Directed by Joseph H. Lewis, written by Philip Jordan Harboring a secret love for the gorgeous Susan Lowell (Jean Wallace), girlfriend of the ruthless gangster Mr. Brown (Richard Conte), policeman Leonard Diamond (Cornel Wilde) obsessively pursues his unpopular investigation into the gangster as the body count rises. Lee Van Cleef and Earl Holliman offer excellent... Continue Reading →
On Dangerous Ground (1951)
Directed by Nicholas Ray, written by A.I. Bezzerides (screenplay), Gerald Butler (novel) “How do you live with yourself?" “I don’t. I live with other people.” Straight-laced detective Jim Wilson (Robert Ryan) is drowning in a corrupt world, slowly losing his sanity as he physically beats criminal after criminal. Ordered to take a break from the... Continue Reading →
White Heat (1949)
Directed by Raoul Walsh, written by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts (screenplay) “If I turned my back long enough for Big Ed to put a hole in it, there’d be a hole in it.” The film opens with a train heist where multiple victims fall, and as the law closes in, gang boss Cody Jarrett... Continue Reading →
Ace in the Hole (1951)
Directed by Billy Wilder, written by Billy Wilder, Lesser Samuels and Walter Newman “I’m a 250 dollar a week newspaperman. I can be had for 50.” The Ace is a crack reporter (Kirk Douglas) from all the major cities, fired multiple times for being just this side of a hellraiser. The Hole is a mine... Continue Reading →
Laura (1944)
Directed by Otto Preminger, written by Jay Dratler, Samuel Hoffenstein and Elizabeth Reinhardt (screenplay), Vera Caspary (novel) “Young woman. Either you have been raised in some incredibly rustic community, where good manners are unknown, or you suffer from the common, feminine delusion that the mere fact of being a woman exempts you from the rules... Continue Reading →
The Asphalt Jungle(1950)
Directed by John Huston, written by Ben Maddow and John Huston (screenplay), W.R. Burnett (novel) “Crime is only a left-handed form of human endeavor.” A criminal mastermind is released from prison and makes his way to a bookie where he pitches a new job he’s dreamed up. When the particulars are hammered out, the crew... Continue Reading →
The Lady from Shanghai (1947)
Directed by Orson Welles, written by Orson Welles (screenplay), Sherwood King (novel) "Some people can smell danger. Not me." An Irishman (Welles) saves the life of a rich lawyer's wife (Hayworth) and is invited to their yacht as part of the crew. When he realizes the madness of the people he's dealing with, he's already... Continue Reading →
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
Directed by John Huston, written by John Huston (screenplay), Dashiell Hammett (novel) “I certainly wish you would have invented a more reasonable story. I felt distinctly like an idiot repeating it.” Often regarded as the very first of the film noirs, the film that inspired the rest, The Maltese Falcon is a very complicated but... Continue Reading →
In a Lonely Place (1950)
Directed by Nicholas Ray, written by Andrew Solt (screenplay), Edmund H. North (adaptation), and Dorothy B. Hughes (story) “I was born when she kissed me. I died when she left me. I lived a few weeks while she loved me.” A Hollywood screenwriter, bordering on washed-up, brings a check girl from a restaurant home with... Continue Reading →
