Noir Friday
Let's celebrate Noirvember on Black Friday.
In 2010 Marya E. Gates coined the term “Noirvember” in her Tumblr and Tweets, along with a challenge to watch as many film noirs as she could—she watched 45. The challenge eventually evolved into a structured marathon: 30 noirs in 30 days. Now, the spirit of Noirvember is in all things celebration of film noir—watching as many noirs as you can and bringing them back around to the discussion table in general.
I’m not the first to coin the term Black Noir Friday, but this bleak shoppers holiday does seem like a particularly good excuse to celebrate a noir film, whether you’re a film buff or a casual watcher.
So, to partake in the season, I wanted to share the noirs I watched this November as well as my all-time favorites.
I actually didn’t get around to a lot of noirs this month (oops), so I included the neo-noir I saw, plus a pre-noir.
This Noirvember I watched (my ratings are out of 5):
The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933) 4.5 stars — Not really considered a noir, but served as inspiration for many to come. It’s technically a sequel to Fritz Lang’s Dr. Mabuse, The Gambler (1922), which in itself was a two-part crime story, clocking in at nearly 5 hours long. You don’t need to watch that silent in order to enjoy Testament. The film has a little bit of everything - romance, violence, drugs, hallucination, psychology, suicide, mystery, action.
Raw Deal (1948) 4 stars — This has more of the raw noir sensibilities, but what’s fun about it is that its a travel/chase noir, where the locations are constantly changing as our heroes are on the move. It’s really well directed with some good tension.
Deadline at Dawn (1946) 3.5 stars — Criterion calls this a “blackout noir” because of the amnesia theme (in this case, after a night of drinking). I liked how it took a team of people helping the protagonist solve the mystery. Kinda has Scooby-Doo vibes that way, but obviously in a darker, less silly way.
Fracture (2007) 3.5 stars — This one is kind of like All Good Things (2010), with Anthony Hopkins taking the role of Ryan Gosling’s character. It’s part mystery/thriller, part courtroom drama. Pretty fun neo-noir.
All Through the Night (1942) 3 stars — Pretty unique noir that also balances comedy, gangster, and war themes. Humphrey Bogart is enjoyable to watch and Peter Lorre is, as always, a terrific bad guy. The movie looks good and is well directed.
Tonight, I’ll celebrate Noir Friday by watching Sudden Fear (1952). Wish me luck!
Where to watch: If you’re trying to find where these films are streaming, check out Reelgood or (better yet) sign up for a Letterboxd Pro account, which tells you exactly which services carry each film.
Dive into the real meat of noir tonight, with one of my top 25 favorite film noirs:
Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
Out of the Past (1947)
The Third Man (1949)
Touch of Evil (1958)
Night and the City (1950)
The Lady from Shanghai (1947)
High and Low (1963)
Blast of Silence (1961)
Notorious (1946)
Brute Force (1947)
Naked City (1948)
The Killers (1946)
Kiss of Death (1947)
Criss Cross (1949)
Rififi (1955)
White Heat (1949)
Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950)
The Big Heat (1953)
Crime Wave (1953)
Murder By Contract (1958)
Murder, My Sweet (1944)
The Big Clock (1948)
Human Desire (1954)
The Killing (1956)
Strangers on a Train (1951)
Stay tuned for my 1959 almanac entry this coming Tuesday, 12/02, where I’ll cover the interesting facts of that fascinating year in film, including films like Some Like It Hot, North By Northwest, and Ben-Hur.