Devil's Doorway (1950)

Devil's Doorway (1950) is a returning veteran race relations injustice on the range and one man against the system social commentary action adventure wild western movie with film noir leanings, and one that is significantly and surprisingly better than its black face or whatever and inappropriate Native American portrayals this represents, which are not well done and which might be off-putting for any modern kinda film observers.

For example, Native Americans have never and would never refer to themselves as 'Indians', as they do here, even a patent absurdity in 1950.

Anthony Mann’s Devil’s Doorway (1950) is a significant yet underappreciated western film that offers a haunting portrayal of racial discrimination in the American West. 

Voice of The Whistler (1945)

Voice of The Whistler (1945) is a gold digger and dying man mystery thriller lighthouse dwelling oddity of a narrative with many shenanigans around trying to throw a body out of a window and dummies being clubbed in beds, and is the fourth of the mystery noir thriller series known as The Whistler, which presented an invisible hand of fate style noir character who appears as a shadow to taunt and haunt noir's leading and often weakened male leads, usually in fact Richard Dix.

Richard Dix returns as another noir loner and heel, unable to relax, pacing and worrying, a strained body and mind, a staring figure of splendid doubt, faced with the spectre of The Whistler, a noir non-being from the mid-century, a shadow, the shadow of paranoia, doubt, persecution, emasculation, and other fearful fantasy.

The Spiral Staircase (1946)

The Spiral Staircase (1946) is a stalking terrorisation paranoia psychological historical film noir thriller with all the trimmings of the mystery style and elements of the apprehensive female domestic victim movie.

In the dimly lit streets of the city, a killer stalked the shadows, preying upon women with imperfections. His eyes, cold and calculating, sought out vulnerability—the slightest flaw that marked his victims. The town whispered of his deeds, and fear hung heavy in the air.

Helen, the mute caregiver for a wealthy old woman, was next on everyone’s list. Her silence made her an easy target, her inability to scream for help a cruel twist of fate. The old woman’s mansion loomed like a fortress, its walls hiding secrets and shadows.

The Boss (1956)

The Boss (1956) is a loveless marriage mean-ass mob boss epic biopic historical tale of cynical criminal cruelty, manipulation and lavish corrupt money making and spending, spanning the early to mid years of the twentieth century.

We’re talkin’ about a loveless marriage, a union colder than a corpse in a meat locker. Picture this: a dame and a fella, shackled together by vows they’d rather break than a stool pigeon under pressure. Ain’t no sweet nothings whispered here, just the hollow echo of empty promises.

The Boss stands out as a character-driven film within its frame of historical epic-ish film noir, focusing on Brady's (John Payne) descent into corruption and subsequent downfall. 

The film opens with the following written prologue: 

"The boss is a creature of no political party. He appears in the wake of public apathy fostering crime and corruption. Years ago an outraged citizenry arose against him. Only you, a vigilant people, can combat the menace of a boss." 

Nightmare (1956)

Nightmare (1956) is a tortured male lead psychological thriller mystery film noir directed by Maxwell Shane and starring Edward G. Robinson, Kevin McCarthy and Connie Russell.

It's such a mystery indeed to relate how a man can dream a nightmare and find a key and wash blood off his hands and not know what he has done, such a mystery that the story is told twice in the great film noir era because this same story was told in the film Fear In The Night (1943), also a great example of the style and its obsessions.

Essentially Nightmare (1956) is a tale of paranoia, murder and psychology, making of it noir mania in a deluxe package. Cracking weird action drives our hero played by Kevin McCarthy, doing a bit of what he was to later perfect in Invasion Of The Body Snatchers.