Greatest Film Noir Movies (Revision Version)

[Lew]

Background: 'Film Noir' was the term given by French film critic Nino Frank in 1946 to Hollywood crime films playing in France following WWII. The 'Golden Age' of Film Noir is regarded to be the 1940s and 1950s, and as with any set dates there is always some overlap of the style. However 'Noir' style films from 1960 and on have been labeled 'Neo-Noir'. (See list below top 100)

Elements of 'Film Noir': Night-time city streets; morally weak private eye, detective, or other protagonist; femme fatale (a beautiful but treacherous woman); crime of passion or money; high-contrast lighting and distorted shadows; paranoia; corruption; an ill-fated relationship; narrative in the "first-person". Any mixture or slight variation of this soup of elements constitutes a "Noir" film. (A precise definition has never been set in stone)

Criteria: These Greatest 'Film Noir' Movies were chosen for their direction, acting, storyline, cinematography, box office success and popularity. These films were NOT chosen for how highly rated they are overall, but how they rate in the subject of "Film Noir Movies".

Edited By: Lew, Brian
Last Updated: 2025-06-08

Link: https://digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/movi ... m_noir.php


The Maltese Falcon

Title - (Year, Director) (Main Actors)

1. The Maltese Falcon
(1941, John Huston) (Humphrey Bogart, Peter Lorre, Mary Astor)

2. Double Indemnity
(1944, Billy Wilder) (Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson)

3. The Big Sleep
(1946, Howard Hawks) (Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, John Ridgely)

4. Sunset Boulevard
(1950, Billy Wilder) (Gloria Swanson, William Holden, Erich von Stroheim)

5. The Third Man
(1949, Carol Reed) (Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Trevor Howard, Alida Valli)

6. M
(1931, Fritz Lang) (Peter Lorre, Ellen Widmann, Inge Landgut, Otto Wernicke)

7. Notorious
(1946, Alfred Hitchcock) (Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, Claude Rains, Louis Calhern)

8. Touch Of Evil
(1958, Orson Welles) (Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh, Orson Welles, Dennis Weaver)

9. The Night Of The Hunter
(1955, Charles Laughton) (Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Lillian Gish)

10. Criss Cross
(1949, Robert Siodmak) (Burt Lancaster, Yvonne De Carlo, Stephen McNally)

11. Strangers On A Train
(1951, Alfred Hitchcock) (Farley Granger, Ruth Roman, Robert Walker)

12. Out Of The Past
(1947, Jacques Tourneur) (Robert Mitchum, Kirk Douglas, Rhonda Fleming)

13. Odd Man Out**
(1947, Carol Reed) (James Mason, Robert Newton, Cyril Cusack, Kathleen Ryan)

14. The Big Combo
(1955, Joseph H. Lewis) (Cornel Wilde, Richard Conte, Jean Wallace)

15. The Killing
(1956, Stanley Kubrick) (Sterling Hayden, Coleen Gray, Vince Edwards)

16. Key Largo
(1948, John Huston) (Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Edward G. Robinson)

17. Laura
(1944, Otto Preminger) (Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews, Clifton Webb, Vincent Price)

18. They Live by Night**
(1948, Nicholas Ray) (Cathy O'Donnell, Farley Granger, Howard da Silva)

19. Shadow Of A Doubt
(1943, Alfred Hitchcock) (Teresa Wright, Joseph Cotten, Macdonald Carey)

20. The Killers
(1946, Robert Siodmak) (Burt Lancaster, Ava Gardner, Edmond O'Brien)

21. I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang
(1932, Mervyn LeRoy) (Paul Muni, Glenda Farrell, Preston Foster)

22. Ace In The Hole
(1951, Billy Wilder) (Kirk Douglas, Jan Sterling, Robert Arthur, Richard Benedict)

23. White Heat
(1949, Raoul Walsh) (James Cagney, Virginia Mayo, Edmond O'Brien, Steve Cochran)

24. The Lost Weekend
(1945, Billy Wilder) (Ray Milland, Jane Wyman, Phillip Terry)

25. Angels With Dirty Faces
(1938, Michael Curtiz) (James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, Humphrey Bogart)

26. Rififi
(1955, Jules Dassin) (Jean Servais, Carl Möhner, Robert Manuel, Janine Darcey)

27. Sweet Smell of Success
(1957, Alexander Mackendrick) (Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, Martin Milner)

