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Noirvember: 10 Film Noirs to discover

Noirvember. The concept is simple: the entire month of November is dominated by dark shadows, tough men, seductive femme fatales and dented fedoras from film noir. With film noir, every film lover immediately thinks of classics such as The Maltese Falcon, Double Indemnity or Touch of Evil.

The movement (or genre) had its peak from 1941 to 1958 and characterised itself as a series of crime films, permeated with nihilism and dark melancholy. In order to not bore you with obvious choices, I’ve picked ten film noirs that are often overshadowed by the great classics, but believe are equally worthy of attention.

Gaslight (1944)

“Whatever you had done, I could have pitied and protected you. But because I am mad, I hate you. Because I am mad, I have betrayed you. And because I'm mad, I'm rejoicing in my heart, without a shred of pity, without a shred of regret, watching you go with glory in my heart!”

In the early 1940s, many directors were happy to venture into film noir, including George Cukor. With essential Hollywood films such as Dinner at Eight and The Philadelphia Story, Cukor was used to very different things. The power play between men and women is no stranger to film noir and also returns in Cukors Gaslight. Ingrid Bergman and her new husband move into the old house of her murdered aunt. Soon all kinds of strange events start to happen, which makes Bergman’s character doubt her mental health, without noticing that her husband is manipulating her. Bergman spent time in psychiatry in preparation for her role and eventually won an Oscar for it. Gaslight is also the film that coined the term Gaslighting:

Gaslighting is a form of psychological manipulation in which a person seeks to sow seeds of doubt in a targeted individual or in members of a targeted group, making them question their own memory, perception, and sanity. Using persistent denial, misdirection, contradiction, and lying, gaslighting involves attempts to destabilise the victim and delegitimise the victim's beliefs.

Instances may range from the denial by an abuser that previous abusive incidents ever occurred to the staging of bizarre events by the abuser with the intention of disorienting the victim.

Murder, My Sweet (1944)

"You shouldn't kiss a girl when you're wearing that gun ... leaves a bruise.”

Edward Dmytryk, a director who is now as good as forgotten, nevertheless delivered some films that are worthwhile. For example, Dmytryk first brought Philip Marlowe to the big screen, the well-known private investigator conceived by Raymond Chandler. Not yet plated by Bogart (that only came with The Big Sleep), but Dick Powell. With ingredients such as lies, theft, perjury, deception and the false appearance of Claire Trevor, Murder, My Sweet contained everything that a solid film noir required.

Detour (1945)

“That’s life. Whichever way you turn, Fate sticks out a foot to trip you.”

Detour is a film that was cast aside for a long time as a simple B film, but has enjoyed more recognition in recent decades as a highlight in film noir. According to director Edward G. Ulmer, the film was shot in six days, on only three sets, on a very low budget. Minimal in design or not, Detour proves to be an extremely powerful noir that, with its 68 minutes, perfectly captures the soul of the film genre Not many men enjoy so little luck in film noir as pianist Al Roberts (Tom Neal), not to mention a demonically calculating Ann Savage. More than worth discovering.

Scarlet Street (1945)

“How can a man be so dumb... I've been waiting to laugh in your face ever since I met you. You're old and ugly and I'm sick of you. Sick, sick, sick!”

Fritz Lang: a big name from film history. Lang was not only successful in his German period, but also delivered quite a few hits when he went to look for happiness in America. Scarlet Street is perhaps one of the most pessimistic film noirs in film history. Edward G. Robinson shines as the gullible dope that runs into the treacherous web of Joan Bennet and her equally despicable friend. For a long time, Robinson's character throws himself into a downward spiral from which there seems to be no return. Great watch!

Nightmare Alley (1947)

"How can a guy sink so low?”

"He reached too high ...”

Just like Cukor, Edmund Goulding wasn’t necessarily a noir director. Nightmare Alley was his only trip into the genre, but a memorable one. After a lot of tug and war with the then conservative production code, Goulding nevertheless managed to deliver an ambitious film about the rise and fall of an opportunistic fair assistant. Alcoholism, religion, spirituality and manipulation are all dealt with in a film that takes away the joyful experience of a fair from all its frills. Nightmare Alley is a noir that tries to aim higher than the usual conventions and also succeeds at that.

Force of Evil (1948)

"A man could spend the rest of his life trying to remember what he shouldn't have said.”

John Garfield, died at the age of 39, but was a force of nature when he was at his best acting wise. In Force of Evil we see him as a lawyer who deals with illegal draws to help his brother out of trouble. What you get are gloomy settings in New York, poetic dialogues and Biblical allusions. Crime is not a romanticised world in this thriller, but one where it’s a sad stay and you must inevitably face your fate. Among the fans of Force of Evil is a certain Martin Scorsese.

In a Lonely Place (1950)

“I was born when she kissed me. I died when she left me. I lived a few weeks while she loved me. "

And here it is, our first Bogart film on this list. No Bogey as a tough detective, but as a cynical Hollywood screenwriter with loose hands. In A Lonely Place is often overshadowed by the more famous work of Bogart, but his performance in this film is one of the most impressive things he has ever done. His character runs tight with an intrinsic anger, but at the same time radiates a pitiful weakness. Directed by Nicholas Ray (who would later make Rebel Without A Cause), who subtly criticises the moral climate in the American film world and the celebrity cult.

The Big Heat (1953)

"Well, you're as romantic as a pair of handcuffs."

Second film from Fritz Lang on our list. Let us say that the brilliant German director knew film noir well. In this film, Glenn Ford plays a cop fighting against the crime syndicate in his city after his wife is murdered. The fact that the scenario was penned by a former crime journalist made Lang deliver one of the most fierce film noirs of the 1950s. The Big Heat also completely turns the traditional role of the femme fatale on its head. A hauntingly memorable moment is when a roaring Lee Marvin throws hot coffee in the face of Gloria Grahame.

Pickup On South Street (1953)

“So you're a Red, who cares? Your money’s as good as anybody else's.”

Richard Widmark steals Jean Peters' purse without knowing that it contains a microfilm with secret government information. Pickup On South Street dates from the McCarthy period, but that doesn’t stop director Samuel Fuller from throwing every ounce of patriotism overboard. Even FBI boss J. Edgar Hoover turned out not to be a fan. Anyway, still a film with great performances, juicy dialogues and a stubborn outsider as the main character. The film earned actress Thelma Ritter an Oscar nomination.

Kiss Me Deadly (1955)

“Kiss me, Mike. I want you to kiss me. Kiss me. The liar’s kiss that says I love you and means something else. "

Kiss Me Deadly might have been a source of inspiration for Steven Spielberg's Raiders of the Lost Ark. You get that impression when at the end the mysterious artefact (aka MacGuffin) around which this film noir is built up, is found (sort of). According to some a metaphor for the nuclear paranoia, according to scriptwriter A. I. Bezzerides no more than the result of a search for what worked and what didn't. Metaphor or not, Kiss Me Deadly offers enough adventure, twists and intrigues for an exciting and entertaining movie night.

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