when will they get to Body Heat?!

Out of the Past, dialogue at the roulette table:

"That's not the way to win."
     "Is there a way to win?"
"There's a way to lose more slowly..."

--------------------------------------

[reader comments -- The Guardian]

Simon Speed
Swap out their no. 1 for "Farewell My Lovely" and replace "A Touch of Evil" with "The Maltese Falcon" and you've got a decent list.

pellevin
Replace "A Touch of Evil"?  Not for me, leave it where it is.

tomcasagranda
The Last Seduction, and Malice, are both pretty good.

Paddyboro
Malice is good for Baldwin's "I am God" speech, but otherwise just average in my opinion.

Hurleyfunbags
Good choices.
What about:
Memento.
Mulholland Drive.
Sin City.
Collateral.


chriskelley1000
I can't agree with the others, but make that two votes for Mulholland Drive.  Blue Velvet is another classic noir.

Pagey
Sin City is an obvious homage to Film Noir.

diggers
The Killers with Burt Lancaster.  The Strange Loves of Martha Ivers with Barbara Stanwyck, Kirk Douglas and Van Heflin.

Brooke Sherbrooke
The Killers - absolutely.

equate1
Yes 'the strange loves...' is great but again the question is what defines, if anything, a film as noir... is martha a great melodrama??  

In a way she is a 'femme fatale plus' in that we also get the back story of how and why she became that way... fatales usually only exist in the present tense... yet it could be that very backstory that stops it/her being 'noir fatale'

fabrisse
Someone once asked me how I could tell if something was a film noir.  My answer was "If it's raining at night in L.A., it's noir."

Peterloosunset
Dark Passage, Maltese Falcon, Out of the Past, D.O.A., Thieves' Highway, The Lady from Shanghai, Born to Kill... Dashiell Hammett's San Francisco is just as much a noir town as the City of Angels.

Rilco10
Asphalt Jungle deserves a shout!
As far as Neo-Noir, I will go for Night Moves with Gene Hackman (1975)

Robind
And you know one of the amazing things about that fantastic film Laura... Laura's decadent aunt, with Vincent Price as her effete toy-boy, is played by Judith Anderson.  Yes, Mrs Danvers.  Doesn't that add a frisson?  What an actress.

Rilco10
The novel of Laura by Vera Caspary is also worth a read.

Jeshkam
I would add Michael Mann's "Thief" as one of the best neo-noir films ever made...

Jeshkam
...plus "Body Heat"

Jbrag
I think that The Spy Who Came In from the Cold would qualify.

Surge
Agreed.  So would Get Carter.

streakky
No and no.  Both are good films but neither is film noir.  Check up the meaning.

Jbrag
If The Third Man qualifies....

Surge
...The definition of Film Noir is highly subjective.  Self proclaimed fans of the genre will all have a different definition - you can guarantee that.

Jbrag
And The Looking Glass War.

akardyagain
Brick a film I watched recently after it being recommended in the comments for top teen films, is a very good modern example...L.A. Confidential deserves a mention too.

fabrisse
Brick is just brilliant, and, yes, definitely noir.  "See you 'round the lunchroom."

Adrian Laughton
I honestly think Brick is one of the most underrated films ever -- as good a noir as any that has been made.

vonZeppelin
White Heat.  "I'm top of the world!"

streakky
It's a gangster movie

Pagey
D.O.A.
Brick
Strangers On A Train
     [Blue Collar Lit. I had Strangers On A Train on my original list, too, but removed it -- like all Hitchcock movies, it has noir elements but that doesn't make it a noir film...)

Tri2002
Sorry but Chinatown must be the number one.  It's not near perfect, it's just perfect.

Clariana
Not really into Chinatown... Long and contrived.

JimdiGriz6
Yep.  It's my number 3 film of all time.
I'd add Sunset Boulevard to this list too.

Falkenberg
Hard to argue with this list; all excellent films.  Just one slight change; Chinatown in first place.

Pagey
The Postman Always Rings Twice

Dunnyboy
Thumbs up for Out of the Past.  Seems to have been forgotten these days, but if you ever had to teach a course on film noir and choose a perfect illustration, it would have to be this one....

Clariana
Laura
Body Heat
The Usual Suspects

Boavisteiro
'Body Heat' is a great shout.
Femmes don't come much more fatale than Kathleen Turner in that....



Kemster
Body Heat.  Brilliant shout.  Came here to cite it.
It practically sizzles.  Kasdan was a talent.  What happened to him?

Adrian Laughton
A few favourites off the top of my head:
Laura
Out of the Past
In a Lonely Place
Maltese Falcon
Ossessione (Visconti's 40s version of The Postman Always Rings Twice)
Brick
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers

...So many great noirs...

Malinowski
'If I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die last'
Robert Mitchum in 'Out of the Past'
Sums up film noir in one line
Excellent list.  I never get tired of watching these movies

-30-