28. The Blue Dahlia
(1946, George Marshall) (Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, William Bendix, Howard Da Silva)

29. Night And The City
(1950, Jules Dassin) (Richard Widmark, Gene Tierney, Herbert Lom)

30. The Set-Up
(1949, Robert Wise) (Robert Ryan, Audrey Totter, George Tobias, Alan Baxter)

31. The Letter**
(1940, William Wyler) (Bette Davis, Herbert Marshall, James Stephenson)

32. Scarface
(1932, Howard Hawks) (Paul Muni, Ann Dvorak, George Raft, Boris Karloff)

33. The Big Heat
(1953, Fritz Lang) (Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, Lee Marvin)

34. The Asphalt Jungle
(1950, John Huston) (Sterling Hayden, Marilyn Monroe, James Whitmore)

35. Nightmare Alley
(1947, Edmund Goulding) (Tyrone Power, Joan Blondell, Coleen Gray)

36. Body And Soul
(1947, Robert Rossen) (John Garfield, Lilli Palmer, William Conrad)

37. In A Lonely Place
(1950, Nicholas Ray) (Humphrey Bogart, Gloria Grahame, Frank Lovejoy)

38. The Lady from Shanghai
(1947, Orson Welles) (Orson Welles, Rita Hayworth, Everett Sloane)

39. Ossessione
(1943, Luchino Visconti) (Clara Calamai, Massimo Girotti, Dhia Cristiani)

40. The Woman in the Window
(1944, Fritz Lang) (Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett, Raymond Massey)

