Film Noir: Escaping The Past.
by seymourblack-1 | created - 14 Mar 2020 | updated - 9 months ago | PublicMovies featuring characters who are tormented by the secrets, traumas, criminality or relationships of their pasts.
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1. The Woman on Pier 13 (1949)
Approved | 73 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Successful, newly married Brad Collins once belonged to the Communist Party of the USA, and now the Party will stop at nothing to use him.
Director: Robert Stevenson | Stars: Robert Ryan, Laraine Day, John Agar, Thomas Gomez
Votes: 1,272
2. The Red House (1947)
Approved | 100 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Mystery
An old man and his sister are concealing a terrible secret from their adopted teen daughter, concerning a hidden abandoned farmhouse, located deep in the woods.
Director: Delmer Daves | Stars: Edward G. Robinson, Lon McCallister, Judith Anderson, Rory Calhoun
Votes: 4,951
3. The Killers (1946)
Passed | 103 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Hit men kill an unresisting victim, and investigator Reardon uncovers his past involvement with beautiful, deadly Kitty Collins.
Director: Robert Siodmak | Stars: Burt Lancaster, Ava Gardner, Edmond O'Brien, Albert Dekker
Votes: 23,639
4. Gaslight (1944)
Passed | 114 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Ten years after her aunt was murdered in their London home, a woman returns from Italy in the 1880s to resume residence with her new husband. His obsessive interest in the home rises from a secret that may require driving his wife insane.
Director: George Cukor | Stars: Charles Boyer, Ingrid Bergman, Joseph Cotten, May Whitty
Votes: 33,928
5. Out of the Past (1947)
Approved | 97 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A private eye escapes his past to run a gas station in a small town, but his past catches up with him. Now he must return to the big city world of danger, corruption, double crosses, and duplicitous dames.
Director: Jacques Tourneur | Stars: Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, Kirk Douglas, Rhonda Fleming
Votes: 40,941
6. Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950)
Not Rated | 95 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Det. Sgt. Mark Dixon wants to be something his old man wasn't: a guy on the right side of the law. Will Dixon's vicious nature get the better of him?
Director: Otto Preminger | Stars: Dana Andrews, Gene Tierney, Gary Merrill, Bert Freed
Votes: 9,968
7. The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)
Unrated | 116 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Romance
A man is reunited with his childhood friend and her husband who believes he knows the truth about the death of her rich aunt years earlier.
Director: Lewis Milestone | Stars: Barbara Stanwyck, Van Heflin, Lizabeth Scott, Kirk Douglas
Votes: 11,094
8. Deception (1946)
Approved | 115 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Music
After marrying her long-lost love, a musician finds the relationship threatened by a wealthy composer who is besotted with her.
Director: Irving Rapper | Stars: Bette Davis, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, John Abbott
Votes: 4,135
9. Act of Violence (1948)
Passed | 82 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Thriller
An embittered, vengeful POW stalks his former commanding officer who betrayed his men's planned escape attempt from a Nazi prison camp.
Director: Fred Zinnemann | Stars: Van Heflin, Robert Ryan, Janet Leigh, Mary Astor
Votes: 5,718
10. Moonrise (1948)
Passed | 90 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Danny is despised by his schoolmates because his father was accused of killing another man and sentenced to death.
Director: Frank Borzage | Stars: Dane Clark, Gail Russell, Ethel Barrymore, Allyn Joslyn
Votes: 2,973
11. The Las Vegas Story (1952)
Approved | 88 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
The arrival in Las Vegas of a businessman and his glamorous wife creates a complex web of murder and deceit.
Director: Robert Stevenson | Stars: Jane Russell, Victor Mature, Vincent Price, Hoagy Carmichael
Votes: 1,612
12. Walk Softly, Stranger (1950)
Approved | 81 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
An ex-hood hopes to start a new life under an assumed name in a small town but his past catches up with him when an old crime-buddy asks him to help with a casino heist.
Director: Robert Stevenson | Stars: Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Spring Byington, Paul Stewart
Votes: 1,311
13. Rebecca (1940)
Approved | 130 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
A self-conscious woman juggles adjusting to her new role as an aristocrat's wife and avoiding being intimidated by his first wife's spectral presence.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine, George Sanders, Judith Anderson
Votes: 146,821 | Gross: $4.36M
14. Somewhere in the Night (1946)
Passed | 110 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
George Taylor returns from WWII with amnesia. Back home in Los Angeles, while trying to track down his old identity, he stumbles onto a 3-year old murder case and a hunt for a missing $2 million.
Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz | Stars: John Hodiak, Nancy Guild, Lloyd Nolan, Richard Conte
Votes: 3,523
15. Detective Story (1951)
Approved | 103 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
On one day in the 21st Precinct squad room, assorted characters form a backdrop for the troubles of hard-nosed Detective Jim McLeod.
