What's your favorite? Any hidden gems?

Long goodbye

50s had a lot of great noirs you can find for free on YouTube. The sound mixing was also fantastic and many of them sound better than films released in the 70s/80s.

As for an actual rec - The Set-Up (1949)

>>212663822 (OP)
This Gun For Hire

Dark City

>>212664164
please don't remind me of this piece of shit. the best set design in movie history wasted on a disappointing Reddit flick.

>>212664266
What didn't you like about it? I think it's easily one of the best neo noirs of the last several decades.

>>212664350
DUDE ALIENS_________ LMAO has never made a good film.

>>212663822 (OP)
The Big Heat

>>212664471
I suppose I can understand that. Still though, I'd say it's far above average in practically every other metric.

>>212664164
garbage film

>>212663822 (OP)
The Two Jakes

>>212663822 (OP)
The Big Sleep (1946)

>>212663822 (OP)
>Any hidden gems?

Pic related. Murder My Sweet/Farewell My Lovely told competently in about an hour. Fantastic secondary cast. The cop duo are gold. And holy shit the stuffed suit they put on Ward Bond to make his "moose malloy" bigger...lol

>>212663822 (OP)
Blast of Silence, an eccentric late noir

>>212665294
I never see anyone mention this. I think it's some of John Payne's best work.

>>212665340
Based Jerome Powell is the protag of the picture but couldn't get top billing over Jane Wyman. Plot is fucking insane.

>>212665378
>Jerome Cowan

I'm not awake yet.

>>212665410
The only other showcase role for Cowan. Worth a watch.

>>212665340
Larceny is another good one w/Payne, as is The Crooked Way.

The Big Sleep is the GOAT

So why is this genre called "Noir"?

When America entered WW2, American movies changed in tone. A dark and gritty crime genre was born, often directed and shot by European film makers who'd had to flee and brought their background of impressionist film making with them. This resulted in a particular aesthetic with interesting lighting and perspectives, play with light an shadow etc. that even benefits from the movies being black and white.
After the war those movies were exported again to Europe, and the French audience that was actually looking for light entertainment following the horrors of WW2 found the mood of the American movies pretty dark and called them "film noir" (black films).

Out of the Past is kino

>>212665864
A major component of the movement is the production code, which forced filmmakers to use subtletly and visual metaphors to convey the darkness and seediness of their stories. This is what separated classic noir from neo-noir, which is more in-your-face with sex and violence

>>212666789
Right, I heard about that. Wasn't it called "the Hayes Code" or something similar?
In Germany the propaganda ministery had to approve all movie productions in the early 40s. They wanted light entertainment to distract people from the war. Some of the more memorable comedies and popular musicals were created during that time. The timeless classic "Die Feuerzangenbowle" for instance was shot in 1944 in between bombing raids. (It doesn't show in the movie at all.) The trend for light entertainment continued after the war: Musicals, comedies, romances set in the romantic and unperturbed by bombing raids countryside. This went on until the 1960s when crime movies became popular again. A number of novels by the British author Edgar Wallace were adapted into popular movies.

batman the animated series

Animatrix