Double Indemnity
Genres: Crime, Thriller, Film-Noir
Year: 1944
Country: USA
Director: Billy Wilder
Starring: Fred MacMurray, Fortunio Bonanova, Edward G. Robinson, Porter Hall, Barbara Stanwyck, Richard Gaines, Tom Powers
Available Quality: DivX, iPod
In 1938, the experienced salesman of the Pacific All Risk Insurance Co. Walter Neff meets the seductive wife of one of his client, Phyllis Dietrichson, and they have an affair. Phyllis proposes to kill her husband Dietrichson to receive the prize of an accident insurance policy and Walter plots a scheme to receive twice the amount based on a double indemnity clause. When Mr. Dietrichson is found dead on the trails of a train, the police accepts the evidence of accidental death. However, the insurance analyst and Walter's best friend Barton Keyes does not buy the version and suspects that Phyllis has murdered her husband with the help of anoth...
The System
Year: 1953
Country: USA
Director: Lewis Seiler
Starring: Paul Picerni, Jerome Cowan, Bruno VeSota, Howard Negley, Don Beddoe, Frank Lovejoy, Frank Richards
Available Quality: DivX, iPod
Gambler John Merrick (Frank Lovejoy) is the head of a bookie syndicate and the newspaper is crusading against him and the rackets, primarily because Merrick is in love with Felice Stuart (Joan Weldon), daughter of the newspaper publisher who can not break up the romance through persuasion. A senate committee investigating crime gets involved, the racketeers, other than Merrick who is a "nice guy", strike back and kill a reporter, and Merrick's own son, Jerry Merrick (Robert Arthur), commits suicide. Merrick, to his own disadvantage, helps bring down the syndicate. Since it is in black-and-white-, deals with crime and was an American-made film...
The Big Sleep
Genres: Crime, Thriller, Mystery
Year: 1946
Country: USA
Director: Howard Hawks
Starring: Lauren Bacall, Humphrey Bogart, Dorothy Malone, Regis Toomey, Louis Jean Heydt, Elisha Cook Jr., Charles D. Brown
Available Quality: DVD, iPod
Summoned by the dying General Sternwood, Philip Marlowe is asked to deal with several problems that are troubling his family. Marlowe finds that each problem centers about the disappearance of Sternwood's favoured employee who has left with a mobster's wife. Each of the problems becomes a cover for something else as Marlowe probes.
Crack-Up
Genres: Drama, Mystery, Film-Noir
Year: 1946
Country: USA
Director: Irving Reis
Starring: Ray Collins, Erskine Sanford, Pat O'Brien, Wallace Ford, Herbert Marshall, Claire Trevor, Dean Harens
Available Quality: DivX, iPod
George Steele, art curator at a small museum, has an apparent mental breakdown one night, convinced he was in a train wreck...which never happened. In flashback, shortly after proposing to x-ray some old master paintings the museum has on loan, Steele is called on an unplanned nocturnal train trip. He suddenly sees another train ahead, speeding toward his... Is George indeed cracking up, or is there a plot to discredit him? The mystery grows murky with shadowy menace...
Gilda
Genres: Thriller, Romance, Drama
Year: 1946
Country: USA
Director: Charles Vidor
Starring: Ludwig Donath, Joe Sawyer, Glenn Ford, George Macready, Rita Hayworth, Mark Roberts, Gerald Mohr
Available Quality: DivX, iPod
Just arrived in Argentina, small-time crooked gambler Johnny Farrell is saved from a gunman by sinister Ballin Mundson, who later makes Johnny his right-hand man. But their friendship based on mutual lack of scruples is strained when Mundson returns from a trip with a wife: the supremely desirable Gilda, whom Johnny once knew and learned to hate. The relationship of Johnny and Gilda, a battlefield of warring emotions, becomes even more bizarre after Mundson disappears...
The Web (1947)
Genres: Thriller, Drama, Film-Noir
Year: 1947
Country: USA
Director: Michael Gordon
Starring: Edmond O'Brien, Vincent Price, Tito Vuolo, John Abbott, William Bendix, Howland Chamberlain, Wilton Graff
Available Quality: DivX, iPod
Leopold Kroner, formerly of Colby Enterprises, is released after five years in prison for embezzlement. Andrew Colby, claiming that Kroner has threatened him, hires lawyer Bob Regan as a secret bodyguard. Sure enough, Kroner turns up in Colby's room with a gun, and Regan kills him. Then Regan, who sticks around to romance Colby's secretary Noel, begins to suspect he's been used.
