https://www2.bfi.org.uk/.../news-bfi/lists/10-great-overlooked-neo-noirs But there’s no colour in The Small Back Room, just grim black and white, and the glorious, mystical expanses explored in their other films make way here for the cramped confines of a Ministry of Defence office, where a bomb disposal officer fights the ingenuity of the Nazis – and his own drink problem – as he works on the solution to defusing their latest super weapon. Critical enthusiasm for realism in British cinema, from Grierson to Ken Loach, has obscured the fact that the majority of British films pay little regard to a realist ethos. It shared many of the same traits as its US counterpart – frequent night sequences, a concentration on people on the wrong side of the tracks – but often had a completely different social perspective. This reference work makes a case for the inclusion of the British films in the film noir canon, which is still considered by some to be an exclusively American inventory. 9-Number nine on our list is The Up Turned Glass 1947. And what’s even more impressive is that the woman is both guilty of nurturing such a liaison – with a black marketeer, no less – and that the narrative encourages us, not to condemn her, but to sympathise with her. Tony Williams's 'British Film Noir', in Alain Silver and James Ursini's Film Noir Reader , points to 'the British representation of male trauma and insecurity' as one of the distinctive characteristics of British noir films. In Five Graves to Cairo, Corporal John J. Bramble (Franchot Tone), like many men and women in an espionage story, becomes an imposter.He is a survivor of the British Eighth Army in North Africa, which was, according to the film’s introduction, “beaten, scattered, and in flight” in June 1942. Submitted by BBC Culture Facebook fan Tom Crawford: “Because it's hugely funny (with many memorable lines), well-acted,… Long due for re-appraisal. A self-consciously Hollywood style production, with big-name American stars, Joseph Cotten and Orson Welles, it often seems like an attempt to imitate the latter’s directing style – with canted angles, long-held deep focus shots et al – while its story of a man trying to discover the truth about his vanished friend from a series of witnesses and adversaries apes the structure of Citizen Kane. The Third Man (Carol Reed). For she is as much a victim as her husband; having lost him to the war through no fault of her own, society expects that she now represses her natural desires. The plot couldn’t be more prosaic – truck drivers working for a haulage firm risk life and limb, racing each other down narrow country lanes for an extra slice of the bonus. Hell Drivers is a fascinating hybrid of bold American-style direction and stoic British realism. Reed deserves credit for his portrait of war-torn Vienna and his often inspired use of location – framing Lime in a darkened doorway, and Alida Valli in long shot on the path out of a cemetery. Great British Movies: Film Noir Collection of classic British film noirs. Night and the City (Jules Dassin). We don't know what's going on but we know something bad is out there controlling events. 'Hunted' (1952) stars Dirk Bogarde as hapless murderer Chris Lloyd, who takes flight from his crime with six-year-old witness Robbie (Jon Whiteley) in tow. The Assassin Otherwise known by the much better title of The Venetian Bird , Ralph Thomas directs this adaptation of the Victor Canning novel (besides writing Golden Salamander he penned The Rainbird Pattern, which was the basis of Hitchcock’s final film… Indeed, one of the traits this film has in common with all British noirs is their unusual attentiveness to the diversity of the capital city, and particularly its East End. Firstly, the footage of London in and around the docks is absolutely stunning, making it one of the few films to fully capture the dynamism of the city and its strange tension of old and new. As they head towards the Scottish border, the pair strike up a friendship of sorts and Lloyd learns that the boy has problems of his own. And the final fist fight to the sound of enemy bombers droning overhead is a melodramatic delight; populist cinema at its punchiest. So let’s step back into the bomb site that was 1940s England and discover which movies best told the seedier side of its story…. Taste of Cinema 2019. The whole thing should be pathetically small potatoes, but it fairly crackles with energy, the driving sequences reaching a delirious fever pitch. Another microbudget production, "Timelock" is arguably the best title in this British film noir collection, even if this