# Best film noirs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 30, 2018, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-film-noirs/818812 "2018-07-30T13:43:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![LLCoolL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/llcooll/32/3596_2.png) [@LLCoolL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LLCoolL)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2018, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-film-noirs/818812/61 "2018-08-02T08:59:28Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > I’ll echo this, and also suggest _[Red Rock West](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQe8SR2FNr4)_, with a surprisingly subtle Nic Cage and an unsurprisingly non-subtle Dennis Hopper. Like _The Last Seduction_, distribution issues kept it off most people’s radar. Both films directed by John Dahl. Then he made a turkey called “Unforgettable”, which really killed the momentum of his career. He never fully recovered, although I liked his “Joy Ride” - a teen horror B-movie which is surprisingly effective. ---
**Author:** ![LLCoolL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/llcooll/32/3596_2.png) [@LLCoolL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LLCoolL)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2018, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-film-noirs/818812/62 "2018-08-02T09:13:01Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > _Out of the Past_ has a protagonist making a mistake in the past and paying for it in the present. Jane Greer … sizzling! ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2018, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-film-noirs/818812/63 "2018-08-02T22:07:07Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Sounds like anything written by Raymond Chandler. Dashiell Hammett is acceptable as well. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2018, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-film-noirs/818812/64 "2018-08-02T23:54:13Z")
> [@epbrown01](#): > > Dashiell Hammett is acceptable as well. Yep. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2018, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-film-noirs/818812/65 "2018-08-03T01:57:12Z")
Would _Les Diaboliques_ count? It’s certainly moody. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Peyote_Coyote)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2018, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-film-noirs/818812/66 "2018-08-03T03:21:01Z")
I would recommend _Chinatown_, _The Third Man_, and _The Maltese Falcon_. _The Unforgiven_ is a fabulous film, but it isn’t a noir; it’s a Western. I don’t recommend _Blood Simple_. I thought it was confusing and as boring as hell. YMMV ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2018, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-film-noirs/818812/67 "2018-08-21T19:19:01Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > _The Ice Harvest_ was pretty good, for a neo-noir. I just watched this one. I don’t remember if I noticed _before_ watching that Wikipedia calls it “thriller comedy” and Imdb writes “relies on slapstick comedy.” I liked the movie somewhat, and do like a little comedy mixed in with my noir. But this one had much too much comedy and not enough noir. _Fargo_ has a much better mix of comedy and noir, IMO. Any others like that? (besides Coen Brothers, most of which I’ve seen.) ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2018, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-film-noirs/818812/68 "2018-08-21T19:33:33Z")
[A Simple Plan](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120324/?ref_=nv_sr_1) is a good modern noir. It features characters who make a poor moral choice that leads them down a dangerous path. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2018, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-film-noirs/818812/69 "2018-08-22T14:32:42Z")
Would “Road To Perdition” be considered noir? It’s both the consequences of the fathers decision to live by the sword and the more immediate consequences of the sons spying on his dad. In addition, it does have a dark, underworld setting for much of it’s run. To me, the long shot of Sullivan leaving the elevator, drawing his gun and walking into the hotel bathroom is VERY noir in it’s execution. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2018, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-film-noirs/818812/70 "2018-08-30T19:34:39Z")
Well, is it? ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2018, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-film-noirs/818812/71 "2018-08-31T05:20:34Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > But in the narrow sense, a film noir is when the main character does something he knows is wrong and then the film follows him through the consequences. Like Super Size Me. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2018, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-film-noirs/818812/72 "2018-08-31T14:08:14Z")
> [@mcgato](#): > > [Body Heat](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082089/) should be included. I came to say this. At the time I was calling it the first film noir in color. It might or might not have been then but it sounded good. There certainly are more examples now. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2018, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-film-noirs/818812/73 "2018-08-31T16:16:13Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Sounds like anything written by Raymond Chandler. > [@epbrown01](#): > > Dashiell Hammett is acceptable as well. James Cain, Patricia Highsmith, Jim Thompson, Cornell Woolrich ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2018, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-film-noirs/818812/74 "2018-08-31T16:27:33Z")
“Neo-noir” started before the 1970s. John Boorman’s **Point Blank** (1967) is a prime example. Walker (Lee Marvin) is powerless because he can’t identify his antagonist — he’s trying to fight a corporate criminal organization. And he doesn’t die in the end…just spookily fades into a background. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2018, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-film-noirs/818812/75 "2018-08-31T18:11:08Z")
I still consider Apocalypse Now to be a noir film. I don’t care what the definition of noir is supposed to be, it’s clearly has the right tone and morally questionable characters. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2018, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-film-noirs/818812/76 "2018-08-31T18:35:21Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Shouldn’t the plural be “films noir”? Compound plural nouns always meant trouble, and too much trouble found me in my office when the guns moll sipping whiskies sour slinked in on heels high. I promised myself this would be the last time I’d accept twins as clients… ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2018, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-film-noirs/818812/77 "2018-08-31T19:00:15Z")
I’m surprised that _Memento_ hasn’t been included. ---
**Author:** ![Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/soul_brother_number_two/32/3515_2.png) [@Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soul_Brother_Number_Two)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2018, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-film-noirs/818812/78 "2018-08-31T19:34:01Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > James Cain, Patricia Highsmith, Jim Thompson, Cornell Woolrich David Dodge, Charles Willeford, David Goodis, Dorothy Hughes, Horace McCoy, Charles Williams, William Lindsay Graham… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-film-noirs/818812.md?page=3)