30 Essential Movies of the 1930s: #15-#11

15. The Thin Man (1934)

It is not uncommon for actors to be cast in roles to which they are very well suited. Whether it be in look or in style, casting decisions frequently turn out well. However, it is rare for an actor to be so well cast that they not only become synonymous with character, but actually improve on it. This is the case for William Powell and Nick Charles, Powell took Dashiell Hammett's Charles which was well written to begin with, and made it into one of the best characters in movie history. Powell embodies Charles' wit, humorous, sarcasm, class, and brains in The Thin Man, managing to make you believe that this wise-cracking man with a Wire Fox Terrier named Asta (Skippy) is also a brilliant private detective who solves the case of a missing man (Edward Ellis) and barely leaves has to leave his robe to do it. The Thin Man isn't a one man show though, Powell has a perfect foil in Myrna Loy, who plays Charles' wife Nora. The two have dynamic on screen chemistry and the scenes they are in together breeze by with such charm that you forget that you are watching a mystery. But then, The Thin Man is just as much a comedy as it's a mystery, with elements of slapstick along with zinging one liners as well as back-and-forth screwball elements. Powell especially is absolutely delightful firing verbals barbs way over the heads of wanna-be tough guy thugs. Like all great movies, The Thin Man defies labeling and is just an entertaining, funny, movie with two actors at the top of their game and one adorable dog. It also happens to have a pretty good mystery in it too.

14. The Awful Truth (1937)

Because sound in the movies allowed for spoken dialogue on the screen, screwball comedies, which are based mostly on verbal humor, exploded into Hollywood during the 30s. This was perfect for the time because audiences were desperate for lighthearted entertainment to take the minds off of the Great Depression. One of the best screwball comedies of the 1930s is The Awful Truth, starring Cary Grant and Irene Dunne as a married couple who, after a misunderstanding, are determined to gets a divorce, disagreeing over who will get their dog Mr. Smith (Skippy again!). Dunne moves on to the kind-hearted Dan Leeson (Ralph Bellamy) while Grant turns to socialite Barbara Vance (Molly Lamont). However, their hearts aren't really in it and throughout the course of the movie they try to sabotage the other's relationship. It is a story that is as more about their love for one another than any vitriol after the misunderstanding, which is a welcome difference from the more negative turns most romantic comedies take these days. Though he was in two dozen or so movies before it, The Awful Truth marked the beginning of Grant's rise to stardom, a reign that would last for three decades, a run of hit after hit at the box office. It is easy to see why Grant became a star after this performance, his comedic ability and charisma are irresistible. And though Dunne never became as big a star as some of Grant's other leading ladies, the two make a terrific screen pairing that was repeated again two more times. The Awful Truth is one of the very best, and funniest screwball comedies that also manages to tug the heart strings at times as well.

13. The 39 Steps (1935)
In Europe during the lead up to World War II there was an abundance of political intrigue taking place as unrest grew. This led to an influx in spy fiction, which eventually invaded the movie theaters as well. The 39 Steps, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, is a prime example of this, containing mysterious women, secret organizations, spies, and vague stolen documents. It is also an early example of Hitchcock staples of the wrong man and a MacGuffin. The innocent man on the run is Richard Hannay (Robert Donat), plays a Canadian visiting London, who meets a mysterious woman named Annabella Smith (Lucie Mannheim) who is clearly distressed. Richard brings Annabella back to his apartment where she explains she is a spy who has uncovered a plot to steal British intelligence plans, as well as mentioning something called "the 39 steps" in Scotland. The next morning, Richard finds Annabella dead and, knowing he will be accused of the murder, flees to Scotland to clear his name. Along the way, Richard becomes involved in the intrigue, first hindered and then assisted by the beautiful Pamela (Madeleine Carroll) as he attempts to thwart the enemy agents. Though it has a fairly grim premise and some pretty dark plot elements, The 39 Steps never gets too bogged down with its own seriousness. There is plenty of humor and a love story, which reflects a a common characteristic of  1930s cinema: most movies of that time, no matter how serious the overall plot, usually had some lighter parts. The 39 Steps manages this balance as well as any, as it is both charming and gripping at the same time.

12. A Night At The Opera (1935)
It would take much, much more than a couple of paragraphs to describe the comedic genius of the Marx Brothers, and then it would take up even more space describing their influence on comedy. Each one of the main three, Groucho, Chico, and Harpo, had their own distinct comedic style, yet they could also play off one another in multiple different ways depending on the scene. Each one could effortlessly go from straight-man to comic, alternating between delivering the humor and being the butt end of the comedy. It's not just that they were uproariously funny, but also that they were experts at things the little things in comedy, like timing and rhythm, and revolutionary in their approach to humor. It also helped that they had been performing together since they were teenagers. A Night At The Opera is the best of their traditional comedies, almost all of which are completely hilarious. Groucho plays Otis B. Driftwood, who is trying to get money (and marriage) out of the rich widow Mrs. Claypool (Margaret Dumont), though he has a rival for her affections in Herman Gottlieb (Sig Ruman), the head of the New York Opera Company who wants to use her money to sign Opera star Rodolfo Lassparri (Walter Woolf King). Also wishing for a big break with the Opera is bit player Riccardo Baroni (Alan Jones), who hires his friend Fiorello (Chico) to be his agent. Also kicking around the Opera house is Lassparri's dresser Tomasso (Harpo). To attempt to describe any of the multitude of humorous scenes would not only be futile, but also a disservice. The Marx Brothers are best enjoyed but just sitting back, watching, and hoping you aren't eating or drinking anything during certain scenes.  

11. Mr. Smith Goes To Washington (1939)
After the collapse of the stock market in 1929, many were becoming disillusioned with the American Dream and patriotism was slowly dying throughout the 1930s. Corruption, whether real or not, was thought to be rampant in both business and government while rights and values were being trampled in the ground by greedy crooks. Enter Frank Capra, who placed the title of hero squarely on the shoulders common man willing to do what is right no matter the circumstances around him. Whether it's Longfellow Deeds or George Bailey, Capra's leading men are usually surrounded by corruption, but instead of letting that kill their spirit, it inspires them to stand up and fight for the American Dream. Mr. Smith Goes To Washington is the clearest example of this, with it's hero, Jefferson Smith (James Stewart), going from idealistic Boy Rangers leader to Washington D.C. Senator. He is selected by his state's governor (Guy Kibbee) to serve as junior Senator to the revered Sen. Joseph Paine (Claude Raines) but also to be the unknowing figurehead for corrupt political boss Jim Taylor (Edward Arnold). Smith arrives in Washington eager to see the monuments and make a modest difference, but soon discovers just how much corruption there is political structure of his state, and even the Senate itself. Smith begins, with the help of his secretary Clarissa Saunders (Jean Arthur), to do all he can to expose Taylor, but soon runs into more and more trouble as the crooked political machine keeps turning. Though it has some comedic parts, much of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is more drama and even turns tragedy as Smith is left a broken man after his last ditch filibuster fails, but in the end American values triumph. Released a month after the beginning of World War II and just two years before Pearl Harbor, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington provided a much needed shot in the arm to disillusioned Americans that would need all the fortitude they could muster for the next of four years of war. 

