Criminal Chiaroscuro

By: chrryblssmninja

Film noir, noir precursors, neo-noir, and films with a strong noir bent that I’ve watched so far. List is not in any strict order.

Considered, but not included due to lack of presence in MUBI database or other reasons:
Mystery Street (1950, directed by John Sturges) – probably best classified as a procedural with some noir elements.

This list was previously named “Shades of Noir,” but I changed the name on 1/4/2010 when I found out there was a book of the same name.

I’ve wondered about including Shock Corridor: It might fall under noir, noir influences (though Fuller has directed fims such as Pickup on South Street), or just the “Samuel Fuller” genre. However, I think it hits many noir marks: obsession, questioning people on a “street,” pursuit of success, downfall ending, claustrophoic setting, water elements, shadowy photography with dramatic angles, lurid subject matter, the sunlight out of reach (only visible in color flashbacks/imaginings) and a slight doubling possibility (is Cathy going mad too?). If I made a timeline of noir, I’d put it as an outlier way at the tail end of the classic period, along with what others consider the “excesses” of ’50’s noir.

I’ve also watched Road House (1948), but while it has noirish aspects and is made at the same time, it’s not quite claustrophic enough (even given the predominance of sets and the foggy forest climax). I’d categorize it as a good melodrama, but it didn’t jump out as noir to me.

July 6th, 2011:
I made this:

August 16, 2011:
I’ve included The Unknown because, although it is not a precursor film, it has a plot and several almost fetishistic aspects that would be perfect for noir. There’s lurid feel and focus on the unrepentant criminal that mesmerizes the viewer, and the stage setting of the final act makes the viewer somewhat complicit in hoping “are they really going to go that far? Oh gosh, I hope they do.” It shows that, even in the late ’20’s silent era, there were Hollywood movies that share the same twisting of morality present in noir.

February 29, 2012:
The Captive City is a very tame and quaint movie amongst all these dark films, but little plot and visual details of shadow and corruption qualified it for my list. A grayscale spectrum has to include some lighter films too.
The Kiss is a silent romantic melodrama, but is included mainly for its ending.