Scarface (1932)
Genres: Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Year: 1932
Country: USA
Director: Howard Hawks, Richard Rosson
Starring: Karen Morley, Edwin Maxwell, George Raft, Boris Karloff, Purnell Pratt, C. Henry Gordon, Vince Barnett
Available Quality: DivX, iPod
Big Louis Costillo, last of the old-style gang leaders is slain, and his former bodyguard Tony Camonte is taken into custody. Since Costillo's body has never been found, the police have to release him, though they strongly suspect Johnny Lovo paid Tony to remove Big Louis. Tony begins taking over the rackets in town with violent enforcement, and he becomes a threat to Johnny and the other bosses unless they work for Tony. Meanwhile, Tony's sister wants to be more independent, but finds it difficult to escape from her brother's overprotective grasp. The dissatisfaction of the other bosses and the relentless pursuit of the police push Tony towa...
The Killers (1946)
Year: 1946
Country: USA
Director: Robert Siodmak
Starring: Edmond O'Brien, Jeff Corey, Burt Lancaster, Virginia Christine, Donald MacBride, Charles McGraw, Albert Dekker
Available Quality: DivX, iPod
Two professional killers invade a small town and kill a gas station attendant, "the Swede," who's expecting them. Insurance investigator Reardon pursues the case against the orders of his boss, who considers it trivial. Weaving together threads of the Swede's life, Reardon uncovers a complex tale of treachery and crime, all linked with gorgeous, mysterious Kitty Collins.
Deadly Is the Female aka Gun Crazy
Genres: Crime, Thriller, Romance
Year: 1950
Country: USA
Director: Joseph H. Lewis
Starring: Russ Tamblyn, Trevor Bardette, Berry Kroeger, Nedrick Young, John Dall, Morris Carnovsky, Anabel Shaw
Available Quality: DivX, iPod
Since he was a child, Bart Tare has always loved guns. After leaving the army, his friends take him to a carnival, where he meets the perfect girl, Annie, a sharp-shooting sideshow performer who loves guns as much as he. The two run off and marry, but Annie isn't happy with their financial situation, so at her behest the couple begins a crosscountry string of daring robberies. Never one to use guns for killing, Bart is dragged down into oblivion by the greedy and violent nature of the woman he loves.
Hollow Triumph aka The Scar
Genres: Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Year: 1948
Country: USA
Director: Steve Sekely
Starring: John Qualen, Paul Henreid, George Chandler, Herbert Rudley, Paul E. Burns, Morgan Farley, Joan Bennett
Available Quality: DivX, iPod
John Muller, medical school dropout and brilliant crook, plans a holdup which goes a little bit wrong, and finds vindictive gambler Rocky Stansyck after him. At the end of his tether, he stumbles onto a lucky chance to assume an impenetrable new identity as psychiatrist Victor Bartok. But irony piles on as Muller finds it's out of the frying pan, into the fire.
Desert Fury (1947)
Genres: Crime, Thriller, Drama
Year: 1947
Country: USA
Director: Lewis Allen
Starring: Burt Lancaster, James Flavin, Wendell Corey, Mary Astor, Lizabeth Scott, William Harrigan, John Hodiak
Available Quality: DivX, iPod
Fritzi Haller is a powerful casino owner in Chuckawalla, Nevada. Her daughter Paula (having quit school) returns at the same time as racketeer Eddie Bendix, who left under suspicion of murdering his wife. Paula and Eddie become involved; each for their own reasons, Fritzi, Paula's old beau Tom, and Eddie's pal Johnny try to break up the relationship. Then Eddie's past catches up with him in an unexpected way.
The Man Who Cheated Himself
Genres: Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Year: 1950
Country: USA
Director: Felix E. Feist
Starring: Tito Vuolo, Lee J. Cobb, Marjorie Bennett, Morgan Farley, Howard Negley, Harlan Warde, Alan Wells
Available Quality: DivX, iPod
Rich Lois Frazer, divorcing her fortune-hunter husband, finds he's bought a gun. Suspecting he plans to kill her, she calls in her lover, who just happens to be Homicide Lieutenant Ed Cullen. When Ed arrives, the gun gets used...and because of his relationship with Lois, Ed is compelled to compound a felony. The good news: Ed himself is assigned to the case. The bad news: Ed's hotshot younger brother Andy, a new- minted detective, is also on the case...and anxious to prove himself.
Criss Cross
Genres: Crime, Thriller, Drama
Year: 1949
Country: USA
Director: Robert Siodmak
Starring: Burt Lancaster, Yvonne De Carlo, Alan Napier, Tom Pedi, John Doucette, Joan Miller, Percy Helton
Available Quality: DivX, iPod
Romantic, obsessive Steve Thompson is drawn back to L.A. to make another try for Anna, his former wife. However, Anna belongs now to the L.A. underworld. Steve believes he can rescue her, ignoring the advice and warnings of people who would try to save him. He commits himself to a dangerous course of action that quickly takes everyone somewhere unintended.
