X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes (1963)

X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes (1963) is a classic cosmic horror psychedelic parody Roger Corman mad scientist acid casualty and addiction groovy lounge music and experimental sound masterpiece of comedy terror and inverted American dream Vegas and sideshow apocalyptic guignol Lovecraftian scientific hubris Pathécolor pulp science fiction horror film produced and directed by Roger Corman, from a script by Ray Russell and Robert Dillon, and starring Ray Milland as a scientist who develops a method to extend the range of his vision, which results in unexpected complications, with Don Rickles, Diana Van der Vlis and veteran character actor Morris Ankrum.

The Lawless (1950)

The Lawless (1950) is a racially charged journalism and media civil rights and leftist crusading journalist film gris film noir concerned about the plight of California state's fruit pickers, mostly immigrants from Mexico who are disparagingly referred to as "fruit tramps".

Film gris, in a world of micro classification, most especially among the classification of mid century noir, in defining film noir, the leading cultural and most defining of all that lost century's art forms, gris is most certainly a thing to behold, a useful methodology, and this is a terrific movie, super enjoyable, racing with fun and aggression, and containing multitudes of great moments, cementing a heartful place in the fact of film noir's place in the civil rights story of the times.

The Bribe (1949)

The Bribe (1949) is a classic exotic lousy husband post-war Central American murder mystery cop film noir with Ava Gardner, Robert Taylor, Vincent Price and Charles Laughton, in a kind of noir-by-numbers take on many staples of the style, combing noirish elementata in a perfect combination late forties thriller.

There is a lot to see, not the least of it is Robert Taylor and Vincent price, sitting together and looking so kinda similar that it is not just eerie, but a sign that things are going to be a lot of fun. 

Blackboard Jungle (1955)

The Blackboard Jungle (1955) is the ultimate mid-1950s juvenile delinquent scare movie and features Glenn Ford in one of his best roles as a teacher in a violent urban school for boys. 

Within The Blackboard Jungle (1955) are both significant lies and truths, as well as discussion of racism underpinned by the thin air of misogyny, and an uncomfortable sexism which is constant enough to form an almost separate movie. Unlike in noir in toto, and this is not noir, there are no interesting roles for women in this man's, man's, man's, man's movie.

The Lady Gambles (1949)

The Lady Gambles (1949) is a gambling addiction, social and moral descent romance women's film noir starring Barbara Stanwyck, turning in a stunning and brutal performance as a woman who is overcome with addiction, so as to the point of ruination.

As the film opens prepare to see Barbara Stanwyck punched 11 or 12 times in the face by three mooks in an alley, each bruising face-breaking blow leaving a great ouch across the style. It has to be one of the more terrifying noir beatings.

This leads to a hospital managed by a cynical hard smoking medical stoic played by John Hoyt, and the whole flashback, fading screen, voiceover here-is-how-it happened commences, and Double Indemnity style, the story unravels, although it ain't such a hot story.

When Worlds Collide (1951)

When Worlds Collide (1951) is a classic apocalypse, science fiction global planetary collision build-an-ark and flee-the-planet adventure drama, created by producer George Pal and director Rudolph Maté.

Starring Richard Derr, Barbara Rush, Peter Hansen, John Hoyt, Larry Keating, Rachel Ames and Stephen Chase, When Worlds Collide brings high altitude snogging to the masses from the very off and races through the night skies to terrify the world with Hollywood's first major non-Biblical destruction movie, wowing the masses into ecstatic fear of the end.

Outside The Wall (1950)

Outside The Wall (1950) is an ex-con sap in the city thriller from the height of the classic film noir era, starring Richard Basehart as an innocent abroad, released from prison never having seen a woman, and at large and trying to remain crime-free in Philly.

However this is film noir and fate comes a-calling as do three women at once for hapless sap in a cap Richard Basehart as he negotiates his way into peril and romance.

Outside The Wall (1950) performs as a fairly standard film noir with its story of a man going straight being dragged by the heels back into the world of crime.

However there is something fantastical about the story as well, which offers a darkened fairy tale aspect contained within the innocent-abroad-style adventures of Richard Basehart's character, Larry Nelson.

Trapped (1949)

Trapped (1949) is counterfeiting undercover cop documentary style cop procedural noir from the absolute height of the classic film noir era.

Directed by Richard Fleischer film noir Trapped (1949) gained historical importance due to its restoration and rediscovery in later years. 

The film's significance lies in various aspects, including its place in the film noir genre, its unique production history, and the restoration efforts that brought it back into the spotlight.

Trapped (1949), a semi-documentary crime thriller film noir story, weaves a narrative tapestry that echoes the shadows of film noir, with intriguing parallels and deviations from its genre counterparts. Directed by Richard Fleischer, the film thrusts counterfeiters against Secret Service agents, a thematic echo of the acclaimed semi-doc T-Men (Anthony Mann, 1947). 

However, Trapped takes daring strides in new and unexpected directions.

Brute Force (1947)

There are four to five hundred stories in the film noir city ― and around two dozen of them are sure-fire, indisputable, authentic classics. 

Brute Force is one of these.

Directed by Jules Dassin, it’s a story from stir ― strong men beat it out of each other as they go crazy behind prison walls. The manliness is multitudinous and the cruelty drives them to the end of their tethers.

Interests collide in a story that is both one man against the system, but also an indictment of the system itself. The cons are grim and the guard is grimmer. The result is a simmering and boiling mass of machismo, acted to within an inch of its life by a cast of glowering guys, who will do anything to survive amid the harsh conditions imposed on them.

Even outside of the canon, this is one of the greatest action, social and thrilling films of its day, with so much to commend the casual viewer, the film noir fanatic, and those generally interested in film.