Top 25 Film Noir Movies

This is a list of my top 25 film noir movies.

[@sleuthentertainment5872]

As a film noir lover it's so difficult to pick up just 25 titles. I would say more: -City Streets -Scarface (1932) -The Man who Knew too Much -G Men -The Glass Key -Shadow of a Doubt -Murder, my Sweet -The Woman in the Window -Double Indemnity -Detour -The Chase -The Killers -Nightmare Alley -The Lady from Shanghai -Dark Passage -Naked City -Pitfall -CrissCross -White Heat -The Crooked Way -Dead or Alive -Stray Dog -The Third Man -Where the Sidewalk Ends -Mystery Street -Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye -Woman on the Run -The Asphalt Jungle -Strangers on a Train -Man Bait -Kansas City Confidential -The Big Heat -The Good Die Young -Crime Wave -Dial "M" for Murder -Suddenly -Hands Off the Loot -The Big Combo -Los Peces Rojos -Rififi -Accused of Murder -The Killing -The Price of Fear -The Long Haul -The Line-up -Rusty Knife -Touch of Evil -A Sangre Fría -Odds Against Tomorrow -The Sleeping Beast Within -The Last Gunfight -Blast of Silence -Experiment in Terror -A Tiro Limpio -High and Low -Youth of the Beast -Black Express -Cruel Gun Story -Escape from Japan -El Salario del Crimen -Cash Calls Hell -Le deuxième souffle -Point Blank -A Colt Is My Passport -Le Samourai -Massacre Gun I think I can stop already

[@ianjohnson458]

Pick up on South Street is one of the best film noirs easily. As is Ace in the Hole. Love your list!! Quite a few I haven't seen

[@Tom-jn6ci]

Thanks you are an encyclopedia of film Noir ! Now I have to find them. Thanks again ! 🖖

[@VitoScalettaM2]

No. Please dont stop. Continue naming more🤘🏽

[@denplanet1]

How could your list not include NIGHT AND THE CITY,

[@willieluncheonette5843]

City Streets and Scarface are not noirs IMO. But the latter is a GREAT film

[@alfredbonnabel7022]

Yvonne de Carlo ❤❤❤❤

[@jackstrop7520]

i like a film noir but in the uk we had kitchen sink dramas bleak and unforgiving with grit and integrity great movies!!

[@EndtimeElijah]

"Anatomy of a muder" - Brilliant, a great story, the acting is superb.

[@omarsalkamusic]

I like the inclusion of Criss Cross. Seriously underrated. The Killers with Burt Lancaster is great as is Brute Force. Also Laura. So many good ones. A great genre.

[@CraftySouthpaw]

I was surprised at the omissions of Laura and The Killers.

[@danielstanwyck2812]

Tha Maltese Falcon number 13! You've got to be kidding!!

[@Lolabelle59]

Thank you. Really enjoyed that. I would have rated "Out of the Past" as number one.

[@peterbellini6102]

No question...

[@barblessable]

Yep ,Mitchum is great , also in the original Cape Fear ,he is so good.

[@glynnjacobs9602]

A fine list! Please allow me to include; The Killers, The Narrow Margin, and D.O.A. Good stuff!

[@RamZar50]

*Touch of Evil* (1958) is outstanding with expert direction by Orson Welles and great acting by Orson Welles, Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh, Akim Tamiroff and Marlene Dietrich. Great opening scene and cinematography. Gets better and better with each viewing. Another not included in your list is *Body Heat* (1981) written and directed by Lawrence Kasdan. It was inspired by Double Indemnity (1944).

[@kentleader]

Just watched Criss Cross for the first time. Very glad to see it on your list.

[@TokuAndAnimationNewsNetwork]

I have not seen a few on this list, such as Criss Cross, but this is a great list. My personal favorite is Double Indemnity (might even be my favorite movie ever made). If you have not seen them, I highly recommend Ride the Pink Horse and Pick-Up on South Street.

