVD [7/2002] for $22.99 Xenon b&w VHS [2/2002] out of prodn/used full credits from IMDb |
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"Le Dernier Tournant" [France May 1939] Directed by Pierre Chenal; starring Michel Simon, Fernand Gravey, Corinne Luchaire, Marcel Vallée, Florence Marly & Robert Le Vigan video/DVD not available; full credits from IMDb |
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1934 novel by James M. Cain [1892-1977] Vintage 8x5¼ pb [5/89] for $8.76 Otto Penzler hardcover [7/96] for $39.95 Caedmon UNABR audio CD [3/2005] for $15.61 1936 Broadway play: credits at Internet Broadway Database |
"Pushover" [Columbia July 1954]
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A cop, seduced and corrupted by a gorgeous moll after a big takedown, soon finds himself in deeper trouble than he can manage.
Directed by Richard Quine; starring Fred MacMurray, Kim Novak, Dorothy Malone, Philip Carey & E.G. Marshall
Goodtimes b&w VHS [8/00] out of prodn/used full credits from IMDb |
"Quicksand" [United Artists March 1950]
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A naive motor mechanic goes into debt to impress a money-hungry waitress.
Directed by Irving Pichel; based on a Cornell Woolrich story; starring Mickey Rooney, Jeanne Cagney, Barbara Bates, Peter Lorre, Wally Cassell & Jimmie Dodd; shot on location at the long-defunct Pike amusement park in Long Beach, CA Alpha Video b&w DVD [1/2004] for $6.98 Ventura b&w VHS [9/97] out of prodn/used full credits from IMDb |
"The Racket" [R.K.O. Dec 1951]
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Two honest cops stand in the way of the local crime boss's plans to elect the crooked prosecutor to a judgeship.
Directed by John Cromwell; script by William Wister Haines & W.R. Burnett, based on the 1927 Bartlett Cormack play; starring Robert Mitchum, Lizabeth Scott, Robert Ryan, William Talman, Ray Collins, Joyce Mackenzie, Robert Hutton, Virginia Huston & William Conrad
Warner b&w DVD [date unknown] out of prodn/used full credits from IMDb |
"Railroaded" [P.R.C./Eagle-Lion Sept 1947]
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A beautician and her mob collector boyfriend stage a fake holdup of the bookie operation in the back room; the robbery goes awry – a cop and a thug are killed – so they lay the blame on the innocent owner of the stolen car used for the getaway.
Directed by Anthony Mann; starring John Ireland, Sheila Ryan, Hugh Beaumont, Jane Randolph, Ed Kelly, Charles D. Brown & Clancy Cooper
Kino Video b&w DVD [1/2000] for $26.99 Kino Video b&w VHS [6/2000] for $18.95 full credits from IMDb |
"Road To Perdition"
[DreamWorks/Fox July 2002]
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A professional hitman for the Irish mob is forced to flee with his son after the boy witnesses a killing. Directed by Sam Mendes; based on the graphic novel {below}; starring Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, Jude Law, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Stanley Tucci, Daniel Craig & Tyler Hoechlin; won Oscar for Best Cinematography, Oscar noms for Best Supporting Actor (Newman) & 4 more; won 2 of 3 BAFTA noms
DreamWorks widescreen DVD [2/2003] for $8.49 DreamWorks widescreen DVD [2/2003] for $13.99 DreamWorks color DVD [2/2003] for $13.99 DreamWorks color VHS [8/2003] for $9.49 Universal soundtrack CD [11/2002] for $17.98 full credits from IMDb DreamWorks official moviesite |
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"Road To Perdition" [graphic novel; 1998] written by Max Allan Collins, art by Richard Rayner Onyx pb [6/2002] for $6.99 Pocket 8x5½ pb [7/2002] for $11.20 Monarch / DC pb [5/98] out of print/used |
"Scarlet Street"
A cashier rescues a dame from her abusive boyfriend; smitten, he tells her that he is a wealthy artist and
sets her up in an apartment (using his shrewish wife's money), where he creates inspired paintings.
The boyfriend sells the paintings under the girl's name, with terrible consequences.
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Universal b&w feature film [Dec 1945]
Directed by [blacklistee] Fritz Lang; based on the prior film & novel; starring Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett, Dan Duryea, Margaret Lindsay, Jess Barker & Rosalind Ivan Kino Video b&w DVD [11/2005] for $21.99 Alpha Video b&w DVD [2/2002] for $7.98 Timeless Multimedia b&w VHS [12/91] for $9.99 full credits from IMDb |
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"La Chienne" b&w film {aka 'The Bitch'} [France Nov 1931, USA Sept 1975] Co-written & directed by Jean Renoir; based on the novel by Georges de La Fouchardière; starring Michel Simon, Janie Marèse, Georges Flamant & Magdeleine Bérubet Kino Video b&w VHS [2/2002] for $23.70 video includes Renoir's short film "A Day in the Country" [1936] full credits from IMDb |
"The Set-Up" [R.K.O. March 1949]
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An aging but optimistic boxer is caught between a loving wife who wants him to quit the ring and a manager who has taken money from a tough gambler for the boxer to take a 'dive' – without telling the boxer.
