Classic-era film noirs in the National Film Registry

Maltese Falcon without any doubt/hesitation

Out of these, I've seen:
Shadow of a Doubt (dir. Hitchcock) 7/10
Out of the Past (dir. Tourneur) 10/10
The Asphalt Jungle (dir. Huston) 5/10
Sunset Boulevard (dir. Wilder) 8/10
Kiss Me Deadly (dir. Aldrich) 8/10
The Night of the Hunter (dir. Laughton) 7/10
Touch of Evil (dir. Welles) 9/10

Have Laura and Notorious ready to watch.

Maltese Falcon is too early to be a noir.

Out of the Past.

wouldn't call all of these noir (def not sweet smell of success, which is imo the best film there)

well, that or touch of evil or kiss me deadly

maltese falcon kind of invented the genre but 'stylistically' isn't that noirish

big sleep

double indemnity, gun crazy, and kiss me deadly are also 10/10 films

Seen:

The Maltese Falcon
Shadow of a Doubt
Laura
Double Indemnity
The Killers
Out of the Past
Force of Evil
Sunset Boulevard
In a Lonely Place
Touch of Evil

Voted Touch of Evil.

touch of evil!

Would The Reckless Moment and Night and the City count? They should be here too.

only one i don't care for is the asphalt jungle which is too slow-paced for me. haven't seen mildred pierce or the hitch-hiker.

murder my sweet/farewell my lovely should be on the list

Voted Big Sleep. Though Sweet Smell of Success might be my favorite film on here. Touch of Evil, Maltese Falcon, and Mildred Pierce were contenders, but Big Sleep is too obvious the choice imo. I love Wilder, but don't love his noirs. Would put White Heat or Night of the Hunter above either Wilder listed here.

Most overrated film on the list: Night of the Hunter.

yeah. i think it's ok but.

Tough choice. Of the ones I've seen, The Maltese Falcon is the best movie (for acting, script, pace, overall construction) but it seems too coherent and linear to exemplify noir.

Hitchcock's style is singularly his, I can't think of those two (great) films as noir.

"Double Indemnity" is probably my favorite of the really noir items on the list.

Where is the "The Postman Always Rings Twice"?

oh shi THE BIG HEAT is not on this list?
like hitchcock, lang seems like an odd fit because they have these big careers outside the noir genre and did p noirish stuff in the 1920s/30s

Yeah, I definitely think of Lang as more of a noir guy than Hitchcock, despite the fact that Lang's noirs neither standout within his own oeuvre or even really within the genre itself. Though I can't remember if I've seen the Big Heat. I think I have, but can't remember a thing about it.

Hitchcock on the other hand deviated too far from noir stylistically for me to really think of him as noir. The lighting is all wrong in Shadow of a Doubt for example. Lang on the other hand, And I'm thinking of something like Scarlet Street here, practically wrote the book on how noir should look, imo.

Kiss Me Deadly, the most truly noir of all the ones I'm likely to vote for (beyond that, Hunter, Touch of Evil and In a Lonely Place).

I can't remember if I've seen the Big Heat. I think I have, but can't remember a thing about it.

Lee Marvin ----coffee----> Gloria Grahame

Love so many of these I can't make a snap decision, and there's a handful I need to put on my must-see list, but for me Detour is just so bizarrely low-rent and amazing.

Detour is so bizarrely low-rent I've never really liked it

sweet smell is one of my personal GOATs but i don't really think of it as a 'noir' in the same way as like double indemnity

also co-sign what morbs said about hitchcock

sunset boulevard is off in its own universe too

oof IN A LONELY PLACE is so good

Well I haven't seen all of these, but Double Indemnity would be hard to beat.

my 2 & 3 could be Force of Evil & In a Lonely Place (or Kiss Me Deadly)

bcz of the actors and the witty lines, Double Indemnity is about as good an A-list production trying to be a 'true' noir as there was.

'in a lonely place', 'sunset blvd', and 'sweet smell' all feel a bit out of place

ray-wise, 'on dangerous ground' is a more logical choice

The Big Sleep sort of strikes me like Double Indemnity -- Hawks playing at noir -- though he has a much more visceral feel for it than Wilder (presaged a bit by Scarface '32).

I think that's mostly on the mark, and probably why I have great affection for The Big Sleep, but only kinda like Double Indemnity.

OK, so there are films I like more on this list but voted In a Lonely Place as the one that (even more than Out of the Past) feels most like quintessential noir to me.

voted for Gun Crazy, even tho, like lots of the other movies on this list, it prob inhabits its own singular universe more than it adheres to the generally agreed codes/conventions of noir

Double Indemnity

I've seen every one of these at least once and they are all either five star or near five star movies. Shadow of a Doubt, Sweet Smell of Success, Out of the Past and Night of the Hunter are probably my personal faves. Voting Sweet Smell cuz it's the one I've returned to the most even if strictly speaking it might not be noir.

Almost impossible to vote for any ONE. So many great films here: Asphalt Jungle, Detour, Out Of The Past, In A Lonely Place, Double Indemnity... great list. But as far as "noir by the rules" I'd say 'Out Of the Past' trumps them all.

And some of these aren't really "noirs", I think. Crime films maybe but...

I just watched Laura recorded from Film4. Very good, and just when I thought I'd figured out the culprit, the plot always took an unexpected turn. Not quite as mysterious and atmospheric as the very best noirs though. I'd say 8/10.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

seen maybe a dozen of these, voted double indemnity because it opened me up to noir being more than hard boiled detective stories. especially in that it doesn't rely on a sketchy criminal underworld for its darkness. and it's executed so well that i can always watch it - dialogue, characters, narrative trick, camera, romantic chemistry, so on

bonus points include mathias aguayo song "walter neff" and noir sum up quote "i killed him for the money - and a woman - and i didn't get the money, and i didn't get the woman."

1. Sweet Smell of Success
2. Double Indemnity
3. The Big Sleep
4. White Heat

I'm okay with calling Sweet Smell of Success a noir--it's got all the atmospherics, if not the plot particulars. (Moreso than Shadow of a Doubt, I'd say, which is a great film but doesn't feel like noir to me.) This is the short list, but I've seen and like almost every film listed. Surprising omission: Kiss of Death.

Yeah, The Big Heat and The Postman Always Rings Twice are even more surprising.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

glad at that, because i voted for lonely place before noticing out of the past was on the list.

Plesantly surprised w. Kiss Me Deadly managing second-place showing.

Of the films that got no votes, I'm most surprised by White Heat. I think it would finish up near the top of a weighted-ballot poll.

O_O @ out oft he past

build your gallows high.

I wonder if he'll ever know what a bad poster he really was.