Not Noir
Films listed on IMDB with the tag / genre film noir ( 827 films ) , which ain't .
Horror / foreign / early / silent noirs on their list are all given a pass . Not including some films i've yet to see .
See also my lists of Almost Noir , and Watched In The Pursuit Of Noir
Horror / foreign / early / silent noirs on their list are all given a pass . Not including some films i've yet to see .
See also my lists of Almost Noir , and Watched In The Pursuit Of Noir
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- DirectorRobert GordonStarsColey WallacePaul StewartHilda SimmsThe life and career of Heavyweight Champion Joe Louis, who held the title for 12 years--longer than any other boxer in history--and who had to not only battle opponents inside the ring and racism outside it.
- DirectorPhil TuckerStarsTimothy FarrellLenny BruceBernie JonesA gangster who operates a sleazy dance hall uses a sadistic bodyguard to keep his girls afraid and his customers in line.
- DirectorHarry L. FraserStarsViolet HiltonDaisy HiltonMario LavalA Siamese twin kills the husband who left her. The courts have to decide if she is convicted of murder, how can they punish her sister, who had nothing to do with the crime?
- DirectorRussell BirdwellStarsLex BarkerZsa Zsa GaborJeffrey StoneIn 1953, Soviet dictator Stalin fakes his own death, undergoes plastic surgery and vanishes but OSS agent Steve Anderson searches for him in Europe.
- DirectorChristy CabanneStarsRobert LoweryDoris MerrickEddie QuillanA naive young girl, looking to escape from a bad family situation, falls in love with a man who turns out to be a cad, and leads her down the road to ruin.
- DirectorWilliam RowlandStarsAlan CurtisEvelyn AnkersMicheline CheirelA couple on board a plane find themselves mixed up in a plot to steal atomic secrets.
- DirectorWillis GoldbeckStarsWilliam BendixStanley ClementsHoagy CarmichaelYoung street tough sent to a reform farm is torn between friends from his past and those who are trying to help him change his life.
- DirectorHarry KellerStarsHedy LamarrJane PowellJan SterlingAn aging film star and her alcoholic daughter compete for a handsome extra.
- DirectorIrving PichelStarsRobert LivingstonGrace BradleyWillard RobertsonDr. Lawrence Baxter, working with the Bureau of Pure Foods and Drugs, uses radio broadcasts to expose a number of fraudulent patient medicines, with his bitterest attacks being aimed at Kennedy Radium Products the manufacturer of a tonic called 'Radium Rejuvenating Tablets," which Baxter claims is a slow cause of death. This leads the manufacturer to try every means to defeat and discredit the young doctor.
- DirectorArthur LubinStarsBoris KarloffBela LugosiStanley RidgesDr. Sovac transplants the brain of a gangster into his professor friend's body to save his life, but there is a side effect that causes a dangerous split personality.
- DirectorLeo C. PopkinStarsRalph CooperGladys SnyderReginald FendersonTwo mobs fight for control of the jukebox racket.
- DirectorRichard ThorpeStarsBarbara KentJohn HollandDorothy ChristyAlvin Merle, a womanizing Broadway matinée idol, is found strangled in his dressing room. The door is locked from the inside and there is no possible other way into the room. Merle is having an affair with his leading lady, while his wife, actress Ethel Wynn, appearing in another play in a theater around the corner, is doing the same with Frank Murray, the stage manager on Merle's play. Newspaper reporter Jim Ryan is investigating the case and meets Jean Royce, a young actress who had been fired from the play while in rehearsals. Everybody, including Michael, the old actor now relegated to being just a stage-doorman, has a motive. The explanation for the murder lies within the script of the play.
- DirectorLouis J. GasnierJoseph H. LewisStarsConrad NagelEleanor HuntFuzzy KnightAt the request of the Mexican government, a federal agent and a lady reporter team up to catch a gang that has been smuggling gold from Mexico to the U.S. and then selling it to the U.S. government.
- DirectorPhil RosenStarsJoan WoodburyJack La RueLinda WareCircumstances force naive Dorothy Adams into serving an unjust prison term, but she emerges from it a cynical criminal who rises to power in the local crime organization.
