The Worldwide Film Noir Tradition - Classical British Film Noir
From Selby's introduction: "The most extensive prior documentation of British noirs appears in British Film Noir Guide by Michael F. Keaney (McFarland, 2008). My research was independent of Keaney's, and there is a difference of over 100 films between his listings and mine."
30 Brit Noir Masterworks are labelled with 'MASTERWORK'.
30 Brit Noir Masterworks are labelled with 'MASTERWORK'.
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- DirectorPeter Graham ScottStarsGriffith JonesUrsula HowellsHonor BlackmanPolice find that everyone had a motive for the murder of a wealthy woman.
- DirectorKen AnnakinStarsRod SteigerDavid KnightBernard LeeA wealthy businessman in New York absconds to Mexico by train in order to avoid capture for embezzlement. On the way, he steals the identity of another man for a visa, but that only complicates matters.
- DirectorAlan BridgesStarsJohn CarsonAnthony BateJustine LordA dangerous psychological game plays out between a man and the husband of the lover who spurned him.
- DirectorDavid MacDonaldStarsDennis PriceJack HawkinsSiobhan McKennaPeter Brandt is a soldier journeying across the countryside of South Africa after the Boer War.
- DirectorDavid MacDonaldStarsBetta St. JohnAlexander KnoxChristopher LeeJohn Preston meets Sally who agrees to marry him. Then, Preston begins to have dreams about Sylvia, a woman from his past, who comes to Deanbridge to blackmail him. In his dream, Preston strangles. He seeks help from Doctor Walton.
- DirectorBasil DeardenStarsPatrick McGoohanKeith MichellBetsy BlairThis movie, based on William Shakespeare's Othello, is neatly positioned as a vehicle to showcase some of the best jazz musicians of the period, including Dave Brubeck and Charles Mingus.
- DirectorIrving RapperStarsBette DavisGary MerrillEmlyn WilliamsA mystery writer becomes involved in a tangled web of murderous deception not unlike the plots of her novels.
- 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.
- DirectorMichael McCarthyStarsSydney TaflerRonald HowardKatharine BlakePretending to be rare stamp dealer, a man devotedly supports wife and musically talented younger brother as a professional hit-man.
- DirectorLance ComfortStarsPatricia DaintonStephen MurrayPatrick BarrA prominent journalist is kidnapped by a lunatic who threatens to kill her unless she writes flattering articles about him.
- DirectorLance ComfortStarsJack WarnerDerek FarrVeronica HurstWhen a local bully is found shot to death, the police suspect a young man who had recently been seen arguing with him. When thy discover that they had been arguing over the affections of a young girl, they begin to suspect that the pair had conspired to kill the victim. The suspect insists he's innocent, but the evidence seems overwhelming.
- DirectorDavid MillerStarsGinger RogersLily KannStanley BakerJohnny Victor, an actress living with Louis Galt on the Riviera, becomes involved with Pierre Clemont and learns he is a dangerous criminal.
- DirectorLance ComfortStarsMargaret LockwoodIan HunterBarry K. BarnesBedelia, a newly remarried beautiful widow, is on honeymoon in Monte Carlo. A painter approaches her inquiring about her past. When she and her husband go back to England the artist will soon be there. Danger, crime and truth will follow.
- DirectorAlbert S. RogellStarsMona FreemanJean KentMaxwell ReedA college student returns home to attend her father's funeral and begins to suspect her stepmother of foul play.
- DirectorJack CardiffStarsVan JohnsonVera MilesEmlyn WilliamsA British-American returns to Britain after 20 years to discover that his father has been jailed since WW2 for a murder that took place in murky circumstances.
- DirectorPeter Graham ScottStarsAdrienne CorriWilliam RussellIan ColinA clerk sees his big chance to escape a humdrum existence, but his resolve is tested as many unexpected obstacles arise.
- DirectorJulien DuvivierJosé Antonio Nieves CondeStarsGeorge SandersHerbert MarshallPatricia RocAlong the Spanish coast, American smuggler Mike Alexander comes into conflict with human-trafficker Captain Nicarescu and both of them are tracked by undercover Spanish police inspector Carnero.
- DirectorOswald MitchellStarsMichael MedwinFrank HawkinsWinifred MelvilleDanny Cruff returns home years after his father was wrongly accused and hanged for murder. But he can't escape his past.
- DirectorKen HughesStarsPeter ReynoldsRona AndersonPatrick Barr20th Century-Fox gets the blame for distributing this in the USA but they were not the production company in any manner. Peter Reynolds is the screwed-up son of a college professor who turns to a life of crime after killing a pedestrian in an automobile accident. His crime spurt is petty until one results in the killing of the night watchman at the college. Roma Anderson, secretary to the professor, is heads-over about Reynolds but he is more interested in a night club entertainer. Reynolds, keeping with the family-affair motif, meets a bad end while being pursued by an undercover agent who is his sister's boyfriend. Title refers to a roulette-wheel call. They did refrain from rolling an 8-ball across his path.
- DirectorVernon SewellStarsChristine NordenRobert AyresJennifer JayneWealthy Mark Sherwin survives a brutal beating and car theft. Suffering amnesia, he recovers on a horse ranch. Back home, his wife and her lover plot his murder for inheritance after his 'death' is overturned.
- DirectorMarc AllégretStarsMai ZetterlingDirk BogardeFay ComptonMrs. Christopher (Fay Compton), a kindly volunteer worker at a large hospital, does a favor for a patient by delivering a sum of money to Mr. Sine (James Robertson Justice). After she discovers he is a blackmailer, she threatens to expose him, and a struggle ensues in which she kills him. Her willingness to take the law into her own hands has a disastrous effect on former victims of the blackmailer.
- DirectorRobert S. BakerStarsMaxwell ReedDinah SheridanPatric DoonanA blind man's sight is restored in time to solve the mystery of his girlfriend's dead (or is he) brother and a gang of currency smugglers.
- DirectorLance ComfortStarsWilliam SylvesterBarbara ShelleyElizabeth ShepherdWhen the wife of a blind composer discovers that her husband will cut her out of his estate, if he discovers that she is having an affair with a young artist, she and her lover plan to commit the perfect murder.
- DirectorJoseph LoseyStarsHardy KrügerStanley BakerMicheline PresleIn 1950s London, Dutch painter Jan Van Rooyen has an affair with a rich married Frenchwoman who is supposedly murdered, resulting in Van Rooyen becoming Scotland Yard's prime suspect.
- DirectorBasil DeardenStarsJack WarnerDirk BogardeJimmy HanleyThe daily routine of two London policemen is interrupted by a killer.