41. Pickup On South Street
(1953, Samuel Fuller) (Richard Widmark, Jean Peters, Thelma Ritter)

42. Scarlet Street
(1945, Fritz Lang) (Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett, Dan Duryea)

43. Kiss Of Death
(1947, Henry Hathaway) (Victor Mature, Brian Donlevy, Richard Widmark)

44. Gun Crazy (aka: Deadly Is The Female)
(1950, Joseph H. Lewis) (Peggy Cummins, John Dall)

45. Mildred Pierce
(1945, Michael Curtiz) (Joan Crawford, Jack Carson, Eve Arden)

46. Where The Sidewalk Ends
(1950, Otto Preminger) (Dana Andrews, Gene Tierney, Gary Merrill)

47. The Naked City
(1948, Jules Dassin) (Barry Fitzgerald, Howard Duff, Dorothy Hart)

48. The Hitch-Hiker**
(1953, Ida Lupino) (Edmond O'Brien, Frank Lovejoy, William Talman)

49. Gilda
(1946, Charles Vidor) (Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford, George Macready)

50. Murder, My Sweet
(1944, Edward Dmytryk) (Dick Powell, Claire Trevor, Anne Shirley)

51. Kiss Me Deadly
(1955, Robert Aldrich) (Ralph Meeker, Albert Dekker, Paul Stewart)

52. Sudden Fear
(1952, David Miller) (Joan Crawford, Jack Palance, Gloria Grahame, Mike Connors)

53. This Gun For Hire
(1942, Frank Tuttle) (Veronica Lake, Robert Preston, Alan Ladd)

54. Dark Passage
(1947, Delmer Daves) (Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Agnes Moorehead)

55. The Postman Always Rings Twice
(1946, Tay Garnett) (Lana Turner, John Garfield, Cecil Kellaway)

56. Fury
(1936, Fritz Lang) (Spencer Tracy, Sylvia Sidney, Walter Abel, Bruce Cabot)

57. Leave Her To Heaven
(1945, John M. Stahl) (Gene Tierney, Cornel Wilde, Vincent Price)

58. D.O.A.
(1950, Rudolph Maté) (Edmond O'Brien, Pamela Britton, Beverly Garland)

59. Kansas City Confidential
(1952, Phil Karlson) (John Payne, Coleen Gray, Preston Foster)

60. Force Of Evil
(1948, Abraham Polonsky) (John Garfield, Thomas Gomez, Marie Windsor)

61. Crossfire
(1947, Edward Dmytryk) (Robert Young, Robert Mitchum, Robert Ryan, Gloria Grahame)

62. The Strange Love Of Martha Ivers
(1946, L. Milestone) (Barbara Stanwyck, Van Heflin, Kirk Douglas)

63. The Reckless Moment**
(1949, Max Ophüls) (James Mason, Joan Bennett)

64. Scandal Sheet
(1952, Phil Karlson) (Broderick Crawford, Donna Reed, John Derek, Harry Morgan)

65. The Wrong Man
(1956, Alfred Hitchcock) (Henry Fonda, Vera Miles, Anthony Quayle)

66. The Narrow Margin**
(1952, Richard Fleischer) (Charles McGraw, Marie Windsor, Jacqueline White)

67. Odds Against Tomorrow
(1959, Robert Wise) (Harry Belafonte, Robert Ryan, Shelley Winters)

68. Raw Deal
(1948, Anthony Mann) (Dennis O'Keefe, Claire Trevor, Marsha Hunt, John Ireland)

69. Act of Violence
(1948, Fred Zinnemann) (Van Heflin, Robert Ryan, Janet Leigh, Mary Astor)

70. The Stranger
(1946, Orson Welles) (Edward G. Robinson, Loretta Young, Orson Welles)

71. You Only Live Once
(1937, Fritz Lang) (Henry Fonda, Sylvia Sidney, Barton MacLane)

72. Angel Face
(1952, Otto Preminger) (Robert Mitchum, Jean Simmons, Mona Freeman)

73. Thieves' Highway**
(1949, Jules Dassin) (Richard Conte, Valentina Cortesa, Lee J. Cobb, Barbara Lawrence)

74. Pitfall
(1948, André De Toth) (Dick Powell, Lizabeth Scott, Jane Wyatt, Raymond Burr)

75. Detour
(1945, Edgar G. Ulmer) (Tom Neal, Ann Savage, Claudia Drake, Edmund MacDonald)

76. On Dangerous Ground
(1952, Nicholas Ray) (Ida Lupino, Robert Ryan, Ward Bond)

77. Panic In The Streets
(1950, Elia Kazan) (Richard Widmark, Paul Douglas, Barbara Bel Geddes)

78. Possessed
(1947, Curtis Bernhardt) (Joan Crawford, Van Heflin, Raymond Massey)

79. Human Desire
(1954, Fritz Lang) (Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, Broderick Crawford)

80. The Prowler**
(1951, Joseph Losey) (Van Heflin, Evelyn Keyes)

81. Fallen Angel
(1945, Otto Preminger) (Alice Faye, Dana Andrews, Linda Darnell, John Carradine)

82. Phantom Lady
(1944, Robert Siodmak) (Franchot Tone, Ella Raines, Alan Curtis)

83. Cry of the City
(1948, Robert Siodmak) (Victor Mature, Richard Conte, Shelley Winters)

84. Murder by Contract**
(1958, Irving Lerner) (Vince Edwards, Phillip Pine, Herschel Bernardi)

85. T-Men
(1947, Anthony Mann) (Dennis O'Keefe, Mary Meade, Alfred Ryder, June Lockhart)

86. Party Girl
(1958, Nicholas Ray) (Robert Taylor, Cyd Charisse, Lee J. Cobb, John Ireland)

87. The File On Thelma Jordon
(1950, Robert Siodmak) (Barbara Stanwyck, Wendell Corey, Paul Kelly)

88. Clash by Night
(1952, Fritz Lang) (Barbara Stanwyck, Paul Douglas, Robert Ryan, Marilyn Monroe)

89. Niagara
