# What Movies Were in the Noir Montage (And What Are Some Other Good Noirs?) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 7, 2006, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-were-in-the-noir-montage-and-what-are-some-other-good-noirs/347449 "2006-03-07T23:52:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2006, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-were-in-the-noir-montage-and-what-are-some-other-good-noirs/347449/41 "2006-03-10T12:44:08Z")
_Laura_ was shown. The Mitchum with HATE tattooed in his fingers was from _Cape Fear_, of course. I also saw Wells standing in the doorway in _The Third Man_, and not only is _Night of the Hunter_ considered noir, it’s considered one of the all-time greats. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2006, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-were-in-the-noir-montage-and-what-are-some-other-good-noirs/347449/42 "2006-03-10T19:32:11Z")
> [@randwill](#): > > Not in the Oscar montage, but I would recommend Edgar G. Ulmer’s **Detour** (1945). Ann Savage portrays a femme fatale that out-femme-fatales them all. I still get a chill when she askes, “Where’d you hide the body?” See above, post #17. > [@Otto](#): > > Another that I don’t think has been mentioned yet (although I’m sure someone will correct me if I’m wrong) is _The Shanghai Gesture_ (1941). One woman’s descent into degradation in the clutches of the exquisitely evil (and magnificently coiffed) Mother Gin Sling. Seriously, leaving aside everything else the movie is worth watching just for the hairdos they slap on Ona Munson. More insanely cantilevered than Cher and Patti LaBelle’s most fevered dreams. I LOVE this movie. I show it to random strangers on the street. SO totally surreal. I love the scene where Mother Gin Sling pops the head off the place-setting doll. ---
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2006, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-were-in-the-noir-montage-and-what-are-some-other-good-noirs/347449/43 "2006-03-10T20:09:54Z")
Let me third **Out of the Past**. It is also my favorite noir. It was remade (and criminally butchered) in the 1980’s as **Against All Odds**. ---
**Author:** ![Ensign\_Edison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ab992/32.png) [@Ensign\_Edison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ensign_Edison)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2006, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-were-in-the-noir-montage-and-what-are-some-other-good-noirs/347449/44 "2006-03-12T17:59:31Z")
I always make it to these threads too late. For those interested in films noir, Alain Silver’s [Film Noir Reader](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0879101970/sr=8-1/qid=1142186006/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-0038047-9851816?%5Fencoding=UTF8) is a great way to get started. (I believe it was Silver who called _Double Indemnity_ “a film without a trace of mercy or pity”.) > [@lissener](#): > > Oh and, whoever mentioned Gilda: among my alltime favorite movies. Some of the best quotes EVER. One was used on the Oscars, but was it in that montage or a different one? “If I’d been a ranch they would have named me the Bar None.” And of course my personal favorite, “Statistics show that there are more women in the world than anything else. Except insects.” It must have been in a different montage, but I was also delighted to hear that great line. ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2006, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-were-in-the-noir-montage-and-what-are-some-other-good-noirs/347449/45 "2006-03-12T19:05:37Z")
My favorite, _Laura_, has been mentioned several times, so I’ll throw in a couple of neo film noir: _Body Heat_ with Kathleen Turner and William Hurt. Turner is the ultimate femme fatale, and she maneuvers Hurt into killing her husband and then really starts using him. _The Last Seduction_ with Linda Fiorentino and Bill Pullman. I thought the character of Maddie in _Body Heat_ was Machavellian, but Bridget/Wendy in this one will make your skin crawl. ---
**Author:** ![JoeSki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b487fb/32.png) [@JoeSki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoeSki)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2006, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-were-in-the-noir-montage-and-what-are-some-other-good-noirs/347449/46 "2006-03-12T21:00:18Z")
I just saw **Laura** a few nights ago. Good movie. The first 1/3 of it dragged, but then it started taking some interesting turns. I really liked it ahlfway when the movie looked like it could go in a few different directions For a while there I thought the movie was going to be about Detective Mcphearson falling in love with a woman who was dead through her journals and letters. The movie had built her up to be a wonderful woman and the detecitve looked extremely comfortable lounging around in her apartment and drinking her liquor up until she showed up again. Part of me thinks that would have been an interesting turn…maybe include some scenes with the detective mucking up evidence so that the investigation could be prolonged thus giving him more time to look through her personal belongings ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-were-in-the-noir-montage-and-what-are-some-other-good-noirs/347449/47 "2006-03-13T00:46:28Z")
The Val Lewton collection has been released this month. He did the classic film noir horror movie, “The Cat People”. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-were-in-the-noir-montage-and-what-are-some-other-good-noirs/347449/48 "2006-03-13T16:29:03Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > The Mitchum with HATE tattooed in his fingers was from _Cape Fear_, of course. I respectfully submit that you’re mistaken…in _Night of the Hunter_, Mitchum had LOVE on one hand, HATE on the other. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-were-in-the-noir-montage-and-what-are-some-other-good-noirs/347449/49 "2006-03-14T02:54:41Z")
> [@vaderspal](#): > > Last week I saw a new independent film that borrows heavily from _noir_ conventions but puts a modern twist on it. That is, **Brick** I highly recommend everyone check out the trailer for this (as well as the [website](http://brickmovie.net/) in general)– it looks pretty damn clever, and Levitt showed off some real acting chops in **Mysterious Skin** a while back. I just hope it’s as good as it looks. So many favourites here (especially **Sunset Boulevard** and **L.A. Confidential** , but I simply must add **The Long Goodbye** (neo noir? semi-satire?) ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-were-in-the-noir-montage-and-what-are-some-other-good-noirs/347449/50 "2006-03-14T06:34:33Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > I respectfully submit that you’re mistaken…in _Night of the Hunter_, Mitchum had LOVE on one hand, HATE on the other. Right, but when I saw the HATE tattoo in the Oscar montage, I was like, “What’s that from? that shot ain’t from _Night of the Hunter._” I don’t remember if Mitchum had the same tattoos in _Cape Fear_, but \*NotH \*was obviously not the only film that included those tattoos, because as I said that shot was not from _NotH_. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-were-in-the-noir-montage-and-what-are-some-other-good-noirs/347449/51 "2006-03-14T13:02:30Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > I respectfully submit that you’re mistaken…in _Night of the Hunter_, Mitchum had LOVE on one hand, HATE on the other. It could be so. It’s been a while since I’ve seen both Cape Fears, and I’m positive De Niro had the tattoos in the 1991 version. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-were-in-the-noir-montage-and-what-are-some-other-good-noirs/347449.md?page=2)