Directed by Robert Wise; cinematography by Milton R. Krasner; starring Robert Ryan, Audrey Totter, George Tobias, Alan Baxter, Wallace Ford, Percy Helton, Hal Baylor & Darryl Hickman
Turner b&w DVD [7/2004] for $17.99 Warner b&w VHS [11/2001] out of prodn/used full credits from IMDb |
"Show Them No Mercy" [Fox Dec 1935]
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During a rainstorm, a young couple stumbles into the hideout of a gang of kidnappers.
Directed by George Marshall; starring Rochelle Hudson, Cesar Romero, Bruce Cabot, Edward Norris, Edward Brophy & Warren Hymer Fox b&w VHS [1/98] for $18.98 full credits from IMDb |
"The Sniper" [Columbia May 1952]
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San Francisco police are baffled by seemingly random killings of women.
Directed by [blacklistee] Edward Dmytryk; written by Edna & Edward Anhalt {Oscar noms} and Harry Brown; starring Adolphe Menjou, Arthur Franz, Gerald Mohr, Marie Windsor, Frank Faylen & Richard Kiley video not available; full credits from IMDb |
"Split Second" [R.K.O. 1953]
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A notorious killer and two pals escape prison, capture hostages, and hide them in a Nevada ghost town, knowing that an atomic blast is set to go off nearby the next morning.
Directed by Dick Powell; starring Stephen McNally, Alexis Smith, Jan Sterling, Keith Andes, Arthur Hunnicutt, Paul Kelly, Robert Paige, Richard Egan & Frank DeKova Turner b&w VHS [3/89] out of prodn/used full credits from IMDb |
"The Strange Love of Martha Ivers"
[Paramount July 1946]
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A teenage heiress kills her nasty aunt, seen by two local boys; when her boyfriend leaves town, she stays behind. Years later, he returns to find her a ruthless power in the town and married to the feckless district attorney. At first diverted by a lovely blond, he is forced to fend off the blackmail and betrayal of his childhood friends.
Directed by Lewis Milestone; script by Robert Rossen, from a story by John Patrick; cinematography by Victor Milner; music by Miklos Rozsa; starring Van Heflin, Barbara Stanwyck, Kirk Douglas, Lizabeth Scott, Ann Doran, Judith Anderson, Darryl Hickman, James Flavin & Mickey Kuhn
Paramount b&w DVD [10/2005] for $12.99 Alpha Video b&w DVD [11/2002] for $7.98 Timeless Multimedia b&w VHS [12/91] for $12.99 full credits from IMDb |
"The Stranger" [R.K.O. May 1946]
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An investigator for the War Crimes Commission releases one suspect in hope of following him to a mastermind of the Holocaust. The suspect is killed in a small town in Connecticut, and the investigator's only clue is the mastermind's fascination with antique clocks.
Directed by & starring Orson Welles; also starring Edward G. Robinson, Loretta Young, Philip Merivale, Richard Long, Konstantin Shayne, Byron Keith & Martha Wentworth Delta b&w DVD [6/2002] for $7.99 Timeless Multimedia b&w VHS [2/94] for $12.34 full credits from IMDb |
"Thieves Highway" [Fox Oct 1949]
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A man is crippled and robbed by the local rackets boss, and his Navy veteran son seeks revenge.
Directed by Jules Dassin; script by A.I. Bezzerides from his 1949 novel; starring Richard Conte, Valentina Cortese, Lee J. Cobb, Barbara Lawrence & Jack Oakie
Criterion b&w DVD [2/2005] for $35.99 full credits from IMDb |
"The Thief" [United Artists Oct 1952]
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Filmed entirely without dialogue: A nuclear physicist in Washington, DC who has been passing top secret documents to the Communists comes under suspicion of the F.B.I.
Co-written & directed by Russell Rouse; starring Ray Milland, Martin Gabel, Harry Bronson, Rita Vale, Rex O'Malley & Rita Gam Image Ent. b&w DVD [2/2002] for $9.99 First Look b&w VHS [9/97] out of prodn/used full credits from IMDb |
"The Third Man"
[British Lion U.K. Sept 1949; USA Feb 1950]
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Offered a job in post-war Vienna, an American novelist arrives to find that his employer has been killed in a peculiar traffic accident. Further investigation leads to conflicting stories, so he sets out to uncover the truth.