30 Essential Movies of the 1930s: #20-#16

20. The Public Enemy (1931)

In 1934, distress over the luridness (for its time) of movies led to the creation of the Motion Picture Production Code, which put severe restrictions on what content could be put in movies. Movies released prior to this are referred to as "Pre-Code" and were, while very tame by today's standards, much loser morally than the films that came after the Code. A perfect example of this are the gangster films that were hugely popular during the early 1930s. These films glorified the life of gangsters, often reveling in their crimes, a big no-no post-Code, but a big hit with audiences before it became taboo. The Public Enemy is one of a number of seminal pre-Code crime films, along with the likes of Little Caesar (1931) and Scarface (1932), that centered around a small-time gangster's rise up the ranks of the crime world. Due to the presence of James Cagney, who became synonymous with gangster films, The Public Enemy is the best the genre has to offer. His ability to play a hardened criminal, yet still remain appealing to the audience is crucial to the success of the film; it also helps that Cagney is a tremendous actor. Cagney plays Tom Powers, who begins a life of petty crime along with his best friend Matt Doyle (Edward Woods) during the Prohibition era. The two eventually start a bootlegging syndicate and the money starts rolling in, with women not far behind. Tom especially goes through women quickly, from Kitty (Mae Clarke) to Mamie (Joan Blondell) before finally meeting Gwen Allen, played by pre-Code superstar Jean Harlow, who is perfect for the salacious nature of a crime drama. While The Public Enemy does a great job showing both Tom's rise and downfall in the crime world, the way his personal life collapses, particularly his relationship with his family, is even more intriguing. Between Cagney, Harlow, and the exciting shoot-outs directed by William A. Wellman, The Public Enemy is still thrilling and entertaining today.

19. Modern Times (1936)

During the Silent era, there was no bigger star than Charlie Chaplin and his Tramp character, so much so that he was annually the top paid actor in Hollywood and highest earn for his studio. However, so much of the Tramp was tied to silent film and Chaplin had trouble embracing sound, to the point that he didn't create a fully talking picture in The Great Dictator in 1940, thirteen years after talkies debuted. Despite this fact, several of his best pictures came after the advent of sound, including Modern Times, which has a couple of lines of spoken dialogue, but none by any of the principle characters. Chaplin, one of the first auteur directors, was almost completely responsible for the creative process surrounding his movies, frequently writing, producing, directing, scoring, and starring in his movies. Such is the case with Modern Times, where Chaplin's Tramp appears as a hapless assembly line worker, marking the character's last appearance on the screen. Much of the movie's humor is derived from the Tramp attempting to operate the assembly line and fix the various machines in the factory where he works. He is also arrested a number of times for various humorous reasons and tries to get a new job as a waiter, with typically hilarious results. An underlying theme of the movie is the Tramp's relationship with a gamine (Paulette Goddard) and their attempts to make a living for themselves during the turbulent times of the Great Depression. Chaplin mixes in a saccharine love story between the Tramp and gamine that, like most of Chaplin's movies is just as likely to touch your heart as it is to split your sides with laughter. Modern Times is a master at work in all facets of film-making and proof that great visual humor will always be funny, talking or not.

18. Gunga Din (1939)

One of the best things a movie can do is to transport you to a different place and a different time, fill you with a sense of adventure and dangerous unknown. These are often the most entertaining films because they allow you to escape your daily life for an hour or two and live the life of an hero or adventurer in a far-off land. Gunga Din, based on the poem by Rudyard Kipling, is exactly that type of movie. It's impossible not be swept was away with the sense of adventure that absolutely permeates spirit and charm. Set on the Indian frontier in the late 1800s, Gunga Din stars Cary Grant, Victor McLaglen, and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. as a trio of British army Sergeants and best friends who, along with Indian water carrier Gunga Din (Sam Jaffe), investigate a Thuggee murder cult. This leads to all sorts of small skirmishes, before ending with a giant, rip-roaring battle at the movie's climax. A subplot involves Fairbanks Jr's relationship with Emmy Stebbins (Joan Fontaine), who he intends leave the army and marry her, much to the chagrin of his two friends, who do every thing they can to get him to stay in the army, even resorting to trickery. For a movie that deals with some pretty serious subject matters like war, sacrifice, and a murder cult, Gunga Din is surprising lighthearted and downright humorous at points. Part of the reason for this is the writers (Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur) and the director (George Stevens), all three veterans of comedy films. This provides a much-need levity to the some of the dark elements of the film. Gunga Din is a terrific adventure movie that is both fun as well as a stirring drama.

17. The Island of Lost Souls (1932)
Most horror movies in the 1930s and 40s focused on a singular monster as it's main attraction, from Frankenstein's monster, to the Wolfman, Dracula, and the Invisible Man, it is usually that one character that holds the audience's fascination. An unfortunate side-effect of this is that those movies tend to suffer when these characters aren't on screen, leading to uneven films. This is one of the reasons that The Island of Lost Souls really stands out and above those movies because it successfully incorporates numerous terrifying characters and horror elements while creating a terrific sense of atmosphere, keeping the audience engaged and on edge throughout the movie. Based on The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells, the movie stars Richard Arlen as Edward Parker who, after his ship is wrecked, is picked up by a boat that is transporting animals to a remote island in the South Seas. Parker ends up stuck on the island and finds out that is inhabited by Dr. Moreau (Charles Laughton) and his hideous creations, human-like creatures created through the vivisection of various animals. These creatures have rudimentary abilities to function as humans, including speech, and include the Sayer of the Law (Bela Lugosi) and M'ling (Tetsu Komai), Moreau's servant. Also inhabiting the island is beautiful, yet simple minded Lota (Kathleen Burke) who Parker falls in love with, despite being engaged to another woman (Leila Hyams), who is desperately trying to find him. The special effects and makeup for the beast-men is a touchstone for monster makeup, equal parts twisted and grotesque, yet also believable. The Island of Lost Souls is chock-full of shocking and horrifying moments, while also carrying over some of the more philosophical themes in Wells' novel. 

16. Top Hat (1935)

When it comes to on-screen pairings, it doesn't get any better than Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Like many screen-teams, they co-starred in many pictures together (nine total), yet there is something special about the pair. Perhaps the most important part of their partnership was the fact that not only could Ginger dance, but she could dance just as well as Fred. It's one thing for an actor and actress to have screen chemistry, which they had in spades, it is quite another when the two of them could go literally go toe-to-toe during the frequent song-and-dance numbers. Add to that the fact that they dance like a couple in love and you've got a dynamic pairing. For the most part, Astaire/Rogers movies have a flimsy plot that serves as the framework for the musical elements, a few, however, are more complete movies with good, entertaining stories. Top Hat, which was the pair's biggest hit, is one of those that transcends trivial entertainment and becomes a very good movie, regardless of genre. Astaire plays Jerry Travers, a dancer who accidentally disturbs Ginger's Dale Tremont while practicing for his next show. He immediately falls in love with her, yet through a case of mistaken identity she believes that he is already married and refuses to ever see him again. Besides an entertaining plot, Top Hat also includes some of their best loved songs (written by Irving Berlin and Max Steiner), including "Top Hat, White Tie, and Tails" and "Cheek to Cheek," which are now considered classics of American music. Even the cheesier of the Fred and Ginger's movies are worth watching because of the songs, dances, and the pair's magnetism, but when these a combined with a great story, they become absolutely essential viewing. 

30 Essential Movies of the 1930s: #25-#21

25. Freaks (1932)
Though the silent film era had it's share of classic horror cinema, the 1930s saw a rapid growth of the genre beginning in 1931 when Boris Karloff's Frankenstein and Bela Lugosi's Dracula were released to huge successes. After these successes, Dracula director Tod Browning took an even bolder step in the genre the following year with Freaks. Set in the carnival, particularly among the sideshow, Freaks doesn't use professional actors in makeup. Instead Browning, who worked at a carnival before his time in Hollywood, took the remarkable step and cast real sideshow performers to play their screen counterparts. Real people with real genetic deformities. Like so man horror films have, it would be easy for Freaks to be exploitative of these people, instead it does the exact opposite, exposing the wickedness of those "regular" circus members who take advantage of the "freaks," and even murder one for personal gain. Despite how scary and occasionally disturbing it can be, Freaks never loses sight of the humanity of it's characters, which is rare in the horror genre. After it was cut by 26 minutes because of disastrous test screenings, Freaks was a critical and commercial failure that effective ended the career of Browning. Despite this, Freaks is one of the best horror films of the all time, able to not only terrify, but also send a message of unparalleled depth for it's time.

24. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)

Today, most animated movies and TV shows are made with computers and the classic animation styles are slowly disappearing from the screen. This is a shame because there is nothing quite like cel-animation, it has such a distinct, beautiful look; the way the color pops from the screen and movements flow is wholly unique to the medium. No matter how much computer power you put behind it, nothing can replace the care and detail that goes into each hand-drawn animation cel. The first full-length cel-animated feature film was Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which is not only a beautiful piece of animated art, but also a hugely influential movie that opened the door for for ever single animated movie after it. Snow White deviates from the classic fairy tale only to make itself more family friendly (the original story is a little darker) and to add some musical numbers, written by Frank Churchill and Larry Morey. Walt Disney himself produced the film, which helped lead to a unified look the film, despite the presence of six different directors, seven writers, as well as the numerous animators who worked on it. Though today some who watch it might find the animations simplistic compared to the more advanced techniques that marked later animated films, however this minimalism in many ways makes it more beautiful as the colors are purer, less diluted by detail lines. Even 75-plus years after it release, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a timeless, beautiful piece of classic animation that influenced countless artists since it was first released.   

23. 42nd Street (1933)
If Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers were the king and queen of musicals in the 1930s, then Busby Berkeley was the prime minister. His visual style as both director and choreographer shaped the genre for the decade and those that followed. While many filmmakers were content to just transpose Broadway to the screen, Berkeley was the first to utilize the camera as a tool for his creative vision. Instead of just planting the camera where the audience would be during a stage performance, Berkeley's shots slither in and out of the action, track through the legs of the chorus line, rise up to shoot from straight above, and use dramatic angles for perspective tricks. If Berkeley's direction went against the norm, then his choreography was downright revolutionary. From his psychedelic kaleidoscopes of dancers and the fluid undulation of the chorus lines to the many times downright ludicrous costumes, Berkeley pushed the creative envelope with each dance sequence he designed. As with most of Rogers and Astaire's movies, the appeal with Berkeley's pictures isn't the story, characters, or acting, it is the terrific musical numbers. 42nd Street, which stars Rogers, Warner Baxter, Ruby Keeler, and Dick Powell is the best of Berkeley's pictures (Lloyd Bacon directed the non-musical parts) but also has a credible and entertaining story of the life behind a Broadway musical, while also having great music, written by Harry Warren and Al Durbin, and choreography courtesy of Berkeley. In a genre that usually follow a tried and true formula, Berkeley's creativity and downright weirdness can be a breath of fresh air and all his movies are worth watching.      

22. The Four Feathers (1939)
One of the most important figures in British cinema during the 1930s 40s, and 50s, was director and producer Alexander Korda. After mostly flopping as a director in Hollywood during the 1920s, Korda returned to Britain in 1932 and started London Films, which became one of the biggest British movie studios of the cinema's Golden Age. Korda either directed or produced most of the studios biggest films, the former in the case of The Four Feathers, which is directed by his younger brother Zoltan, though Alexander was certainly more hands on with the film than more producers. The story, about a disgraced British army officer who goes to Sudan during the Mahdist War (1981-1899) to regain his honor, was adapted by R.C. Sheriff, Lajos Biro, and Arthur Wimperis' from A.E.W. Mason's novel. John Clements stars as Harry Faversham, the shamed officer, who is given four white feathers (a sign of cowardice) by three of his fellow officers (Ralph Richardson, Donald Grey, and Jack Allen) and his fiancée (June Duprez) after he resigns his commission on the eve of war. Haversham travels to the Sudan on his own to regain their respect, finding himself in the middle of a vicious war. Shot in beautiful Technicolor on location in the Sudan, The Four Feathers it looks even today and doesn't look dated at all. From the small, touching moments of courage to the large set-piece battle sequences, The Four Feathers never stops thrilling and entertaining. It is one of the best adventure movies of all time because of the way it mixes exciting action, beautiful desert visuals, and a tremendous story that stirs the heart with a tremendous sense of adventure.

21. Twentieth Century (1934)

With the advent of sound, filmmakers were able to transport the dialogue of the stage onto the screen in a way that Silent film never allowed. This development led to a new genre of movie: the screwball comedy, which was highlighted by witty, rapid fire lines, slapstick, and an element of the ridicules. Twentieth Century was one of the first screwball comedies to grace the screen, and as much as any of the genre, it owes a debt to the romantic comedy stage plays the preceded it because it was lifted directly from Broadway. Adapted for the screen by the original authors, Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, Twentieth Century centers around a manic Broadway producer Oscar "O.J." Jaffe (John Barrymore) who tries to convince his former star and girlfriend Lily Garland (Carole Lombard) to star once again in one of his plays. The bulk of the action occurs on a train, the 20th Century Limited from Chicago to New York, which takes the place of a stage as a backdrop to the performers. Both Barrymore and Lombard are excellent, going back and forth with scathing insults and explosions of hilarious temper and emotion. Barrymore especially gives the best comedic performance of his career. Director Howard Hawks would eventually go on to direct two of the best screwball comedies ever made, Bringing Up Baby (1938) and His Girl Friday (1940), and much of the greatness of those two movies, particularly the rhythm of the dialogue, can be seen here as Hawks masterfully balances Barrymore and Lombard's over-the-top theatrics while still keeping everything coherent despite the speed of of the verbal tete-a-tete's.

30 Essential Movies of the 1930s: #30-#26

30. Grand Hotel (1932)
Looking at the cast of Grand Hotel, it's easy to forget just how large a confluence of star power the movie brought together. Grand Hotel straddled the end of the Silent era and the birth of sound and because of this, many people today are not familiar with just how popular the cast members were individually. Much of their hay was made in silent movies and as a result of this, modern audiences are unfamiliar with their popularity. Greta Garbo was arguably the biggest star in Hollywood at the time, while brothers Lionel and John Barrymore were both critical and popular successes, including Lionel winning the Academy Award for Best Actor the year before (A Free Soul). Today, Joan Crawford is better known for her later movies, but her star burned the brightest in the early 30s. Even Wallace Beery, a relative afterthought now, was a big star who had billing over Clark Gable earlier that year, and had won Best Actor for The Champ in 1931. All of this is to say that Grand Hotel was, to that point, the biggest collection of stardom in movie history. Grand Hotel uses the Hotel Esplanade in Berlin to unfold the encounters of several, previously unacquainted. Each character arrives at the hotel at a different point in their life, John Barrymore is a bankrupt Baron who supplements his income with an occasional jewel theft. Lionel plays an accountant who has recently discovered he is dying and befriends the Baron, who plans on stealing a the jewels of a burned out ballerina (Garbo). Beery plays an industrialist, who hires Crawford to be his stenographer. Each comes to the hotel unaware of each other, but by the end of the movie each is intertwined in the lives of one another. The great joy of Grand Hotel, along with watching great actors on the screen together, is seeing how each life is affected by the other through the kind of random encounters you can have on a daily basis.