Johnny Stool Pigeon
Genres: Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Year: 1949
Country: USA
Director: William Castle
Starring: John McIntire, Howard Duff, Leif Erickson, Tony Curtis, Shelley Winters, Gar Moore, Dan Duryea
Available Quality: DivX, iPod
Federal agents risking mortal danger to infiltrate criminal syndicatessupply one of the basic templates for film noir. The crooks can variouslybe counterfeiters (as in T-Men) or traffickers in illegal laborers (as inBorder Incident) or, here in Johnny Stool Pigeon, heroin smugglers.
The Midnight Story
Genres: Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Year: 1957
Country: USA
Director: Joseph Pevney
Starring: Jay C. Flippen, Peggy Maley, Ted de Corsia, Tito Vuolo, Tony Curtis, Kathleen Freeman, Marisa Pavan
Available Quality: DivX, iPod
Beloved priest Father Thomasino is murdered in a San Francisco alley, and the police have few clues. But traffic cop Joe Martini becomes obsessed with finding the killer; he suspects Sylvio Malatesta. Ordered off the case, Joe turns in his badge and investigates alone. Soon he is a close friend of the Malatesta family, all delightful people, especially lovely cousin Anna. Uncertain whether Sylvio is guilty or innocent, Joe is now torn between old and new loyalties.
Decoy (1946)
Genres: Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Year: 1946
Country: USA
Director: Jack Bernhard
Starring: Sheldon Leonard, Herbert Rudley, Robert Armstrong, Philip Van Zandt, Bert Roach, Jean Gillie, Edward Norris
Available Quality: DivX, iPod
Gangster Frank Olins is to die in the gas chamber much to the dismay of his girlfriend Margot Shelby as he is carrying the secret of the location of $400,000 with him. Margot seduces gangster Jim Vincent to get him to engineer the removal of Olins' body from the prison immediately after he dies in the gas chamber. She takes prison doctor Craig away from his nurse/girl friend and gets him to administer an antidote for cyanide gas poisoning. During the removal of Olins' body, the hearse driver is killed by Tommy. The revived Olins gives Margot half of a map showing the money location and Vincent, in a fit of jealousy, kills Olins and takes the ...
City That Never Sleeps
Genres: Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Year: 1953
Country: USA
Director: John H. Auer
Starring: James Andelin, William Talman, Tom Poston, Edward Arnold, Gig Young, Wally Cassell, Marie Windsor
Available Quality: DivX, iPod
Chicago cop Johnny Kelly, dissatisfied with his job and marriage, would like to run away with his stripper girlfriend Angel Face, but keeps getting cold feet. During one crowded night, Angel Face decides she's had enough vacillation, and crooked lawyer Biddel has an illegal mission for Johnny that could put him in a financial position to act. But other, conflicting schemes are also in progress...
Blonde Ice
Genres: Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Year: 1948
Country: USA
Director: Jack Bernhard
Starring: Walter Sande, John Holland, Robert Paige, Michael Whalen, Selmer Jackson, Emory Parnell, Leslie Brooks
Available Quality: DivX, iPod
Thought lost since the early 70's, BLONDE ICE tells the bizarre tale of a beautiful society columnist who's desire for money and position turn her into a serial killer--a story most Hollywood studios of the 1940's wouldn't touch! The tagline "ICE in her veins-ICICLES in her heart" perfectly describes Claire Cummings as she eagerly seduces rich and powerful men. This recently discovered "B" film gives new meaning to the phrase "willing victims" and shows what film noir on a tiny budget could look like.
Moontide
Year: 1942
Country: USA
Director: Archie Mayo
Starring: Claude Rains, Thomas Mitchell, John Kelly, Jerome Cowan, Victor Sen Yung, Ralph Byrd, Arthur Hohl
Available Quality: DivX, iPod
After a drunken binge on the San Pablo waterfront, longshoreman Bobo fears he may have killed a man. In his uncertainty, he takes a job on an isolated bait barge. That night, he rescues lovely Anna from a watery suicide attempt and installs her on the barge. But Tiny, Bobo's longtime pal and parasite, hopes to drive Anna away before domestic bliss tears Bobo away from him; the still unsolved murder may be just the wedge Tiny needs. There's fog on the water and evil brewing...
Scarlet Street
Genres: Drama, Mystery, Film-Noir
Year: 1945
Country: USA
Director: Fritz Lang
Starring: Vladimir Sokoloff, Samuel S. Hinds, Russell Hicks, Jess Barker, Rosalind Ivan, Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett
Available Quality: DivX, iPod
Chris Cross, 25 years a cashier, has a gold watch and little else. That rainy night, he rescues delectable Kitty from her abusive boyfriend Johnny. Smitten, amateur painter Chris lets Kitty think he's a wealthy artist. At Johnny's urging, she lets Chris establish her in an apartment (with his shrewish wife's money). There, Chris paints masterpieces; but Johnny sells them under Kitty's name, with disastrous and ironic results.