[@frankb821]

Great list! I'd have included the underrated "Detour" (1945)

[@tonyvallecillo7115]

Thank you. Pretty good list.

[@Sephology]

Excellent countdown. Many I have yet seen. Few that I own esp SHOUT! FACTORY’s Criss Cross. Thank you for making this iconic watchlist of selective dialogue!!

[@Joeblow-ms3cv]

Mrs. Munster, in her heyday, was as fine looking a woman as there ever was. Beautiful AND curvaceous. Go Herman. 🙂

[@malcomlovejoy]

Joe... wasnt she though, luscious

[@jo-annmorgan7914]

"Woman in the Window," "Laura," "Pitfall," "Detour," "Scarlet Street," "Kiss of Death," "D.O.A." there are just too many to limit the list to 25.

[@57highland]

"Cry of The City" (1948), with Richard Conte and Victor Mature.

[@Jo-AnnMorgan]

​@@57highland Yes. Richard Conte. Might I then add "The Big Combo"?

[@57highland]

@@Jo-AnnMorgan A very young Shelley Winters was also in "Cry of The City."

[@57highland]

@@Jo-AnnMorgan I just thought of another, though it may be much closer to a straight-up "gangster" film than film noir. It's "Invisible Stripes", with Humphrey Bogart, George Raft, and a younger William Holden (as Raft's kid brother). After getting out of prison, Raft joins Bogart's bank robbery gang. When Holden gains too much guilty knowledge (though completely uninvolved), Raft decides to throw in the towel on the bank robbing business and give himself up to save the kid. Typical Bogart gangster movie but very gripping, with great performances.

[@anthonytripp2251]

Scarlet Street is my all time favorite The closing scene still scares me

[@josesanchez-os7zr]

The big clock, The big heat, The dark corner, Cry of the city, Lady in the lake, The breaking point, Ride the pink horse, Fallen angel, Fury, High sierra, The fallen sparrow, Detective story, etc, etc, etc..... Unfortunately, movies like that are no longer made, not even close.

[@thomaswilliams2532]

Oh WOW! I loved them all and I've seen them all. Great movies, all of them. Do a Top 50 Film Noir Movies list, if you can. Thank you.

[@dpf5939]

One of my favorite film noirs is I wake Up Screaming 1941 with Betty Grable, yes Betty Grable and Victor Mature. Also i never considered Mildred Pierce a film Noir.

[@theiceman6941]

I'd pick Out Of The Past (all-time favorite film noir), and Scarlet Street, The Big Heat, Too Late For Tears, Odd Man Out, Gun Crazy, They Live By Night, Ride The Pink Horse, High Sierra, Double Indemnity, Criss Cross, The Killers (1946), The Killing, Detour, and if they count as film noirs, The Night Of The Hunter (greatest movie ever), Scarface (1932), The Red House, Union Station, and The Window.

[@mattfoster2021]

Recently watched: "The Chase" - can't stop thinking about it.

[@bobbyfischer7500]

great list !

[@kenlewis9557]

Great list I have just bought Criss Cross on blu ray and have watched the first 10 minutes it looks fantastic

[@alicedesmond4336]

Your list was almost perfect. Criss Cross is also my favorite. My top 25 would have included The Killers, The Asphalt Jungle, and Vertigo.

[@willtheman840]

How would Vertigo be film noir?

[@poetcomic1]

@@willtheman840 It is not even by a stretch.

[@trajan75]

Good list, but a glaring omission, The Killing was a pretty good movie but it was a copy of a better one, John Houston's The Asphalt Jungle. Kubrick was the pubpil Huston was the master.

[@kiwitrainguy]

If you (or anyone) are going to watch those two movies as a double-bill, watch The Killing first. After watching Asphalt Jungle, The Killing is a disappointment.

[@stevemcnary7963]

I enjoyed your list but, would add The Lady From Shanghai & DOA

[@donstromberg7387]

Two films which for me improve with every viewing are: Key Largo and The Third Man.