29. My Man Godfrey (1936)

Sandwiched between the affluent "Roaring Twenties" and World War II, America in the 1930s were a distinct period of culture. The Great Depression had a profound affect on the movies of the 30s especially, with no movie being a better example of this than My Man Godfrey. Not only is it a screwball comedy, the genre that defined the decade in an attempt to provide lighthearted entertainment to masses, but it also highlighted the big class differences of the decade. Based on the short story "1011 Fifth" by Eric Hatch, My Man Godfrey stars William Powell as Godfrey Smith, a penniless man living in the New York City dump. His fortunes change when he is taken, as part of a scavenger hunt looking for a "forgotten man," to a party of the wealthy by socialite Irene Bullock (Carol Lombard). Bullock takes a fancy to Godfrey, a sentiment that is only added to by the way he irks her older sister Cornelia (Gail Patrick). Irene employs Godfrey as the new family butler, where he must deal with Cornelia's attempts to get him fired, as well that the eccentric antics of the rest of the Bullock family, including the frustrated patriarch, (Eugene Pallette), his nutty wife Angelica (Alice Brady), and her preening protege Carlo (Mischa Auer). Another hurdle for Godfrey is that Irene has seemingly fallen in love with him, and idea that makes him uncomfortable. Through it all, despite his lowly state at the beginning of the movie, he keeps his dignity and respect, sending a clear message that being poor isn't a disgrace, a notion that would certainly appeal to the masses that would have seen it. My Man Godfrey provides plenty of the laughs and escapism for the poor, struggling lower class people who populated the movie halls during the Great Depression, but what it also provides a little bit of hope as well. Why not, like Godfrey a man who lost his life to the Depression, couldn't any one of the unfortunate souls out in the audience also be picked out of the squalor and taken into the rich, extravagant life of the upper class? Something to dream about at least.

28. Captain Blood (1935)

One of the defining aspects of the 1930s were the "screen teams," from musicals with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, to The Thin Man series with Myrna Loy and William Powell, and the comedies of Laurel and Hardy, the 1930s were rife with movie pairs. One of the most enduring of these duos are Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland, who over the course of six years produced eight different pictures, mostly of the adventure variety, with Flynn playing the dashing hero and de Havilland his love interest. The first of these movies, the one that introduced the two to the world, was Captain Blood. Flynn plays the titular role as the Dr. Peter Blood, who is sold into slavery in the West Indies, as a punishment for treason. He is convicted because he treated a wounded leader of the failed Monmouth rebellion. While in the Indies, he is mistreated and abused, but eventually escapes, but not after earning the affection of his owner's daughter Arabella (de Havilland). Blood, along with many of his fellow slaves, take to a life of piracy and do battle with both British and private forces, including the villainous Captain Levasseur, who double-crosses Blood and his crew. Both Flynn and de Havilland were appearing in a starring role for the first time, with Flynn only being a bit player up until this point. The chemistry between the two is apparent from the start, and it is what drives many of the lesser movies the two made. In Captain Blood however, it is more than just a vehicle for the two, with tremendous sword fights and sea battles directed by a master of the genre, Michael Curtiz, as well as terrific acting by the supporting players, particularly Rathbone. Captain Blood is not only a great adventure movie, but it sparked a return to the adventure movies of the early 1920s with Flynn as the heir-apparent to Douglas Fairbanks.    

27. The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)
Alfred Hitchcock is best known for his movies in the 40s, 50s, and early 60s but between The Man Who Knew Too Much, Young and Innocent, The 39 Steps, and The Lady Vanishes, he produced a decade of movies that any director would be jealous of. All of Hitchcock's films in the 1930s and earlier were made in England and have a very different tone and style than his later work. The Man Who Knew Too Much, which would later be remade by Hitchcock himself in 1956, has the kind of intrigue you'd expect from one of his movies, but it is a little bit darker in tone than his later work, yet also with a kind of British charm that is missing from the remake and other later Hitchcock films. It tells the story of an English couple (Leslie Bank and Edna Best) trying to find their kidnapped daughter (Nova Pilbeam) while also investigating an planned assassination of an European official. The assassins are led by Abbott, played by Peter Lorre in his first English language film. Lorre, already an accomplished actor in Germany, gives a tremendous performance, at first appearing as a charming foreigner but eventually morphing into the conniving and vicious criminal. The fact that Lorre wasn't yet fluent in English only adds to the effect. The tension and suspense created during attempted assassination at the Royal Albert Hall rivals any of the big set-piece moments in later Hitchcock films, but the movie doesn't peak there. The aftermath of the failed assassination attempt leads into a dramatic standoff and shootout in the London docks. The 1930s were an important time for Alfred Hitchcock, who was going from the "gifted amateur" he described himself as at this time, to one of the most successful filmmakers of all time. It's is not a coincidence that this shift coincided with the advent of sound in movies, which gave Hitchcock more tools to create his patented suspense with.   

26. You Can't Take It With You (1938)

No director was more synonymous with the 1930s than Frank Capra. During the decade, he had three movies finish in the top 5 highest grossing for their years, five times he was nominated for Best Director, winning three, while six of his movies were nominated for Best Picture, with two winning. Sufficed to say that Capra was the premier director of the 30s. You Can't Take It With You was his biggest hit of the decade, topping the box office in 1938 as well as winning Best Picture and Best Director for Capra. Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart, it is a typical charming Capra romantic comedy that he became famous for. Obviously the base script, adapted for the screen by frequent Capra collaborator Robert Riskin, is fantastic and only enhanced by an all-star cast of James Stewart, Jean Arthur, Lionel Barrymore, Edward Arnold, and a young Ann Miller. Stewart plays Tony, the son of a wealthy banker, Anthony Kirby (Arnold) who falls in love with Alice Sycamore (Arthur), who is part a large family that is just as poor as it is eccentric. The class differences between the Kirby's and the Sycamore's make up the bulk of the humor as the two vastly dissimilar families interact. Barrymore plays the patriarch of the family, Grandpa Martin, while the rest of the supporting cast is filled out with a multitude of eccentric and amusing ancillary characters, another staple of Capra and the screwball comedy genre in general. Capra was a master of pacing, often cutting his films in a way that enhanced both the appeal and the humor of the scene, particularly using timed reaction shots, because he understood the charm of the human face as well as any director in history.

Top 25 Films Noir: #5-#1

5. The Big Heat (1953)

During his years in Germany, Fritz Lang made many dark, emotionally intense, yet distant and brutal pictures that fitted the tone of pre-war Europe. After fleeing his home country, Lang came to Hollywood and slowly began to incorporate his style to America movies. This coincided with the advent of Film Noir, which was greatly influenced by Lang's German films such as M (1931) and The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933). Lang was able to slip easily into Film Noir, and made some very good ones in the 1940, but it wasn't until the genre was showing the first signs of wane the Lang made his masterpiece Noir.

In The Big Heat, Glenn Ford plays Detective Sergeant Dave Bannion, who begins investigating the suicide of Tom Duncan, a fellow officer. While Bannion is investigating, he interviews Duncan's on-the-side girlfriend, Lucy Chapman (Dorothy Green) an action which leads to her death. Driven by guilt over Lucy's death, he begins a war against the corrupt officials and crime network running the city. Bannion's primary antagonist is mob boss Mike Lagana (Alexander Scourby) and his muscle Vince Stone (Lee Marvin), who is equally intimidating and psychotic. Also involved is Stone's girlfriend, Debby Marsh (Gloria Grahame), who turns informer and helps Bannion. Throughout the course of the picture, Bannion is presented as the classic hardboiled Noir hero, punching and shooting his way inside and out of the law for what is right. However, Lang focused on the negative aspects of that and turns into a twisted version of a cliche. Bannion's persistence only brings death, pain and terror to the innocence around him. Chapman, Debby, Bannion's wife Katie (Jocelyn Brando), his daughter Joyce all suffer in one way or another because Bannion is unwilling to give up the case. We are taught by movies to admire those who hardheadedly do whatever it takes for "justice," but The Big Heat shows the consequences of taking the law into your own hands.

