The Dark Side of the Screen: Film Noir

by Foster Hirsch

  KANSAS CITY CONFIDENTIAL. United Artists. 1952. Screenplay: George Bruce and Harry Essex. Director: Phil Karlson. Director of Photography: George E. Diskant. Music: Paul Sawtell. Art Director: Edward L. Ilou. Editor: Buddy Small. Cast: John Payne, Coleen Gray, Preston Foster, Dona Drake, Jack Elam, Neville Brand, Lee Van Cleef.

  KEY LARGO. Warner Brothers. 1948. Screenplay: Richard Brooks and John Huston; from the play by Maxwell Anderson. Director: John Huston. Director of Photography: Karl Freund. Music: Max Steiner. Art Director: Leo K. Kuter. Editor: Rudi Fehr. Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson, Lauren Bacall, Lionel Barrymore, Claire Trevor, Thomas Gomez. 101 minutes.

  THE KILLERS. Universal. 1946. Screenplay: Anthony Veiller and John Huston (uncredited); from the short story by Ernest Hemingway. Director: Robert Siodmak. Director of Photography: Woody Bredell. Music: Miklos Rozsa. Art Directors: Jack Otterson, Martin Obzina. Editor: Arthur Hilton. Cast: Burt Lancaster, Edmond O’Brien, Ava Gardner, Albert Dekker, Sam Levene, Virginia Christine, Queenie Smith.

  KILLER’S KISS. United Artists. 1955. Screenplay: Stanley Kubrick. Director: Stanley Kubrick. Director of Photography: Stanley Kubrick. Music: Gerald Fried. Editor: Stanley Kubrick. Cast: Frank Silvera, Jamie Smith, Irene Kane.

  THE KILLING. Kubrick-Harris-United Artists. 1956. Screenplay: Stanley Kubrick; from the novel The Clean Break by Lionel White. Director: Stanley Kubrick. Director of Photography: Lucien Ballard. Art Director: Ruth Sobotka Kubrick. Music: Gerald Fried. Editor: Betty Steinberg. Cast: Sterling Hayden, Coleen Gray, Vince Edwards, Jay C. Flippen, Marie Windsor, Ted De Corsia, Elisha Cook Jr., Timothy Carey.

  KISS ME DEADLY. Parklane-United Artists. 1955. Screenplay: A. I. Bezzerides; from the novel by Mickey Spillane. Director: Robert Aldrich. Director of Photography: Ernest Laszlo. Art Director: William Glasgow. Music: Frank De Vol. Editor: Michael Luciano. Cast: Ralph Meeker, Albert Dekker, Paul Stewart, Maxine Cooper, Gaby Rodgers, Wesley Addy, Cloris Leachman.

  KISS OF DEATH. 20th Century-Fox. 1947. Screenplay: Ben Hecht and Charles Lederer; from a story by Eleazar Lipsky. Director: Henry Hathaway. Director of Photography: Norbert Brodine. Music: David Buttolph. Art Directors: Lyle Wheeler, Leland Fuller. Editor: J. Watson Webb Jr. Cast: Victor Mature, Brian Donlevy, Coleen Gray, Richard Widmark, Karl Malden.

  KISS TOMORROW GOODBYE. Warner Brothers. 1950. Screenplay: Harry Brown; from the novel by Horace McCoy. Director: Gordon Douglas. Director of Photography: J. Peverell Marley. Music: Carmen Dragon. Production Design: Wiard Ihnen. Editors: Truman K. Wood, Walter Hannemann. Cast: James Cagney, Barbara Payton, Helena Carter, Ward Bond, Luther Adler, Barton MacLane, Steve Brodie, Rhys Williams, John Litel.

  THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI. Columbia. 1948. Screenplay: Orson Welles; from the novel Before I Die by Sherwood King. Director: Orson Welles. Director of Photography: Charles Lawton Jr. Music Score: Heinz Roemheld. Art Directors: Stephen Gosson, Sturges Carné. Editor: Viola Lawrence. Cast: Rita Hayworth, Orson Welles, Everett Sloane, Glenn Anders, Erskine Sanford.

  LADY IN THE LAKE. MGM. 1947. Screenplay: Steve Fisher; from the novel by Raymond Chandler. Director: Robert Montgomery. Director of Photography: Paul C. Vogel. Music Score: David Snell. Art Directors: Cedric Gibbons, Preston Ames. Editor: Gene Ruggiero. Cast: Robert Montgomery, Lloyd Nolan, Audrey Totter, Tom Tully, Leon Ames, Jayne Meadows.

