Top 10 Film Noir Classics

"The darker the night, the brighter the stars"

1
Double Indemnity
1944
An insurance representative is seduced by a dissatisfied housewife into a scheme of insurance fraud and murder that arouses the suspicion of his colleague.
Director: Billy Wilder
Stars: Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson
IMDb: 8.3/10
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2
The Maltese Falcon
1941
San Francisco private detective Sam Spade takes on a case that involves him with three eccentric criminals, a gorgeous liar, and their quest for a priceless statuette.
Director: John Huston
Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Peter Lorre
IMDb: 7.9/10
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3
The Third Man
1949
Pulp novelist Holly Martins travels to shadowy, postwar Vienna, only to find himself investigating the mysterious death of an old friend, Harry Lime.
Director: Carol Reed
Stars: Joseph Cotten, Orson Welles, Alida Valli
IMDb: 8.1/10
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4
Out of the Past
1947
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.
Director: Jacques Tourneur
Stars: Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, Kirk Douglas
IMDb: 8.0/10
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5
Sunset Boulevard
1950
A screenwriter develops a dangerous relationship with a faded film star determined to make a triumphant return.
Director: Billy Wilder
Stars: William Holden, Gloria Swanson, Nancy Olson
IMDb: 8.4/10
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6
The Big Sleep
1946
Private detective Philip Marlowe is hired by a wealthy family. Before the complex case is over, he's seen murder, blackmail--and what might be love.
Director: Howard Hawks
Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Martha Vickers
IMDb: 7.9/10
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7
Touch of Evil
1958
A Mexican official and his American wife are targeted in a Texas border town by the crime family he's trying to put behind bars for drug trafficking.
Director: Orson Welles
Stars: Charlton Heston, Orson Welles, Janet Leigh
IMDb: 7.9/10
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8
Laura
1944
A police detective falls in love with the woman whose murder he's investigating.
Director: Otto Preminger
Stars: Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews, Clifton Webb
IMDb: 7.9/10
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9
Kiss Me Deadly
1955
A doomed female hitchhiker pulls Mike Hammer into a deadly whirlpool of intrigue, revolving around a mysterious 'great whatsit'.
Director: Robert Aldrich
Stars: Ralph Meeker, Albert Dekker, Paul Stewart
IMDb: 7.5/10
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10
In a Lonely Place
1950
A potentially violent screenwriter is a murder suspect until his lovely neighbor clears him. However, she soon starts to have her doubts.
Director: Nicholas Ray
Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Gloria Grahame, Frank Lovejoy
IMDb: 7.9/10

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