The Big Heat is unflinchingly brutal, from the very first scene of Duncan's suicide throughout the whole movie it portrays violence as gritty and scaring, both literally and figuratively. This is very different from the romanticizing of violence and killing that many films, mostly modern, revel in. Nor is it gleeful or stylized, it is presented as what it is, horrible.

4. Double Indemnity (1944)

By 1944, Film Noir had been around for a couple years, but had yet to produce a true masterpiece, not just of the genre but in general. This all changed with the release of Double Indemnity, which turned out to be one of the best movies ever made and was nominated for seven Academy Awards, bringing critical legitimacy to the genre.

The plot is simple and his been imitated countless times since. Insurance salesmen Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray) is seduced by housewife Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck) who convinces him to help her murder her husband (Tom Powers) so they can be together and collect the insurance. Neff's actions bring about the suspicion of his friend, insurance investigator Barton Keyes (Edward G. Robinson), who begins to look into the case. While by today's standards this plot may not seem all that unusual, in 1944 it was unheard of, and controversial. Double Indemnity brought together a tremendous collection of talent. It is based on a novel by James M. Cain (Mildred Peirce, The Postman Always Rings Twice), co-written by Raymond Chandler (The Big Sleep, Farewell, My Lovely) with director Billy Wilder (Ace in the Hole, Sunset Boulevard) and shot by John F. Seitz (This Gun For Hire, Sunset Boulevard). Interestingly enough, Wilder chose to have his three leads playing against type: MacMurray and Stanwyck were usually cast as heroes and heroines, while Edward G. Robinson was a gangster, not a hero. Stanwyck especially was a huge star, and not only did she play a villain, but did so in a blond wig, covering, her signature red hair, which many people complained made her look cheap, but that was purposeful: Phyllis is a cheap character. Wilder was unafraid of portraying his main characters in a bad light, which is key to the seedy world of Noir, where heroes are hard to come by.

There isn't a movie that exemplifies classic Noir more than Double Indemnity: the voice over narrations, Stanwyck's femme fatale, the razor sharp back-and-forth dialogue, moody black and white cinematography, and a plot so bawdy that Wilder had trouble getting it past the censors. It is a shinning example of when a great story is turned into a great script and executed by a master director with pitch-perfect actors. While some movies simmer under the surface, Double Indemnity wears it's salaciousness on his sleeve.

3. Touch of Evil (1958)

It can be argued that Orson Welles both began and ended the classic Noir period, Citizen Kane's influence started it off and Touch of Evil brought it to a close. As film advanced into the 60s, the studio system was dying and filmmakers were starting to get more and more creative freedom. Unfortunately for Welles, the studio was still in control when he made Touch of Evil and it's final cut was taken out of his hands, as had happened so many times in his career. Whether in it's butchered theatrical version or the (mostly) restored 1998 cut based on Welles notes, Touch of Evil is an amazing movie.

The story is set in a Mexican-American border town, as Mexican drug enforcement officer Mike Vargas (Charleton Heston) investigates a bombing on the American side of the border. His investigation puts both himself and his American wife (Janet Leigh) in danger from the local gangs. Vargas also begins looking into the local police captain Hank Quinlan (Welles), who he suspects may be corrupt. Based on  the novel Badge of Evil by Whit Masterson, Touch of Evil is full of great side characters, which are portrayed by numerous great character actors like Ray Collins, Joanna Moore, Akim Tamiroff, and Joseph Calleia while big stars of the past (Marlene Dietrich, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Joseph Cotten) and the future (Dennis Weaver) fill in for minor roles. Aesthetically, Welles, the production crew, and veteran cinematographer Russell Metty create a gritty, dirty, dark border town that is devoid of Hollywood flash and polish. As always, Welles is a master of the camera and continued to experiment with long takes and drastic angles. In all respects, it is a very well crafted movie. Touch of Evil is the last of Welles big pictures, but it is a high point not only in his career but in the history of film.

Touch of Evil is the last great Film Noir and it is a fitting close to the era because of how well it captures the themes, vibe, and look of the genre while also being in the upper-echelon of production, direction. writing, and acting standards.

2. The Third Man (1949)

Despite the big influence of German expressionism in Film Noir, and the fact that the name itself is French, it seems to be a predominantly an American genre. While streets of Los Angeles and New York City became synonymous with Noir, it is not a genre that is restricted to those places, or even America. Case and point is The Third Man, which is set and shot in post-World War II Vienna, Austria, yet is one of the truest-to-it's-roots Noirs ever made.

Written by novelist and screenwriter Graham Greene, The Third Man focuses on American pulp-western writer Holly Martins as he arrives in Vienna to accept a job offer from his old friend Harry Lime (Orson Welles). He is disappointed to find Lime was supposedly killed recently in a traffic accident, yet Martins doesn't buy it and begins to look into it, attempting to find the mysterious "third man" at the scene of the accident. Martins begins to dig into the case, where he encounters Lime's suspicious friends Baron Kurtzu (Ernst Deutsch), Popescu (Siegfried Breuer), and Dr. Winkle (Erich Ponto), as well as his girlfriend Anna Schmidt (Alida Valli). Also complicating things is Major Calloway (Trevor Howard), who was looking into Lime's black market connections and wants Martins out of the way before he can muddle up the investigation. Whether Lime is alive or dead is the mystery of the first half of the movie, while the second half takes the plot in a different direction. The story is well crafted and the dialogue perfect, both capture the moral ambiguity of post-War Europe while the lesser know European actors filling the ancillary roles adds to the immersion in the setting. The on-location shooting and terrific use of local scenery also aides this. Director Carol Reed liberally uses harsh camera angles and unbalanced shots to give the viewer a feeling of the uneasy atmosphere of Vienna at that time. The Third Man makes you feel like Martins, like a foreigner in a strange city, by using Anton Karas's famous and bizarre zither music and putting in a lot of dialogue in non-English languages without subtitles. The audience is just as confused as Martins. Reed and cinematographer Robert Krasker (Brief Encounter, Odd Man Out) create the most terrifically shot Noir in movie history, using the natural shadows of the bombed out Vienna rubble and wet stone streets for a completely unique looking visual experience. This includes the outstanding final chase scene in the sewers below the city which uses shadows and sound as well as any movie in history.

The Third Man is not only a unique Noir, but unique in all of film, it has all the vibes of a Noir but is transplanted to a new, fascinating local that is taken full advantage of by Reed and Greene. Both the big American stars and the lesser known foreign actors give terrific performances which gives the movie an international feeling, much like post-War Vienna, divided by the Allies.

1. Sunset Boulevard (1950)

Whether it be in the hardboiled fiction that inspired it, or the films themselves, nothing quite says Noir like Los Angeles and Hollywood. The city produced so many of the films as well as serving as their setting. They are as much a part of the genre as the femme fatale. No Noir captures this better than Sunset Boulevard, where the city of Los Angeles and the world of Hollywood are as much characters as William Holden and Gloria Swanson.

