Movie Reviews

These are my personal, perhaps idiosyncratic, takes on over 300 films noir. Don’t expect lengthy plot outlines or arcane trivia. I focus on each film as the story on the screen, which is all that really matters. The articles are short and I hope to the point. – Tony D’Ambra

315 Snap Film Noir Reviews here.

Warning: I try to avoid them but some reviews may contain spoilers

• 13 East Street (UK 1952)
• 36 Quai des Orfèvres (France 2004): Brilliant Neo-Noir
• 711 Ocean Drive (1950)
• 99 River Street (1953)
• Ace In The Hole (1952): The Media Circus
• Act of Violence (1948): “No law says you got to be happy”
• The Amazing Mr. X (1948)
• Angel Face(1952): Gothic Noir
• The Air I Breathe (2007): Noir Liberation
• Alias Nick Beal (1949): The Devil wears Armani
• Allotment Wives (1945): The main squeeze is a dame!
• Apology for Murder (1945)
• Armored Car Robbery (1950): Solid B-Noir
• Asphalt (1928 Germany)
• The Asphalt Jungle (1950): When The City Sleep
• The Bigamist (1953): Shades of grey
• The Big Bluff (1955): The bitter flavour of festering reality
• The Big Clock (1948): “the wrong people always have money”
• The Big Combo (1955): Quintessential Noir
• The Big Heat (1953): Film Noir As Social Criticism
• The Big Knife (1955): Bore me deadly
• The Big Night (1951)
• The Big Heat (1953) Revisited
• The Big Sleep (1946): Love’s Vengeance Lost
• The Big Steal (1949): “Oh Mexico”
• La Bionda (The Blonde – Italy 1992)
• Black Angel (1946)
• The Black Cat (1934): Erotic nightmare
• Blind Alley (1939)
• The Blue Gardenia (1953)
• Blues in the Night (1941): Noir Counterpoint
• Blood on the Moon (1948): Quintessential Noir Western
• The Blue Dahlia (1946): Fade To Gray
• Bob le flambuer (France 1956)
• Body and Soul (1947): “Everybody dies”
• Bodyguard (1948): “I keep meat warm”
• Boomerang (1947): Not Noir
• Border Incident (1949)
• Born to Kill (1947): “a violent, ironic and macabre paroxysm”
• The Breaking Point (1950)
• The Bribe (1949): Too late the fireworks
• Brick (2005) – Disappointing
• Brighton Rock (1947 UK)
• The Brothers Rico (1957): The life-style of the Mob executive
• The Burglar (1957): The last b-movie?
• The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (Germany 1919)
• Caged (1950): “the plot of our life sweats in the dark like a face”
• Call Northside 777 (1948): “It’s a good world outside”
• Cat People (1942): Another sound – the panther – it screams like a woman
• Caught (1949)
• La Chienne (1931): Darker than Scarlet Street
• Christ in Concrete (1949): Simply a masterpiece
• Christmas Holiday (1944): Never mind the melodrama
• Clash By Night (1952): Love… because we’re bored
• The Clay Pigeon (1949): Snappy B Thriller
• A Colt is My Passport (Koruto wa ore no pasupoto – Japan 1967)
• Conflict (1945)
• Crack-Up (1946)
• Crashout (1955)
• The Crimson Kimono (1959): Little Tokyo Rift
• Crime Wave (1954): On The Streets of LA
• Criss-Cross(1949)
• The Crooked Way (1949): John Alton’s L.A.
