Mirage (1965)

Mirage (1965) is an amnesia corporate crime nuclear threat hunted man paranoia thriller film noir, usually called a neo noir by the time we have come to examine the 1960s and its use of the style.

Yes, even though Mirage (1965) was made by Edward Dmytryk in the 1960s it rolls with the full flavour of all iconic and classic film noir, from the paranoiac lost in the city, to the hats and hoods of a mysterious underworld. Great motor cars and docu-noir style street action, a dream-like quality, and mystery intimate quick flashback visions as Gregory Peck pieces the cliches together, with the unique addition of Walther Matthau.

13 West Street (1962)

13 West Street (1962) is a teenage tearaway paranoia trouble in suburbia late noir Alan Laddaholic rocket scientist street-titled film noir filler which veers into a confused admixture of home invasion noir, vigilante noir, teenage rebellion and juvenile threat noir, paranoid noir, car smash noir and an early entry into the American vigilante canon.

is the film that marked Alan Ladd's swan song as a leading man. And honey, let me tell you, this was not the grand finale one might have hoped for. Sure, it’s a decent movie—for its time—but the truth is, it’s hard not to see the wear and tear of Ladd’s years of excessive drinking and hard living, splashed across his face like a tired canvas. 

The Hustler (1961)

The Hustler (1961) is a poolroom gambling culture sports drama hubris film noir con movie tragedy, about one man's prideful journey through the underworld of his own wasted talent, and the alcoholic and suicidal woman he befriends, for his own ends of course.

It's a classic of many sorts, for many reasons, and is incredibly forward looking in its tragic and existential biploar jazz and thumb-breakin' misery, set in the seediest halls and shabbiest rooms, in the ropiest towns in the loneliest states, finding a vortex of doom which swallows thew female character, played by Piper Laurie, whole.

Pleins feux sur l'assassin (1961)

Pleins feux sur l'assassin (1961) is a strange thriller mystery horroresque French film noir nest of vipers-style rural chateau based tale of twisted and messed up tale of bereavement and greed, which speaks of mortality, intense hatred, evil old age male spite and 

It is a film not entirely within the French New Wave, and yet one which does display strong noir tropes, and at the same time seems to look at Jean Cocteua or Marcel Carne as inspiration rather than indulging in the deconstructions of the contemporary French class-acts such as Godard and Truffaut.

Judex (1963)

Judex (1963) is a French language crime remake revenge-noir swinging mirror camera action mystery, capture, intrigue and oddity P.I. historical noir melodrama which is delightfully static, wild of avian headgear, and other subtly surreal touches of oddity and exciting curio.

It's soft and gentle, a film on tip toes, an acoustic film like no other, without doubt a film of birdsong, and otehr ambience, but eh music when it is musical is absolutely choice, the ambient quiet drone and deep distant trills during he good versus evil white body suit versus black body suit combat mani a manin on the dark French provincial rooftop is unmissable film chic. You know this film has some heavy dark chords too, beneath the word FIN au fin they clang in death march time baby.

The Girl Hunters (1963)

The Girl Hunters (1963) is a barely coherent lost classic Mickey Spillane Mike Hammer curiosity P.I. outré grilled steak big city hard nosed hard boiled  hard sidewalk and newsstand pounding snogga neo film noir blandishment from the 1960s, the non-standard issue cereal-box-reciting acting style creation of the entire all American Hammer oeuvre.

Infamous as the moment when Mickey was Mike, The Girl Hunters (1963) rocks the city and ransacks the style, tuning into the weirdness of the new era of the 1960s, rooted in habits that resonate from the vaudeville years even before the Depression.

Plein Soleil (1960)

Plein Soleil (1960), which is known in English as Purple Noon, is a French full colour film noir deceit and murder romance novel adaptation, and a genuine classic and of the later French film noir cycle, not in the least for its iconic, seminal,  foundational, ground-breaking, influential, landmark, catalystic performance from Alain Delon.