Holden plays Joe Gillis, a down-on-his-luck screenwriter who can't sell a script and is on the run from repo men after his car. He takes refuge in an old, seemingly abandoned, mansion from Hollywood's old days. He soon discovers that it is not empty, but is in fact inhabited by former silent movie star Norma Desmond (Swanson), who has now faded into obscurity, and her loyal butler Max (Erich von Stroheim). Desmond hires Gillis to clean up the script she has write as her comeback film, though he soon moves into the house and become more than just an employee to Desmond, who dotes on him with both love and gifts. Gillis soon desires escape from Norma's clutches, something he finds in fresh-faced screenwriter Betty Schaefer (Betty Olson), who wants to collaborate on a screen play with him. Gillis tries to keep both women ignorant of the other, but Desmond eventually finds out and descends into a jealous madness, aided by the stress of her "comeback." Expertly directed by Billy Wilder and written by Wilder, Charles Brackett, and D.M. Marshman Jr, Sunset Boulevard is full of classic, crackling dialogue and cynicism. It is one of the most quotable movies in history, though it never sacrifices meaning for a clever line. One of the things that makes the movie special is the depth Wilder goes to in add realism to the story. For example, When Desmond shows one of her old movies, it is Queen Kelly (1929), which starred Swanson and was directed by von Stroheim, who plays Desmond's former director and current butler in the movie. When Desmond plays cards with her old silent movie friends, they are real silent stars Buster Keaton, Anna Q. Nilsson, and H.B. Warner. Director Cecil B. De Mille and gossip columnist Hedda Hopper also play themselves in the movie. Wilder puts this and many more touches into the film, including using real life Los Angeles locals and the actual Paramount lot for scenes at the studio. It is a film that wants you to believe the story it is telling, and does a perfect job executing it.

Sunset Boulevard attacks much of the Hollywood structure and was not well received by the parts of the industry it criticized. By those within the industry who could relate to the harshness of Hollywood, it drew passionate praise. Barbara Stanwyck kissed the hem of Swanson's dress after the premier and many old silent film stars were so overcome they didn't appear in public after seeing it. Today, it is still one of the best looks into Golden Age Hollywood while also chronicling the unraveling of a fragile mind and the effects the cold-hearted industry has on those it discards.

Top 25 Films Noir: #10-#6

10. Laura (1944)

In Film Noir, words are frequently cheap. No matter how witty Philip Marlowe's comebacks may be, it doesn't stop him from frequently punched out. But no matter how futile words at time may seem on the screen, every since movies learned to talk they've been producing line after line, but some movies take words to another level, Laura is one of those movie.

Based on the novel by Vera Caspary, Laura begins with the murder investigation of the titular Laura Hunt (Gene Tierney), who was killed by a shotgun blast in the face. Working the case is New York police detective Mark McPherson (Dana Andrews), while investigating he interviews the important figures in Laura's life, beginning with her mentor, the venomous and articulate columnist Waldo Lydecker (Clifton Webb). He relates his history with her, rising from lowly office girl to the toast of socialite New York City with Waldo guidance. Waldo's remembrances also introduce us to Laura's fiancee, gold digging playboy Shelby Carpenter (Vincent Price). McPherson also questions him, discovering that Shelby was unfaithful to Laura, and that Waldo was also in love with Laura causing him to jealously despises Shelby. Also involved is Laura's aunt, Ann Treadwell (Judith Anderson), who is in love with Shelby. Each has a motive to commit the murder, and each clearly could have done it. A side story is McPherson falling in love with Laura himself, by hearing about her, reading her journals, and staring at the painting of her hanging in her room. Laura is just as much stage play as it is movie, heavy on dialogue and low on action, most of the movie takes place in the drawing rooms of New York apartments, with an occasional police precinct mixed in. It is a movie about talking, with McPherson playing the role of the straight-man, setting the table for Waldo's poisonous soliloquies, Shelby's playboy shallowness, and Laura's bitter resentments. Laura narrows it's focus on just the five main characters, allowing for them to be fully fleshed out, which is what makes the movie great, the deep and interesting characterizations, portrayed perfectly by the cast. This is accentuated with the simple, clean cinematography and the foreboding atmosphere, both from Otto Preminger's deft direction and David Raskin's haunting score.

Laura is a movie that asks you to believe that one woman could be so beautiful and fascinating that three men fall in love with her, including one who has never met her. When she appears on the screen, the pressure is on Gene Tierney to deliver a performance that transfixes the audience as much as much as the men in her life were, and Tierney delivers the finest performance of her career.

9. Kiss Me Deadly (1955)

In the mid-1950s, communist paranoia in the United States was at an all time high, McCarthyism was in full prominence, and the power of the hydrogen bomb was a daily fear. Movies at the time reflected this, giant bugs bred of nuclear testing and ambiguous spy thrillers were just as common as romances and comedies. Even Film Noir wasn't exempt, with Kiss Me Deadly as the prime example.

The movie begins with a rush, as a young woman in a trench coat, Christina (Cloris Leachman) is running down the highway barefoot, trying to desperately to stop a car. She eventually stop Mike Hammer (Ralph Meeker), a private detective in Los Angeles, who helps her escape from the police who are searching for her. They are stopped by mysterious men, who torture Christina to death, then attempt to dispose of the pair by sending Hammer's car over the cliff. He survives however, and beings investigating the whole affair, leading him all across Los Angeles where he uncovers a vast conspiracy. Any more explaining of the plot would be a discredit to the film, which is one of the most twisting narratives in the a Noir canon. Even if the plot wasn't great, the rest of the movie is so good, it would still be great. Hammer is a fascinating main character because he is so dislikable, he is misogynistic, insensitive, and brutish. In Noir, private detectives are generally viewed poorly by the authorities, but Hammer is downright despised as a "divorce dick" who uses his secretary Velda (Maxine Cooper) to get dirt on husbands, while he seduces the wives, playing both sides against the middle for maximum gain. This is made even more repulsive by the fact that Velda is in love with him, yet he keeps sending her off to the husbands, despite it obviously making her uncomfortable. Yet, as despicable as Hammer is, he still tries to do the right thing and help Christina posthumously, which tentatively gets us one his side. Another tremendous part of the movie is the on-location shooting all over Los Angeles utilizing as many spots around the city as possible. Director Robert Aldrich puts the action outdoors as much as possible and it really puts life into both day and night scenes. He also makes great use of close up facial reactions and off camera action, as many times there is more power in the unseen than the seen. 

Based on a novel by hardboiled author Mikey Spillane and adapted by A.I. Bezzerides, Kiss Me Deadly mixes elements of thriller and science fiction into the tried and true Noir formula with great affect. The dialogue is equally trashy, sarcastic, and sardonic and spoken by characters just as derisive. Aldrich was a master of the genre and expertly executes one of the most shocking and horrifying endings in movie history, fitting end to the film.

8. Ace in the Hole (1951)

Film Noir has become synonymous with dark and gloomy city streets, but many of the best the genre has to offer go off that well beaten path. One of the most notable is Ace in the Hole, set in the Albuquerque, New Mexico and the surrounding countryside, it is Noir in harsh desert sunlight. It is also a shockingly current narrative that's message plays as just well today as it did when it was released.

Kirk Douglas stars as Chuck Tatum, a bombastic reporter who has been fired from several big city newspapers. He joins the small time Albuquerque Sun-Times, hoping to break a big story as his ticket back to the big time. After laboring in obscurity for over a year, Tatum, along with young photographer Herbie Cook (Robert Arthur) finally finds his story when the pair stop at an isolated roadside gas station built near an Indian burial ground. He discovers that the owner of the gas station, Leo Minosa (Richard Benedict) is trapped in the caves under the burial ground. Sensing a big story, he prints it as front page news and soon it becomes a national sensation, bring people from all over the country to see the "cursed caves" and their trapped victim. Tatum starts manipulating circumstances to prolong Minosa's entombment, as well as becoming involved with Minosa's discontented wife Lorraine (Jan Sterling) which begins to send his life, and his story, spiraling out of control. Director Billy Wilder is the master of effective, emotional camera work and the film ends with one of his trademark powerhouse closing shots. Wilder also wrote the script, along with Walter Newman and Lesser Samuels, and it is full of his signature, witty dialogue. He pulls no punches in his attacks of the media. The character of Tatum is a huge, dominating personality and it's hard to imagine any other actor than Douglas being able to play it better, while Sterling is equally well cast as the cheap and sleazy bottle-blond Lorrain. 

