Film noir is often considered to be one of Hollywood’s only organic artistic movements. The term originated when a group of French critics began to use it to describe American thriller or detective films made in the post-World War II era between 1944 and 1954. The work of directors such as Orson Welles, Fritz Lang, and Billy Wilder are also considered film noir due to the use of stark lighting effects, cynical heroes, and intricate plots.
While the Cinémoi team loves a classic romance or an interesting documentary, there’s nothing that gets our hearts pounding quite like film noir. That’s why, every Friday, beginning June 5th, the NEW Cinémoi App is the place to watch your favorite film noir movies! Each week starting at 8 PM EST, we will be streaming titles like The Strange Woman, Patterns, Scarlet Street, and The Big Combo. You’ll have no trouble getting your film noir fix! Watch these movies and more on iOS FREE for 30 Days!
Patterns (1956)
Directed by Fielder Cook. Starring Van Heflin, Everett Sloane, Ed Begley, & Beatrice Straight
The story of the fierce and corrosive competition that exists in the executive branch of Ramsey & Co., a New York industrial colossus headed by Walter Ramsey, its cold, designing and ruthless chief. It is the saga, too, of Bill Briggs, his longtime second in command, who is swayed by human as well as technological values. And, it is the case of Fred Staples, a comparatively youthful industrial engineer brought in by Ramsey to succeed Briggs. The younger man’s views and sensitivities are essentially the same as Briggs’. People are not merely units, they feel. But it is Ramsey’s calculated pattern not to fire his aging aide but to create such untenable conditions that he will be forced to resign.
Too Late For Tears (1949)
Directed by Byron Haskin. Starring Lizabeth Scott, Dan Duryea, Don DeFore, & Kristine Miller
When Lizabeth Scott’s Jane Greer husband Arthur Kennedy accidentally gets his mitts on $60,000 in stolen money, she insists that he keep the dough rather than turn it over to the authorities. Two-bit private eye Dan Duryea catches on to Scott’s subterfuge, and demands that she turn the cash over to him. Scott persuades Duryea to split the money with her–then, determining that Kennedy might be too honest for everyone’s own good, she murders her husband. To cover her tracks, Scott reports her husband as missing. This brings in yet another fly in the ointment: Don DeFore, the brother of Scott’s first husband…
Scarlet Street (1945)
Directed by Fritz Lang. Starring Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett, Dan Duryea, & Margaret Lindsay
When a man in mid-life crisis befriends a young woman, her venal fiancé persuades her to con him out of the fortune they mistakenly assume he possesses.
The Big Combo (1955)
Directed by Joseph H. Lewis. Starring Cornel Wilde, Richard Conte, & Jean Wallace
A police lt. is ordered to stop investigating deadly crime boss Mr. Brown, because he hasn’t been able to get any hard evidence against him. He then goes after Brown’s girlfriend who despises him, for information instead.
The Strange Woman (1946)
Directed by Edgar Ulmer & Douglas Sirk. Starring Hedy Lamarr, George Sanders, & Lewis Hayward
In 1820s New England beautiful but poor and manipulative Jenny Hager marries rich old man Isaiah Poster but also seduces his son and his company foreman.