[@poetcomic1]

Third man has its roots more in classic German Expressionism than Noir. Wonderful film.

[@Matt-zp1jn]

I would have thought this top 25 film noir list would at least have the Classic, w/Mitchum/Gish in “The Night of the Hunter”….?

[@Nobody-Nowhere]

Great to see Possessed as 4th, its a great movie that does not seem to get that much attention.

[@TREVASLARK]

Where is "Laura ???"

[@rescuepetsrule6842]

Without Richard Widmark (Night In The City), Linda Darnell and more Dan Duryea, Noir watchers would miss some of the best. You can't possibly please everyone here- we all have our favs, but I'da bumped several choices to include the Stars above. Try Fallen Angel (Darnell, Dana Andrews), Black Angel (Duryea) and Bette Davis' films in the 40s/50s (Another Man's Poison). Enjoy!

[@tommyhaynes9157]

All excellent choices

[@toddmaniatoddmania9844]

Finally someone who included Key Largo

[@randywhite3947]

Key largo isn’t noir

[@toddmaniatoddmania9844]

Randy White yes it is. Look it up.

[@alexnietzsche]

and Scarlet Street, is noir?

[@bluecollarlit]

Some of these movies are not noir, but have some noir elements.

[@rogersmith4834]

Right on for a good start. How the hell do any of us pick a No. 1 Best Film Noir? So many in the ranks of great stars, great scripts, great directors. Lucky us, right? And now...take a look. Where are such great films like these today?

[@michaelsamerdyke108]

Terrific choices. Seventeen of yours would be on my list. I'd add Scarlet Street, The Big Heat, The Killers, The Harder They Fall, The Asphalt Jungle, Night and the City, and Brute Force.

[@anthonytripp2251]

❤️ Scarlet Street ❤️

[@pnutbutrncrackers]

While Film Noir is not my favorite genre, I love the fantastic Double Indemnity, which would be my #1 on this list. Huge kudos, though, for including the oft-overlooked Possessed and ranking it so highly. Superb Joan Crawford vehicle.

[@JohnReitz-ps2ct]

So many of these films I wish I could watch again for the first time...

[@willtheman840]

Reading all the comments I realize taking various opinions together would almost lead any black and white movie with a crime element and a little bit of mystery to described as noir.

[@ChrisPBacon-jl7oc]

Well yeah thats the pount but its like saying every supethero movie is a marvel movie. Film noir is about how it was filmed, when it was filmed, and so on. It the only way to seperate it

[@bluecollarlit]

Yes, some of the films here are not noir, imo. Still an enjoyable video, and good movies that are worth attention and discussion.

[@tikbalangbukid]

23/25..., gotta watch mildred pierce, angel face...😅

[@iadorenewyork1]

It’s “Desperate Hours”, not “Desperat”. Some of the films in your list aren’t technically Noir. You have included “Double Indemnity” is one of the best!

[@helmle29]

It's difficult to restrict film noir to a Top 25. Titles not mentioned that I would add include: "Too Late For Tears" (1949 - Lizabeth Scott, Dan Duryea), "Gun Crazy" (1950 - Jon Dall, Peggy Cummins), "The Reckless Moment" (1949 - James Mason, Joan Bennett), "Tomorrow in Another Day" (1951 - Ruth Roman, Steve Cochran) and "Beyond the Forest: (1949 - Bette Davis, Joseph Cotten). "Criss Cross" is definitely a top favorite. Great cast and arguably Yvonne de Carlo's best performance as the femme fatale whose motivations play out in an ambiguous manner.

[@downhomesunset]

Seem to be missing “The Naked City”

[@stevemcnary4301]

I'd include The Lady From Shanghai, DOA & a few others to your fine list.

[@charlesstanger4269]

Gaslight.paulaaa.

[@jimwatson842]

“Phone Call From A Stranger”. Bette Davis had no more than a cameo at the end, but she was never better.