Ace in the Hole is a scathing indictment on the press at the time, but it is even more relevant today. Wilder was shocked by the exploitative "vultures" willing to sacrifice morals and human decency for the sake of the story, but what would he think of the Internet, TMZ, and reality shows today?

7. Detour (1945)

While the major studios of Hollywood's Golden Age, such as MGM, Paramount, and Warner Brothers are well known and still operate today, there were many other studios producing movies in those day. Some of which were very small operations that had equally sized budgets so that they became known as "poverty row" studios. One these studios was called Producers Releasing Company, which was only around for 7 years. PRC, just two years before disappearing from movie history, produced a little, unheralded Noir on a threadbare budget that was released without note or fanfare, yet in 1992 was given the honor of being placed in the Nation Film Registry by the Library of Congress. That movie is Detour.

The plot of Detour follows Al Roberts (Tom Neal) a New York piano player who is dating Sue Harvey (Claudia Drake) a nightclub singer who leaves for Hollywood for fame and fortune. Al decides to follow her there, but has to hitchhike across the country. Along the way, he accidentally kills a man giving him a ride, but instead of calling the police, he steals the man's identity and property. Unfortunately, he is found out by another drifter Vera (Ann Savage) who wants in on the scheme. The rest of the movies records their partnership and falling out in dramatic fashion. All throughout the movie, the lack of budget is clear; the rear projection effects while driving are so poor that at one point the negative is flipped and cars are shown driving on the left side of the road. There is really only one major set, a cheap hotel room that is only made look more dingy by the low budget, which add to the movie. It looks like the kind of shoddy hotel room two desperate people like Al and Vera would stop in. There is no Hollywood glisten in this movie, just two lost characters clinging to life. Whether it was intentional or not, the hopeless nature of Detour reflected the situation that many people heading to Hollywood faced. Instead of being greeted by producers breaking down their door looking for the next star, they faced disappointment, poverty, and unachievable goals. It captures human condition in those times better than any big studio production, if Sunset Boulevard is about the skeletons Hollywood's closet, Detour is the rotting corpse in the basement.

Shot in less than three weeks with a tiny budget, no stars, and only 68 minutes long, Detour has no right being anything but a forgotten film that faded into complete obscurity long ago, however it is an unforgettable masterpiece. Few movies leave a lasting impression like this, effectively using the atmosphere, the feeling of dread and hopelessness in the lives of two unglamorous actors portraying two dead-end characters. Detour isn't just the best B movie ever made, it is one of the best period.

6. The Big Sleep (1946)

Convoluted plots are a common characteristic of Film Noir, influenced by the equally complex hardboiled crime novels that inspired them. Large casts of characters, webs of motivations, as well double and triple crosses are all staples of the genre. Sometimes this is to the detriment of the plot, which becomes too complicated for it's own good and distracting from the movie itself, while other's are too simplistic and don't hold the audiences interest. The Big Sleep is the rare movie that is able to both have a intricate story while still being completely entertaining and engaging.

Based on the novel by Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep features Noir luminary Philip Marlowe (Humphrey Bogart), a Los Angeles private detective. Marlowe is hired by the rich and decrepit General Sternwood (Charles Waldron) to find out who is blackmailing him, as well as keeping an eye on his wild daughter Carmen (Martha Vickers), who is the subject of the blackmail. Also a part of it is Carmen's older sister Vivian (Lauren Bacall), who helps Marlowe investigate and the two become involved. While on the case, Marlowe encounters multiple murders, larceny, kidnapping, and even more blackmail. It is a plot so full of twists and turns that at one point director Howard Hawks was confused about who had killed one character, so he asked the screenwriters but they didn't know either, so Chandler was called and he even he wasn't sure. Hawks was a veteran director of many big time Hollywood productions by this time and does a great job making the plot audience-friendly, but without having to dumb it down. His direction is understand but definitively classic Noir, with dimly lit interiors and a lush, upper-crust Los Angeles setting. Chandler's crackling dialogue is mostly intact, brushed up for the big screen by William Faulkner, Leigh Brackett, and Jules Furthman. The Big Sleep is at it best when Marlowe is shooting verbal daggers at everyone in sight and trading barbs with Vivian. Bogart and Bacall's famous screen chemistry is in full effect and the two embody the cynical Noir love story.

The Big Sleep, complicated as it is, is able to deliver plenty of small moments as well, which is the mark a true film. The movie is just as likely to give you a big shootout moment as it is a well delivered line of dialogue. It is one of the shinning examples of a big budget Film Noir, with an A-list director and actors that stays true to it's hardboiled heart.

Top 25 Films Noir: #15-#11

15. The Lady From Shanghai (1947)

Orson Welles was probably the most misunderstood and under-appreciated filmmaker of his time. Today he is considered one of the best directors of all time, but Welles only had one movie make back its budget and constantly struggled with studio heads wanting to cut and re-shoot his pictures. He was considered a flop and a failure during the 40s, so much so that he was left to make his movies in Europe, where he was much more appreciated. The Lady From Shanghai, along with Macbeth the following year, were the straws that broke the camels back and forced him out of Hollywood.

Welles plays Michael O'Hara, an Irish sailor who rescues Rosalie Bannister (Rita Hayworth) from muggers one night, and is offered a spot working for her and her much-older husband, lawyer Arthur (Everett Stone) on their yacht. He and Rosalie fall in love, and are discovered by Arthur's partner George Grisby, who enlists Michael to help him fake his death. Except George is planning to frame him for a very real murder. Michael is caught and tried for a murder he didn't commit, but escapes to clear his name. The revelatory twist of the true conspiracy is very well executed, though somewhat confusing, and works with the previous plot. Many twist endings don't stand up when watching earlier scenes with knowledge of the twist in mind, but The Lady From Shanghai actually benefits from prior knowledge. The iconic ending of the movie is masterfully shot and extremely creative for its time, creating a feeling of surrealness that is all too grounded in harsh reality. It is reminiscent of Michael's view of the story, like a mirror, he had it all backwards and it shatters around him.

Through a modern prism, we can appreciate Welles pictures, The Lady From Shanghai included. It is undoubtedly a weird movie, but Film Noir is a weird genre in of itself and the oddities are on purpose. The awkward feeling helps to get across the feeling of a fish-out-of-water, just as common sailor Michael is out of place among the rich Bannisters. The awkward angles and bizarre closeups increase the feeling of uneasiness as Michael falls into the frameup. The herky-jerky pacing is a result of the studio heads, who cut over an hour from the film, but the dialogue and camera work is signature Welles. He makes use of many long takes, on location, shooting in Mexico and San Francisco, which gives the movie a gritty realism that contrasts the heady dialogue. Like a lot of Welles work, it has been butchered by studio cuts, but The Lady From Shanghai, such as it is, is still a terrific Noir with one of the best climactic scenes in the history of film.

14. The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)

There is something inherently seedy in almost every Film Noir, frequently they present anti-heroes, or no heroes at all, while operating in a moral gray area. The audience doesn't always have anyone to root for in these types of movies, which can be dangerous because it runs the risk of alienating the viewer to the point they emotionally disengage. To keep them interested, it has to be well crafted film with a gripping narrative. The Postman Always Rings Twice is short on role models, but terrific movie none-the-less.