Directed by Carol Reed; script by Graham Greene from his novella; starring Joseph Cotten, Orson Welles, Alida Valli, Trevor Howard, Bernard Lee & Wilfrid Hyde-White; zither music by Anton Karas; won Oscar for Best Cinematography {Robert Krasker}, Oscar & DGA noms for Best Director, won BAFTA for Best British Film; listed on the B.F.I. 100 Best British Films Ever (1999-2000)
Criterion b&w DVD [11/99] for $29.85 Homevision b&w VHS [7/95] out of prodn/used Jasmine Music Anton Karas CD [11/2002] for $13.99 full credits from IMDb |
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"The Third Man" [1950 novella] by Graham Greene
Penguin 7¾x5¼ pb [5/99] for $10.01 Audio PartnersUNABR audio CD [7/98] for $11.67 white 11"x17" poster available at AllPosters.com
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"The Thirteenth Floor" [Columbia May 1999]
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A stylish modern-day noir. The designer of a computer game that is set in 1930s Los Angeles discovers a secret and is killed. His coworkers are suspect, and they search inside the simulated world for clues to the real killer. Location filming included Frank Lloyd Wright's Ennis Brown House in Hollywood, California.
Co-written & directed by Josef Rusnak; based on Daniel F. Galouye's 1963 French-language novel "Simulacron 3"; starring Craig Bierko, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Gretchen Mol, Vincent D'Onofrio, Dennis Haysbert, Steven Schub, Jeremy Roberts, Rif Hutton, Leon Rippy, Janet MacLachlan & Johnny Crawford
Sony color DVD [10/99] for $9.95 Sony color VHS [3/2000] out of prodn/many used Milan Records soundtrack CD [6/99] out of prodn/used full credits from IMDb 11"x17" poster from Amazon for $9.99 |
"This Gun For Hire" [Paramount May 1942]
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A kindly hitman is paid off in 'hot' money, and flees on a train, where he meets the undercover girlfriend of his cop pursuer.
Directed by Frank Tuttle; script by Albert Maltz &
W.R. Burnett from Graham Greene's 1936 novel; starring Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, Robert Preston, Laird Cregar, Tully Marshall, Roger Imhof & Frank Ferguson
Universal b&w DVD [7/2004] for $12.99 Universal b&w VHS [10/95] out of prodn/many used full credits from IMDb blonde 11"x17" poster {above} available at AllPosters.com
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"Touch of Evil"
[Universal April 1958; restored version Sept 1998]
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A narcotics officer from Mexico, honeymooning in a U.S. Border town, gets caught up in a battle against a 'justice at any cost' police chief and Mexican gangsters. Highlights include one of the longest continuous shots in film history, and nighttime location filming in 'downtown' Venice, California.
Written & directed by and starring Orson Welles [1915-85]; based on the Whit Masterson novel; music by Henry Mancini; co-starring Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh, Joseph Calleia, Akim Tamiroff, Marlene Dietrich, Joanna Cook Moore, Ray Collins, Dennis Weaver & Zsa Zsa Gabor; listed in the National Film Registry (1993)
Universal restored b&w widescreen DVD [10/2000] for $10.99 Universal restored b&w VHS [10/2000] out of prodn/used Universal b&w 1958 version VHS [3/92] out of prodn/many used Varese Sarabande soundtrack CD [4/93] out of prodn/rare full credits from IMDb color 11"x17" poster (at left) from Amazon for $9.99 11"x17" b&w poster (at top) from Amazon for $9.99 |
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1956 novel {orig "Badge of Evil"} by Whit Masterson
Carroll & Graf mass pb [10/92] out of print/used "Touch of Evil: Orson Welles, Director" [1985] |
"Trapped" [Eagle-Lion Oct 1949]
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The F.B.I. lets a convicted counterfeiter escape, hoping to locate the engraving plates he used.
Directed by Richard Fleischer; starring Lloyd Bridges, Barbara Payton, John Hoyt, James Todd, Russ Conway & Robert Karnes
Alpha Video b&w DVD [11/2004] for $6.98 full credits from IMDb |
"The Unholy Wife" [R.K.O. June 1957]
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A wealthy winemaker marries a blonde bombshell who is soon bored with him. She seduces a handsome hired hand and plots the husband's murder.
Produced & directed by John Farrow; color cinematography by Lucien Ballard; starring Rod Steiger, Diana Dors, Tom Tryon, Beulah Bondi, Marie Windsor & Arthur Franz
video not available; full credits from IMDb |
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