The Endless Night: A Valentine to Film Noir

After many long hours, this is my tribute to my favorite genre, to the dark shadows and the profound despair of the soul. I tried to include as many as I could get my hands on, though there are obviously some that I overlooked, some accidently (the absence of "The Sweet Smell of Success" and "White Heat" are the most obvious and shameful), some purposefully (save Sam Fuller's 1964 pulp masterpiece "The Naked Kiss," I decided to stay strictly within the 18-year period between 1940 and 1958, so absolutely no neo-noirs like "Chinatown", and even more importantly, absolutely no colors).

Song: "Angel" by Massive Attack

This video is dedicated to two awesome women: The first is my friend Cecilia Ossenbeck, my partner in crime in the adventures of cinema. The second is to noir icon Ann Savage, who died yesterday.

If you like this, check out Eddie Muller's original short film: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWFeC5...

And now, the noirs:
THE LETTER (1940, William Wyler. Bette Davis)
THE MALTESE FALCON (1941, John Huston. Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor)
SHADOW OF A DOUBT (1943, Alfred Hitchcock. Joseph Cotten)
DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944, Billy Wilder. Barbara Stanwyck, Fred MacMurray)
MURDER, MY SWEET (1944, Edward Dmytryk. Dick Powell)
SCARLET STREET (1945, Fritz Lang. Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett)
LAURA (1945, Otto Preminger. Gene Tierney)
DETOUR (1945, Edgar G. Ulhmer. Ann Savage)
NOTORIOUS (1946, Alfred Hitchcock. Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman)
GILDA (1946, Charles Vidor. Rita Hayworth)
THE KILLERS (1946, Robert Siodmak. Ava Gardner, Burt Lancaster)
THE BIG SLEEP (1946, Howard Hawks. Humphrey Bogart)
THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE (1946, Tay Garnett. John Garfield, Lana Turner)
THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI (1947, Orson Welles. Rita Hayworth, Welles)
OUT OF THE PAST (1947, Jacques Tourneur. Jane Greer, Robert Mitchum)
BRUTE FORCE (1947, Jules Dassin. Burt Lancaster)
FORCE OF EVIL (1948, Abraham Polonsky. John Garfield, Marie Windsor)
THE SET-UP (1949, Robert Wise. Robert Ryan)
THE THIRD MAN (1949, Carol Reed. Orson Welles)
CRISS CROSS (1949, Siodmak. Burt Lancaster, Yvonne de Carlo)
GUN CRAZY (1950, Joseph H. Lewis. John Dall, Peggy Cummins)
IN A LONELY PLACE (1950, Nicholas Ray. Humphrey Bogart, Gloria Grahame)
THE ASPHALT JUNGLE (1950, Huston. Sterling Hayden)
NIGHT AND THE CITY (1950, Jules Dassin. Richard Widmark, Gene Tierney)
SUNSET BLVD. (1950, Billy Wilder. Gloria Swanson, William Holden)
ACE IN THE HOLE (1951, Billy Wilder. Kirk Douglas, Jan Sterling)
ANGEL FACE (1952, Otto Preminger. Jean Simmons)
PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET (1953, Samuel Fuller. Richard Widmark)
THE BIG HEAT (1953, Fritz Lang. Gloria Grahame, Lee Marvin)
KISS ME DEADLY (1955, Robert Aldrich. Gaby Rodgers)
NIGHT OF THE HUNTER (1955, Charles Laughton. Robert Mitchum, Lillian Gish)
THE KILLING (1956, Stanley Kubrick. Sterling Hayden)
ELEVATOR TO THE GALLOWS (1958, Louis Malle. Jeanne Moreau, Maurice Ronet)
TOUCH OF EVIL (1958, Orson Welles)
THE NAKED KISS (1964, Samuel Fuller. Constance Towers)

If this should be deleted for copyright infringement (this is for recreational use only, not for profit; all film clips and the music by Massive Attack belong to their respective copyright holders), I've had a hell of a time doing it. And just in case I glorified violence and smoking a bit too much, as a semi-pacifist, non-smoking woman, I can only quote Samuel Fuller: "I hate violence. That has never prevented me from using it in my films."

• Category

  Film & Animation

[Charles Barnes]

Fantastic, but I need to find your Anne Savage/Sonic Youth video. I'm sure you don't still check comments here, though...

[RubyTuesday717]

YouTube has been starting to get me for copyright infringement, so I've been deleting a few things before YT can make it another strike against me. :(

[Vanspecial]

This is the most brilliant thing I've ever seen on YouTube. The music, the editing. All complementing each other to blend into a perfect tension-filled Noir mood.

[Mooseman327]

Also, like the editing choices regarding timing. You have the edits happening on the beat early on and then, when the lyrics begin, you start using fades for the women which gives you some creative leeway to match the lyrics to what we're seeing on the screen. Then, at the end you come back to having the edits on the beat, ending with a lights out on Orson Welles' charming devil grin from "The Third Man." Well done, indeed!

[daniel ohara]

fabulous

[xSanSanfanx]

Love your icon! Out of the Past is one of my top five film noirs. Classic!

[ronron86]

This is A-MA-ZING!

[InhabitantPlanet]

I don't know who you are, but do you work for Hollywood ? This is a video that was created by a real pro! I wish you would do more.

[ANTONIO CERRILLO LOZOYA]

Buen trabajo. Estoy impresionado.

[nighthawkX13]

Just the best tribute to noir I've ever seen. Congrats.

[MsClassicGlamour]

Bravo!! Wonderfully done. :)

[dpohunter]

Teriffic job! It's wonderful to see all these great images and faces of what is also my favorite genre. Those folks who insist they cannot watch anything in black & white are missing out on a classic artform...it's their loss! Thanks for sharing your vision.

[MindsiMedia]

It's a great clip and the sound is outstanding.

[Agape51]

Great video!