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Thanks to institutions like TCM host Eddie Muller’s “Noir Alley” and the annual monthlong “Noirvember” celebration created by film critic Marya E. Gates, film noir has enjoyed a pop-culture resurgence decades after its heyday in the 1940s and ’50s. The subgenre defined by moral ambiguity, criminal activity, sharp dialogue and shadowy images continues to influence modern thrillers and mysteries.
It’s even found its way into superhero stories, with Prime Video's new show “Spider-Noir,” starring Nicolas Cage as a noir-style variation on Marvel’s Spider-Man.
Noir films were some of the first movies that led to my love of classic cinema, and whenever I visit my dad, we bond over watching “Noir Alley” together. Although some of my favorite lesser-known noirs (including 1948’s “Road House” and 1951’s “Cry Danger”) aren’t available to stream, there are plenty of excellent noirs you can watch right now. Here are five of my top picks.
‘The Maltese Falcon’
One reason that private detective Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart) is such a noir icon is that he’s so nonchalant about the danger he gets himself into. Throughout writer-director John Huston’s famously convoluted adaptation of the Dashiell Hammett novel, Spade derisively refers to the title object as the “dingus,” blithely dismissing the precious artifact that multiple people are willing to kill in order to possess.
Bogart brilliantly portrays the cynical but tenacious private eye, and Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet are offbeat and menacing as Spade’s antagonists. Even when it’s tough to follow what they’re talking about, they’re never less than fascinating to watch. Huston presents the story with inventive visuals that have become noir shorthand, bringing life to every procedural detail. There’s a reason it’s the prototype for every hard-boiled detective story for the next 80-plus years.
‘Double Indemnity’
Planning the perfect murder is usually a perfect way to end up getting caught, and on some level, insurance salesman Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray) knows that. But when he meets sultry housewife Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck), all that caution falls by the wayside. He’s instantly smitten with Phyllis, who seems to feel the same way, and she almost makes it sound like it’s Walter’s idea to kill her husband for the insurance money.
Working from James M. Cain’s novel, director and co-writer Billy Wilder crafts a tense narrative that feels like it’s closing in on Walter and Phyllis from the very beginning, with crackling dialogue and sizzling chemistry between the leads. Edward G. Robinson is equally great as the practical insurance investigator who’s Walter’s best friend at work — and the only person savvy enough to expose the couple’s entire devious plan.
Watch on Prime Video
‘The Letter’
Director William Wyler’s adaptation of the play by W. Somerset Maugham begins with star Bette Davis’ Leslie Crosbie coldly unloading a revolver into a man who stumbles out of her house, and the rest of the movie lives up to that attention-grabbing opener. Leslie is the wife of a British plantation manager in colonial Malaya, which affords her the benefit of the doubt when she claims that she killed the man in self-defense.
The title refers to a potentially incriminating letter that could destroy Leslie’s case, and she’s willing to go to any lengths to get it, including manipulating her previously upstanding lawyer into compromising his integrity. Davis gives one of her best performances as a shrewd, calculating woman who’s also torn apart by anguish. Wyler’s visual style complements Davis’ acting, revealing Leslie’s true intentions even when she tries to hide them.
‘In a Lonely Place’
![In a Lonely Place (1950) Original Trailer [HD] - YouTube](https://img.youtube.com/vi/68C2IFX60CU/maxresdefault.jpg)
Hollywood loves exposing its own corruption, which makes it the ideal setting for director Nicholas Ray’s brutal noir about a volatile screenwriter who may or may not be a murderer. Dix Steele (Humphrey Bogart) is adamant that he didn’t kill the hat-check girl he brought home from a nightclub, but he’s still an angry, vindictive man. When he strikes up a romance with his new neighbor, Laurel Gray (Gloria Grahame), it’s easy to imagine him turning violent on her.
Like so many noirs, “In a Lonely Place” focuses on a doomed romance, and the tragic love story between Dix and Laurel is even more compelling than the murder mystery. It’s clear that Dix isn’t a good guy, but Laurel believes she can find the good in him, and that makes the audience believe it, too — at least for a little while.
‘Too Late for Tears’
Most noir protagonists who unexpectedly find a bag full of money experience at least a little bit of hesitation before deciding to keep it, but not Jane Palmer (Lizabeth Scott). When she and her husband Alan (Arthur Kennedy) get a satchel full of cash literally dropped into their car, she’s determined to keep it, and she’ll do anything it takes to prevent someone from taking it away. That includes Alan, as well as sly gangster Danny Fuller (Dan Duryea), the money’s intended recipient.
Scott is fantastic as the ruthless femme fatale, and she’s so gleefully amoral that it’s hard not to root for her. Both Scott and Duryea were staples of B-level noir, and they make the most of their leading roles here as the reluctant but effective partners. When they toast “Here’s to crime — it pays!,” you’ll be happy to join them.
Watch free on Tubi
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