I don't think it gets any bleaker than
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Film Noir
Maddyclassicfilms — 9 years ago(November 20, 2016 05:42 AM)
I don't think it gets any bleaker than
Kiss Me Deadly
.
Runners Up
D.O.A.
The Set-Up
Double Indemnity
The original ending would have made it even more bleak.
Go to bed Frank or this is going to get ugly
. -
Jessica_Rabbit69 — 9 years ago(November 20, 2016 06:56 AM)
Good choices though I think
The Set-Up
has a hopeful ending. It isn't all doom and gloom in the end.
To me nothing beats
Scarlet Street
for bleakness. Honorable mention goes to
The Killers
,
Criss Cross
and
New York Confidential
.
Jessica Rabbit
"I'm not bad. I'm just drawn that way." -
Maddyclassicfilms — 9 years ago(November 20, 2016 08:10 AM)
Hey Jess,
True, the ending of
The Set-Up
is not so bleak but the rest of the film certainly is. I really wanted the best for Ryan's character.
Scarlet Street
(poor Eddie G!) and
The Killers
are good choices. Never seen New York Confidential, another to keep an eye out for.
Go to bed Frank or this is going to get ugly
. -
retroman2 — 9 years ago(November 20, 2016 07:17 AM)
My choice for the bleakest is
Odds Against Tomorrow
(1959). The story deals with a group of losers who gather in NYC to plan a heist in upstate NY. Right from the beginning their situation seems hopeless and doomed to failure as racial tensions and disagreements flare. The story takes place in the dead of winter with a howling wind in the city, and a barren, snowy landscape as they drive upstate to pull-off the job. The excellent jazz score is very moody and laid back and exacerbates the hopelessness of the entire endeavor. -
telegonus — 9 years ago(November 27, 2016 12:02 AM)
If heist pictures can count as
noir
, I think that Kubrick's
The Killing
qualifies.
Does it get any bleaker than Edgar Ulmer's
Detour
? This is a movie in which
absolutely nothing goes right
. It's like a nightmare, a fever dream. -
richieprimo — 9 years ago(December 30, 2016 01:26 PM)
I would say 'bleak' is pretty much a prerequisite for a Noir film, but some
are
more so than others. I believe there would be many more without the pressure of the Hays Code and cop-out endings forced in by the Studio powers.
The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry
and
Nightmare Alley
come to mind regarding the latter.
I do agree with the films noted here - especially
Detour- but I would also agree that
The Set-Up
isn't particularly bleak. A few omitted that I thought were pretty bleak are
In A Lonely Place
,
Decoy
and certainly
Leave Her To Heaven - they don't come much bleaker than the twisted Gene Tierney character.
~
"I dont think you fully understand, Bigelow.. You've been murdered."
- but I would also agree that
-
morrison-dylan-fan — 9 years ago(February 04, 2017 10:27 AM)
Hi Maddy,I want to say thank you for the very kind words on the CFB thread,and that I've also found your posts to be wonderfully detailed,with you also being one of the most polite person I've ever met!
I've created a new Noir page on Reddit,details are on the post at the top of this board.
Thanks,MDF/Chris. -
BillyJoesWhiteShoes — 5 years ago(September 15, 2020 03:27 AM)
I guess I'm late on this board too (story of my life). They Live By Night was pretty bleak I think. You knew it was going to be bad in the end..
I've got a thumb, I've got a middle finger -Sissy, Urban Cowboy