Film Noir Guide: 745 Films of the Classic Era, 1940-1959

by Michael F. Keaney

The term "film noir" was first applied by French critics to a number of American films that made their way to France over a period of six weeks at the end of World War II. These films - which included such soon-to-be classics as The Maltese Falcon; Murder, My Sweet; This Gun for Hire, and The Big Sleep - and the noirs that followed fascinated French moviegoers with their new breed of love-starved husbands and wives, local business owners, writers, gamblers, small-time hoods, private eyes, mental patients, war veterans, rebellious teenagers, and corrupt lawyers, politicians, judges and cops.
Over 700 films noirs from the classic period of film noir (1940 to 1959) are presented in this exhaustive reference book - such films as The Accused, Among the Living, The Asphalt Jungle, Baby Face Nelson, Bait, The Beat Generation, Crossfire, Dark Passage, I Walk Alone, The Las Vegas Story, The Naked City, Strangers on a Train, White Heat, and the Window. For each film, the following information is the title, release date, main performers, screenwriter(s), director(s), type of noir, thematic content, a rating based on the five-star system, and a plot synopsis that does not reveal the ending.

Genres: Film, Nonfiction, Reference, Media Tie In, Noir

541 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2003

Reviews

[Peter William Warn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Michael F. Keaney knows what he's talking about when it comes to vintage black & white movies about tough guys, tougher dames and the dark worlds they inhabit. He combines a fan's enthusiasm with an accountant's eye for detail in an opinionated overview of the best and worst classic films noir.

Film Noir Guide: 745 Films of the Classic Era, 1940-1959 is packed with detailed descriptions of movies listed alphabetically, from Abandoned (1949), which is about a woman (Gale Storm) looking for the killers of her sister and the sister's baby and which Keaney gives a rating of three stars out of five, to The Wrong Man (1956, four stars), in which Henry Fonda is accused of armed robbery. Keaney shares several dozen crisp photographs. He cites the studios, casts, crews, running times and years of release for each movie.

Keaney also knows when to keep his mouth shut. He tells enough about a movie's plot so that you can know whether it might interest you, and then he clams up. One could read each of his 745 entries, his introduction and appendices and not have any of the movies' countless plot twists and endings spoiled. Staying silent at the right times is a smart move for a guy who spends so much time in shady neighborhoods filled with shadier characters.

What constitutes film noir is subjective. Keaney exploits the phrase's wonderful elasticity with impassioned fearlessness. He includes in his Film Noir Guide many movies that some might say don't belong. To Have and Have Not (1944, four stars) is there. Citizen Kane (1941, five stars) is as well.

Many of Keaney's other selections are film noir by almost every definition. About perhaps the greatest, Double Indemnity (1944, although Keaney gives it only four-and-a-half stars), he writes, "Despite the handicap of a stiff leading man and a leading lady with a laughable blonde wig, director [Billy] Wilder and screenwriter Raymond Chandler were wildly successful in translating pulp fiction writer James M. Cain's novel into a masterpiece of film noir suspense." A lesser-known gem is widely credited with being the first film noir. Of The Stranger on the Third Flood (1940, four stars), Keaney notes, Peter "Lorre's role is brief but exceptional, and [John] McGuire's unusually lengthy nightmare sequence is intense."

That five-star rating system might be problematic. Your results may differ. Keaney, for instance, gives the seductive Rita Hayworth/Glenn Ford thriller Gilda (1946) only three stars, but I'd probably put it in my Top Ten. And although Keaney provides several helpful appendices (one lists films by director, one by year and another by such topics as "Amnesia" and "Racist") and offers both an extensive annotated bibliography and his advice on "How to Build an Affordable Film Noir Video Library," he does not provide a breakdown of his ratings. To find all the films to which he assigns five stars, one has to comb through the entire book and take notes. Some of the films that get his higher ratings are listed below so you can get a sense of his tastes.

Keaney identifies actors who might seem familiar, especially those we may have seen on television. He identifies, for example, Ossie Davis (Evening Shade) as playing Sidney Poitier's brother in No Way Out (1950, four stars). He points out that Harry Morgan (Col. Potter on M*A*S*H) is a tenant farmer who refuses to pay rent in Dragonwyck (1946, three stars).

For many of the movies in Film Noir Guide, Keaney provides brief descriptions of scenes that are especially noir. He also quotes some of the hardboiled dialogue:

In Laura (1944, five stars), a cop (Dana Andrews) tells a "fey columnist" (Clifton Webb) that he is a murder suspect. In response, the columnist looks into a mirror and says, "How singularly innocent I look today."

In Niagara (1953, four stars) Joseph Cotten is upset that a red dress worn by Marilyn Monroe is "cut down so low in the front, you can see her kneecaps." Another man is not bothered, at least not that way. He asks his wife, "Why don't you ever get a dress like that?" She answers, "Listen, for a dress like that you've got to start laying plans when you're about 13."


KEANEY'S DEDICATION

A guy who spends so much time in the hard lands of film noir might become hardened himself. Not Keaney. He dedicates Film Noir Guide to his wife: "To Doreen, my loyal moll of 32 years, for not kicking me out after the many hundreds of hours I spent with Lizabeth, Ava, Ida, Veronica, Audrey, Barbara, Joan, Marilyn and scores of other gorgeous dames during the planning of this caper."

