Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by edta on April 09, 2000 at 11:50:24:

In Reply to: Does anyone like film noir? posted by edta on April 05, 2000 at 08:42:38:

Might as well beat this to death, huh?

These picks are from Ephraim Katz's "Film Encyclopedia", the ratings come from Halliwell. I'm going to try to view every 4 and 3 star film on here--not promising when. Halliwell is a pretty tough grader judging from his comments on some other films I know.

John Huston: The Maltese Falcon(1941) ++++, Key Largo (1948) +++, The Asphalt Jungle (1950) +++

Howard Hawks: To Have and Have Not (1944) ++, The Big Sleep (1946) +++

Michael Curtiz: Casablanca (1942) ++++, Mildred Pierce 1945 ++

Tay Garnett: The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) +

Billy Wilder: Double Indemnity (1944) ++++, The Lost Weekend (1945) ++++, Sunset Boulevard(1950) +++, Ace in the Hole/ Big Carnival (1951) +++

Orson Welles: The Lady from Shanghai (1948) ++

Otto Preminger: Laura 1944 ++++, Fallen Angel (1946) + , Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950) NR

Robert Siodmak: Phantom Lady (1944) ++, The Suspect (1945) +, Uncle Harry (1945) NR, The Killers (1946) +++, The Dark Mirror (1946) ++, Cry of the City 1948 ++

Jacques Tourner: Out of the Past (1947) ++

Charles Vidor: Gilda (1946) ++++

George Cukor: Gaslight (1944) ++

Frank Tuttle: This Gun for Hire (1942) +++

Fritz Lang: The Woman in the Window (1944) +++, Scarlet Street (1946) ++, The Big Heat 1953 ++

John Brahm: The Lodger (1944) +, Hanover Square (1945) +

Alfred Hitchcock: Spellbound (1945) +++

Lewis Milestone: The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946) ++

Edward Dymtryk: Murder My Sweet (1945) +++, Cornered (1945) +

Andre De Toth: Dark Waters (1944) ++, Pitfall (1948) nr

Stuart Heisler: The Glass Key (1942) ++

Jean Negulesco: The Mask of Dimitrios (1944) +++, Three Strangers (1946) +, Nobody Lives Forever (1946) NR, Road House (1948) +

Anthony Mann: T-Men (1948) + , Raw Deal (1948) NR, Side Street (1950) NR

Fred Zinnemann: Act of Violence (1949) ++

Richard Mate: The Dark Past (1948) ++, D.O.A. (1950) ++, Union Station (1950) ++

Henry Hathaway: Kiss of Death (1947) ++, Call Northside 777 (1948) ++

Robert Rossen: Johnny O'Clock (1947) NR , Body and Soul (1947) +

Abraham Polonsky: Force of Evil (1948) +++

John Cromwell: Dead Reckoning (1947) +, The Racket (1951) +

Robert Montgomery: Lady in the Lake (1947) +, Ride the Pink Horse (1947)+

Delmer Dave: Dark Passage (1947) ++

Robert Wise: The Set-Up (1949) +++, The Captive City (1952) ++

Jules Dassin: Brute Force (1947) ++ , The Naked City (1948) ++++, Thieves' Highway (1949) ++, Night and the City (1950) NR

John Farrow: The Big Clock (1948) +, Alias Nick Beal (1949) +++

Elia Kazan: Boomerang (1947) +++, Panic in the Streets (1950) +++

Edward G. Ulmer: Ruthless (1948) +

Joseph H. Lewis: The Undercover Man (1949) + , Gun Crazy (1950) +

Nicholas Ray: They Live By Night (1949) +, In a Lonely Place (1950) +, On Dangerous Ground (1952) NR

Phil Karlson: Scandal Sheet (1952) NR, 99 River Street (1953) +, Tight Spot (1955) NR

Samuel Fuller: Pickup on South Street (1953) +

Robert Aldrich: Kiss Me Deadly (1955) NR "excruciatingly boring"

Some later films:

Orson Welles: Touch of Evil (1958) ++

Don Seigel: Crime in the Streets ( 1956) +, Baby Face Nelson (1957) +, Madigan (1968) +, Dirty Harry (1971) ++

Roger Corman: The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967) NR

Peter Yates: Bullitt (1968) ++

Robert Altman: The Long Goodbye (1973) NR "ugly, boring travesty.."

Roman Polanski: Chinatown (1974) +++

Robert Benton: The Late Show ( 1977) +