  LAURA. 20th Century-Fox. 1944. Screenplay: Jay Dratler, Samuel Hoffenstein, and Betty Reinhardt; from the novel by Vera Caspary. Director: Otto Preminger. Director of Photography: Joseph LaShelle. Music Score: David Raksin. Art Directors: Lyle Wheeler, Leland Fuller. Editor: Louis Loeffler. Cast: Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews, Clifton Webb, Vincent Price, Judith Anderson.

  LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN. 20th Century-Fox. 1945. Screenplay: Jo Swerling; from the novel by Ben Ames Williams. Director: John M. Stahl. Director of Photography: Leon Shamroy. Music Score: Alfred Newman. Art Directors: Lyle Wheeler, Maurice Ransford. Editor: James B. Clark. Cast: Gene Tierney, Cornel Wilde, Jeanne Crain, Vincent Price, Gene Lockhart.

  THE LINEUP. Columbia. 1958. Screenplay: Stirling Silliphant; from characters created by Lawrence L. Klee in the CBS Television series The Lineup. Director: Don Siegel. Director of Photography: Hal Mohr. Music: Mischa Bakaleinikoff. Art Director: Ross Bellah. Editor: Al Clark. Cast: Eli Wallach, Robert Keith, Warner Anderson, Richard Jaeckel.

  THE LONG GOODBYE. United Artists. 1973. Screenplay: Leigh Brackett; from the novel by Raymond Chandler. Director: Robert Altman. Director of Photography: Vilmos Zsigmond. Music Score: John Williams. Editor: Lou Lombardo. Cast: Elliott Gould, Nina van Pallandt, Sterling Hayden, Mark Rydell, Henry Gibson, Jim Bouton.

  LURE OF THE SWAMP. 20th Century Fox. 1957. Screenplay: William George, from the novel by Gil Brewer. Director: Hubert Cornfield. Director of Photography: Walter Strenge. Music: Paul Dunlap. Art Director: Ernst Fegté. Editor: Robert Fritch. Cast: Marshall Thompson, Willard Parker, Joan Vohs, Jack Elam, Leo Gordon, Joan Lora.

  M. Columbia. 1951. Screenplay: Norman Reilly Raine and Leo Katcher, with additional dialogue by Waldo Salt; based on the 1931 screenplay by Thea von Harbou. Director: Joseph Losey. Director of Photography: Ernest Laszlo. Music Score: Michel Michelet. Art Director: Martin Obzina. Editor: Edward Mann. Cast: David Wayne, Howard de Silva, Martin Gabel, Luther Adler, Glenn Anders, Dorothy Comingore.

  THE MALTESE FALCON. Warner Brothers. 1941. Screenplay: John Huston; from the novel by Dashiell Hammett. Director: John Huston. Director of Photography: Arthur Edeson. Music: Adolph Deutsch. Art Director: Robert Haas. Editor: Thomas Richards. Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Gladys George, Peter Lorre, Barton MacLane, Sydney Greenstreet, Ward Bond, Jerome Cowan, Elisha Cook Jr.

  MARLOWE. MGM. 1969. Screenplay: Stirling Silliphant; from the novel The Little Sister by Raymond Chandler. Director: Paul Bogart. Director of Photography: William H. Daniels. Music: Peter Matz. Art Directors: George W. Davis, Addison Hehr. Editor: Gene Ruggiero. Cast: James Garner, Gayle Hunnicutt, Carroll O’Connor, Rita Moreno, Sharon Farrell.

  MILDRED PIERCE. Warner Brothers. 1945. Screenplay: Ranald MacDougall; from the novel by James M. Cain. Director: Michael Curtiz. Director of Photography: Ernest Haller. Music: Max Steiner. Art Director: Anton Grot. Editor: David Weisbart. Cast: Joan Crawford, Jack Carson, Zachary Scott, Eve Arden, Ann Blyth.

  MIDNIGHT LACE. Universal-International. 1960. Screenplay: Ivan Goff, Ben Roberts, from the play MATILDA SHOUTED FIRE by Janet Green. Director: David Miller. Director of Photography: Russell Metty. Music: Frank Skinner. Art Directors: Alexander Golitzen, Robert Clatworthy. Editors: Leon Barsha, Russell F. Schoengarth. Cast: Doris Day, Rex Harrison, John Gavin, Roddy McDowall, Natasha Parry, Myrna Loy, Hermione Baddeley, John Williams, Rhys Williams, Elspeth March.

