What's your favourite classic mystery or noir that's NOT listed as popular or very popular in the database?

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90sCoffee
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What's your favourite classic mystery or noir that's NOT listed as popular or very popular in the database?

Post by 90sCoffee »

Favourite classic mystery or thriller or drama (let's say 30s to 70s) that's not listed as either popular or very popular in the Criticker database? I think a film needs to have at least 250 ratings for it to be considered popular in the database.

Call Northside 777 from 1948 starring James Stewart looks to be the only good one I've seen matching that criteria, has 175 ratings. https://www.criticker.com/film/Call-Northside-777/

VinegarBob
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Re: What's your favourite classic mystery or noir that's NOT listed as popular or very popular in the database?

Post by VinegarBob »

The Ogre of Athens (1956) is a criminally underrated film noir from Greece. It only has 28 ratings.

3dRevelation
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Re: What's your favourite classic mystery or noir that's NOT listed as popular or very popular in the database?

Post by 3dRevelation »

Top 5:
1. The Lineup (1958), 78 rankings: Might not meet the strict definition of noir (although it is on TSPDT 1000 noir films), but it's worth watching just for Eli Wallach.
2. The Last of Sheila (1973), 102 rankings: A whodunit where the cast plays a game designed by James Coburn in order to reveal secrets
3. Crossfire (1947), 151 rankings: Probably the most polarizing film on my list, I seemed to like it more than most on here. It's a message noir where the message seems a bit dated, but I felt it was effective.
4. Criss Cross (1949), 180 rankings: I'm a fan of Burt Lancaster and this noir has one of the darkest endings I've seen in noir.
5. Nightmare Alley (1947), 191 rankings: Tyrone Power is great as a con-man that gets his start in the Carnival. Refreshingly different than most noirs.

Honorable mentions: D.O.A. (1950), Underworld U.S.A. (1961), The Red House (1947), Panic in the Streets (1950), Sudden Fear (1952), No Way to Treat a Lady (1968)- This one isn't noir and isn't really mystery either, but damnit it has a good performance by Rod Steiger and needs to be seen more.

All of these are in my Tier 7 or higher.

MacSwell
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Re: What's your favourite classic mystery or noir that's NOT listed as popular or very popular in the database?

Post by MacSwell »

According to my rankings:

1. This Gun for Hire (1942) - Alan Ladd playing a bad-ass hitman who likes cats.
2. Brighton Rock (1947) - A really young Dickie Attenborough as a vicious nutcase.
3. Dead End (1937) - A single day set in a New York slum with Bogie playing a gangster returning to his old neighbourhood.
4. Kiss of Death (1947) - Richard Widmark's Oscar-nominated film debut, where he plays a total psycho.
5. The Big Combo (1955) - Tough cop on a mission to bring down a crime boss while also obsessing over the boss' girl.

Also pretty good are Murder by Contract (1958), The Glass Key (1942), 99 River Street (1953), The Hitch-Hiker (1953) and Armored Car Robbery (1950).

djross
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Re: What's your favourite classic mystery or noir that's NOT listed as popular or very popular in the database?

Post by djross »

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Last edited by djross on Thu Jul 20, 2023 9:31 am, edited 1 time in total.

ehk2
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Re: What's your favourite classic mystery or noir that's NOT listed as popular or very popular in the database?

Post by ehk2 »

I'll suggest three movies (only mystery & thriller):

5 Fingers (1952): a spy movie with James Mason, set in WWII neutral Ankara.

Topkapi (1964): a great heist movie by Jules Dassin, set in Istanbul

Deadlier Than the Male (1956): a good French thriller with Jean Gabin

CosmicMonkey
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Re: What's your favourite classic mystery or noir that's NOT listed as popular or very popular in the database?

Post by CosmicMonkey »

Just a few films that came to mind, from Crime, Thriller and Mystery genres:


The Big House (1930), 29 Rankings: It's from the early days of sound films, so it's aged pretty poorly, but it has some solid performances and some great claustrophobia-inducing camerawork. One of earliest films about prisons, and is pretty influential in developing the tropes of the sub-genre. Not really a noir, but otherwise fits the criteria.

The Crime of Monsieur Lange (1936)
, 146 Rankings: French film from Jean Renoir, has a very heavy-handed socialist message behind it, so if that sort of thing in films turns you off, then it probably won't be for you, but it's one of my 5 favourite films of the 1930s. Again, not really a noir, but otherwise fits the criteria and is a great film nonetheless.

Le Jour se lève (1939), 206 Rankings: French proto-noir with Jean Gabin, historically notable to me for two reasons: this is earliest film I've seen whose narrative primarily relies on flashbacks, and the earliest film portrayal I've seen of a consensual open relationship.

Ossessione (1943)
, 242 Rankings: Considered by many to be the first Italian neo-realist film, but I'd personally consider it'd be a fusion of two genres: part noirish crime film, part-slice-of-life drama of life in poverty in Fascist Italy (neo-realism).

Crossfire (1947)
, 151 Rankings: As previously stated, it's a message noir, built with a combination of an anti-racist sentiment, and noirish atmosphere and tension. Also, fun trivia fact: it was the first B-film to ever be nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture.

Force of Evil (1948)
, 166 Rankings: Very poetic noir masterpiece, brimming with religious undertones.

KasperL
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Re: What's your favourite classic mystery or noir that's NOT listed as popular or very popular in the database?

Post by KasperL »

90 (Tier 10)
Blast of Silence (1961)
Cry of the City (1948)
Le Jour se lève (1939)
Touchez pas au grisbi (1954)
Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950)

85 (Tier 10)
Born to Kill (1947)
Farewell, My Lovely (1975)
Green for Danger (1946)
It Happened in Broad Daylight (1958)
Johnny Eager (1942)
Kansas City Confidential (1952)
Panic in the Streets (1950)
Ride the Pink Horse (1947)
What Have You Done to Solange? (1972)

80 (Tier 9)
Angel Face (1952)
Betrayed (1944)
The Boston Strangler (1968)
Call Northside 777 (1948)
The Cat and the Canary (1939)
Fallen Angel (1945)
The Glass Key (1942)
His Kind of Woman (1951)
I Wake Up Screaming (1941)
Lady in the Lake (1947)
The Last of Sheila (1973)
The Narrow Margin (1952)
Phantom Lady (1944)
The Prowler (1951)
Raw Deal (1948)
Rogue Cop (1954)
Sherlock Holmes and the House of Fear (1945)
Sherlock Holmes in Pearl of Death (1944)
Sherlock Holmes in The Spider Woman (1944)
Sherlock Holmes: The Scarlet Claw (1944)
The Silent Partner (1978)
T-Men (1947)

paulofilmo
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Re: What's your favourite classic mystery or noir that's NOT listed as popular or very popular in the database?

Post by paulofilmo »

lol mine is a bollywood movie.

i'd like to see Port of Shadows because marcel carne. and maybe Act of Violence.

[spoiler]also:
The Crime of Monsieur Lange (1936)
Le Deuxième souffle (1966)
Le Jour se lève (1939)
Pépé le Moko (1937)
Salvatore Giuliano (1962)[/spoiler]


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