[@djtforever1414]

0:26 I'd argue that Anatomy Of A Murder is not noir - it is a trial/courtroom drama with noirish tendencies (like the returned soldier)

[@lcs1956]

Well it has a noir ending of sorts, since the truth never reveals itself in a tidy package. The work of lawyers is also made out to be rather cynical and self-serving.

[@peterbellini6102]

A melodrama is NOT a Noir. So forget (and some are personal faves of mine) The Stranger, Sweet Smell of Success, Possessed and Mildred Pierce. And for God's sake, Out of The Past from an acting, writing, direction and general "bad-assery" by Mitchum and the ultimate femme fatale, Jane Greer is numero uno !! Criss-Cross??? What the ...

[@randywhite3947]

Sweet Smell of Success, The Stranger, and Mildred Pierce are all noirs

[@willtheman840]

We can the problem. Noir, as many other descriptors, are filled with ambiguity and disagreement.

[@peterbellini6102]

@@martinpatrick8964 Only 2 years later you're getting around to it troll?

[@poetcomic1]

Everyone would shuffle deck, take some out and add some but I'm curious what your personal Noir CRITERIA was.

[@silversurfergw]

Don't quite agree with ranking but all of them (except sorry wrong number which while not bad, it is more of a vignette ) are great movies.

[@fran_1978]

Where the sidewalk ends, Murder my sweet, Clash by night, Nightmare alley, Gun crazy, Born to kill, Detour, Fallen Angel, Crossfire,

[@johnnya867]

Lots of good ones but where's the big sleep!?!? Did I miss it. I've seen that dozens of times

[@batman5224]

It’s number 10.

[@user-ct9nm8lq5v]

Love film noir 💖

[@kevinohara8671]

What happened to laura

[@buccy55]

I would have Mildred Pierce much higher on the list, top 3 easily along with The Maltese Falcon and The Big Sleep. You can add Bullets or Ballots in place of Key Largo.

[@MaoRuiqi]

Postman Always Rings Twice #26?

[@paullittle9187]

The Killing is my personal number one.

[@axxellein]

TRES Cool=Heavy Gendre Le Film Noir!

[@vmurgolo]

Sweet Smell of Success. Match me Sydney.

[@timtrucksess5467]

A good list but...The killers & Laura?

[@jimwatson842]

I had never seen this until recently. I kept thinking Sterling Hayden was undercover for the FBI or somebody. Wrong!

[@FreeSpeechisMyRight10]

What about 'Scarlet Street'? One of my favorites.

[@batman5224]

Jeffrey Emerson This list is four years old. If I were making it today, Scarlet Street would probably be in the top five, but at the time, I had not seen it.

[@ChrisPBacon-jl7oc]

@@batman5224 make a new update list but make it 30 or even 50.

[@anthonytripp2251]

My favorite movie of all time

[@anthonytripp2251]

Scarlet Street He Walked by Night This Gun For Hire

[@andrewjwheelerjr275]

so good goodness all of them love them all because you should know that theirs more of these then you may think and when I do brother Alfred Hitchcock comes popping up in my mind good evening and good night ladies and gentlemen theme music please😉😉😉😉😉😉😉😉😉😉😉😉😉😉😉😉😉😉😉😉😉😉😉😉😉😉.

[@MrArthurdog]

The Third Man should be number 1

[@sherryrobinson7389]

Why not Cheney Vase?.??😀😀😀😀😀😆😆😆😆😆😄😄😄😣

[@mikedbigame3398]

The minute I saw "Sweet Smell of Success was #23, I knew it was going to be a terrible list... and there isn't a film on the list better than "The Third Man" let alone the absurd 5 chosen here.

[@jimbarry-fp6gp]

The Killers

[@RayPointerChannel]

I'm not sure that ANATOMY OF A MURDER is Film Noir. But what about THE NARROW MARGIN. Maybe the list is too short and should list 50 since there are so many more worth recogniziing.

