MovieChat Forums > The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) Discussion > Film noir recommendations

Film noir recommendations

posted 20 years ago by LDRose
52 replies | jump to latest

The Postman always rings twice was the first film noir I watched. I loved it - its dark, smouldering style made me want to watch other films in this genre. Which film noir should I watch next?

[–] dave_wlogan 15 years ago

Stanley Kubrick's 'The Killing' is a highly stylised noir.

'Get Carter' (1971), not the one with Stallone, is a classic English noir.

'The Long Goodbye' seems anti-noir but it has all the conventions.

These are just some films which have been left of other lists on this board.

"You haven't got the feel of this at all, lad. Use all your voices. When I bellow, bellow back."

[–] scvg 14 years ago

Anything by Alfred Hitchcock.
Also, anything by Jean-Pierre Melville.

[–] matthardesty 14 years ago

What about Wait until Dark with Audrey Hepburn. Talk about literal "Noir" - she's blind!... and holed up in that apartment. Man, the first time I saw Alan Arkin's character leap out of nowhere after Audrey's character toward the end of the movie it scared the crap outta me!

And someone mentioned Gaslight - good call. Charles Boyer, Ingrid Bergman, and Joseph Cotton are wonderful and the very young Angela Lansbury makes her film debut. Very suspenseful movie!

[–] PillowRock 14 years ago

Anything by Alfred Hitchcock.

I would never discourage anyone from watching Hitchcock movies, but purely as a matter of this thread's title question: many of them aren't in the film noir genre.

Melville's work (that I've seen, anyway) seems more consistently in this mold. (If one differentiates between the two groups, you might be able argue that Melville is "neo-noir" rather than "noir". However, the tone and feel of the two groups is basically identical.)

[–] Ironman54 14 years ago

Don't believe I've seen 'Stranger On A Train' listed yet.

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] ilpohirvonen 13 years ago

The Maltese Falcon isn't the first, although it is excellent, Stranger on the Third Floor (1940) is the first. Not just my opinion, it is generally consider as the first by film historians.

[–] Scorpio_65 13 years ago

Out of the Past (1947), Criss Cross (1949), Double Indemnity (1944), Act of Violence (1948) are all wonderful just to start with a few. If you haven't seen Double Indemnity by now you must, IMO; it's quintessential noir and the most palatable for those just starting to get into the genre. It has a steady plot structure and pace, good writing, and wonderful performances with great actor chemistry. Enjoy!

[–] todd-197 13 years ago

Just curious, Lon Chaney made a lot of darkly disturbing films like West of Zanzibar, the Unknown and the Unholy Three. Why are some of them not considered Film Noir?