That's sweet, but many of the brutes in films noir would take a softy like that for all he's got.


SOME OF KEANEY'S RATINGS

Five stars
Asphalt Jungle (1950)
The Killers (1946)
The Lost Weekend (1945)
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
Murder, My Sweet (1944
Out of the Past (1947)
Scarlet Street (1945)
Strangers on a Train (1951)


Four-and-a-half stars
Gun Crazy (1950)
The Killing (1946. Directed by Stanley Kubrick.)
Kiss Me Deadly (1955. Adapted from Mickey Spillane's novel.)
The Mask of Dimitrios (1944, with Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet)
Mildred Pierce (1945)
Stray Dog (1949. Directed by Ikira Kurosawa.)
Sunset Boulevard (1950)
This Gun for Hire (1942)


Four stars
Criss Cross (1948)
Crossfire (1947)
Detour (1948)
D.O.A. (1950)
Key Largo (1948)
Kiss of Death (1947)
The Lady from Shanghai (1948)
The Letter (1940, with Bette Davis)
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946, with Barbara Stanwyck and Kirk Douglas)
Sudden Fear (1952, with Joan Crawford and Jack Palance)
The Window (1949. About a boy who witnesses a murder but no one believes him, except the killers.)

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars - Obviously a reference book, but I read it straight through. Like other reviewers, I quibble with many of Keaney's star ratings, but I was most disappointed - especially in talking about films that often have such an important visual component - that he *didn't* list the cinematographer for each film as he did the writer and director. Major oversight. I also got to the point that I really wasn't interested in which actors in these films appeared in television shows, especially since we see the same names and TV shows referenced over and over. Overall a good reference. An updated edition with cinematographers would be delightful.

[Al · Rating 4 out of 5]

Michael F. Keaney spent over 1117 hours watching 745 film noir films and countless additional hours researching each film as well as writing plot summaries for his 2015 book “Film Noir Guide: 745 Films of the Classic Era, 1940-1959.” While the accomplishment of his work is massive, it would be easier to dismiss if the guide wasn’t so darn readable. Whether you are new to these classic (and often not so classic) films, this reference guide opens opportunities for film lovers to explore and expand their viewing of film noirs. Each film entry has plot summaries (without spoiling endings), main credits, film noir types, background and highlighted dialog for each film with the occasional photo as well. Here are some examples of Keaney’s great touch with recommending (or avoiding) a film:
“This has it all—fine acting, a droll script, an impressive visual style and a satisfying ending. Don’t miss it.”
“Eventually, there are several killings to keep viewers interested (if their alarm clocks are set to go off about 75 minutes into the film).”
“Good cast, poor script, unlucky viewer.”
When you’re scanning the thousands of film titles from a streamer, you are bound to miss great films (or even worse, try a stinker based on the actors or title). This guide is a valuable time saver for anyone with an interest in film noir. Keaney watched these films before streaming took over; that is, when collecting films on tape or recording from late night television was the way for noir lovers to find lost treasures. Probably fewer people collect physical films these days, but they want the assurance of being able to access them, and not all streamers are interested in old black and white films often in need of restoration. I found some films in this directory that I wanted to watch, only to check and see that they aren’t currently available (but may since streamers vary their backlog’s availability).
Nonetheless, Keaney’s guide stands out from other books devoted to film noir. And I’m leaving out the best feature of his entries, when he selects great (and not so great) film noir dialog:
“A sloshed Kelly explains why she’s so attracted to her murderous lover: ‘I stay with him because, as low as I am, I can turn around and see him and remember there’s somebody lower.’”
“Mature wonders if Moore majored in psychology. She confirms that it was Abnormal Psychology 101 and that ‘we covered you in the first semester.’”
“A scantily clad saloon girl who has taken up with Stanwyck’s former flame introduces herself to the competition: ‘I’m new in town, honey.’ Without missing a beat, Stanwyck replies, ‘Honey, you wouldn’t be new any place.”
Highly recommended.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Helpful guide. Not sure why he gives 5 stars to Rear Window and only 4 to Rebecca. Both are 5 star films. Hard to figure out the rhyme or reason to his star system but I like the short synopses of films with the cast, director and year and I definitely give bonus points for his "Where do you know them from", his "Sensitivity Training Required" and his "Noir Moment" quotes.

This book is basically a reference work so it was slow going and took me two months. I just kept putting it down. But it would be great to have on hand when you want to look something up or when you come across a film you are interested in.

His idea of what is "Noir" is awfully broad but the book turned me on to some movies I hadn't heard of and made me want to track them down - noir or no noir.

[Anna]

Dandy reference

This is a good guide to Film Noir. I found myself agreeing with his ratings for the film's i was familiar with. The synopses give just enough of the plot to be interesting, but no spoilers. Could use some editing. Tyrone Power is called Powell in one instance, Nadia Tiller becomes Tilley. Also Mario Lands was a tenor, not a soprano as stated.

[Ruben Oliveira · Rating 3 out of 5]

Michael F. Keaney offers an exhaustive reference book on the classic era of film noir, packed with enough gritty details to satisfy any noir lover. Just be ready to argue with his star ratings! 😅