A Place In The Sun (1951)

A Place In The Sun (1951) is a rich and poor love and melodrama classic American tragedy American Tragedy adaptation corporate America family drifter lousy fiancée tortured young man marital fear and unwanted pregnancy fear murder or not quite murder film noir starring Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor, Shelley Winters, in which a poor boy gets a job from his rich uncle and ends up falling in love twice, and not coping, and this is directed by George Stevens and is a great Oscar winner, a great, great Oscar winner.

A Double Life (1947)

A Double Life (1947) is a melodramatic psychological theatreland ego-driven personality and jealousy possession and amnesia lousy husband film noir with ham leanings, set on and off the stages of Broadway, and directed by George Cukor, admittedly not know for his forays into film noir.

Don't be too fooled though, as Cukor has some real noir sliders and sleepers up his sleevers. There was A Woman's Face (1941) which is a solid classical noir entry for its fantastical psychological doubling and dealing and pro and de- scribing of the female. And of course he directed Gaslight (1944) one of the most seminal movie happenings of the century, for the impact its theme came to have.

Winchester '73 (1950)

Winchester '73 (1950) is a weapon worshippin road movie adventure mortal peril survival on the range revenge western film noir picture following the journey of a prized brand new state of the art lever action rifle the Winchester 1873 a formidable weapon on the range, from one ill-fated owner to another, as well as a cowboy's search for a murderous fugitive, and plenty side swipes at native American victims and dispossessed savages, a la Hollywood.

Winchester '73 (1950), directed by Anthony Mann and starring James Stewart, is widely regarded as a milestone in the development of the Western genre. It is a film that transcends the conventions of its time, bringing a darker, more psychologically complex approach to the genre, while still maintaining the essential elements that define a great Western. Those elements are not as varied as you might like ti imagine, it's a tight set of tropes on the range. Here though and in western noir, psychological western film noir, the cultural impact of Winchester '73 as a transformative film in Hollywood's portrayal of the American frontier should be manifest as much as it's a manifesto.

Take One False Step (1949)

Take One False Step (1949) is an innocent-man-accused murder mystery comedy-toned film noir by Chester Erskine, which follows decent upstanding citizen Andrew Gentling (played by William Powell) as he negotiates the criminal backdrops of San Francisco, trying to clear his name from the frame, and deal with a rabid dog bite in the process.

In town for a conference, Powell's character bumps into an old flame in the form of Shelley Winters, and she relentlessly hits on him until he drives her home, and she disappears, leaving him suspected of murder.

It's a murder without a body however, and an ordinarily tense noir setup falls into place and the hacks of film noir will argue that it winds up lacking in the tension that is traded for comedy.

He Ran All The Way (1951)

He Ran All The Way (1951) is a John Garfield classic home invasion disillusioned post-war young man turns-to-crime parental nightmare indolent rebel film noir, from the high era of the indolent rebellious criminal youth turns to crime movie style. 

In the murky depths of 1950s Tinseltown, where secrets slither in the shadows and peril prowls at every turn, He Ran All the Way emerges as a gritty yarn of deceit and treachery. 

Directed by the mysterious John Berry and starring the dynamic duo of John Garfield and Shelley Winters, this noir gem plunges audiences into the seamy world of youth in trouble with the law in the doom male post-war era of male doom and desire as doomed males turned to home invading robbery and anarchy, only to satisfy that world-ending craving they have for they know what, only in the movies, and only ever in film noir.

I Died a Thousand Times (1955)

I Died a Thousand Times (1955) is colour rural film noir one-last-job heist movie remake of High Sierra (1941).

Filmed in CinemaScope and Warnercolor this color film noir was directed by Stuart Heisler and features Jack Palance as paroled bank robber Roy Earle, with Shelley Winters, Lee Marvin, Earl Holliman, Perry Lopez, Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez, and Lon Chaney Jr.