[@nobodyaskedbut]

You can't have the very 1st film noir (The Maltese Falcon 1941) with film's greatest leading actor, 13th. The Killing was made after and because of John Huston's masterwork The Asphalt Jungle (1950). Huston created film noir with TMF so to neglect him in this list is, of course, stupid.

[@randywhite3947]

Well this is just his opinion after all

[@TokuAndAnimationNewsNetwork]

By your logic, he can't pout Double Indemnity on his list so high up since it is the only Noir to fill in every check box. :-) The Maltese Falcon is a great movie, but it's more like my third or fourth favorite Noir.

[@s.m.pravin9738]

Where is m

[@butalina]

You missed some better ones....The Killing....Asphalt Jungle....Blackboard Jungle....The Killers (original one)....Angels with dirty faces....The Narrow Margin...The Hustler....Detective story.....They drive by night...Thieves Highway...Ace in the hole.....

[@matthewalexander1943]

Angels with Dirty Faces isn't noir. The anti-hero's act at the end, among other reasons, prevents that.

[@butalina]

@@matthewalexander1943 You might want to read the original definition of what Noir is: Dark movie...everything else is interpretation. Because you claim a movie ended a certain way, its not Noir..actually, that is farthest from the truth.

[@matthewalexander1943]

@@butalina I just gave you the original definition. It was coined by a French critic. He used it for a certain kind of movie. If the ending of the movie does not fit in with the kind of movie he was referring to when he coined the term, then it isn't Noir. Angels with Dirty faces was available to him when it came out. It was before American movies were unavailable in France. Presumably, if he had considered Angels with Dirty Faces to be Noir, he would have said so. Instead, he said there was a new kind of movie that had not come out before. While you can see some trends in literature, photography and cinema leading up to Noir, anything before The Maltese Falcon is, at most, proto-noir. Angels with Dirty Faces, even if it come out in 1945, is a poor candidate for Noir for the reason I gave, among others.

[@butalina]

@@matthewalexander1943 actually you gave me a critics opinion...Again, the original meaning "Dark Movie" Period. Dark movie can also mean the dark side of human behavior... You see, every person will have their own definition of Film Noir...then people started making up a few new terms like Neo-Noir. Your opinion is one thing...the true meaning is another.

[@matthewalexander1943]

@@butalina You're either not reading carefully or you just don't want to admit that you're wrong. I didn't give a critics opinion. I gave you the definition as determined BY THE GUY WHO COINED THE PHRASE. Curious how you twisted things around. Film Noir means black film, not dark film, and it doesn't matter what the translation means. It is a phrase that has it's own meaning. He could have called it Jumpy Elephants, it doesn't matter. It refers to the new style of American movie that had come out during the war. "You see, every person will have their own definition of Film Noir" Yes, that's always useful for communication, having no agreed upon definitions. The Muppets Take Manhattan is also one of the greatest Films Noir ever, because I just decided to have my own definition of FIlm Noir. If you honestly believed that nonsense, then you wouldn't be arguing with me now. You're just using it because you're wrong, you know you're wrong, but you're unwilling to admit it. "Your opinion is one thing...the true meaning is another." I'm not giving you an opinion, I'm giving you facts. And just one second ago you said that everyone is going to have their own definition. Now your talking about a "true meaning" of Film Noir. You have no idea what you're blabbering about. You're wrong. Period. Now go away. I'm done with you.

[@2msvalkyrie529]

The Big Heat ?!? Glenn Ford. ?

[@danyw93]

Please allow me to include The Woman in the Window (1944), Scarlet Streer (1945), The Big Heat (1953) and Human Desire (1954), all them from the german master Fritz Lang. And why not The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946).

