panic in the streets

1950



Panic in the Streets is a semidocumentary film noir directed by Elia Kazan shot exclusively on location in New Orleans, Louisiana and featuring numerous New Orleans citizens in speaking and non-speaking roles. The film tells the story of Clinton Reed, an officer of the U.S. Public Health Service (played by Richard Widmark) and a police captain (Paul Douglas) who have only a day or two in which to prevent an epidemic of pneumonic plague after Reed determines a waterfront homicide victim is an index case. Co-stars include Barbara Bel Geddes (as Reed's wife Nancy), Walter Jack Palance (in his film debut) and Zero Mostel, the latter two play associates of the victim who had prompted the investigation.

This film is available online as a free download.

he walked by night

1948



He Walked by Night is a black-and-white police procedural with film noir styling. Alfred L. Werker is credited as director, however, most of the film was directed by the western and film noir director Anthony Mann. Shot in semidocumentary tone, He Walked by Night is based on the real-life actions of Erwin "Machine-Gun" Walker, a killer whose story and capture inspired one of the film's actors (Jack Webb) to create the radio and later television program Dragnet.

This film is available online as a free download.

detour

1945



Detour is a film noir cult classic that was directed by Edgar G. Ulmer. The 68-minute film was released by the Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC), one of the so-called "poverty row" film studios. Although made on a small budget and containing only rudimentary sets and camera work, the film has garnered substantial praise through the years and is held in high regard.



In 1992, Detour was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". Critical response to the film today is almost universally positive. Most reviewers contrast the technical shoddiness of the film with its successful atmospherics.

cat people

1942



Cat People is a film produced by Val Lewton and directed by Jacques Tourneur. Although Cat People is usually categorized as a horror movie, it can also be considered a film noir, as Irena assumes many of the traits of both femme fatale and the typical noir hero alienated from conventional society, psychologically wounded and morally ambiguous. In 1993, Cat People was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Cat People is available online as a free download.

doa

1950



D.O.A. is a film noir directed by Rudolph Maté, and is considered a classic of the genre. The frantically-paced plot revolves around a doomed man's quest to find out who has poisoned him – and why – before he dies.



The shot of Edmond O'Brien running down Market Street (between 4th and 6th Streets) in San Francisco was a "stolen shot," taken without city permits, with some pedestrians visibly confused as O'Brien bumps into them.

This film is available online as a free download.