- DirectorJack DonohueStarsAlan BaxterVirginia GilmoreRichard KollmarAfter his photo is accidentally taken, that someone will do everything in his power to get hold of the negative.
- DirectorJames Wong HoweBen ParkerJohn SledgeStarsRichard DerrMark DanielsHelen WestcottLamont Cranston, aka The Shadow, investigates the murder of a New Orleans bandleader.
- DirectorEdward BerndsStarsRegis ToomeyAnn DoranJames WestmorelandTeenage story of a bad apple in a barrel evolving from a kid's desire to drive a new T-bird.
- DirectorSteve SekelyStarsJean ParkerLionel AtwillDouglas FowleyA young woman is on Death Row for the murder of a man who was blackmailing her family, although she claims she was framed. Her fiance', a doctor who is conducting experiments on reviving the dead, also happens to be the state's executioner, and is assigned to pull the switch when she is strapped into the electric chair. A famous criminologist, believing her to be innocent, rushes to investigate the case and clear her before her execution date.
- DirectorLambert HillyerStarsRobert KentAnne NagelSidney BlackmerA man is framed and sent to prison for a crime he didn't commit. When he is let out on limited parole, he sets out to clear his name and find the real criminals.
- DirectorLynn ShoresStarsRod La RocqueAgnes AndersonJames BlakeleyLamont Cranston assumes his secret identity as "The Shadow", to break up an attempted robbery at an attorney's office. When the police search the scene, Cranston takes on an impersonation of the attorney.
- DirectorFord BeebeStarsCharles KorvinElla RainesJ. Carrol NaishA rich but naive young woman is in possession of some priceless jewels. She doesn't realize it, but a gang of jewel thieves does.
- DirectorGeorge BlairStarsVirginia HustonRobert RockwellBarbra FullerJoyce Harper is an ex-Army nurse who enters police work with the L.A. Police Department. When her friend Ruby gets involved with petty crook Max Taylor, she refuses to listen to Joyce's warnings and eventually marries the hoodlum. Joyce gets through the detailed training required to become an L.A. policewoman, and she and her newly-assigned detective partner Harvey Gates clean up a Skid-Row bar-girl scheme. Then she and Gates are told to get the goods on a narcotics gang run by Richard Cott, and Ruby and Max Taylor reappear.
- DirectorJoseph M. NewmanStarsRory CalhounBarbara RushDolores DonlonMacao organized crime under-boss Tony Dumont rips the Syndicate off and disappears with a load of diamonds but the Syndicate men and the Hong-Kong police are chasing him around the world.
- DirectorCharles ReisnerStarsSheila RyanRichard FraserLeslie BrooksHard-boiled reporter Mike Kent investigates the murder of a prominent scientist and stumbles upon a sinister plot to steal a fortune in jewels.
- DirectorBlake EdwardsStarsTony CurtisMartha HyerCharles BickfordA street-smart young man from the Chicago slums dreams of cajoling with the rich and powerful, no matter the cost.
- DirectorHelmut KäutnerStarsJohn SaxonSandra DeeTeresa WrightHigh-school life and the prejudices and moral values of small-town USA during the 1950s.
- DirectorGeorge BlairStarsEdward NorrisJohn AbbottJune StoreyA crime writer believes that a man imprisoned for committing the notorious "Flower Shop Murder" is innocent of the crime. He believes he knows who the actual culprit is, and sets out to befriend the man and get enough evidence to prove that he is the real killer.
- DirectorLeslie H. MartinsonStarsLeigh SnowdenRichard HartunianWright KingArny joins a hot rod club, but his eccentric mannerisms (a Marlon Brando rip-off performance from "The Wild One" by look-alike Hartunian) make him unpopular. At a party, Terry rebukes him for his coarseness and centers her attention on another boy. A fight between the two men is stopped by Jim Lawrence, but Ray Johnson, pretending friendship with Arny, keeps the antagonism going and tries to win Terry for himself. Driving home, Hank and Terry are harassed by a hot rod which they think is driver by Arny. Swerving to avoid a collision, they are thrown from the car, and Hank is killed and Terry badly injured and unconscious. Ray, the actual driver of the hot rod, carries Terry to his car, but frightened by approaching vehicles, he returns her to the wreckage and flees. All, including Terry, blame Arny for the wreck, but there is no proof. Vindictive club members destroy Arny's car and beat him mercilessly. He rebuild his car for the big race. Terry goes to the race with Ray and, in his car she finds an earring she lost in the accident and realizes it was Ray who drove the fatal car. Arny wins the race, sour disposition and all, wins the race and Terry forces Ray to admit the truth about the wreck.