(1953, Henry Hathaway) (Marilyn Monroe, Joseph Cotten, Jean Peters, Max Showalter)

90. While The City Sleeps
(1956, Fritz Lang) (Dana Andrews, Rhonda Fleming, George Sanders)

91. Side Street
(1950, Anthony Mann) (Joe Norson, Ellen Norson, James Craig)

92. The Big Knife
(1955, Robert Aldrich) (Jack Palance, Ida Lupino, Rod Steiger, Shelley Winters)

93. Border Incident
(1949, Anthony Mann) (Pablo Rodriguez, Jack Bearnes, Howard Da Silva)

94. Moonrise**
(1948, Frank Borzage) (Dane Clark, Gail Russell, Ethel Barrymore)

95. Whirlpool
(1949, Otto Preminger) (Gene Tierney, Richard Conte, José Ferrer)

96. Journey Into Fear
(1943, Norman Foster, Orson Welles) (Joseph Cotten, Dolores del Rio)

97. Beyond A Reasonable Doubt
(1956, Fritz Lang) (Dana Andrews, Joan Fontaine, Sidney Blackmer)

98. House Of Bamboo
(1955, Samuel Fuller) (Robert Ryan, Robert Stack, Shirley Yamaguchi)

99. Lady in the Lake
(1947, Robert Montgomery) (Robert Montgomery, Audrey Totter, Lloyd Nolan)

100. Stranger On The Third Floor
(1940, Boris Ingster) (Peter Lorre, John McGuire, Margaret Tallichet)


25 Greatest Neo-Noir films (1960 - present day)
Modern films that incorporate the moods, themes, and atmosphere of classic Film Noirs.

1. Chinatown
(1974, Roman Polanski) (Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston)

2. L.A. Confidential
(1997, Curtis Hanson) (Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce)

3. The Manchurian Candidate
(1962, John Frankenheimer) (Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey)

4. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
(2005, Shane Black) (Robert Downey Jr., Val Kilmer, Michelle Monaghan)

5. Se7en
(1995, David Fincher) (Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow)

6. Cape Fear
(1962, J. Lee Thompson) (Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum, Polly Bergen)

7. Blade Runner
(1982, Ridley Scott) (Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Daryl Hannah)

8. Blood Simple
(1984, Joel Coen) (John Getz, Frances McDormand, Dan Hedaya)

9. Sin City
(2005, Frank Miller) (Jessica Alba, Benicio Del Toro, Bruce Willis)

10. The Usual Suspects
(1995, Bryan Singer) (Stephen Baldwin, Gabriel Byrne, Benicio Del Toro)

11. Body Heat
(1981, Lawrence Kasdan) (William Hurt, Kathleen Turner, Richard Crenna)

12. Klute
(1971, Alan J. Pakula) (Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland, Roy Scheider)

13. Le Samouraï
(1967, Jean-Pierre Melville) (Alain Delon, Francois Périer, Nathalie Delon)

14. The Grifters
(1990, Stephen Frears) (Anjelica Huston, John Cusack, Annette Bening)

15. Tirez sur le pianiste (aka Shoot The Pianist)
(1960, F. Truffaut) (Charles Aznavour, Marie Dubois)

16. Fargo
(1996, Joel Coen) (William H. Macy, Steve Buscemi, Kristin Rudrüd, Peter Stormare)

17. Night Moves
(1975, Arthur Penn) (Gene Hackman, Jennifer Warren, James Woods)

18. Hammett
(1982, Wim Wenders) (Frederic Forrest, Peter Boyle, Marilu Henner)

19. Devil In A Blue Dress
(1995, Carl Franklin) (Denzel Washington, Tom Sizemore, Jennifer Beals)

20. Blue Velvet
(1986, David Lynch) (Isabella Rossellini, Kyle MacLachlan, Dennis Hopper)

21. The Naked Kiss
(1964, Samuel Fuller) (Constance Towers, Anthony Eisley, Michael Dante)

22. Dark City
(1998, Alex Proyas) (William Hurt, Rufus Sewell, Kiefer Sutherland)

23. Shock Corridor
(1963, Samuel Fuller) (Peter Breck, Constance Towers, Gene Evans)

24. The Man Who Wasn't There
(2001, Joel Coen) (Billy Bob Thornton, Frances McDormand)

25. The Public Eye
(1992, Howard Franklin) (Joe Pesci, Richard Riehle, Bryan Travis Smith)

[Brian]

I recommend adding the following 10 films to this list, roughly in this order:

They Live by Night (1948, Nicholas Ray) (Cathy O'Donnell, Farley Granger, Howard da Silva)
The Hitch-Hiker (1953, Ida Lupino) (Edmond O'Brien, Frank Lovejoy, William Talman)
Odd Man Out (1947, Carol Reed) (James Mason, Robert Newton, Cyril Cusack, Kathleen Ryan)
The Reckless Moment (1949, Max Ophüls) (James Mason, Joan Bennett)
The Narrow Margin (1952, Richard Fleischer) (Charles McGraw, Marie Windsor, Jacqueline White)
Thieves' Highway (1949, Jules Dassin) (Richard Conte, Valentina Cortesa, Lee J. Cobb, Barbara Lawrence)
The Letter (1940, William Wyler) (Bette Davis, Herbert Marshall, James Stephenson)
The Prowler (1951, Joseph Losey) (Van Heflin, Evelyn Keyes)
Murder by Contract (1958, Irving Lerner) (Vince Edwards, Phillip Pine, Herschel Bernardi)
Moonrise (1948, Frank Borzage) (Dane Clark, Gail Russell, Ethel Barrymore)