Director: William Wyler | Stars: Kirk Douglas, Eleanor Parker, William Bendix, Cathy O'Donnell
Votes: 9,494
16. Vertigo (1958)
PG | 128 min | Mystery, Romance, Thriller
A former San Francisco police detective juggles wrestling with his personal demons and becoming obsessed with the hauntingly beautiful woman he has been hired to trail, who may be deeply disturbed.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: James Stewart, Kim Novak, Barbara Bel Geddes, Tom Helmore
Votes: 427,154 | Gross: $3.20M
17. The Crooked Way (1949)
Passed | 90 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
War hero recovers from amnesia and is confronted by his criminal past.
Director: Robert Florey | Stars: John Payne, Sonny Tufts, Ellen Drew, Rhys Williams
Votes: 1,403
18. F.B.I. Girl (1951)
Approved | 74 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A governor planning to run for U.S. Senate has a secret past that could prove damaging to his political aspirations: he's a convicted murderer, and that will come to light if the FBI does ... See full summary »
Director: William Berke | Stars: Cesar Romero, George Brent, Audrey Totter, Tom Drake
Votes: 321
19. Gilda (1946)
Approved | 110 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Romance
A small-time gambler hired to work in a Buenos Aires casino discovers his employer's new wife is his former lover.
Director: Charles Vidor | Stars: Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford, George Macready, Joseph Calleia
Votes: 35,289
20. The Blue Dahlia (1946)
Passed | 96 min | Crime, Film-Noir, Mystery
An ex-bomber pilot is suspected of murdering his unfaithful wife.
Director: George Marshall | Stars: Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, William Bendix, Howard Da Silva
Votes: 9,668 | Gross: $2.70M
21. Confidential Report (1955)
Not Rated | 93 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
An elusive billionaire hires an American smuggler to investigate his past, leading to a dizzying descent into a cold-war European landscape.
Director: Orson Welles | Stars: Orson Welles, Peter van Eyck, Michael Redgrave, Patricia Medina
Votes: 9,243
22. Undercurrent (1946)
Passed | 116 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Thriller
Middle-aged bride Ann Hamilton soon begins to suspect that her charming husband is really a psychotic who plans to murder her.
Director: Vincente Minnelli | Stars: Katharine Hepburn, Robert Taylor, Robert Mitchum, Edmund Gwenn
Votes: 3,547
23. The Woman on the Beach (1947)
Approved | 71 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A Coast Guardsman suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress becomes involved with a beautiful and enigmatic seductress married to a blind painter.
Director: Jean Renoir | Stars: Joan Bennett, Robert Ryan, Charles Bickford, Nan Leslie
Votes: 2,648
24. Macao (1952)
Passed | 81 min | Adventure, Crime, Drama
Nick Cochran, an American in exile in Macao, has a chance to restore his name by helping capture an international crime lord. Undercover, can he mislead the bad guys and still woo the attractive singer/petty crook, Julie Benson?
Directors: Josef von Sternberg, Mel Ferrer, Nicholas Ray, Robert Stevenson | Stars: Robert Mitchum, Jane Russell, William Bendix, Thomas Gomez
Votes: 3,809
25. Party Girl (1958)
Approved | 99 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Lawyer Tommy Farrell is a defender of crooks. Vicki Gaye encourages him to go straight, but mob king Rico Angelo insists otherwise.
Director: Nicholas Ray | Stars: Robert Taylor, Cyd Charisse, Lee J. Cobb, John Ireland
Votes: 3,747
26. The Two Mrs. Carrolls (1947)
Not Rated | 99 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
An artist forms an attachment with a woman on holiday in the country. As the relationship develops, his behavior and information about his past cause her increasing concern.
Director: Peter Godfrey | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Barbara Stanwyck, Alexis Smith, Nigel Bruce
Votes: 4,908
27. The Second Woman (1950)
Approved | 91 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Mystery
In flashback from a 'Rebecca'-style beginning: Ellen Foster, visiting her aunt on the California coast, meets neighbor Jeff Cohalan and his ultramodern clifftop house.
Director: James V. Kern | Stars: Robert Young, Betsy Drake, John Sutton, Florence Bates
Votes: 1,428
28. Inside Job (1946)
Approved | 65 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A pair of married ex-convicts trying to go straight get jobs at a department store. A gangster who knows about their past threatens to expose it unless they agree to help him rob the department store.
Director: Jean Yarbrough | Stars: Preston Foster, Ann Rutherford, Alan Curtis, Milburn Stone
Votes: 220
29. The Damned Don't Cry (1950)
Approved | 103 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A New York socialite climbs the ladder of success man by man until a life among rich gangsters gives her what she thought she always wanted.
Director: Vincent Sherman | Stars: Joan Crawford, David Brian, Steve Cochran, Kent Smith
Votes: 3,565 | Gross: $1.54M
30. This Woman Is Dangerous (1952)
Approved | 97 min | Drama
A tough lady gangster learns that she will be totally blind within a week. She seeks help from the one eye surgeon who may be able to save her sight. In the process, he also causes her to have a change of heart.
Director: Felix E. Feist | Stars: Joan Crawford, Dennis Morgan, David Brian, Richard Webb
Votes: 1,183
31. House of Strangers (1949)
Approved | 101 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
After years in prison, Max promises revenge on his brothers for their betrayal. His lover Irene and memories of his past yield him a broader perspective.
Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz | Stars: Edward G. Robinson, Susan Hayward, Richard Conte, Luther Adler
Votes: 4,188
32. Criss Cross (1949)
Not Rated | 84 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
An armored truck driver and his ex-wife conspire with a gang to have his own truck robbed on the route.
Director: Robert Siodmak | Stars: Burt Lancaster, Yvonne De Carlo, Dan Duryea, Stephen McNally
Votes: 9,603
33. Kansas City Confidential (1952)
Not Rated | 99 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
An ex-con trying to go straight is framed for a million dollar armored car robbery and must go to Mexico in order to unmask the real culprits.
Director: Phil Karlson | Stars: John Payne, Coleen Gray, Preston Foster, Neville Brand
Votes: 8,147
34. Street of Chance (1942)
Approved | 74 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
After an accident, a New York man with amnesia finds out the ugly truth about his real identity and past by interacting with people who seem to know him well.
Director: Jack Hively | Stars: Burgess Meredith, Claire Trevor, Louise Platt, Sheldon Leonard
Votes: 744
35. This Gun for Hire (1942)
Passed | 81 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
When assassin Philip Raven shoots a blackmailer and his beautiful female companion dead, he is paid off in marked bills by his treasonous employer who is working with foreign spies.
Director: Frank Tuttle | Stars: Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, Robert Preston, Laird Cregar
Votes: 10,624
36. The Strange Mrs. Crane (1948)
Approved | 62 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Hoping to bury her criminal past, Jenny Hadley settles into a comfortable existence as Gina, the wife of the politician Clinton Crane. When her former associate Floyd Durant shows up to ... See full summary »
Director: Sam Newfield | Stars: Marjorie Lord, Robert Shayne, Pierre Watkin, James Seay
Votes: 129
37. Touch of Evil (1958)
PG-13 | 95 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A stark, perverse story of murder, kidnapping and police corruption in a Mexican border town.
Director: Orson Welles | Stars: Charlton Heston, Orson Welles, Janet Leigh, Joseph Calleia
Votes: 109,835 | Gross: $2.24M
38. Because of You (1952)
Approved | 95 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Romance
A female ex-con falls in love and hesitates to reveal her past.
Director: Joseph Pevney | Stars: Loretta Young, Jeff Chandler, Alex Nicol, Frances Dee
Votes: 291
39. Second Chance (1953)
Approved | 82 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Mobster Vic Spalato's girlfriend Claire is in hiding in Mexico and she's willing to testify for a US Senate investigation committee, if she can make it back to the US alive.
Director: Rudolph Maté | Stars: Robert Mitchum, Jack Palance, Linda Darnell, Sandro Giglio
Votes: 1,301
40. I Love Trouble (1948)
Passed | 93 min | Crime, Film-Noir, Mystery
P.I. Stu is hired to investigate the past of a millionaire Johnson's wife who is missing. Stu finds that the wife had left her home town with an actor, went to college using a stolen identity and purloined $40,000 from a night club.
Director: S. Sylvan Simon | Stars: Franchot Tone, Janet Blair, Janis Carter, Adele Jergens
Votes: 1,044
41. Tarnished (1950)
Approved | 60 min | Action, Adventure, Crime
Bud Dolliver, a former WWII hero and an ex-convict, returns to his hometown in an effort to make a new life for himself, but even with help from cannery worker Lou Jellison he finds living ... See full summary »
Director: Harry Keller | Stars: Dorothy Patrick, Arthur Franz, Barbra Fuller, Jimmy Lydon
Votes: 81
42. Bedelia (1946)
Approved | 83 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
Bedelia, a newly remarried beautiful widow, is on honeymoon in Monte Carlo. A painter approaches her inquiring about her past. When she and her husband go back to England the artist will soon be there. Danger, crime and truth will follow.
Director: Lance Comfort | Stars: Margaret Lockwood, Ian Hunter, Barry K. Barnes, Anne Crawford
Votes: 448
43. Once a Thief (1950)
Approved | 88 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A down-on-her-luck San Francisco woman, turning in desperation to jewel robbery, barely escapes getting nabbed in a heist and moves to Los Angeles where she gets an honest job as a waitress... See full summary »
Director: W. Lee Wilder | Stars: Cesar Romero, June Havoc, Marie McDonald, Lon Chaney Jr.
Votes: 218
44. Man on the Run (1949)
82 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
In post-war Britain, an army deserter unwittingly gets involved in murder and armed robbery and enlists the aid of a war widow to help clear his name.
Director: Lawrence Huntington | Stars: Derek Farr, Joan Hopkins, Edward Chapman, Laurence Harvey
Votes: 448
45. No Trace (1950)
Not Rated | 76 min | Crime, Drama
1950. Drama. Directed by John Gilling. Writer Robert Southley finds his lifestyle threatened by blackmail from a former American criminal associate. Stars Hugh Sinclair, Dinah Sheridan & John Laurie.
Director: John Gilling | Stars: Hugh Sinclair, Dinah Sheridan, John Laurie, Dora Bryan
Votes: 201
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