Film Noir Timeline
by J_Frank_Parnell | created - 8 months ago | updated - 2 weeks ago | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Underworld (1927)
Not Rated | 80 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Boisterous gangster kingpin Bull Weed rehabilitates his former lawyer from his alcoholic haze, but complications arise when he falls for Weed's girlfriend.
Directors: Josef von Sternberg, Arthur Rosson | Stars: George Bancroft, Clive Brook, Evelyn Brent, Fred Kohler
Votes: 3,477 | Gross: $1.64M
Earlyest movie with the "Film Noir" tag on IMDb
2. City Streets (1931)
Passed | 83 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Man joins a gang to free his girlfriend from prison.
Director: Rouben Mamoulian | Stars: Gary Cooper, Sylvia Sidney, Paul Lukas, William 'Stage' Boyd
Votes: 1,872
pre-Noir
3. The Public Enemy (1931)
Passed | 83 min | Crime, Drama
An Irish-American street punk tries to make it big in the world of organized crime.
Director: William A. Wellman | Stars: James Cagney, Jean Harlow, Edward Woods, Joan Blondell
Votes: 23,024 | Gross: $1.01M
pre-Noir
4. M (1931)
Passed | 99 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
When the police in a German city are unable to catch a child-murderer, other criminals join in the manhunt.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Peter Lorre, Ellen Widmann, Inge Landgut, Otto Wernicke
Votes: 168,491 | Gross: $0.03M
pre-Noir
5. I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)
Passed | 92 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Wrongly convicted James Allen serves in the intolerable conditions of a Southern chain gang, which later comes back to haunt him.
Director: Mervyn LeRoy | Stars: Paul Muni, Glenda Farrell, Helen Vinson, Noel Francis
Votes: 14,438 | Gross: $1.42M
pre-Noir
6. 'G' Men (1935)
Approved | 85 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
James Cagney helped jump-start the gangster genre as The Public Enemy. Outcries against movies that glorified underworld criminals put Cagney on the side of the law in 'G' Men.
Director: William Keighley | Stars: James Cagney, Margaret Lindsay, Ann Dvorak, Robert Armstrong
Votes: 4,364
pre-Noir
7. The Petrified Forest (1936)
Passed | 82 min | Drama, Thriller
A waitress, a hobo and a bank robber get mixed up at a lonely diner in the desert.
Director: Archie Mayo | Stars: Leslie Howard, Humphrey Bogart, Bette Davis, Genevieve Tobin
Votes: 14,935
pre-Noir
8. Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)
Passed | 97 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A priest tries to stop a gangster from corrupting a group of street kids.
Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, Humphrey Bogart, Ann Sheridan
Votes: 23,206
pre-Noir
9. Stranger on the Third Floor (1940)
Approved | 64 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
An aspiring reporter is the key witness at the murder trial of a young man accused of cutting a café owner's throat and is soon accused of a similar crime himself.
Director: Boris Ingster | Stars: Peter Lorre, John McGuire, Margaret Tallichet, Charles Waldron
Votes: 4,610
Often cited as the first "true Film Noir" movie
10. The Maltese Falcon (1941)
Passed | 100 min | Crime, Film-Noir, Mystery
San Francisco private detective Sam Spade takes on a case that involves him with three eccentric criminals, a gorgeous liar and their quest for a priceless statuette, with the stakes rising after his partner is murdered.
Director: John Huston | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Gladys George, Peter Lorre
Votes: 166,601 | Gross: $2.11M
Early Film Noir
11. This Gun for Hire (1942)
Passed | 81 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
When assassin Philip Raven shoots a blackmailer and his beautiful female companion dead, he is paid off in marked bills by his treasonous employer who is working with foreign spies.
Director: Frank Tuttle | Stars: Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, Robert Preston, Laird Cregar
Votes: 10,621
Early Film Noir
12. Laura (1944)
Passed | 88 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Mystery
A police detective falls in love with the woman whose murder he is investigating.
Directors: Otto Preminger, Rouben Mamoulian | Stars: Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews, Clifton Webb, Vincent Price
Votes: 51,426 | Gross: $4.36M
Early Film Noir
13. Mildred Pierce (1945)
Approved | 111 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A hard-working mother inches towards disaster as she divorces her husband and starts a successful restaurant business to support her spoiled daughter.
Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: Joan Crawford, Jack Carson, Zachary Scott, Eve Arden
Votes: 28,669
Classic Film Noir
14. Gilda (1946)
Approved | 110 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Romance
A small-time gambler hired to work in a Buenos Aires casino discovers his employer's new wife is his former lover.
Director: Charles Vidor | Stars: Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford, George Macready, Joseph Calleia
Votes: 35,279
Classic Film Noir
15. The Big Sleep (1946)
Passed | 114 min | Crime, Film-Noir, Mystery
Private detective Philip Marlowe is hired by a wealthy family. Before the complex case is over, he's seen murder, blackmail and what might be love.
Director: Howard Hawks | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, John Ridgely, Martha Vickers
Votes: 90,532 | Gross: $6.54M
Classic Film Noir
16. The Killers (1946)
Passed | 103 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Hit men kill an unresisting victim, and investigator Reardon uncovers his past involvement with beautiful, deadly Kitty Collins.
Director: Robert Siodmak | Stars: Burt Lancaster, Ava Gardner, Edmond O'Brien, Albert Dekker
Votes: 23,634
Classic Film Noir
17. Dead Reckoning (1946)
Passed | 100 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A soldier runs away rather than receive the Medal of Honor, so his buddy gets permission to investigate, and love and death soon follow.
Director: John Cromwell | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Lizabeth Scott, Morris Carnovsky, Charles Cane
Votes: 8,729
Classic Film Noir
18. Odd Man Out (1947)
Approved | 116 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A wounded Irish nationalist leader attempts to evade police following a failed robbery in Belfast.
Director: Carol Reed | Stars: James Mason, Robert Newton, Cyril Cusack, F.J. McCormick
Votes: 11,420
Classic Film Noir
19. The Lady from Shanghai (1947)
Not Rated | 87 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Fascinated by gorgeous Mrs. Bannister, seaman Michael O'Hara joins a bizarre yachting cruise, and ends up mired in a complex murder plot.
Director: Orson Welles | Stars: Rita Hayworth, Orson Welles, Everett Sloane, Glenn Anders
Votes: 33,318 | Gross: $0.01M
Classic Film Noir
20. The Naked City (1948)
Not Rated | 96 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A step-by-step look at a murder investigation on the streets of New York.
Director: Jules Dassin | Stars: Barry Fitzgerald, Howard Duff, Dorothy Hart, Don Taylor
Votes: 15,503
Classic Film Noir
21. Brighton Rock (1948)
Not Rated | 92 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
In Brighton in 1935, small-time gang leader Pinkie Brown murders a journalist and later desperately tries to cover his tracks but runs into trouble with the police, a few witnesses, and a rival gang.
Director: John Boulting | Stars: Richard Attenborough, Hermione Baddeley, William Hartnell, Harcourt Williams
Votes: 6,823 | Gross: $0.22M
British Film Noir
22. Force of Evil (1948)
Passed | 79 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
An unethical lawyer who wants to help his older brother becomes a partner with a client in the numbers racket.
Director: Abraham Polonsky | Stars: John Garfield, Thomas Gomez, Beatrice Pearson, Marie Windsor
Votes: 7,670
Classic Film Noir
23. White Heat (1949)
Not Rated | 114 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A psychopathic criminal with a mother complex makes a daring break from prison and leads his old gang in a chemical plant payroll heist.
Director: Raoul Walsh | Stars: James Cagney, Virginia Mayo, Edmond O'Brien, Margaret Wycherly
Votes: 35,756
Classic Film Noir
24. The Third Man (1949)
Approved | 93 min | Film-Noir, Mystery, Thriller
Pulp novelist Holly Martins travels to shadowy, postwar Vienna, only to find himself investigating the mysterious death of an old friend, Harry Lime.
Director: Carol Reed | Stars: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Trevor Howard
Votes: 181,857 | Gross: $0.45M
Classic Film Noir
25. D.O.A. (1949)
Approved | 83 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Frank Bigelow, told he's been poisoned and has only a few days to live, tries to find out who killed him and why.
Director: Rudolph Maté | Stars: Edmond O'Brien, Pamela Britton, Luther Adler, Beverly Garland
Votes: 13,091
Classic Film Noir
26. Gun Crazy (1950)
Passed | 87 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Two disturbed young people release their fascination with guns through a crime spree.