The movie opens with drifter Frank Chambers (John Garfield) stopping at a roadside dinner somewhere in the rural Southern California run by the elderly Nick Smith (Cecil Kallaway) and his much younger wife Cora (Lana Turner). Nick hires Frank to do odd jobs around the diner, despite the protests of Cora. Regardless of her hesitancy, Cora and Frank begin a passionate affair that leads them to try to run off together, but Cora realizes she won't be happy penniless on the road with Frank, so back to the diner they go, this time with murder on their minds. Their attempts at killing Nick are expertly crafted to create tension, in anticipation of both the murder and their potential exposure. Nick's eventual murder by the pair is the turning point in the movie, now Frank and Cora, finally are free to be together, suddenly find they are unable to trust one another. Making their life more uneasy is prosecutor Kyle Sackett (Leon Ames), who is convinced of their guilt, though unable to prove it. The movie is at it's best when showing the mistrust of Frank and Cora, who once thought they were in love enough to murder for it, but now can't stand one another. Film Noir generally treats killing pretty callously, but The Postman Always Rings Twice does a great job showing that taking a life can change you.

Based on the James M. Cain novel of the same name, The Postman Always Rings Twice is a classic Noir with a great story and terrific acting. All the actors give terrific performances, especially Turner, probably the best of her career as a prototypical femme fatale and the driving force behind the plot. It is not a light viewing experience, but it is thrilling in parts, and designed to make the audience think about the consequences of murder.

13. Mildred Pierce (1945) 

For the most part movies are a male dominated medium. This is especially the case with Film Noir, where women play a crucial role, though it is usually that of a femme fatale, enticing and ensnaring our hero (or anti-hero). Women rarely were the main character, but in Mildred Pierce, the title-character, played by Joan Crawford is the center of the story. Mildred drives the story from beginning to end, chronicling her rise and fall as a businesswoman and mother in Southern California.

Mildred Pierce is a frame narrative, beginning with the murder of Mildred's second husband Monte (Zachary Scott), with her first husband Bert (Bruce Bennett) accused of the crime. The police interview Mildred in search of a motive, and she give them her history, beginning with her divorce of Bert up to the night of the murder. In the roughly four years in-between, Mildred, along with her two daughters, the spoiled Veda (Ann Blyth) and tom-boy Kay (Jo-Ann Marlowe), goes from poor waitress to by business tycoon. Mildred's principle motivation is to provide the best things for Veda, who desires to be in the upper-class, however by spoiling her she creates somewhat of a monster. When finally reaching where she wants to be financially, it all starts to slip away everywhere else. Though Noir is usually short on morals, Mildred Pierce makes a strong point on the value of family versus wealth, the controlling power of a spoiled child, and the value of marriage, which is very odd for the genre. But then, it is a unique Noir that plays out more in in the family living room than in a trashy alley; in the bright daytime of Malibu, rather than gloomy downtown L.A. It is still a Noir through and through, and the genres trademark shadows and gloom make their presence known. By this point, director Michael Curtiz was a veteran of many different genres, from adventure and crime to romance and musical, and his deft touch framing scenes and managing multiple actors is at full strength here. The large cast all give terrific performances, led by Crawford, who won Best Actress and Blyth, in her first major role. Blyth's Veda is one of the most dislikeable characters in film, as malicious as she is snobbish, a remarkable performance for a 16 year-old. The story, based on James M. Cain's novel, is a driving narrative that is more psychological and less sleazy than other Cain adaptions.

Before Mildred Pierce, Crawford was no longer considered a major star and was growing too old to play young romantic leads, a series of flops followed and her career looked to be in jeopardy. However, after she moved from MGM to Warner Brothers, she made Mildred Pierce and returned to prominence as a star, with her career lasting successfully into the 60s. Her character in Mildred Pierce was unique in the genre at that time, and the movie itself is a shinning example of a successful break from traditional formula. 

12. The Maltese Falcon (1941)

Where it all began. The Maltese Falcon is the first major Film Noir, a huge influence on the genre, and a blueprint that decades of filmmakers would follow. Humphrey Bogart created the quintessential hardboiled anti-hero, while Mary Astor did the same for the femme-fatale. Director John Huston's dark, moody cinematography brought the gloom of German expressionism into American cinema for the first time. As far as mysteries go, the movie delivers in that respect as well, unraveling the twists, turns, and double-crosses that also became a genre staple.

Bogart portrays Sam Spade, a private detective whose partner Miles Archer is murdered while helping Ruth Wonderly (Astor) find her missing sister. Further investigation by Spade reveals Wonderly is really Bridget O'Shaughnessy and is searching for a priceless black statue, "the Maltese Falcon". The Falcon is a classic MacGuffin, an excuse to get the characters together and motivate them, but otherwise not really important. The search to find the Falcon also brings Kasper Gutman (Sydney Greenstreet), his partner Joel Cairo (Peter Lorre), and their muscle Wilmer (Elisha Cook Jr.) into the picture. Spade makes a deal with them to find the Falcon, but must deal with their treachery while also trying to figure out who murdered his partner. In classic Noir style, the plot is occasionally confusing, but it gets resolved satisfactorily in the end. The mystery is an important part of the story, just as Spade isn't sure who to trust, neither is the audience. The original audience may not have even known whether or not to trust Spade, as Bogart was playing a (mostly) good guy for the first time in his career, having been case as gangsters previously. This was also the director debut for Huston, who also wrote the script based off of Dashiell Hammett's novel of the same name. His adaption stays close to the original source material, while giving it the necessary conversion to the screen, something Huston was very good at throughout his career.

While The Maltese Falcon is notable for it's influence on the Noir genre, it should not be taken lightly just how good a movie it is. Terrific acting from all of the main characters, and while it may not be as deep a narrative as some other films, there's something to be said for a good old fashion mystery story.

11. The Naked City (1948)

The majority of Film Noir are told from the perspective of the darker side of life; criminals, private detective, and low-lifes are the main characters. If the police are involved, it is usually of a corrupt kind, or operating outside the law. That isn't the case with The Naked City, which is told from the perspective of two by-the-books, New York homicide detectives.

These two detectives are veteran Detective Lt. Dan Muldoon (Barry Fitzgerald) and rookie Detective Jimmy Halloran; the story follows them as they investigate the murder of a young woman named Jean Dexter. The investigation plays out through a very detailed, police procedural style; we see crime photographers, sketchers, witnesses interviewed, and suspects interrogated as well as the tremendous amount of trial-and-error legwork involved in tracking down leads. Suspects are introduced, including Jean's psychiatrist, the cagey Dr. Stoneman (House Jameson), her boyfriend Frank Niles (Frank Niles), and the mysterious Philip Henderson. Muldoon and Halloran slowly put the pieces together and track down the killer, leading to a climactic chase and shootout. However, neither of the two detectives, any of the suspects, or even the victim is the main character of this story, the main character is the city of New York. Shot almost entirely on location in the city, the movie makes great use of both famous locations as well as common city streets, alleys, and subway stations. The New York is alive with characters, and the movie takes time to give us little looks into common people as they go about their business, many of them portrayed by local non-actors.

Throughout the case, The Naked City is presented with purposeful realism, the movie wants you to feel as if you're watching a documentary about a murder investigation, not a dramatic rendition, something it does very well. Director Jules Dassin, who would soon be blacklisted out of Hollywood, masterfully arranged the movie, cross-cutting to different parts of the city at different times, successfully telling us one of the "eight million" stories in the naked city, as the film's closing line puts it.