1- Born to be Bad. 1) I love that the bad girl is at the center of this film. 2) Robert Ryan. 3) Robert Ryan’s hands.
2- Angel Face.
3- Leave her to Heaven. Evil in brilliant technicolor with Tierney’s mesmerizing performance at its center makes this a desert island noir for me. Plus, the set design and costume are so lush!
4- The Pushover (1954). Fred MacMurray’s last noir and Kim Novak’s first film. There’s nothing groundbreaking about it, but its noir stripped back to the genre’s essentials – sex, murder, great dialogue, and a general sense of dread and desperation. Also love the romantic B-plot with the nurse neighbor and MacMurray’s partner. Definitely repeat comfort viewing.
5- All noirs starring the still under appreciated Shelley Winters. She never disappoints in prestige productions like Odds Against Tomorrow, He Ran All the Way or Night of the Hunter but I just love her in more low-budget efforts like Larceny. Whether she’s shouting or just listening, she really commands a scene.
I have to include Out Of The Past. Then, for a show-biz-is-a-jungle noir, The Big Knife. The Set Up is the best boxing noir IMO, plus it has Robert Ryan, who must be on the island. I'd have to have The Killers, if only for the unforgettable opening sequence which I would never tire of. And for a neo-noir I'll take The Long Goodbye.
Here are my 5ish picks:
1- Born to be Bad. 1) I love that the bad girl is at the center of this film. 2) Robert Ryan. 3) Robert Ryan’s hands.
2- Angel Face.
3- Leave her to Heaven. Evil in brilliant technicolor with Tierney’s mesmerizing performance at its center makes this a desert island noir for me. Plus, the set design and costume are so lush!
4- The Pushover (1954). Fred MacMurray’s last noir and Kim Novak’s first film. There’s nothing groundbreaking about it, but its noir stripped back to the genre’s essentials – sex, murder, great dialogue, and a general sense of dread and desperation. Also love the romantic B-plot with the nurse neighbor and MacMurray’s partner. Definitely repeat comfort viewing.
5- All noirs starring the still under appreciated Shelley Winters. She never disappoints in prestige productions like Odds Against Tomorrow, He Ran All the Way or Night of the Hunter but I just love her in more low-budget efforts like Larceny. Whether she’s shouting or just listening, she really commands a scene.
All fantastic picks. I too love The Pushover and of course, everything about Robert Ryan!
I have to include Out Of The Past. Then, for a show-biz-is-a-jungle noir, The Big Knife. The Set Up is the best boxing noir IMO, plus it has Robert Ryan, who must be on the island. I'd have to have The Killers, if only for the unforgettable opening sequence which I would never tire of. And for a neo-noir I'll take The Long Goodbye.
Robert Ryan and Sterling Hayden are in the survival kit!
"Sunset Boulevard" is a great favorite of mine.
It's a perfect film.