  MINISTRY OF FEAR. Paramount. 1945. Screenplay: Seton I. Miller; from the novel by Graham Greene. Director: Fritz Lang. Director of Photography: Henry Sharp. Music Score: Victor Young. Art Directors: Hal Pereira, Hans Dreier. Editor: Archie Marshek. Cast: Ray Milland, Marjorie Reynolds, Carl Esmond, Hillary Brooke, Percy Waram, Dan Duryea.

  MURDER, MY SWEET. RKO. 1944. Screenplay: John Paxton; from the novel Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler. Director: Edward Dmytryk. Director of Photography: Harry J. Wild. Music: Roy Webb. Art Directors: Albert S. D’Agostino, Carroll Clark. Editor: Joseph Noreiga. Cast: Dick Powell, Claire Trevor, Anne Shirley, Otto Kruger, Mike Mazurki, Miles Mander.

  MY NAME IS JULIA ROSS. Columbia. 1945. Screenplay: Muriel Roy Bolton; from the novel The Woman in Red by Anthony Gilbert. Director: Joseph H. Lewis. Director of Photography: Burnett Guffey. Music: Mischa Bakaleinikoff. Art Director: Jerome Pycha Jr. Editor: James Sweeney. Cast: Nina Foch, Dame May Whitty, George Macready, Roland Varno, Queenie Leonard.

  NAKED ALIBI. Universal-International. 1954. Screenplay: Lawrence Roman. Director: Jerry Hopper. Director of Photography: Russell Metty. Music: Joseph Gershenson. Art Directors: Alexander Golitzen, Em-rich Nicholson. Cast: Gloria Grahame, Sterling Hayden, Chuck Connors, Billy Chapin.

  THE NAKED CITY. U
niversal-International. 1948. Screenplay: Albert Maltz and Malvin Wald; from an unpublished story by Malvin Wald. Director: Jules Dassin. Director of Photography: William Daniels. Music: Miklos Rozsa, Frank Skinner. Art Director: John F. DeCuir. Editor: Paul Weatherwax. Cast: Barry Fitzgerald, Howard Duff, Dorothy Hart, Don Taylor, Ted de Corsia, House Jameson, Tom Pedi, Enid Markey.

  THE NAKED KISS. Allied Artists. 1964. Screenplay: Samuel Fuller. Director: Samuel Fuller. Director of Photography: Stanley Cortez. Music: Paul Dunlap. Art Director: Eugene Lourié. Editor: Jerome Thoms. Cast: Constance Towers, Anthony Eisley, Michael Dante, Virginia Grey, Patsy Kelly, Betty Bronson.

  THE NARROW MARGIN. RKO. 1952. Screenplay: Earl Felton. Director: Richard Fleischer. Director of Photography: George E. Diskant. Art Directors: Albert S. D’Agostino, Jack Okey. Editor: Robert Swink. Cast: Charles McGraw, Marie Windsor, Jacqueline White, Gordon Gebert, Queenie Leonard.

  NIAGARA. 20th Century-Fox. 1953. Screenplay: Charles Brackett, Walter Reisch, and Richard Breen. Director: Henry Hathaway. Director of Photography: Joe MacDonald. Music: Sol Kaplan. Art Directors: Lyle Wheeler, Maurice Ransford. Editor: Barbara McLean. Cast: Marilyn Monroe, Joseph Cotten, Jean Peters, Casey Adams, Don Wilson, Lurene Tuttle, Russell Collins.

  NIGHT AND THE CITY. 20th Century-Fox. 1950. Screenplay: Jo Eisinger; from the novel by Gerald Kersh. Director: Jules Dassin. Director of Photography: Max Greene. Music: Franz Waxman. Art Director: C. P. Norman. Editors: Nick De Maggio, Sidney Stone. Cast: Richard Widmark, Gene Tierney, Googie Withers, Hugh Marlowe, Francis L. Sullivan, Herbert Lom, Mike Mazurki.

  THE NIGHT HAS A THOUSAND EYES. Paramount. 1948. Screenplay: Barré Lyndon and Jonathan Latimer; from the novel by Cornell Woolrich. Director: John Farrow. Director of Photography: John F. Seitz. Music: Victor Young. Art Directors: Hans Dreier, Franz Bachelin. Editor: Eda Warren. Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Gail Russell, John Lund, Virginia Bruce, William Demarest, Richard Webb.