- DirectorJames CruzeStarsHenry WilcoxonMarian MarshBernadene HayesA state prison is threatened by approaching floods, an epidemic of typhoid fever breaks out among the inmates, the prison's only doctor falls sick, there are only three nurses to administer vaccines and take care of stricken patients--and a group of prisoners is planning to use the chaos as a cover for a mass escape.
- DirectorRoy William NeillStarsRichard DixWendy BarrieLon Chaney Jr.Blackmail and murder in a tale of an auto-theft ring.
- DirectorGeorge WaggnerStarsWilliam GarganJune ClydeJohn LitelA detective begins to suspect that a man may be in prison for a crime he didn't commit.
- DirectorWilliam DieterleStarsJoseph CottenCorinne CalvetEdmund GwennA group of refugees fleeing Chinese Communist rule via train are beset by a gang of terrifying outlaws.
- DirectorChristy CabanneStarsRichard ArlenAndy DevineKathryn AdamsA reporter on a visit to his hometown hears of dangerous conditions at the local coal mine, and proceeds to investigate.
- DirectorLew LandersStarsRichard ArlenAndy DevineDorothy LovettA triad of rival news journalist go to great lengths in sabotaging each other, but come together as heroes when they're unwittingly embroiled in a sinister foreign intelligence plot to blow up a dam.
- DirectorChester ErskineStarsHumphrey BogartSidney FoxO.P. HeggieThe foreman of a jury asks questions that send a woman to the electric chair for a murder committed in the heat of passion. On the night of the execution, his actions come back to haunt him.
- DirectorFrank McDonaldStarsRichard ArlenArline JudgeWilliam FrawleyA wildcatter, broke but slick, manages to acquire a lease for oil-rich land but ruthless competitors sabotage his oil company any way they can.
- DirectorPaul SloaneStarsSally ParrPatrick WaltzWalter ReedA young man who insists that he is innocent is slated to be the first executed in the prison's electric chair.
- DirectorJohn EnglishStarsPaul KellyVirginia GreyDonald DouglasAn eccentric wealthy man is murdered, and the police set out to find his killer.
- DirectorSherry ShourdsStarsWayne MorrisLois MaxwellGordon MacRaeA boxer turned minister offers shelter to a tank fighter framed for killing a policeman.
- DirectorKing VidorStarsBette DavisJoseph CottenDavid BrianResentful of her small-town life, a married woman schemes to run off with a rich businessman.
- DirectorStanley KramerStarsOlivia de HavillandFrank SinatraRobert MitchumAn ego-driven, aspiring physician, intolerant of the weaknesses of others, especially those closest to him, comes to grips with his own imperfections.
- DirectorAlfred E. GreenStarsWilliam BendixDennis O'KeefeBarbara BrittonAn insurance company investigator goes to a small town to probe into a case of supposed suicide. The natives are not very cooperative and some turn hostile, leading to suspicion of foul play.
- DirectorRobert FloreyStarsPat O'BrienWayne MorrisDolores MoranMartin is a wounded gangster comforted by a visits from a little girl and her tiny dog with one bad eye. As he hides out, he makes plans to find his abusive, double crossing, partner.
- DirectorJean NegulescoStarsBette DavisShelley WintersGary MerrillWhile awaiting a delayed flight, a lawyer who has left his unfaithful wife, befriends three fellow passengers. After the plane crashes and he is among the few to survive, he feels compelled to contact the families of his dead friends.
- DirectorLouis KingStarsLynne OvermanPatricia MorisonJ. Carrol NaishA beautiful but greedy woman teams up with a small-time hoodlum to become two of the most wanted criminals in the country.
