British Noir
British film noir - from 1930s precursors to films influenced by Hollywood ( and France ) , films made by blacklisted emigrees , and the huge amount of second feature , low budget crime films .
These crime films culminate in the early to mid sixties with the Edgar Wallace series , plus the Edgar Lustgarten shorts . After that there are individual films that could be described as neo noir .
These crime films culminate in the early to mid sixties with the Edgar Wallace series , plus the Edgar Lustgarten shorts . After that there are individual films that could be described as neo noir .
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- DirectorCarol ReedStarsOrson WellesJoseph CottenAlida ValliPulp novelist Holly Martins travels to shadowy, postwar Vienna, only to find himself investigating the mysterious death of an old friend, Harry Lime.
- DirectorCarol ReedStarsJames MasonRobert NewtonCyril CusackA wounded Irish nationalist leader attempts to evade police following a failed robbery in Belfast.
- DirectorCarol ReedStarsJames MasonClaire BloomHildegard KnefIn post-WW2 Berlin, when travel to the East was still possible, the sister of a British officer from West Berlin is abducted by Communist agents and taken into the Soviet sector where her eventual rescue is arranged by a German smuggler.
- DirectorJules DassinStarsRichard WidmarkGene TierneyGoogie WithersA small-time grifter and nightclub tout takes advantage of some fortuitous circumstances and tries to become a big-time player as a wrestling promoter.
- DirectorEdward DmytrykStarsRobert NewtonSally GrayNaunton WayneClive Riordan plans a devilish revenge against his wife's lover.
- DirectorArthur B. WoodsStarsEmlyn WilliamsAnna KonstamAllan JeayesA convict, just out of prison, is implicated in a murder and goes on the run, hitching a ride with a truck driver.
- DirectorCy EndfieldStarsStanley BakerHerbert LomPeggy CumminsA rookie trucker tries to expose his boss' rackets.
- DirectorLewis GilbertStarsLaurence HarveyGloria GrahameRichard BasehartIn London, three otherwise law-abiding good men and their unscrupulous leader are about to commit a serious crime, but for different reasons.
- DirectorJoseph LoseyStarsStanley BakerSam WanamakerGrégoire AslanIn the UK, after pulling a racetrack robbery, repeat offender Johnny Bannion hides the loot in a farmer's field but the police and the local mob come looking for Johnny and the money.
- DirectorVal GuestStarsStanley BakerJohn CrawfordDonald PleasenceIn Britain, a Manchester police inspector becomes obsessed with capturing a criminal who escapes from prison.
- DirectorSidney HayersStarsMichael CraigFrançoise PrévostBillie WhitelawA gang plans to steal a factory's wages, but an armored van foils them. They rob anyway, killing the driver. His vengeful wife and encroaching police make the gang betray each other.
- DirectorSt. John Legh ClowesStarsJack La RueHugh McDermottLinden TraversJohn Blandish is worth $100 million. His heiress daughter is soon to be wed to Foster Harvey, who believes she's a cold, unfeeling woman, despite loving her. Her cold emotional state is in large part due to leading a restricted life. A low level thug named Johnny overhears their secret wedding night plans, and peddles the idea of robbing her of the $100,000 worth of diamond jewelry with which she will be adorned to two groups of his gangster acquaintances, who are in competition with each other. The robbery doesn't go quite according to plan, with Miss Blandish ultimately being kidnapped and held under the eye of Slim Grisson, the heir apparent as head of the violent Grisson gang, currently run by Ma Grisson. Kidnapping holds higher risk but possible greater reward as everyone figures they can get at least $1 million for her. Ma has no plans of letting her go, killing her after getting the money. But a surprise move by Slim, who has a secret past with Miss Blandish, turns the tables on the kidnapping and in turn Miss Blandish's emotional state. She ends up falling in love with him, and he with her. They know they can't live in either of their worlds, but even if they can escape together, will there be a future for them together always being on the run from both sides as well as the Grisson's competitors?
- DirectorPeter YatesStarsStanley BakerJoanna PettetJames BoothA group of British criminals plan the robbery of the Royal Mail train on the Glasgow-London route.
- DirectorJohn BoultingStarsRichard AttenboroughHermione BaddeleyWilliam HartnellIn Brighton in 1935, small-time gang leader Pinkie Brown murders a journalist and later desperately tries to cover his tracks but runs into trouble with the police, a few witnesses, and a rival gang.
- DirectorAlberto CavalcantiStarsSally GrayTrevor HowardGriffith JonesAfter WW2, former RAF airman Clem Morgan joins a gang of black-market smugglers-thieves but when a robbery goes wrong, Clem is caught , framed for a policeman's murder, and is sent to prison where he plots his escape and revenge.
- DirectorCarol ReedStarsRalph RichardsonMichèle MorganSonia DresdelA butler working in a foreign embassy in London falls under suspicion when his wife accidentally falls to her death, the only witness being an impressionable young boy.
- DirectorAnthony KimminsStarsBurgess MeredithDulcie GrayMichael ShepleyPretty Molly Lucian (Barbara White) enlists the reluctant aid of psychologist Felix Milne (Burgess Meredith) in treating her potentially homicidal husband Adam (Kieron Moore), who refuses to see a "real" psychiatrist. Traumatized in a Japanese prison camp, Adam proves to be on the verge of severe schizophrenia. In his risky struggle to help Adam, Felix finds his none-too-functional home life deteriorating, and is unable to help himself as he helps others. The situation rushes headlong to a suspenseful climax.
- DirectorPen TennysonStarsJimmy HanleyEdward RigbyMary ClareA young boxer falls in with a crooked fight promoter.
- DirectorJohn HarlowStarsWilliam HartnellRobert BeattyJoyce HowardAn ex-con, released after imprisonment for a jewel theft, swears vengeance on his former accomplices and devises an intricate plan to steal their fortune.
- DirectorDavid MacDonaldStarsDiana DorsGeorge MerrittFlora RobsonA young girl from the slums gets involved with some criminals. Driving while drunk, she knocks down and kills a policeman. She runs away with two G.I.s who are also on the run, and they start a crime wave.
- DirectorLewis AllenStarsRay MillandAnn ToddGeraldine FitzgeraldOlivia Harwood, missionary's widow, meets charming Mark Bellis, artist and rogue, on the ship taking them both back to 1890s London. After Olivia opens a lodging house, Mark becomes her lodger then her lover. Olivia falls so completely under amoral Mark's spell that he's able to overcome her scruples, and soon she's his willing tool in an ambitious scheme of theft and blackmail...maybe too ambitious.
- DirectorIrving RapperStarsBette DavisGary MerrillEmlyn WilliamsA mystery writer becomes involved in a tangled web of murderous deception not unlike the plots of her novels.
- DirectorEdmond T. GrévilleStarsCarole LandisJoseph CalleiaDerek FarrIn post- WW2 Britain, an American fashion journalist, her ex-army fiancé, and a gang of honest toughs from a local gym attempt to bring black market organized crime to justice.
- DirectorRobert HamerStarsGoogie WithersJack WarnerJohn McCallumAn escaped convict tries to hide out at his former lover's house, but she has since married and is reluctant to help him.
- DirectorFrancis SearleStarsRobert PrestonElizabeth SellarsColin TapleyA Canadian World War II veteran working for the British Foreign Office scours England for the killer who murdered his wife.