  THE NIGHT HOLDS TERROR. Columbia. 1955. Screenplay: Andrew L. Stone. Director: Andrew L. Stone. Director of Photography: Fred Jackman Jr. Music: Lucien Cailliet. Editor: Virginia L. Stone. Cast: Vince Edwards, Jack Kelly, Hildy Parks, David Cross, John Cassavetes, Jack Kruschen.

  NIGHT MOVES. Warner Brothers. 1975. Screenplay: Alan Sharp. Director: Arthur Penn. Director of Photography: Bruce Surtees. Music: Michael Small. Art Director: George Jenkins. Editor: Dede Allen. Cast: Gene Hackman, Susan Clark, Edward Binns, Harris Yulin.

  NIGHTMARE. United Artists. 1955. Screenplay: Maxwell Shane; from the short story by William Irish (Cornell Woolrich). Director: Maxwell Shane. Director of Photography: Joe Biroc. Music: Herschel Burke Gilbert. Art Director: Frank Sylos. Editor: George Gittens. Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Kevin McCarthy, Connie Russell, Virginia Christine, Rhys Williams.

  NIGHTMARE ALLEY. 20th Century-Fox. 1947. Screenplay: Jules Furthman; from the novel by William Lindsay Gresham. Director: Edmund Goulding. Director of Photography: Lee Garmes. Music Score: Cyril Mockridge. Art Directors: Lyle Wheeler, J. Russell Spencer. Editor: Barbara McLean. Cast: Tyrone Power, Joan Blondell, Coleen Gray, Helen Walker.

  ODDS AGAINST TOMORROW. Harbel-United Artists. 1959. Screenplay: John O. Killens and Nelson Gidding; from the novel by William P. McGivern. Director: Robert Wise. Director of Photography: Joseph Brun. Music: John Lewis. Art Director: Leo Kerz. Editor: Dede Allen. Cast: Harry Belafonte, Robert Ryan, Gloria Grahame, Shelley Winters, Ed Begley, Carmen DeLavallade.

  ON DANGEROUS GROUND. RKO. 1951. Screenplay: A. I. Bezzerides; from the novel Mad with Much Heart by Gerald Butler. Director: Nicholas Ray. Director of Photography: George E. Diskant. Music Score: Bernard Herrmann. Art Directors: Albert S. D’Agostino, Ralph Berger. Editor: Roland Gross. Cast: Ida Lupino, Robert Ryan, Ward Bond, Charles Kemper, Ed Begley.

  ONE WAY STREET. Universal-International. 1950. Screenplay: Lawrence Kimble. Director: Hugo Fregonese. Director of Photography: Maury Gertsman. Music: Frank Skinner. Art Director: Bernard Herzbaum. Editor: Milton Carruth. Cast: James Mason, Marta Toren, Dan Duryea, William Conrad, Jack Elam.

  OUT OF THE PAST. RKO. 1947. Screenplay: Geoffrey Homes (Daniel Mainwaring); from his novel Build My Gallows High. Director: Jacques Tourneur. Director of Photography: Nicholas Musuraca. Music Score: Roy Webb. Art Directors: Albert S. D’Agostino, Jack Okey. Editor: Samuel E. Beetley. Cast: Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, Kirk Douglas, Rhonda Fleming.

  PANIC IN THE STREETS. 20th Century-Fox. 1950. Screenplay: Richard Murphy, adapted by Daniel Fuchs. Director: Elia Kazan. Director of Photography: Joe MacDonald. Music: Alfred Newman. Art Directors: Lyle Wheeler, Maurice Ransford. Editor: Harmon Jones. Cast: Richard Widmark, Paul Douglas, Barbara Bel Geddes, Walter (Jack) Palance, Zero Mostel, Alexis Minotis.

  PHANTOM LADY. Universal. 1944. Screenplay: Bernard C. Schoenfeld; from the novel by William Irish (Cornel Woolrich). Director: Robert Siodmak. Director of Photography: Woody Bredell. Music: Hans J. Salter. Art Directors: John B. Goodman, Robert Clatworthy. Editor: Arthur Hilton. Cast: Franchot Tone, Ella Raines, Alan Curtis, Aurora, Thomas Gomez, Fay Helm, Elisha Cook Jr.

  PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET. 20th Century-Fox. 1953. Screenplay: Samuel Fuller. Director: Samuel Fuller. Director of Photography: Joe MacDonald. Music: Leigh Harline. Art Directors: Lyle Wheeler, George Patrick. Editor: Nick De Maggio. Cast: Richard Widmark, Jean Peters, Thelma Ritter, Murvyn Vye, Richard Kiley.