- DirectorVincent ShermanStarsGeraldine FitzgeraldThomas MitchellJeffrey LynnAn elderly professor suffering from an aortic aneurysm confronts the problem of what to do knowing that he only has a few months to live.
- DirectorArthur DreifussStarsLee TracyTom BrownTina ThayerThe city's District Attorney is murdered, and a newspaper reporter investigates. He starts finding out that everything wasn't quite as cut and dried as it appeared to be.
- DirectorRobert FloreyStarsFaye EmersonJulie BishopFrank WilcoxActing as a decoy in a bank robbery Dot get arrested. But before going to jail she manages to steal the $40, 000 loot from her accomplices. Her arrest attracts the attention of her former sweetheart Ken who believes her innocent.
- DirectorArthur RipleyStarsRobert MitchumGene BarryJacques AubuchonA veteran comes home from the Korean War to the mountains and takes over the family moonshining business. He has to battle big-city gangsters who are trying to take over the business and the police who are trying to put him in prison.
- DirectorJohn G. BlystoneStarsJames CagneyMae ClarkeJames BurkeThe adventures of an investigator (Cagney) for the Bureau of Weights and Measures.
- DirectorLewis SeilerStarsHumphrey BogartGale PageBilly HalopYouthful tough Johnnie Stone has fallen under the influence of petty crook Frank Wilson, who involves him and robbery and murder using his sister's boyfriend's stolen gun.
- DirectorPhil RosenStarsPatric KnowlesMaria MontezMaria OuspenskayaA detective tries to unravel the strange circumstances surrounding the death of a young actress.
- DirectorJesse HibbsStarsAudie MurphyBarbara RushJeff MorrowUp and coming ambitious boxer Tommy Shea must choose between making dishonest money with crooked promoter Harry Cram or honestly winning a title, as advised by his manager Dave Bernstein.
- DirectorWilliam KeighleyStarsEdward G. RobinsonJoan BlondellBarton MacLaneWhen a crusader against rackets is murdered, a grand jury battles the rackets by promoting McLaren to be in charge of the cleanup. He fires NYPD Detective Blake, who punches him and joins the racket.
- DirectorAlfred SantellStarsWilliam BendixSusan HaywardJohn LoderDuring the 1940s, social class conflict is depicted when a spoiled socialite, traveling on a freighter, calls the ship's head stoker a hairy ape, provoking him into stalking the rich woman once ashore in New York.
- DirectorAndré De TothStarsBarbara StanwyckDavid NivenRichard ConteKaren Duncan, a seriously ill concert pianist, enters a Swiss sanatorium where she's attracted to Dr. Tony Stanton. Ignoring his warnings about resting, she leaves for Monte Carlo with Paul Clermont despite possibly fatal consequences.
- DirectorLloyd BaconMichael CurtizStarsBette DavisHumphrey BogartLola LaneA crusading district attorney persuades a clip joint hostess to testify against her mobster boss after her innocent sister is accidentally murdered during one of his unsavory parties.
- DirectorJohn Francis LarkinStarsGeorge SandersGail PatrickRichard DenningBook thief/forger sells a fake book to a Nazi through a female agent. A detective tries to uncover who the forger is and gets in the middle of a three way struggle for rare books and revenge in a public library.
- DirectorRoy William NeillStarsBasil RathboneNigel BruceAlan MowbrayWhen the fabled Star of Rhodesia diamond is stolen on a London to Edinburgh train and the son of its owner is murdered, Sherlock Holmes must discover which of his suspicious fellow passengers is responsible.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsMarlene DietrichJane WymanRichard ToddA struggling actress tries to help a friend prove his innocence after he's accused of murdering the husband of a high-society entertainer.
- DirectorAnatole LitvakStarsIda LupinoJohn GarfieldThomas MitchellA Brooklyn pier racketeer bullies boat-owners into paying protection money but two fed-up fishermen decide to eliminate the gangster themselves rather than complain to the police.
- DirectorHenry HathawayStarsTyrone PowerPatricia NealStephen McNallyA US State Department courier tangles with Soviet agents and seductive women in post WW2 Europe.
