Genre: Film noir

Direction Roman Polanski

Cast Jack Nicholson · Faye Dunaway · John Huston · Perry Lopez

Synopsis In Chinatown (1974), a Los Angeles private detective, Jake Gittes, is hired to investigate an adultery case but uncovers a far-reaching conspiracy involving water rights, corruption, and murder. As he digs deeper, he becomes entangled with a mysterious woman connected...

Direction John Huston

Cast Humphrey Bogart · Edward G. Robinson · Lauren Bacall · Lionel Barrymore

Synopsis In Key Largo (1948), a disillusioned WWII veteran visits a remote Florida hotel to pay respects to the family of a fallen comrade. He finds the lodge overrun by a ruthless gangster and his henchmen, who are hiding out during...

Direction Nicholas Ray

Cast Humphrey Bogart · Gloria Grahame · Frank Lovejoy · Carl Benton Reid

Synopsis In a Lonely Place (1950) follows Dixon Steele, a troubled Hollywood screenwriter with a volatile temper, who becomes entangled in a murder investigation. When a young woman he briefly knew is killed, Steele is the prime suspect. His neighbor Laurel,...

Direction Robert Siodmak

Cast Burt Lancaster · Ava Gardner · Edmond O'Brien · Albert Dekker

Synopsis 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...

Direction Stanley Kubrick

Cast Sterling Hayden · Coleen Gray · Vince Edwards · Jay C. Flippen

Synopsis The Killing (1956) follows a meticulously planned racetrack heist orchestrated by a group of disparate individuals, each with their own motivations. The mastermind, Johnny Clay, assembles a team to execute the perfect crime, but as the plan unfolds, tensions rise...

Direction Howard Hawks

Cast Humphrey Bogart · Walter Brennan · Lauren Bacall · Dolores Moran

Synopsis To Have and Have Not (1944) is set in Martinique during World War II. It follows Harry Morgan, a cynical fishing boat captain who avoids getting involved in the war. However, when a resistance fighter seeks his help to transport...

Direction Howard Hawks

Cast Paul Muni · Ann Dvorak · Karen Morley · Osgood Perkins

Synopsis Scarface (1932) follows the rise and fall of Tony Camonte, a ruthless and ambitious gangster in Prohibition-era Chicago. Inspired by real-life figures, Tony claws his way to the top of the criminal underworld, eliminating rivals and expanding his empire with...

Direction Alfred Hitchcock

Cast Farley Granger · Ruth Roman · Robert Walker · Leo G. Carroll

Synopsis En route from Washington D.C., champion tennis player Guy Haines (Farley Granger) meets pushy playboy Bruno Anthony (Robert Walker). What begins as a chance encounter turns into a series of morbid confrontations, as Bruno manipulates his way into Guys life....

Direction Brian De Palma

Cast Kevin Costner · Sean Connery · Robert De Niro · Andy García

Synopsis The Untouchables (1987) follows federal agent Eliot Ness as he assembles a small, dedicated team to bring down notorious Chicago mobster Al Capone during Prohibition. Frustrated by widespread corruption, Ness and his "untouchable" squad—a group immune to bribery—employ unconventional tactics...

Direction Juan Antonio Bardem

Cast Lucía Bosé · Alberto Closas · Bruna Corrà · Carlos Casaravilla

Synopsis Death of a Cyclist (1955) follows Juan and María, a wealthy couple, who accidentally hit a cyclist while driving late at night. Panicked, they flee the scene, leaving the cyclist to die. Consumed by guilt and fear of scandal, their...

Direction Joel Coen

Cast Gabriel Byrne · Marcia Gay Harden · Albert Finney · Jon Polito

Synopsis Miller's Crossing (1990) is a gripping tale of loyalty, betrayal, and power struggles set during the Prohibition era. The story follows Tom Reagan, a trusted advisor to a powerful crime boss, as he navigates a treacherous web of alliances and...

Direction Orson Welles

Cast Orson Welles · Rita Hayworth · Everett Sloane · Glenn Anders

Synopsis The Lady From Shanghai (1947) follows Michael O'Hara, a charming Irish sailor who becomes entangled in a web of deceit and danger after meeting the enigmatic Elsa Bannister and her wealthy, disabled husband, Arthur. Hired as a crew member on...

Direction Charles Vidor

Cast Rita Hayworth · Glenn Ford · George Macready · Joseph Calleia

Synopsis 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...

Direction Fritz Lang

Cast Glenn Ford · Gloria Grahame · Broderick Crawford · Edgar Buchanan

Synopsis A Korean War vet returns to his job as a railroad engineer and becomes involved in a sordid affair with a co-worker's wife and murder.

Direction Jon Amiel

Cast Michael Gambon · Patrick Malahide · Janet Suzman · Joanne Whalley

Synopsis Detective novelist Philip Marlow suffers from the crippling disease of psoriatic arthropathy. Confined to a hospital bed, Marlow mentally rewrites his early Chandleresque thriller, "The Singing Detective," with himself in the title role, drifting into a surreal 1945 fantasy of...

Direction Otto Preminger

Cast Robert Mitchum · Jean Simmons · Mona Freeman · Herbert Marshall

Synopsis In Angel Face (1952), a young, enigmatic woman named Diane becomes infatuated with ambulance driver Frank, who is already in a relationship. Diane's wealthy family employs Frank as a chauffeur, drawing him into her world of privilege and dark manipulation....

Direction Jules Dassin

Cast Richard Widmark · Gene Tierney · Googie Withers · Hugh Marlowe

Synopsis Harry Fabian (Richard Widmark) is a London hustler with ambitious plans that never work out. One day, when he encounters the most famous Greco-Roman wrestler in the world, Gregorius, at a London wrestling arena run by his son Kristo, he...

Direction Akira Kurosawa

Cast Toshirô Mifune · Takeshi Katô · Masayuki Mori · Takashi Shimura

Synopsis A young executive hunts down his father’s killer in director Akira Kurosawa’s scathing The Bad Sleep Well. Continuing his legendary collaboration with actor Toshiro Mifune, Kurosawa combines elements of Hamlet and American film noir to chilling effect in exposing the...

Direction Curtis Hanson

Cast Guy Pearce · Russell Crowe · Kevin Spacey · Kim Basinger

Synopsis L.A. Confidential (1997) is a gripping neo-noir crime drama set in 1950s Los Angeles. The story follows three LAPD officers with contrasting personalities and methods as they investigate a series of interconnected crimes, including a brutal massacre at a coffee...

Direction Raoul Walsh

Cast Humphrey Bogart · Ida Lupino · Alan Curtis · Arthur Kennedy

Synopsis Roy 'Mad Dog' Earle is broken out of prison by an old associate who wants him to help with an upcoming robbery. When the robbery goes wrong and a man is shot and killed Earle is forced to go on...