  PITFALL. United Artists. 1948. Screenplay: Karl Kamb; from the novel by Jay Dratler. Director: André de Toth. Director of Photography: Harry Wild. Music: Louis Forbes. Art Director: Arthur Lonergan. Editor: Walter Thompson. Cast: Dick Powell, Lizabeth Scott, Jane Wyatt, Raymond Burr, John Litel, Byron Barr, Ann Doran.

  PLUNDER ROAD. 20th Century Fox. 1957. Screenplay: Steven Rich, Jack Charney. Director: Hubert Cornfield. Director of Photography: Ernest Haller. Music: Irving Gertz. Art Director: Robert Gill. Editors: Warren Adams, Jerry Young. Cast: Gene Raymond, Elisha Cook Jr., Jeanne Cooper, Wayne Morris, Stafford Repp, Steven Ritch.

  POINT BLANK. MGM. 1967. Screenplay: Alexander Jacobs, David Newhouse, and Rafe Newhouse; from the novel The Hunter by Richard Stark (Donald Westlake). Director: John Boorman. Director of Photography: Philip H. Lathrop. Music: Johnny Mandel. Art Directors: George W. Davis, Albert Brenner. Editor: Henry Berman. Cast: Lee Marvin, Angie Dickinson, Keenan Wynn, Carroll O’Connor, Michael Strong, John Vernon.

  POSSESSED. Warner Brothers. 1947. Screenplay: Sylvia Richards and Ranald MacDougall; from the Cosmopolitan magazine novelette One Man’s Secret by Rita Weiman. Director: Curtis Bernhardt. Director of Photography: Joseph Valentine. Music Score: Franz Waxman. Art Director: Anton Grot. Editor: Rudi Fehr. Cast: Joan Crawford, Van Heflin, Raymond Massey, Geraldine Brooks.

  THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE. MGM. 1946. Screenplay: Harry Ruskin and Niven Busch; from the novel by James M. Cain. Director: Tay Garnett. Director of Photography: Sidney Wagner. Music Score: George Bassman. Art Directors: Cedric Gibbons, Randall Duell. Editor: George White. Cast: Lana Turner, John Garfield, Cecil Kellaway, Hume Cronyn, Leon Ames, Audrey Totter.

  THE PROWLER. United Artists. 1951. Screenplay: Hugo Butler. Director: Joseph Losey. Director of Photography: Arthur Miller. Music Score: Lyn Murray. Art Director: Boris Leven. Editor: Paul Weatherwax. Cast: Van Heflin, Evelyn Keyes, John Maxwell, Katharine Warren.

  QUICKSAND. United Artists. 1950 Screenplay: Robert Smith. Director: Irving Pichel. Director of Photography: Lionel Lindon. Music: Louis Gruenberg. Art Director: Emil Newman. Editor: Walter Thompson. Cast: Mickey Rooney, Jeanne Cagney, Barbara Bates, Peter Lorre, Taylor Holmes, Minerva Urecal.

  RAW DEAL. Eagle-Lion. 1948. Screenplay: Leopold Atlas and John C. Higgins. Director: Anthony Mann. Director of Photography: John Alton. Music Score: Paul Sawtell. Art Director: Edward L. Ilou. Editor: Alfred De Gaetano. Cast: Dennis O’Keefe, Claire Trevor, Marsha Hunt, John Ireland, Raymond Burr.

  THE RECKLESS MOMENT. Columbia. 1949. Screenplay: Henry Garson and Robert W. Soderberg, adapted by Mel Dinelli and Robert E. Kent; from the short story The Bl
ank Wall by Elisabeth Saxnay Holding. Director: Max Ophuls. Director of Photography: Burnett Guffey. Music Score: Hans Salter. Art Director: Cary Odell. Editor: Gene Havlick. Cast: James Mason, Joan Bennett, Geraldine Brooks, Shepperd Strudwick.

  SCARLET STREET. Universal. 1945. Screenplay: Dudley Nichols; from the novel and play La Chienne by Georges de la Fouchardiére in collaboration with Mouezy-Eon. Director: Fritz Lang. Director of Photography: Milton Krasner. Music Score: Hans J. Salter. Art Director: Alexander Golitzen. Editor: Arthur Hilton. Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett, Dan Duryea, Jess Barker, Margaret Lindsay, Rosalind Ivan.