• Cross of Love (1946 Finland)
• Crossfire (1947)
• Cry Danger (1951): About as noir as white coffee
• Cry Terror (1956)
• A Cry in the Night (1956): The art of the interlude…
• Dark City (1998) The Director’s Cut: Zapped by the biochemist
• The Dark Corner (1946)
• The Dark Knight (2008): Still a comic
• The Dark Mirror (1946 ): On the other side
• Dark Passage (1947): Not so dark
• Dark Waters (1944)
• Dead Reckoning (1947): “Sorry gorgeous I didn’t see what you looked like…”
• Deception (1946): Expressionist Noir Melodrama
• Deadline at Dawn (1946): Screwball noir
• Decoy (1946): B- Psuedo-Noir
• Desert Fury (1947): Technicolor Noir
• Desperate (1947)
• Destination Murder (1950): The Alter-Ego and the Pianola
• Detective Story (1951): “I built my whole life on hating my father”
• Detour (1945): Serious Not
• The Devil Thumbs A Ride (1947): A Dark Little Gem
• D.O.A (1950)
• Double Indemnity (1944): Proto-Noir
• Double Jeopardy (1955): Pulp Heaven
• Drive a Crooked Road (1954): Dreams on Malibu
• Drunken Angel (aka Yoidore tenshi) (1948 Japan)
• Elevator to the Gallows (Ascenseur pour l’échafaud – France 1958)
• Endless Desire (1958 Japan)
• The Enforcer (1945)
• Escape (1948 UK)
• The Face Behind the Mask (1941): Iconic proto-noir
• Fallen Angel (1945)
• The Fallen Sparrow (1943)
• Fear in the Night (1947): Wake in fright
• The File On Thelma Jordan (1950): You always intend when you have to…
• Five Star Final (1931): Down with the bosses!
• Follow Me Quietly (1949): The Aesthetics of the B-Noir
• Force of Evil (1948)
• Full Confession (1939): Interesting Early Noir
• Fury (1936): On The Threshold of Noir
• Gambling House (1950): Obscure Gem
• The Garment Jungle (1957): Gia Scala’s Picture
• The Ghost Ship (1943): Noir at Sea
• Gilda (1946): Lovely Rita…
• The Glass Wall (1953)
• The Glass Key (1942)
• The Glass Web (1953) “:(“
• The Good Die Young (UK 1954): British Noir
• The Great Flamarion (1945): Love is a Gun
• The Green Cockatoo (UK 1937 65min): The Seeds of British Noir
• Gun Crazy (1950): Not so Bonnie and Clyde
• The Harder They Fall (1956): For a few lousy bucks
• He Ran All the Way (1951): “To be left alone”
• High and Low (aka Tengoku to jigoku – Japan 1963): Kurosawa’s Heaven and Hell
• High Wall (1946)
• Highway 301(1950)
• The Hitch-Hiker (1953): Desert Noir
• He Walked by Night (1948)
• Hollow Triumph (1948): Baroque Noir
• Hollywood Story (1951)
• Hôtel du Nord (France 1938): Arletty as femme noir
• The House Across the Lake (aka Heat Wave) (1954 – UK)
• The House on 92nd Street (1945): Real Drama with a Solemn Purpose
• Human Desire (1954): The beast within
• I Can Get it For You Wholesale (1951)
• I Love Trouble (1948): Hot-jive noir
• Impact (1949): Noir Mash-Up
• In A Lonely Place (1950): The “Creative” Outsider
• In A Lonely Place (1950): A Psychic Prison
• In the Valley of Elah (2007): Responsibility and Chaos
• I Wake Up Screaming (1941): Bizarre Transference
• I Walk Alone (1948)
• I Was a Communist for the FBI (1951)
• Jigsaw (1949): “like the last act of Hamlet”
• Johnny Eager (1941): “Just another hood I guess”
• Johnny O’Clock
• Journey Into Fear (1943): Oriental Intrigue
• Key Largo (1948): Almost Noir
• The Killer is Loose (1956)
• The Killer That Stalked New York (1950)
• The Killers (1946): Fata Morgana
• The Killers (1946) Revisited: Noir As Tragedy
• Tarkovsky’s Ubiytsy (‘The Killers’ USSR – 1956): A wounded God bereft of hope 
• The Killing (1956) – Great But Not Noir
• Kiss Me Deadly (1955): Hollywood Dada
• Kiss Me Deadly (1955) – Is Mike Hammer Really Such a Bad Guy?