The stereotypical, comedy-relief character played by black actor Willie Best in the original film was replaced by a Mexican stereotype played by Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez. The film marks the second motion picture appearance of Dennis Hopper's six-decade career, and Nick Adams makes an uncredited appearance as a bellhop.

Larceny (1948)

Larceny (1948) is a con-man swindler romance drama film noir starring John Payne, Joan Caulfield, Shelley Winters and Dan Duryea.

Directed by George Sherman, this high period noir is a lot of fun — if it's not Dan Duryea's paranoia about his gal Tory being around the other members of his all male gang — and if it's not Tory's own fast-cracking dangerous barbed wire one liners — or John Payne's noir-like descent from hangdog swindler to deadbeat romantic lover, unable to fulfil any heroic role at all, either as good guy or villain — neither suit this bird.

The sacrifice of trust is at the heart of the con, as is the false identity of a man whom it appears does not even know who he is to begin with — who he loves — or even which side he might be on. The essence of film noir perhaps lies within in the short journey there is between dreams and disillusionment. 

Odds Against Tomorrow (1959)

Odds Against Tomorrow (1959) is a late noir cycle race-relations civil-rights and jazz-fuelled minor heist film noir movie produced and directed by Robert Wise, starring Harry Belafonte, Robert Ryan, Ed Begley, Shelley Winters and Gloria Grahame. 

Odds Against Tomorrow is one of the last films to appear in the classic noir cycle, and is notable for a plot which features a serious commentary on racism.

If there were to be such a sub-genre as arthouse-noir from the late 1950s, Odds Against Tomorrow would qualify. The score is by The Modern Jazz Quartet, so it would be hard to groove harder than that in the late-noir groove-yard of arthouse heist noir.

As well as the most solid of noir tropes, such as the ex-soldier turned to crime, and the massive dose of 'one last job' which everybody seems to be on, there are also dramatic shots of birds in flight, city landscapes and children at play, all set to that arty jazz soundtrack by John Lewis —  and even some experimental infra-red photography.

Johnny Stool Pigeon (1949)

Johnny Stool Pigeon (1949) is a film noir caper which satisfies with its buddy-movie flavour, and location-hopping road movie feel.

Starring Howard Duff, Dan Duryea, Shelley Winters and a young Tony 'Anthony' Curtis, Johnny Stool Pigeon cuts its chops on role reversal, as dyed-in-the-wool copper Howard Duff toughens up to the wrong side of the law, becoming an undercover hood in order to bust a massive drug ring.

Not many films from the 1940s tackle the new-ish science of drug abuse, but Johnny Stool Pigeon does. 

Evidence of product itself and its effects are kept to a minimum, and so most of the caper is spent as Dan Duryea, already a criminal on the inside, helps show conservatively acting and dressing Howard Duff, how it is done on the dark side.

First, you gotta wear a snappy suit, and thirty dollar shoes. But is that enough for Howard Duff to lose his straight-guy copper flavour?

We'll have to see. He's up against amazing rising young star Anthony Curtis; and veteran John McIntire in a villainous suit of rodeo gear.

The Raging Tide (1951)

The Raging Tide (1951) is a terrific and raging and calming and reflective and stormy crime and adventure movie, that likes to think it's a film noir, but actually spends too much time having too much wholesome fun in the traditional business of fishing to earn some fulsome bleak city noir chops.

Still there is enough here for The Raging Tide to get some slices off those chops. 

Those bleak city noir chops! And it mixes them up with some salty salt-of-the-earth sea-chops. 

Richard Conte and Charles Bickford do in fact get soaked by props men spraying them and tossing buckets of water at them. It is that kinda milieu.

And The Raging Tide starts with a murder, a no-nonsense affair in the dark.

Then the murderer is on the run, through that film noir city, bright lights and shadows, raging through the streets. That's perfect, and exactly what you'd want to see of Richard Conte. On the run, in the city, in the dark. C'est noir . . . even if it does end up at sea.