Before we get into the list, one simple preface: There are plenty of films made in the second half of the twentieth, and first half of the twenty first century that have elements of the Hollywood movement known as Film Noir, yet they’re not included here. The Noir movement began about 1940 and by the mid-1950’s was beginning to wane. There is one film on this list from after 1958 and that’s 1964’s The Naked Kiss. It’s an exception because, well, Sam Fuller was a man outside of time. For the rest of us, though, the lifespan of one of the best kind of movies began with its birth in 1941 with John Huston’s The Maltese Falcon. I guess you could point to 1940’s High Sierra or I wake Up Screaming as the birth and Huston’s film is the baptism if you want. Film Noir was laid to rest by Orson Welles in 1958 when he made Touch of Evil. So maybe The Naked Kiss is a long delayed eulogy, how about that?

the top 100 film noir

  1. Sunset Boulevard (1950)

  2. Gilda (1946)

  3. Laura (1944)

  4. The Woman in the Window (1944)

  5. Scarlet Street (1945)

  6. In a Lonely Place (1950)

  7. Sweet Smell of Success (1957)

  8. The Chase (1946)

  9. Out of the Past (1947)

  10. I Walk Alone (1947)

  11. The Big Knife (1955)

  12. Kiss Me Deadly (1955)

  13. The Big Heat (1953)

  14. Woman on the Run (1950)

  15. The Lost Weekend (1945)

  16. The Third Man (1949)

  17. Scandal Sheet (1952)

  18. The Naked Kiss (1964)

  19. Ride the Pink Horse (1947)

  20. Ace in the Hole (1951)

  21. Criss Cross (1949)

  22. Double Indemnity (1944)

  23. Sorry, Wrong Number (1948)

  24. Phantom Lady (1944)

  25. Notorious (1946)

  26. The Maltese Falcon (1941)

  27. Kiss of Death (1947)

  28. Ruthless (1948)

  29. Touch of Evil (1958)

  30. Hollow Triumph (1948)

  31. The Lady from Shanghai (1947)

  32. Shadow of a Doubt (1943)

  33. House of Strangers (1949)

  34. This Gun for Hire (1943)

  35. Road House (1948)

  36. Raw Deal (1948)

  37. Sudden Fear (1952)

  38. Kansas City Confidential (1952)

  39. The Reckless Moment (1949)

  40. The Lineup (1958)

  41. Murder, My Sweet (1944)

  42. Night and the City (1950)

  43. The Big Sleep (1946)

  44. Railroaded! (1947)

  45. The Big Clock (1948)

  46. Fallen Angel (1945)

  47. The Prowler (1951)

  48. The Big Combo (1955)

  49. Brute Force (1947)

  50. The Blue Gardenia (1953)

  51. Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950)

  52. Caught (1949)

  53. On Dangerous Ground (1951)

  54. Humoresque (1946)

  55. Detour (1945)

  56. Strangers on a Train (1951)

  57. Night of the Hunter (1955)

  58. They Won’t Believe Me (1947)

  59. Somewhere in the Night (1946)

  60. Ministry of Fear (1944)

  61. The Killers (1946)

  62. The Desperate Hours (1955)

  63. The Killing (1956)

  64. The Set-Up (1949)

  65. I Wake Up Screaming (1941)

  66. Born to Kill (1947)

  67. Desperate (1947)

  68. While the City Sleeps (1956)

  69. The Wrong Man (1956)

  70. Pickup on South Street (1953)

  71. My Name is Julia Ross (1945)

  72. Detective Story (1951)

  73. High Seirra (1941)

  74. The Big Steal (1949)

  75. Drive a Crooked Road (1954)

  76. The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)

  77. The Blue Dahlia (1946)

  78. Pushover (1954)

  79. Key Largo (1948)

  80. Killer's Kiss (1955)

  81. Mildred Pierce (1945)

  82. The Asphalt Jungle (1950)

  83. The Narrow Margin (1952)

  84. Dark Passage (1947)

  85. The Naked City (1948)

  86. Nightmare Alley (1947)

  87. The Dark Corner (1946)

  88. T-Men (1947)

  89. Force of Evil (1948)

  90. Lady in the Lake (1947)

  91. The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)

  92. Gun Crazy (1950)

  93. His Kind of Woman (1951)

  94. Border Incident (1949)

  95. White Heat (1949)

  96. City That Never Sleeps (1953)

  97. Body and Soul (1947)

  98. Clash By Night (1952)

  99. Side Street (1949)

  100. Call Northside 777 (1948)

  101. Niagara (1953)