particular movie hardly merits being included in the noir genre.The plot is simple: a young couple and their six-year old son are inside a bank where the father works. Film noir, (French: “dark film”) style of filmmaking characterized by such elements as cynical heroes, stark lighting effects, frequent use of flashbacks, intricate plots, and an underlying existentialist philosophy. Such moral confusion is hardly to be expected in a work ostensibly made to boost morale and a spirit of unity; indeed, it’s tantamount to a cry of unfairness. It’s ironic that the best-known film in this series actually came towards the end of the... 2. Graham Greene’s novel of Catholic guilt in a small-time gangster becomes film noir in this version of Brighton Rock. But there’s also William Hartnell, the first ever Dr Who and veteran of umpteen war movies, setting aside his usual crusty patriarch routine and delivering a fascinating turn as Pinky’s sidekick, using a blade to dig out the dirt under his nails, casually spitting on a rival’s carpet. Powell and Pressburger are known as the great baroque fantasists of British cinema, purveyors of whimsical capers drenched in Jack Cardiff’s lurid Technicolor. 7.0 of ten. It wasn’t so much interested in personal trauma or desires, but often in the upheavals of the community as a whole. There are two versions of this film, made for the British and American markets respectively, and ironically it’s the latter which is superior. All rights reserved. But it’s easy to overlook how perceptive and daring it can be; after all, this is a film whose hero is a deserter, absent without leave in the Big Smoke because he thinks his missus is having it off with another man. What is less well-known, though becoming increasingly recognised, is that another kind of noir was blossoming at the same time on the other side of the Atlantic. Whatever the story, the narrative seemed polluted by an urban-borne hysteria imperfectly masked by the hero’s machismo, just as the light in each chiaroscuro frame was surrounded by murky pools of darkness. And their boss? Desperate for work, he took this paltry little B-thriller by the scruff of its neck, filled it with one of the most extraordinary casts found in any British film, and gave it a heft it probably didn’t deserve. Graham Greene’s work inspired several classic noirs, … There is an assumption that film noir is a uniquely American phenomenon of the 1940’s and 1950’s, but similar content and stylistic elements exist in some British films of the same period. It’s a terrific showcase for Trevor Howard, who at the time in Britain, was hailed as potentially as exciting an actor as anyone in the States, and his performance here demonstrates that such hyperbole was not unfounded. Everyone is familiar with film noir, the American genre that flowered during the Second World War, and which produced a series of feverish dramas, equal parts cynical and romantic, where private eyes got lost in the labyrinths of organised crime or an innocent Joe was seduced by a femme fatale. But those truckies are Stanley Baker, Patrick McGoohan, Sean Connery, Sid James and Herbert Lom, all young and before-they-were-famous, eager to make their mark and so attacking the material with gusto. Film noir: Things Happen at Night: Francis Searle: Gordon Harker, Alfred Drayton: Comedy: The Turners of Prospect Road: Maurice J. Wilson: Wilfrid Lawson, Helena Pickard: Comedy/drama: Uncle Silas: Charles Frank: Jean Simmons, Katina Paxinou: Drama: The Upturned Glass: Lawrence Huntington: James Mason, Rosamund John: Drama: When the Bough Breaks: Lawrence … Collection of classic British film noirs. It Always Rains On Sunday (Robert Hamer). But it’s clear where Greville’s sympathies lie, as he gleefully contrasts the sophistication and charm of the Continental baddies against the dull gormlessness of their Cockney opponents. This Gun for Hire. Privacy Policy (http://www.tasteofcinema.com/privacy-notice-and-cookies/) Theme by, Taste of Cinema - Movie Reviews and Classic Movie Lists, The 10 Best British Noir Films You Should Watch, Taste of Cinema – Movie Reviews and Classic Movie Lists. Bill Douglas Trilogy: My Childhood (1972), My Ain Folk (1973) and My Way Home (1978) As academic Robert Murphy reminds us, British film noir was born in 'the brutal traditions of British popular entertainment – bear-baiting, prize-fighting, public execution…’ There is more class, more spite between classes and more kitchen sinks (even then) than even in US film noir. Despite the violent retribution looming on all sides, Dassin finds time to make the relationship between Harry and