Director: Joseph H. Lewis | Stars: John Dall, Peggy Cummins, Berry Kroeger, Morris Carnovsky
Votes: 14,847
Classic Film Noir
27. Sunset Blvd. (1950)
Passed | 110 min | Drama, Film-Noir
A screenwriter develops a dangerous relationship with a faded film star determined to make a triumphant return.
Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: William Holden, Gloria Swanson, Erich von Stroheim, Nancy Olson
Votes: 236,494
Classic Film Noir
28. Detective Story (1951)
Approved | 103 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
On one day in the 21st Precinct squad room, assorted characters form a backdrop for the troubles of hard-nosed Detective Jim McLeod.
Director: William Wyler | Stars: Kirk Douglas, Eleanor Parker, William Bendix, Cathy O'Donnell
Votes: 9,493
Classic Film Noir
29. The Hitch-Hiker (1953)
Approved | 71 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Two fishermen pick up a psychopathic escaped convict who tells them that he intends to murder them when the ride is over.
Director: Ida Lupino | Stars: Edmond O'Brien, Frank Lovejoy, William Talman, José Torvay
Votes: 10,528
Late Film Noir
30. The Killing (1956)
Approved | 84 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Crook Johnny Clay assembles a five-man team to plan and execute a daring racetrack robbery.
Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Sterling Hayden, Coleen Gray, Vince Edwards, Jay C. Flippen
Votes: 97,536
Late Film Noir
31. Touch of Evil (1958)
PG-13 | 95 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A stark, perverse story of murder, kidnapping and police corruption in a Mexican border town.
Director: Orson Welles | Stars: Charlton Heston, Orson Welles, Janet Leigh, Joseph Calleia
Votes: 109,819 | Gross: $2.24M
Often cited as the last "true Film Noir" movie
32. Murder by Contract (1958)
Approved | 81 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Claude is a ruthless and efficient contract killer - until he finds his next target is a woman.
Director: Irving Lerner | Stars: Vince Edwards, Phillip Pine, Herschel Bernardi, Caprice Toriel
Votes: 4,367
Post-Noir
33. The Fugitive Kind (1960)
Not Rated | 119 min | Drama, Romance
Valentine "Snakeskin" Xavier, a trouble-prone drifter trying to go straight, wanders into a small Mississippi town looking for a simple and honest life but finds himself embroiled with problem-filled women.
Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Marlon Brando, Joanne Woodward, Anna Magnani, Maureen Stapleton
Votes: 7,149
Post-Noir
34. Blast of Silence (1961)
Approved | 77 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A hired killer from Cleveland has a job to do on a second-string mob boss in New York, but a special girl from his past and a gun dealer with pet rats get in his way.
Director: Allen Baron | Stars: Allen Baron, Molly McCarthy, Larry Tucker, Peter Clune
Votes: 5,669
Post-Noir
35. What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)
Passed | 134 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
A former child star torments her paraplegic sister in their decaying Hollywood mansion.
Director: Robert Aldrich | Stars: Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Victor Buono, Wesley Addy
Votes: 61,904 | Gross: $4.05M
Post-Noir
36. Dead Ringer (1963)
Approved | 116 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
The working-class twin sister of a callous, wealthy woman impulsively murders her out of revenge and assumes her identity. But impersonating her dead twin is more complicated and risky than she anticipated.
Director: Paul Henreid | Stars: Bette Davis, Karl Malden, Peter Lawford, Philip Carey
Votes: 6,437
Post-Noir
37. Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965)
Not Rated | 107 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A woman reports that her young daughter is missing, but there seems to be no evidence that she ever existed.
Director: Otto Preminger | Stars: Keir Dullea, Carol Lynley, Laurence Olivier, Martita Hunt
Votes: 10,234
Post-Noir
38. The Long Goodbye (1973)
R | 112 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Private investigator Philip Marlowe helps a friend out of a jam, but in doing so gets implicated in his wife's murder.
Director: Robert Altman | Stars: Elliott Gould, Nina van Pallandt, Sterling Hayden, Mark Rydell
Votes: 37,289 | Gross: $0.96M
Contemporary Neo-Noir (ie. set in the era the movie was made)
39. Chinatown (1974)
R | 130 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A private detective hired to expose an adulterer in 1930s Los Angeles finds himself caught up in a web of deceit, corruption, and murder.