• Kiss the Blood Off My Hands (1948)
• Kiss of Death (1947): More Than Udo
• Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye (1950)
• Knock on Any Door (1949)
• The Lady From Shanghai (1947): “Then the beasts took to eating each other”
• LA Confidential (1997)
• A Lady Without Passport (1950)
• La Nuit de Carrefour (1932 – France): Moody and surreal!
• Laura (1944)
• The Leopard Man (1943): Dated and Over-rated
• The Locket (1946): Freudian Melodrama
• The Long Night (1947)
• The Lost Weekend (1945): “I can’t take quiet desperation”
• Lucky Nick Cain (1950)
• Lured (1947)
• Macao (1952): “You’re up early for a loser”
• Macao, L’enfer Du Jeu (1939): Only the Innocent Survive
• The Maltese Falcon (1931)
• The Maltese Falcon (1941): Love in Noir
• Manèges (aka The Wanton 1950 – France)
• Man Hunt (1941): The Thriller As Propaganda
• The Man Who Cheated Himself (1949): True Noir
• The Mask of Dimitrios (1944): A journey of dark oriental intrigue
• Memento (2000): The Days of Future Past
• Michael Clayton (2007): Noir elements
• Mildred Pierce (1945): “alligators have the right idea… they eat their young”
• Mister Buddwing (1966): A neo-realist astringency
• Moontide (1944)
• Murder, My Sweet (1944): A face like a Sunday school picnic
• My Name Is Julia Ross (1945)
• Mystery Street (1950)
• Naked Alibi (1954): “bizarre images, strange juxtapositions, and erotic plays”
• The Naked Kiss (1964): Pulp Noir
• The Naked City (1948): “There are 8 million stories… “
• The Narrow Margin (1952): B plus
• Night And the City (1950): A Near Perfect Noir
• Night Editor (1946)
• The Night of the Hunter (1955): Not Noir
• Nightfall (1957): Final curtain call for classic noir
• Night Has a Thousand Eyes (1948)
• Nightmare Alley (1947): Geeks and Freaks
• Nobody Lives Forever (1946): Dark Romance
• No Man of Her Own (1950): Sudser or Noir?
• Nora Prentiss (1947): Turbo-charged Noir Melodrama
• No Way Out (1950): ”Is it a question… or an answer?”
• Obsession (1948 UK)
• Odd Man Out (1947): Dark Yet Glistening
• Odds Against Tomorrow (1959): A Work of Art
• Of Missing Persons (1956 Argentina)
• Once a Thief (1965): Late noir à la européenne
• On Dangerous Ground (1951): “You get so you don’t trust anybody”
• Ossessione (Italy 1942): A dance of “death and sperm”
• Out of the Fog (1941): “throw away the books”
• Out Of The Past (1947) – Tourneur’s Mise En Scene
• Out Of The Past (1947) – Tourneur’s Mise En Scene Revisited
• Panic In the Streets (1950): Neo-Realist Noir
• Party Girl (1958)
• Pépé le Moko (1937)
• Phantom Lady (1944)
• The Phenix City Story (1955)
• Pickup On South Street (1953)
• Pickup (1951): Trash Noir
• Port of New York (1949): Cut-out Cops
• Le quai des brumes (Port of Shadows – France 1938): Poetic Realism
• Possessed (1947): Melodramatic Soap
• The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
• Private Hell 36 (1954)
• The Prowler (1951): The Dark Side of the American Dream
• Pursued (1947)
• Pushover (1954)
• Quicksand (1950)
• The Raging Tide (1951): More to film noir than shadows, wet asphalt, and dangerous femmes
• Railroaded (1947)
• Raw Deal (1948)
• The Reckless Moment (1949): “we want to liquidate our stock… ”
• Red Hollywood (1947)
• The Red House (1947)
• Ride the Pink Horse (1947): A heart full of soul
• Rififi (France 1955): America’s Loss France’s Gain
• Roadblock(1951)
• Rogue Cop (1954)
• Road House (1948): Noirish Melodrama
• Ruthless (1948): “Not a man, a way of life”
• Salón México (Mexico 1949): Noir South of the Border
• San Quentin (1946): B-noir filler
• Satan Met a Lady (1936)
• Scandal Sheet (1952)
• Scarlet Street (1946): Unrelenting Noir
• The Second Woman (1950)
• Secret Beyond the Door (1947)
• The Set-Up (1949)
• The Seventh Victim (1943): “And all my pleasures are like yesterdays”
• Shock (1946): The Killer Shrink from Frisco!