[@willieluncheonette5843]

Good choices. My top 3 are Vertigo (yes a color noir) Touch of Evil and Kiss Me Deadly. Rounding out my top 7 are Out of the Past, White Heat, The Lineup. and Shoot the Piano Player

[@jamesgoren4114]

Out of the past has to be number one and you missed the narrow margin!,

[@willtheman840]

Good movies, but I wouldn't consider all to be film noir, especially Anatomy of Murder. Great film, just not noir.

[@user-me8zm8wk6y]

All great films. Not MY list.

[@garrickragon1232]

Kansas City Confedential

[@nedmerrill5705]

I've seen them all. I'll take Marie Windsor as the nastiest _femme fatale._

[@thesoultwins72]

No 'Murder my Sweet'????

[@caseyodell520]

Where is a Robert Ryan film??? Who made this list???

[@Doll676]

My favorite is the damed don’t cry starring Joan Crawford

[@NelsonMontana1234]

Criss Cross number ONE?

[@Warrenhfcd]

Where's Psycho?

[@raylenenielsen5943]

After reading the comments perhaps someone with “knowledge” should define “noir”. Just what, exactly, constitutes “noir”?

[@nedludd7622]

All American except for "The Third Man" which wasn't a film noir. Neither was "Sunset Boulevard". "Touch of Evil" was tacky silliness.

[@audiophileman7047]

Well, at least it went by quickly. Your top five don't deserve to be there. I'd put them on the list, but not that high. The greatest is The Third Man followed by Double Indemnity.

[@markrubin9449]

Really good movies but many do not qualify to be called " Noir ".

[@batman5224]

Mark Rubin What movies are you referring to? Noir is not always clearly defined.

[@randywhite3947]

Joseph Logsdon dark Passage, Anatomy of a murder, and Key Largo

[@randywhite3947]

Some of these films aren’t even Noir

[@batman5224]

Like what?

[@randywhite3947]

Joseph Logsdon dark Passage, Anatomy of a murder, and Key Largo

[@batman5224]

Randy White Key Largo is definitely a film noir.

[@randywhite3947]

Joseph Logsdon you’re right about Key Largo but most definitely not the others

[@milesc.anthony2811]

"Anatomy Of A Murder". ❤

[@willtheman840]

Yes great movie, but not film noir.

[@TheSaltydog07]

Just because it's in black and white and suspenseful does not make it noir.

[@57highland]

What's the criteria?

[@markwoldin162]

Odd list.

[@erwinwoodedge4885]

A lot of misogyny going on....

[@kelvinsmith6854]

Are you serious !!...no DETOUR and D.O.A ?... the greatest Film Noirs of all-time, you obviously dont know or understand the genre.

[@batman5224]

Kelvin Smith I like Detour, but it’s not one of my favorites.

[@kelvinsmith6854]

@@batman5224 ...well I guess it's your list of favourites so thats fine.

[@willtheman840]

Ugh, I loathe Detour.

[@king_has_no_clothskul8635]

third man is not a noir. it is a regular film. noir has to be low-budget. he has missed plenty. kiss me deadly fits the bill so does touch of evil, double indemnify. pick up on the south is a perfect film noir( you cant miss it). also one of detour or doa must be there. Other day I saw another one. unable to recall.

[@matthewalexander1943]

Noir does not have to be low budget. Where do you get that rule from? A French critic, after having missed out on American movies during WWII, noticed, as he was catching up with what he had missed, that there was a new kind of gritty film being made quite in contrast to the films he was used to seeing. They were gritty, pessimistic, full of amoral characters often ruining their lives over greed or vengeance or some other dark emotion. That is what film noir is. They don't have to be low budget. And The Third Man definitely qualifies.

[@rahulb5120]

@@matthewalexander1943 Yes you perfectly defined noir definition. The treasure of Sierra Madre is also perfect noir film

[@matthewalexander1943]

@@rahulb5120 Yup. That one definitely fits the bill.

[@randywhite3947]

Wridhumana Saaho um that’s silly The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is a Western

[@randywhite3947]

Matthew Alexander no it doesn’t