Purple Noon then as is known, this seminal French seminar in Mediterranean murder chic, so cold and so warm, so yacht-deadly and so nouveau in its horrors, sdo nihilistic in its love and so anti-American in its subtle heart, so tight lipped and so guilty, so clever and so swift.

Les Yeux Sans Visage (1960)

Les Yeux Sans Visage (1960) is a seminal and classic French horror plastic surgery father-daughter mad scientist murder noir which turned out to be one of the very first productions of the modern horror era, replete with psychological fear, gore and incidental lurking canine terror, with a dash of policer procedural.

The film centers on and at the same time revolves around and turns upon while circling the notional conceit that a plastic surgeon is determined to perform a face transplant on his daughter, who was disfigured in a car accident. 

During production, efforts were made to align with European censorship standards by minimizing graphic gore. Despite being cleared by censors, Eyes Without a Face sparked controversy upon its European release, with critics offering reactions that ranged from praise to disgust.

Walk On The Wild Side (1962)

Walk On The Wild Side (1962) is a drifter narrative historical film noir tale of corrupt and tragic and exploitative brothel living starring Jane Fonda and Laurence Harvey, with Capucine and Barbara Stanwyck providing support and at times violent melodrama.

More than that, Walk On The Wild Side (1962) does provide a f & m buddy movie vibe, kicking off with a wandering tale of two drifters, drifting together, the young and wild and immoral Twist played by Jane Fonda, and the cool calm cowpoke character played by Laurence Harvey. 

Take Aim at the Police Van (1960)

Take Aim at the Police Van (1960) is a borderless youth prison guard pursuit cat and mouse violent revenge noir-bent thriller that was made in Japan in 1960.

Police Van serves slab of cold prison guard in a preemptive strike against global cop culture, fresh for the 1960s and with all the right style.

The reviews for Take Aim at the Police Van provide a nuanced perspective on the film, reflecting both admiration for Seijun Suzuki's distinct directorial style and some reservations about certain aspects of the plot and character development. Seijun Suzuki, known for his unconventional approach to filmmaking, is described as one of the more eccentric Japanese directors of the 1960s, and Take Aim at the Police Van is seen as a reflection of his penchant for pushing the boundaries of traditional film noir.

Psycho (1960)

Psycho (1960) by Alfred Hitchcock is a noir-fuelled summation of thirty years of graphic and exploitative cinema, not just signalling the end of the classic film noir era, but bringing on many new types of film — the psycho-serial-killer horror film — the slasher —  the film that you see from beginning to end — the sight of a brassiere — jump scares shocks and a surprise ending. And a flushing toilet Code-lovers.

There is much to signal the changing of the era in Psycho, beginning with Hitchcock's inspired choice to make the film in black and white. For one Hollywood Golden Age fan at least, Psycho is the end of the line.

Psycho is not just the end of The Golden Age of Hollywood but for all its genius and for the sheer of its enjoyment and our never tiring of its technique and merits —  for all these things and more Psycho also heralds the opening of the age of disgust.

Seven Thieves (1960)

Seven Thieves (1960) seems too good a caper noir to miss, with Edward G. Robinson, Rod Steiger, Eli Wallach and Joan Collins, all in one tidy package of heist.

Instead, Seven Thieves maybe demonstrates what the style had lost by 1960, and the ways in which production and vision had altered, to knock classic film noir on the head.

With the odour of a caper movie, it's maybe a shame that Seven Thieves is not film in colour. Certainly VistaVision and other widescreen techniques do leave some directors offering large empty spaces on screen, especially in the shots of single individuals.

Marnie (1964)

Marnie (1964) is the classic late period seriously is it the last meaningful Alfred Hitchcock film or at least the last he fully cared about? psychological late late period classic analytic thriller cineamternity Freudian love melodrama suspenseful sex mystery paranoid woman lousy husband drunken sailor classic neo-film noir, with all the big tricks of the Hitchcock trade, and Tippi Hedren facing Sean Connery, who plays a publisher called Rutland.