- DirectorIrving RapperStarsPaulette GoddardWilliam BishopJohn IrelandA young woman who is disowned by her alcoholic father turns to prostitution to support herself; her scheming brother-in-law devises a plan to marry her off and make some money in the process.
- DirectorRoy William NeillStarsBasil RathboneNigel BruceAubrey MatherSherlock Holmes investigates a series of deaths at a castle with each foretold by the delivery of orange pips to the victims.
- DirectorHarmon JonesStarsCameron MitchellAnne BancroftLee J. CobbAt a carnival called the Garden of Evil, a man is murdered, apparently by a gorilla...or someone in a gorilla suit.
- DirectorCharles DavidStarsDeanna DurbinRalph BellamyDavid BruceIn New York, a woman who partially witnesses a killing from a train window seeks the aid of a crime novelist to solve the murder.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsBrian DonlevyWalter BrennanAnna LeeAfter the German administrator of Czechoslovakia is shot, his assassin tries to elude the Gestapo and struggles with his impulse to give himself up as hostages are executed.
- DirectorWilliam KeighleyStarsJames CagneyMargaret LindsayAnn DvorakJames Cagney helped jump-start the gangster genre as The Public Enemy. Outcries against movies that glorified underworld criminals put Cagney on the side of the law in 'G' Men.
- DirectorCharles BrabinStarsWalter HustonJean HarlowWallace FordPolice Chief Jim Fitzpatrick ruthlessly goes after organized crime and is prepared to use brutal and violent methods to fight it.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsJames CagneyPat O'BrienHumphrey BogartA priest tries to stop a gangster from corrupting a group of street kids.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsSpencer TracyBette DavisArthur ByronBrash hoodlum Tom Connors enters Sing Sing cocksure of himself and disrespectful toward authority, but his tough but compassionate warden changes him.
- DirectorRaoul WalshStarsJames CagneyHumphrey BogartPriscilla LaneThree men attempt to make a living in Prohibitionist America after returning home from fighting together in World War I.
- DirectorWilliam WylerStarsSylvia SidneyJoel McCreaHumphrey BogartThe lives of a young man, a young woman, an notorious gangster, and a group of street kids converge one day in a volatile New York City slum.
- DirectorWilliam KeighleyStarsJames CagneyGeorge RaftJane BryanA corrupt D.A. (Thurston Hall) with political ambitions is angered by news stories implicating him in criminal activity and decides to frame the reporter (James Cagney) for manslaughter in order to silence him.
- DirectorLeslie GoodwinsStarsKent TaylorLinda HayesLilian BondThe trial of Albert Pomeroy on the charge of murdering Edward Webster,arouses interest because Webster's widow, Muriel insists Pomeroy is innocent. Meanwhile, back to radio station NYEB, owned by the Evening Bulletin, Steve Lonegan waits for a flash from Smiley Dugan so he can broadcast the verdict---But Dugan leaves and asks reporter Maggie Dugan to tip him off it something happens...and something happens when the jury comes in unexpectedly,and this jury comes in with a "Not Guilty" verdict. But fun-loving Maggie, as a gag, phones Smiley and tells him Pomeroy was found guilty, and unreliable Smiley relays this false information to Lonegan who tells a waiting world that Pomeroy was found guilty, signs off the air, locks up the station and goes home...and leaves the station wide open for a million-dollar libel suit. Lonegan and Colonel White decide that the only out from paying Pomeroy a million bucks in a libel-suit is to dig up something on Pomeroy that will force him to drop the suit, and the Colonel dispatches Lonegan out to get this done. Lonegan discovers that a former Pomeroy secretary, Stella Trent , had committed suicide three years earlier, and that a Dr. Bailer was involved. Lonegan and Maggie go to Bailer's office, and discover Bailer has been murdered.Lawyer Justin Walsh drops by the Evening Bulletin and informs Steve and Colonel White that he has just learned that Pomeroy did indeed kill Webster, and he has withdrawn as Pomeroy's attorney. He cites Widow Webster as his source of this information,although, when least heard from, Widow Webster was proclaiming that Pomeroy was innocent.
- DirectorRobert GordonStarsKeith AndesMargaret HayesLynn BariBased on a true story, this film tells of a police chief hired to wipe out corruption in the Louisiana State Police.