What is your favorite film noir?

[Rainwater]

As such a huge fan of the genre, it is difficult for me to choose.  There were so many of them made and I keep digging them up.  There were many big budget film noir titles with big name stars, such as Laura(1944)starring Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews, and Clifton Webb.  There was The Postman Always Rings Twice(1946)starring Lana Turner and John Garfield.  These were a couple of my favorites.  But then there were low budget films like Detour(1945)with Tom Neal and a wicked performance by Ann Savage that were short and pulse-pounding and told a great story.  These are just a few examples.

[MissBarbara]

As such a huge fan of the genre, it is difficult for me to choose.  There were so many of them made and I keep digging them up.  There were many big budget film noir titles with big name stars, such as Laura(1944)starring Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews, and Clifton Webb.  There was The Postman Always Rings Twice(1946)starring Lana Turner and John Garfield.  These were a couple of my favorites.  But then there were low budget films like Detour(1945)with Tom Neal and a wicked performance by Ann Savage that were short and pulse-pounding and told a great story.  These are just a few examples.

"Laura" is one of my favorites as well. Clifton Webb really makes the movie, as does Vincent Price playing in a non-horror role.

Among my other favorites:

"Double Indemnity"

"The Big Sleep" (Bogart and Bacall's best screen pairing)

"Kiss Me Deadly"

"Out of the Past"

"In a Lonely Place"

And four more recent films:

"Chinatown"

"LA Confidential"

"The Last Seduction"

"Blood Simple"

[Dudester]

Remember The Night (1940) (precursor to Pretty Woman-1991)

The Maltese Falcon

[blackdog]

"Casablanca" A low budget movie originally intended as a supporting B movie but on it's first screening received accolades from the critics and almost immediately became a feature film. Now a classic and rated as one of the all time greats.

[MissBarbara]

"Casablanca" A low budget movie originally intended as a supporting B movie but on it's first screening received accolades from the critics and almost immediately became a feature film. Now a classic and rated as one of the all time greats.

"Casablanca" was neither a low budget movie nor intended as a B movie. It's also not a film noir.

By the time he directed "Casablanca," Michael Curtiz had directed dozens of movies and had already received four Best Director Oscar nominations. In fact he achieved the unprecedented feat of being nominated for Best Director for two separate movies in the same year.

On top of that, the movie's stars -- Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Peter Lorre, and Syndey Greenstreet -- were all established stars.

[_priapism]

I recently commented on Casablanca in the “So irritating” thread. While most agree that Casablanca is not classic film noir, it certainly incorporated many film noir elements. Here’s looking at you kid.