• Shoot to Kill (1947): Visual Poetry
• Side Street (1950)
• Slaughter on Tenth Avenue (1957): On The Waterfront Not
• The Sleeping City (1950)
• Slightly Scarlet (1956): No surprises
• The Sniper (1952): Off Target
• So Dark the Night (1946): The Split Personality
• Somewhere in the Night (1946)
• The Sound of Fury (1950)
• Split Second (1953): No cops required
• Stolen Death (1938 Finland)
• Strange Impersonation (1946): Dirty science
• The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)
• Stranger on The Third Floor (1940): The Noir Dream-Scape
• The Stranger (1946): Jungian Noir
• Strangers in the Night (1944)
• Strange Illusion (1945)
• Stray Dog (Japan 1949): Kurosawa 5-star Noir
• Sunset Boulevard (1950): “I’m ready for my closeup”
• Suspense (1946)
• Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
• The Story of Temple Drake (1933): The good bad-girl
• Tension (1950): A house in the suburbs? “Are you kidding?”
• They Drive by Night (1938 UK)
• They Live by Night (1948): Great but is it noir?
• They Made Me a Criminal (1939)
• They Made Me a Killer (1946): “You asked for it sister”
• They Won’t Believe Me (1947): Guilt by Intention
• The Thief (1952): Silence is golden
• Thieves’ Highway (1949)
• The Thin Man (1934): James Wong Howe’s Noir Counterpoint
• The Third Man (1949): Sublime
• This Gun For Hire (1942)
• This Last Lonely Place: Visceral and Confronting Neo-Noir
• Time Table (1956)
• T-Men (1947): Electric Noir
• Tomorrow is Another Day
• Too Late For Tears (1949): Kiss of the Viper Woman
• Touch of Evil (1958) – Some Kind of a Movie
• Tread Softly Stranger (UK 1958)
• The Trial (1962)
• True Detective (2014 TV)
• Two Men in Manhattan (1959 France)
• The Unsuspected (1947)
• Underworld USA (1961): “We got a right to climb out of the sewer and live… ”
• Une Si Jolie Petite Plage (France 1949): Iron in the soul
• Union Station (1950): On Ice in the Train Shed
• Voici le temps des assassin (1956 France)
• Vertigo (1958): Red for Noir
• Walk Softly, Stranger (1950): Romantic Noir
• The Way You Wanted Me (Finland 1944): Pretty little angel eyes
• The Web (1947)
• The Well (1951)
• When Strangers Marry (1944): Into the seething labyrinth
• Where Danger Lives (1950): It’s a long road…
• Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950)
• White Heat (1949): Fission Noir
• Whirlpool (1949)
• The Window (1949): The City as a Prison
• Witness to Murder (1954)
• The Woman in the Window (1944): Over-rated
• The Woman On the Beach (1947)
• The Woman on Pier 13 (1949): Better Wed than Red
• Woman on the Run (1950): Intelligent B Thriller
• A Woman’s Secret (1949)
• World For Ransom (1954)
• You Only Live Once (1937)
• Young Man with a Horn (1950)