swap_horiz Desperate Alternatives

1

Double Indemnity

Double Indemnity is a 1944 American noir by Billy Wilder, adapted from James M. Cain and noted for its fatalistic insura...

Classic Crime 1940S Femme Fatale

9.7 Brilliant

2

Murder, My Sweet

Murder, My Sweet is a 1944 American noir by Edward Dmytryk, notable for casting Dick Powell as Raymond Chandler's detect...

Classic Detective 1940S Hardboiled

8.4 Great

3

The Narrow Margin

The Narrow Margin is a 1952 RKO train noir by Richard Fleischer, notable as a low-budget thriller that earned an Oscar n...

Classic Crime 1950S Train

8.4 Great

4

Act of Violence

Act of Violence is a 1949 American MGM film noir by Fred Zinnemann, starring Van Heflin and Robert Ryan in a postwar rev...

Classic Crime 1940S Veteran

8.0 Great

5

Cry of the City

Cry of the City is a 1948 American film noir by Robert Siodmak, pairing Victor Mature and Richard Conte in a New York cr...

Classic Crime Urban 1940S

7.8 Good

6

Pitfall

Pitfall is a 1948 American film noir by Andre de Toth, starring Dick Powell and Lizabeth Scott in a suburban adultery an...

Classic Crime Domestic 1940S

7.8 Good

7

Too Late for Tears

Too Late for Tears is a 1949 American film noir by Byron Haskin, notable for Lizabeth Scott as a ruthless woman keeping...

Classic Crime 1940S Money

7.8 Good

8

Born to Kill

Born to Kill is a 1947 American noir by Robert Wise, starring Lawrence Tierney as a violent drifter in one of RKO's hars...

Classic Crime Violent 1940S

7.7 Good

9

Ride the Pink Horse

Ride the Pink Horse is a 1947 American film noir directed by and starring Robert Montgomery, adapted from Dorothy B. Hug...

Classic Crime Universal 1940S

7.7 Good

10

Cry Danger

Cry Danger is a 1951 American noir directed by Robert Parrish, notable for Dick Powell's ex-con hero and Joseph Biroc's...

Classic Crime Revenge 1950S

7.5 Good

11

The Stranger on the Third Floor

The Stranger on the Third Floor is a 1940 RKO crime film often cited as an early film noir, with Peter Lorre and express...

Crime Expressionist 1940S Rko

7.4 Good

12

The Suspect

The Suspect is a 1944 American noir by Robert Siodmak, starring Charles Laughton as a London shopkeeper caught in murder...

Classic Crime Universal Domestic

7.4 Good

13

Hollow Triumph

Hollow Triumph is a 1948 American film noir by Steve Sekely, starring producer Paul Henreid as a criminal who impersonat...

Classic Crime Identity 1940S

7.2 Good

14

The Locket

The Locket is a 1946 American noir melodrama, notable for its nested flashback structure and Laraine Day's role as a psy...

Classic Psychological 1940S Flashback

7.1 Good

15

Kiss the Blood Off My Hands

Kiss the Blood Off My Hands is a 1948 American noir thriller by Norman Foster, with Burt Lancaster and Joan Fontaine in...

Classic Crime Universal 1940S

7.1 Good

16

Deadline at Dawn

Deadline at Dawn is a 1946 American noir mystery written by Clifford Odets, following a sailor and a dance-hall girl thr...

Classic Mystery Night 1940S

7.0 Good

17

Johnny O'Clock

Johnny O'Clock is a 1947 American film noir written and directed by Robert Rossen, marking his feature directing debut a...

Classic Crime Gambling 1940S

7.0 Good

18

Journey Into Fear

Journey Into Fear is a 1943 American spy noir based on Eric Ambler's novel, associated with Orson Welles and starring Jo...

Classic Spy 1940S Rko

6.9 Fair

19

His Kind of Woman

His Kind of Woman is a 1951 RKO noir starring Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell, notable for Howard Hughes's costly reshoo...

Classic Crime 1950S Resort

6.9 Fair

20

Framed

Framed is a 1947 American film noir by Richard Wallace, a Columbia B-crime thriller starring Glenn Ford as a miner trapp...

Classic Crime 1940S Femme Fatale

6.8 Fair