These are the films that I would drop to make room for them:

59. House Of Strangers
74. The Street With No Name
78. Dead Reckoning
82. The Brasher Doubloon
84. Mystery Street
90. Desperate
93. Undercurrent
94. Hollow Triumph
98. The Two Mrs. Carrolls
99. Where Danger Lives

If there's reluctance to drop any one of these, Side Street could be dropped instead, though it appears to me slightly more worthy than the ones that I propose be dropped. I base these recommendations on research on the internet which leads me to conclude that in general, the ones that I propose be added are significantly more widely recognized as great film noirs than the ones that I propose be dropped.

Les diaboliques (1955) and All the King's Men (1949) are also important films, but in their case, it's debatable whether they should be considered film noirs. I don't think that that doubt exists for my 10 proposed additions.

[Lew]

Thanks Brian

Let me know if my placements need tweaking or any other changes.
I also added your name to editors.

Lew

[Brian]

Thanks Lew.

Since I'm a co-editor, I'll want to look the list over some more for possible changes. Right now I'll just say that I think the top 5 is very solid. I'd probably flip The Big Sleep with Sunset Boulevard. No biggie though, they're both huge.

One think I noticed was that you didn't Include a director for Sudden Fear here or on the main site. His name is David Miller. I'll make the change here, but of course you'll need to do it on the main site.

[pauldrach]

The following movies in TSPDT's 1,000 Noir films section are on our Top 500 Greatest Movies list (I bracketed the ones, not included in TSPDT's top 100 as many, but by no means all of these are borderline cases at best):