Director: Roman Polanski | Stars: Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston, Perry Lopez
Votes: 349,930
Retro Neo-Noir (ie. Set around the orignal 'Noir' era)
40. Blade Runner (1982)
R | 117 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
A blade runner must pursue and terminate four replicants who stole a ship in space and have returned to Earth to find their creator.
Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, Edward James Olmos
Votes: 823,241 | Gross: $32.87M
Scifi Noir
41. Streets of Fire (1984)
PG | 93 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A mercenary is hired to rescue his ex-girlfriend, a singer who has been kidnapped by a motorcycle gang.
Director: Walter Hill | Stars: Michael Paré, Diane Lane, Rick Moranis, Amy Madigan
Votes: 24,254 | Gross: $8.09M
Retro Neo-Noir
42. The Usual Suspects (1995)
R | 106 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
The sole survivor of a pier shoot-out tells the story of how a notorious criminal influenced the events that began with five criminals meeting in a seemingly random police lineup.
Director: Bryan Singer | Stars: Kevin Spacey, Gabriel Byrne, Chazz Palminteri, Stephen Baldwin
Votes: 1,145,649 | Gross: $23.34M
Contemporary Neo-Noir
43. Heat (1995)
R | 170 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A group of high-end professional thieves start to feel the heat from the LAPD when they unknowingly leave a verbal clue at their latest heist.
Director: Michael Mann | Stars: Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Val Kilmer, Jon Voight
Votes: 719,560 | Gross: $67.44M
Contemporary Neo-Noir
[Influence by high-octance Film Noir heist movies like 'Criss Cross' (1949), "Armored Car Robbery' (1950), 'Breaking Point' (1950), "Drive A Crooked Road' (1954), and 'The Killing (1956)]
44. L.A. Confidential (1997)
R | 138 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
As corruption grows in 1950s Los Angeles, three policemen - one strait-laced, one brutal, and one sleazy - investigate a series of murders with their own brand of justice.
Director: Curtis Hanson | Stars: Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, Kim Basinger
Votes: 617,951 | Gross: $64.62M
Retro Neo-Noir
45. Dark City (1998)
R | 100 min | Fantasy, Mystery, Sci-Fi
A man struggles with memories of his past, which include a wife he cannot remember and a nightmarish world no one else ever seems to wake up from.
Director: Alex Proyas | Stars: Rufus Sewell, Kiefer Sutherland, Jennifer Connelly, William Hurt
Votes: 212,334 | Gross: $14.38M
Scifi Noir
46. Brick (2005)
R | 110 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A teenage loner pushes his way into the underworld of a high school crime ring to investigate the disappearance of his ex-girlfriend.
Director: Rian Johnson | Stars: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Lukas Haas, Emilie de Ravin, Meagan Good
Votes: 110,059 | Gross: $2.06M
Contemporary Neo-Noir
[Influenced by the jargon-heavy, fast-talking dialogue of classics with similar mystery storylines like 'Dark Passage' (1947) 'Criss Cross' (1949), or 'Quicksand (1950)]
47. Sin City (2005)
R | 124 min | Crime, Thriller
An exploration of the dark and miserable Basin City and three of its residents, all of whom are caught up in violent corruption.
Directors: Frank Miller, Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez | Stars: Mickey Rourke, Clive Owen, Bruce Willis, Jessica Alba
Votes: 793,884 | Gross: $74.10M
Retro Neo-Noir
48. Nightcrawler (2014)
R | 117 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
When Louis Bloom, a con man desperate for work, muscles into the world of L.A. crime journalism, he blurs the line between observer and participant to become the star of his own story.
Director: Dan Gilroy | Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Bill Paxton, Riz Ahmed
Votes: 604,761 | Gross: $32.38M
Late Contemporary Neo-Noir
[Heavily influenced by 'Shakedown' (1950), about a similar character/story. Also 'Ace In The Hole' (1951)]
49. John Wick (2014)
R | 101 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
An ex-hitman comes out of retirement to track down the gangsters who killed his dog and stole his car.
Director: Chad Stahelski | Stars: Keanu Reeves, Michael Nyqvist, Alfie Allen, Willem Dafoe
Votes: 739,258 | Gross: $43.04M
Late Contemporary Neo-Noir
[Influenced by 'D.O.A' (1949), with a similar fast-paced, race-against-time revenge story]
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