Special Sub-Topic: Film Noir: All-Time Great Crime Dramas Click Here To Play: Film Noir: All-Time Great Crime Dramas

This classic 1944 film was directed by Otto Preminger. A girl is murdered...but is she really dead? Detective Mark McPherson (played by Dana Andrews) investigates the case, and falls in love with her portrait.

Laura. This is one of the great ones. Gene Tierney stars as Laura, in her most famous portrayal, the beautiful girl they all fall in love with. The supporting cast includes Clifton Webb, Vincent Price and Judith Anderson. The score includes the lovely theme song, "Laura". Dana Andrews is probably best known as the troubled veteran in "The Best Years of Our Lives".

In this 1953 Fritz Lang film, Police Detective Bannion (Glenn Ford) is investigating a fellow officer's suicide. Then, he's ordered off the case. A bomb, planted by the Mob, kills Bannion's wife, and all hell breaks loose.

The Big Heat. In addition to Glenn Ford, the "Big Heat" cast includes film noir icon Gloria Grahame, Lee Marvin, Jocelyn Brando and Alexander Scourby. There's a very famous scene in this one. A mobster throws boiling hot coffee in a woman's face, scarring her terribly. The unfortunate woman is played by Gloria Grahame, and if you've never seen a Gloria Grahame film, I recommend this one highly.

This 1951 film is directed by Joseph Losey. Van Heflin plays an unhappy cop, who falls for another man's wife (Evelyn Keyes). He cooks up a creepy scheme to get rid of the husband - and then things get complicated.

The Prowler. This is one scary movie. Fine actors both, Van Heflin is probably best known for his role in "Shane", and Evelyn Keyes for playing Suellen O'Hara in "Gone With the Wind".

This 1949 film is set in Vienna, just after World War II. The city is in ruins. Pulp writer Holly Martins is trying to find his old friend Harry Lime, who has offered him a job, and finds that Lime is dead. Or is he?

The Third Man. Sewer chases, a score with zither music, terrific cast and performances, this movie has it all. "The Third Man" is directed by Carol Reed, and written by Graham Greene. The film stars Joseph Cotton as Martins, Alida Valli, Trevor Howard and Orson Welles. It won an Oscar for best black and white cinematography. Anton Karas plays the zither (a type of stringed instrument) for the unique score, so perfect for the movie. "The Third Man" should always appear on any list of all-time great films.

A slick-talking preacher comes to town, and marries a local widow. There is a good sum of money hidden, and only the widow's children know where it is. The preacher wants that money!

The Night of the Hunter. Robert Mitchum is the preacher and Shelley Winters the unlucky widow, in this awesome film (1955) directed by the actor Charles Laughton. Lillian Gish and James Gleason are in the cast as well. Critic Roger Ebert has called this "one of the greatest of all American films", and it's certainly at the top of my list. It scares the heck out of me every time I see it. Mitchum and Gish give a fantastic performances, as do the rest of the cast. I really recommend this one, it's unforgettable!

Two men meet while traveling, and an ingenious plot for double murder is hatched between them - then - the double cross. Alfred HItchcock directs this one, based on a book by Patricia Highsmith.

Strangers On a Train. This 1951 film stars Robert Walker and Farley Granger, with Ruth Roman, Leo G. Carroll and Patricia Hitchcock, the director's daughter, in the cast. This is a terrific thriller, with all kinds of plot twists, and plenty of visual tricks from the master director.

An insurance agent, Walter Neff, is persuaded to help a woman murder her husband, and make it look like an accident. The plan is to collect his insurance money, but Neff's boss, the insurance claims manager, is becoming suspicious. Will the murderous couple get away with it?

Double Indemnity. Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck star in this incomparable 1944 film, directed by Billy Wilder. (Stanwyck was nominated for an Oscar, but lost to Ingrid Bergman.) Edward G. Robinson plays the suspicious insurance investigator. This film appears on every list of all-time greats, and with good reason; every element of "Double Indemnity" is perfect.

Ex G.I. Frank McCloud encounters trouble when he goes to the Florida Keys to pay a visit to a war widow and her father-in-law. A hurricane is about to hit, and a tough mob boss and his gang have taken over the family's hotel. It's up to a reluctant McCloud to save them from the bad guys.

Key Largo. This movie is directed by John Huston (1948), with Humphrey Bogart as the ex-GI, Lauren Bacall as the widow and Lionel Barrymore as the father-in-law. The mobster is played by Edward G. Robinson, and Claire Trevor is his sad mistress. (She won an Oscar for her performance.) It's quite a cast! The script is based on a play by Maxwell Anderson. John Huston spent World War II making documentaries about the war and the terrible psychological effects on the men who fought it. This is the last movie Bogart and Bacall made together.

Former private eye Jeff Bailey wants to leave his secret past behind and begin a new life in another town, but the past catches up with him. The gangster he betrayed wants Jeff to work for him again, and Kathie, the beautiful and conniving girl he fell in love with, is still very much in the picture. Will he make the same mistake twice?

Out of the Past. Directed by Jacques Tourneur, "Out of the Past" is told in flashback for the first half of the movie. The 1947 film stars the great Robert Mitchum as Jeff, Jane Greer as the femme fatale and Kirk Douglas as the rival for Kathie's affections. The cast also includes Rhonda Fleming, Dickie Webb and Steve Brodie. "Out of the Past" is generally considered to be one of the greatest of all films noir. With a complicated storyline, terrific black and white photography, and great performances, this one is a must-see.

Mexican drug agent Mike Vargas and his new wife Susan are on their honeymoon, passing though Los Robles, a sleazy town on the Mexican-American border. A bomb is placed in a car, and it explodes near them. Sheriff Quinlan arrives, and Vargas ends up in the middle of the bombing investigation, with his wife in grave danger.

Touch of Evil. There are plenty of seedy characters in this 1958 film to make things interesting. "Touch of Evil" stars Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh and Orson Welles, with a supporting cast that includes Marlene Dietrich, Mercedes McCambridge and Dennis Weaver, and directed by Orson Welles. In the opening shot, a bomb is placed in the trunk of a car. The camera then follows the car's journey, uninterrupted, for over three minutes. This is one of the best-known shots in movie history, and it's fascinating to watch, as the doomed car moves along.

Rock Hudson

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Hart to Hart

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Homicide, Life on the Street

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Jack Webb

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Who played the role of private detective Joe Mannix from 1967-75?

Mike Connors.

Magnun PI

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Moonlighting

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Harry O

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Barnaby Jones

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NYPD Blue

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