[2. Citizen Kane - Orson Welles (1941)]
[5. Psycho - Alfred Hitchcock (1960)]
[11. Casablanca - Michael Curtiz (1942)]
[12. Vertigo - Alfred Hitchcock (1958)]
[19. Pulp Fiction - Quentin Tarantino (1994)]
[23. Breathless - Jean-Luc Godard (1960)]
[25. Taxi Driver - Martin Scorsese (1976)]
[26. M - Fritz Lang (1931)]
[28. Rear Window - Alfred Hitchcock (1954)]
[53. Bonnie and Clyde - Arthur Penn (1967)]
57. Sunset Boulevard - Billy Wilder (1950)
[58. Blade Runner - Ridley Scott (1982)]
62. The Third Man - Carol Reed (1949)
69. Double Indemnity - Billy Wilder (1944)
77. Chinatown - Roman Polański (1974)
[78. The Silence of the Lambs - Jonathan Demme (1991)]
[86. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari - Robert Wiene (1920)]
87. The Maltese Falcon - John Huston (1941)
[93. The Dark Knight - Christopher Nolan (2008)]
[107. Mulholland Dr. - David Lynch (2001)]
[108. Blue Velvet - David Lynch (1986)]
[111. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre - John Huston (1948)]
115. Touch of Evil - Orson Welles (1958)
130. Notorious - Alfred Hitchcock (1946)
[131. The French Connection - William Friedkin (1971)]
[139. Fargo - Joel & Ethan Coen (1996)]
[147. Fight Club - David Fincher (1999)]
154. The Night of the Hunter - Charles Laughton (1955)
[160. Reservoir Dogs - Quentin Tarantino (1992)]
[166. Rebecca - Alfred Hitchcock (1940)]
[168. Invasion of the Body Snatchers - Don Siegel (1956)]
[188. No Country for Old Men - Joel & Ethan Coen (2007)]
[207. Scarface - Howard Hawks (1932)]
[210. The Wages of Fear - Henri-Georges Clouzot (1953)]
[211. Dirty Harry - Don Siegel (1971)]
214. The Asphalt Jungle - John Huston (1950)
220. Out of the Past - Jacques Tourneur (1947)
[221. The Public Enemy - William A. Wellman (1931)]
[223. Se7en - David Fincher (1995)]
[230. The Usual Suspects - Bryan Singer (1995)]
[235. Mean Streets - Martin Scorsese (1973)]
[247. Memento - Christopher Nolan (2000)]
[248. The Manchurian Candidate - John Frankenheimer (1962)]
[254. Dog Day Afternoon - Sidney Lumet (1975)]
[255. Oldboy - Park Chan-Wook (2003)]
[257. The Thin Man - W. S. Van Dyke (1934)]
260. Laura - Otto Preminger (1944)
[261. Les diaboliques - Henri-Georges Clouzot (1955)]
285. The Big Sleep - Howard Hawks (1946)
[287. L.A. Confidential - Curtis Hanson (1997)]
[295. Heat - Michael Mann (1995)]
[303. The Conversation - Francis Ford Coppola (1974)]
[305. Who Framed Roger Rabbit - Robert Zemeckis (1988)]
[316. Le samouraï - Jean-Pierre Melville (1967)]
330. Strangers on the Train - Alfred Hitchcock (1951)
336. White Heat - Raoul Walsh (1949)
339. Sweet Smell of Success - Alexander Mackendrick (1957)
[345. Badlands - Terrence Malick (1973)]
[347. I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang - Mervyn LeRoy (1932)]
[380. The Ox-Bow Incident - William A. Wellman (1942)]
[385. Elevator to the Gallows - Louis Malle (1958)]
[388. The Lost Weekend - Billy Wilder (1945)]
[389. Cat People - Jacques Tourneur (1942)]
[392. Bullitt - Peter Yates (1968)]
403. Mildred Pierce - Michael Curtiz (1945)
[408. The Big Lebowski - Joel & Ethan Coen (1998)]
[410. Rope - Alfred Hitchcock (1948)]
[420. The Departed - Martin Scorsese (2006)]
[425. Rififi - Jules Dassin (1955)]
[432. Peeping Tom - Michael Powell (1960)]
453. In a Lonely Place - Nicholas Ray (1950)
456. Kiss Me Deadly - Robert Aldrich (1955)
462. Shadow of a Doubt - Alfred Hitchcock (1943)
[468. To Have and Have Not - Howard Hawks (1944)]
[480. Little Caesar - Mervyn LeRoy (1931)]
[493. Johnny Guitar - Nicholas Ray (1954)]

Apologies for any oversights. Similar checks for the 1930s-1960s decade lists may reveal more missing oversights.

[Brian]

TSPDT defines noir rather broadly. I've never seen Citizen Kane, Casablanca, or Rear Window classified as noir anywhere else, although Citizen Kane has been credited with influencing certain aspects of noir. On your above list, of the ones that you put in brackets, the only one that I think definitely qualifies as classic noir is The Lost Weekend, though others could well be called proto-noir or neo-noir. Our main noir list does contain some pre-1940 films. I'm still trying to figure out what I think about that, because some sources say that true noir began in 1940.

Of the ones that you didn't put in brackets, I'd say all are noir, but Chinatown is neo-noir.

[pauldrach]

TSPDT defines noir rather broadly. I've never seen Citizen Kane, Casablanca, or Rear Window classified as noir anywhere else, although Citizen Kane has been credited with influencing certain aspects of noir. On your above list, of the ones that you put in brackets, the only one that I think definitely qualifies as classic noir is The Lost Weekend, though others could well be called proto-noir or neo-noir. Our main noir list does contain some pre-1940 films. I'm still trying to figure out what I think about that, because some sources say that true noir began in 1940.

Of the ones that you didn't put in brackets, I'd say all are noir, but Chinatown is neo-noir.

TSPDT really doesn't define noir at all, or at least not for the question which films are selected. Instead, these are simply the 1,000 films most often cited as being "noir" in outside sources. According to TSPDT, the "classic noir" period goes from 1940 to 1959.

