Noir Nook: Top Films Noir – Part 1

Noir Nook: Top Movies Noir – Part 1

Every film noir lover has their favorite features from this seedy era of filmmaking. At the beginning of another year, I watch my favorite films noirs. One of the reasons I love this particular assignment is that some of my favorites will stay the same no matter when and how often I identify them – while others change depending on the time of year, my mood, or even when I do them have day. The following are the top five of my top 10 list – I’ll finish with the next five next month …

Double compensation (1944)

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again – my favorite movie of all time is noir Double compensation. For me it’s absolutely perfect. It tells the story of Phyllis Dietrichson, a frustrated and unhappy housewife, and Walter Neff, a bored insurance clerk, and the conversion of the couple’s passion into murder, with Phyllis’ husband being the unfortunate recipient.

I love so much Double compensation. The history. Barbara Stanwyck’s much maligned wig. The truncated way Fred MacMurray says “baby”. Hell, the fact that ex-fun guy Fred is even IN this movie. Edward G. Robinson and everything he does and says. And all the noir boxes that are ticked: voice-over narration, flashback orientation, shadows filtered through blinds, a badass femme fatale, and an antihero who thinks he’s running the show – but who really isn’t.

Favorite quote:

“Yeah, I killed him. I killed him for money – and a woman – and I didn’t get the money and I didn’t get the woman. Pretty, isn’t it?”

– Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray)

Mildred Pierce (1945)

Another movie that will always and forever be on every top 10 noir list I’ve ever made is Mildred Pierce. It’s not the first noir I’ve ever seen – that honor goes to Double compensation – but it was the first noir I’ve ever seen on the big screen. And I’ve been in love ever since. Based on how Double compensation, on a novel by James M. Cain, Mildred Pierce focuses on the title character (played in an Oscar-winning performance by Joan Crawford), the efforts she makes to support her daughters – one of whom is a truly terrible child growing into an even more terrifying adult – and the dashing waste she falls in love and who ends up dead.

Next to Crawford, the film is highlighted by Eve Arden, who plays Mildred’s wise (and wise cracking) girlfriend; Jack Carson, as the ex-partner of Mildred’s ex-husband, whose appeal to Mildred is only matched by his affinity for a dollar; and Ann Blyth, whose angelic face made an ideal facade for the villainous Veda Pierce.

Favorite quote:

“Veda personally convinced me that alligators have the right idea – they eat their young.”

– Ida Corwin (Eve Arden)

Gun crazy (1950)

Since I was a kid, I was fascinated by the story of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow – so I was ready and willing to fall in love with them Gun crazyinspired by the exploits of the Depression-era outlaws. Peggy Cummins and John Dall star as Annie Laurie Starr and Bart Tare, uncompromising partners who, in Bart’s view, go together “like guns and ammunition”. The two meet for the first time in a shooting competition at a local carnival and before you can say, “Bob is your uncle,” they knock down the Traveler’s Aid Society and rob banks.

A graft from Ireland known as Amber in. poured – and then thrown off – Forever amber (1947) Peggy Cummins was made to play the role of Annie Laurie Starr. With her face, which was often an expressionless mask, she was not a monotonous character; she could be gentle and sweet and serious like a girl scout or fearless and ruthless and downright sinister.

Favorite quote:

“Bart, I’ve been kicked around my whole life, and from now on I’ll start to sit back.”

– Annie Laurie Starr (Peggy Cummins)

The killing (1956)

Distinguished by its time consuming act, The killing is a noir that I love to watch over and over again – I’ve seen it on VHS and DVD, I’ve seen it on the big screen, and I see it every time it’s aired on TV. I just can’t see it enough. The film was directed by Stanley Kubrick at the beginning of his historic career and revolves around a motley troop of individuals – including a musty cashier, a policeman who is heavily indebted to the mob and a bartender who takes care of his sick wife – who band together to to do something an elaborately designed racetrack robbery. The plan’s mastermind is Johnny Clay, played by Sterling Hayden at his best.

Cast includes Marie Windsor, the mouse-like cashier’s double-faced gold digger; Timothy Carey as the central but unfortunate cog in the robbery machine; and Vince Edwards, who plays a die-hard character light years away from his role as Dr. Ben Casey is on TV away. Also in the cast, who made his movie debut, was comedian Rodney Dangerfield, who can be seen as a spectator in a scene in which a brawl is taking place near the racetrack bar.

Favorite quote:

“You know, Fay, the biggest mistake I made was shooting peanuts. Five years have taught me one thing above all else: every time you take a risk, you should be sure that the reward is worth the risk. Because they could lock you up for a ten dollar robbery as quickly as they would for a million dollar job. ”

– Johnny Clay (Sterling Hayden)

criss-cross (1949)

criss-cross is a noir that, to borrow a phrase from Mary Poppins, is “practically perfect in every way” – but is, in my opinion, sorely underestimated. At its core, it consists of a passionate but deadly triangle populated by Steve Thompson (Burt Lancaster), who recently returned to his hometown after a long absence; Steve’s ex-wife Anna (Yvonne De Carlo), from whom he apparently cannot stay away; and Slim Dundee (Dan Duryea), leader of the local mob and Anna’s new husband. The emotion, suspicion, and deception swirling around these three are compounded when armored car theft is thrown into the mix – and the term “Stations of the Cross” takes on a whole new meaning.

Yvonne DeCarlo, perhaps best known for her exotic roles in a number of sword-and-sandal films, is ideal as the fatal femme in criss-cross. At the beginning of the film, when we – together with Steve – see Anna dance to a soulful Latin beat (no less with a young, uncredited Tony Curtis), we know exactly why he is attracted to her like a magnet. And later, when we get to know her better, we know why Steve should have stayed far, far away.

What are your favorite noirs movies? Tune in to the Noir Nook next month for the next half of my top 10!

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– Karen Burroughs Hannsberry for Classic Movie Hub

You can read all of Karen’s Noir Nook articles here.

Karen Burroughs Hannsberry is the author of the Shadows and Satin blog, which focuses on films and performers from the Film Noir and Pre-Code era, and the Editor-in-Chief of The dark side, a bimonthly newsletter all about film noir. Karen is also the author of two books on film noir – Femme Noir: The Bad Girls of the Film and Bad Boys: The Actors of Film Noir. You can follow Karen on Twitter below @TheDarkPages.
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