[pauldrach]

Same TSPDT match for the 1940s and 1950s:

1940s:

[1. Citizen Kane - Orson Welles (1941)]
[2. Casablanca - Michael Curtiz (1942)]
5. The Third Man - Carol Reed (1949)
6. Double Indemnity - Billy Wilder (1944)
9. The Maltese Falcon - John Huston (1941)
[11. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre - John Huston (1948)]
14. Notorious - Alfred Hitchcock (1946)
[18. Rebecca - Alfred Hitchcock (1940)]
22. Out of the Past - Jacques Tourneur (1947)
26. Laura - Otto Preminger (1944)
29. The Big Sleep - Howard Hawks (1946)
33. White Heat - Raoul Walsh (1949)
[38. The Ox-Bow Incident - William A. Wellman (1942)]
[39. The Lost Weekend - Billy Wilder (1945)]
[40. Cat People - Jacques Tourneur (1942)]
41. Mildred Pierce - Michael Curtiz (1945)
[42. Rope - Alfred Hitchcock (1948)]
48. Shadow of a Doubt - Alfred Hitchcock (1943)
[49. To Have and Have Not - Howard Hawks (1944)]
54. Detour - Edgar G. Ulmer (1945)
[58. Ossessione - Luchino Visconti (1943)]
[64. Gaslight - George Cukor (1944)]
71. Gilda - Charles Vidor (1946)
[72. Stray Dog - Akira Kurosawa (1949)]
[74. Dead of Night - Basil Dearden, Alberto Cavalcanti, Robert Hamer & Charles Crichton (1945)]
75. The Lady from Shanghai - Orson Welles (1947)
[78. Spellbound - Alfred Hitchcock (1945)]
82. The Killers - Robert Siodmak (1946)
86. They Live by Night - Nicholas Ray (1948)
[89. All the King's Men - Robert Rossen​​​​​​​ (1949)]
[91. Odd Man Out - Carol Reed (1947)]
93. Leave Her to Heaven - John M. Stahl (1945)
94. The Set-Up - Robert Wise (1949)
96. Key Largo - John Huston (1948)
97. The Postman Always Rings Twice - Tay Garnett (1946)
99. Scarlet Street - Fritz Lang (1945)
103. The Woman in the Window - Fritz Lang (1944)
[111. The Letter - William Wyler (1940)]
112. High Sierra - Raoul Walsh (1941)
[115. Le corbeau - Henri-Georges Clouzot (1943)]
123. Murder, My Sweet - Edward Dmytryk (1944)
125. Crossfire - Edward Dmytryk (1947)
127. This Gun for Hire - Frank Tuttle (1942)
[128. Drunken Angel - Akira Kurosawa (1948)]
[132. Suspicion - Alfred Hitchcock (1941)]
[137. Quai des Orfèvres - Henri-Georges Clouzot​​​​​​​ (1947)]
[140. The Fallen Idol - Carol Reed (1948)]
141. The Naked City - Jules Dassin (1948)
142. D.O.A. - Rudolph Maté (1949)
145. Body and Soul - Robert Rossen​​​​​​​ (1947)
146. Nightmare Alley - Edmund Goulding (1947)
[151. The Spiral Staircase - Robert Siodmak (1946)]
155. Dark Passage - Delmer Daves (1947)
156. The Stranger - Orson Welles (1946)
157. Kiss of Death - Henry Hathaway (1947)
158. Force of Evil - Abraham Polonsky (1948)
186. Brute Force - Jules Dassin (1947)
[191. It Always Rains on Sunday - Robert Hamer (1947)]
195. Criss Cross - Robert Siodmak (1949)
203. The Strange Love of Martha Ivers - Lewis Milestone (1946)
[205. Boomerang! - Elia Kazan (1947)]
[207. Pursued - Raoul Walsh (1947)]
[221. Ministry of Fear - Fritz Lang (1944)]
222. The Glass Key - Stuart Heisler (1942)
223. The Big Clock - John Farrow (1948)
[224. Brighton Rock - John Boulting (1948)]
[226. Hangmen Also Die! - Fritz Lang (1943)]
[231. Unfaithfully Yours - Preston Sturges (1948)]
236. The Blue Dahlia - George Marshall (1946)
[248. The Leopard Man - Jacques Tourneur (1943)]
[250. Green for Danger - Sidney Gilliat (1946)]

1950s:

[2. Vertigo - Alfred Hitchcock (1958)]
[4. Rear Window - Alfred Hitchcock (1954)]
12. Sunset Blvd. - Billy Wilder (1950)
20. Touch of Evil - Orson Welles (1958)
26. The Night of the Hunter - Charles Laughton​​​​​​​ (1955)
[27. Invasion of the Body Snatchers - Don Siegel​​​​​​​ (1956)]
[33. The Wages of Fear - Henri-Georges Clouzot​​​​​​​ (1953)]
34. The Asphalt Jungle - John Huston (1950)
[38. Les diaboliques - Henri-Georges Clouzot​​​​​​​ (1955)]
45. Strangers on a Train - Alfred Hitchcock (1951)
46. Sweet Smell of Success - Alexander Mackendrick (1957)
[56. Rififi - Jules Dassin (1955)]
60. In a Lonely Place - Nicholas Ray (1950)
61. Kiss Me Deadly - Robert Aldrich (1955)
[66. Johnny Guitar - Nicholas Ray (1954)]
73. The Big Heat - Fritz Lang (1953)
75. Gun Crazy - Joseph H. Lewis (1950)
81. The Killing - Stanley Kubrick​​​​​​​ (1956)
[89. A Place in the Sun - George Stevens (1951)]
91. Ace in the Hole - Billy Wilder (1951)
105. Pickup on South Street - Samuel Fuller​​​​​​​ (1953)
106. Night and the City - Jules Dassin (1950)
[125. Casque d'or - Jacques Becker (1952)]
[133. The Man with the Golden Arm - Otto Preminger (1955)]
[140. Bob le flambeur - Jean-Pierre Melville (1956)]
[161. The Naked Spur - Anthony Mann (1953)]
[171. Touchez pas au grisbi - Jacques Becker (1954)]
182. The Wrong Man - Alfred Hitchcock (1956)
[209. I Want to Live! - Robert Wise (1958)]
[212. Detective Story - William Wyler (1951)]
224. The Hitch-Hiker - Ida Lupino (1953)
238. Where the Sidewalk Ends - Otto Preminger (1950)
249. The Narrow Margin - Richard Fleischer (1952)
250. On Dangerous Ground - Nicholas Ray (1951)

[Brian]

Having done some research into proto-noir films, I currently think it's OK to keep the 6 pre-1940 films on the list, partly because I think that if there are going to be pre-1940 films on the list, the ones on the list are good choices, and because there are just 6 out of 100. However, I do think that because they border on noir rather than being prime examples of it, most of them are a bit high, so except for You Only Live Once, they could stand to move down a bit.

I favor making a few more changes to the list. First of all, another addition: High Sierra (1941, Raoul Walsh) (Ida Lupino, Humphrey Bogart). I now think that Possessed is the least deserving film that's still on the list, so that's what I think should be dropped to make room for High Sierra. I'm also proposing a revised top 17, and moving up The Asphalt Jungle and Detour. To keep it fairly simple, rather than revise the whole list, I propose just picking a few that I think are too high and having them switch spots with others. This way 22 positions on the list are affected and the rest are not. (The top 5 are unchanged.) The ones moving down either borderline as noir works, or just not big enough in noir for their current positions. Here are the films whose positions I propose changing and their current positions:

6. M
7. Notorious
8. Touch Of Evil
9. The Night Of The Hunter
10. Criss Cross
11. Strangers On A Train
12. Out Of The Past
13. Odd Man Out
14. The Big Combo
15. The Killing
16. Key Largo
17. Laura
25. Angels With Dirty Faces
27. Sweet Smell of Success
33. The Big Heat
34. The Asphalt Jungle
37. In A Lonely Place
39. Ossessione
51. Kiss Me Deadly
52. Sudden Fear
75. Detour
78. Possessed

Here is how I propose rearranging the positions of these films:

6. Touch Of Evil
7. The Night Of The Hunter
8. Notorious
9. Out Of The Past
10. Laura
11. Sweet Smell of Success
12. In A Lonely Place
13. Kiss Me Deadly
14. The Killing
15. The Big Heat
16. Strangers On A Train
17. M
25. The Asphalt Jungle
27. Criss Cross
33. Odd Man Out**
34. The Big Combo
37. Key Largo
39. Angels With Dirty Faces
51. Detour
52. Ossessione
75. High Sierra (new entry, replacing Possessed)
78. Sudden Fear

Input is welcome, and after a few days we'll make the changes if they're OK with Lew.