his grizzly partner genuinely touching, and the final meeting Harry has with his girlfriend under Hammersmith Bridge is one of the most moving and romantic in all noir. Any film that could potentially fall under the noir blanket is here, from very British murder mysteries, to David Lean's two dark Dickens adaptations, to noir horror and science fiction (Dead of Night, Night of the Demon, 1984, etc. The Small Back Room (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger). It’s set in a fantasy London where Rosalind Russell-esque newspaper gals, French chanteuses, Italian mobsters and priggish Englishmen called Jumbo all rub shoulders and spa off each other. ‘British noir classics’ created by Edna Sweetlove, one of thousands of movie lists from “Best of” to “Top 10s” written by people who love film on mubi.com. And so it was that he made the most bitter satire on the British war effort until Richard Lester’s How I Won The War came along two decades later. ‘Brighton Rock’ and ‘The Third Man’ are key examples. The film stars brilliant British actor James Mason and real life wife of the time Pamela Mason who also co-wrote the movie. Most memorable of all is the zither score by Anton Karas, both cheeky and wry, yet full of yearning at the same time. There’s also a bizarre shootout finale in an undertaker’s warehouse that anticipates the dark wit of Billy Wilder’s Some Like It Hot. Film maker, Errol Norris, described Film Noir as stories about scape-goats, the person who finds themselves caught in a net and the more they struggle, the deeper and deeper they become entwined in the nightmare. Corrupt cops, cold-blooded killers, a darkness that pervades it all.–these classic and modern film noir favorites have style and substance that will lure you in. As the ’50s rolled on, flag-waving war movies would reinstate the vision of England as middle-class stiff-upper-lips-ville, but in this golden period just after the war, there was a healthy sense of the raw, vibrant warmth of disparate communities coming together. The result is sequences of high black comedy, such as when Howard’s character hides out in a middle-class household only for the wife to realise this is her chance to bump off her pesky husband and put the blame on the fugitive. In many ways, Pool of London is a straightforward tale, concerning two sailors on shore leave, one of whom gets involved in smuggling and the other who finds romance. The home of "The British Film" collection; the ultimate destination for vintage British films. Appendices categorize films by rating, release date, director and cinematographer and also provide a noir and non-noir breakdown of the 47 films presented on the Edgar Wallace Mystery Theatre, a 1960s British television series that was also shown in the United States. Privacy Policy (http://www.tasteofcinema.com/privacy-notice-and-cookies/) Theme by, Taste of Cinema - Movie Reviews and Classic Movie Lists, The 10 Best British Noir Films You Should Watch, Taste of Cinema – Movie Reviews and Classic Movie Lists. It’s now out in a terrific new Blu-ray edition from Cohen Media. It’s a shockingly frank depiction of a nation barely surviving, and even a classic Powell-esque dream sequence involving a giant wine bottle, offers little respite. 4. But there’s no doubt that this story captured the public’s imagination, leading to a successful radio spin-off during the ’50s, and that, in Harry Lime, Welles delivers an unforgettable creation, not least in his renowned “cuckoo clock” speech, which sums up a whole philosophy of cynicism in one easy soundbite. A popular British classic, this is the sort of movie often found nestling in afternoon schedules on BBC2, its status as cosy nostalgic treat signalled by the casting of John Mills as leading man – the proverbial plucky Tommy personified, the underdog everyman. This frothy comedy noir was directed by Frenchman, Edmond T Greville, who was less interested in its story of a journalist threatened by hoodlums than in using that story as the basis for an exercice de style, deploying a barrage of silent movie effects – all cigarette smoke and mirrors – and Hitchcockian motifs – a fur stole unravelling signifies the death of a lady offscreen. In this case la femme is Abby Marty (Frances McDormand), wife of Texas bar owner Julian (Dan Hedaya). Contrary to his rather flippant image, Powell had bite and a sure sense of the realities of wartime Britain. British Soldier (4) Car (4) Car Crash (4) Character Name In Title (4) Cigarette Case (4) Crying (4) Damsel In Distress (4) Dance Hall (4) Drink (4) Euro Noir (4) Gang (4) Getaway Car (4) Hospital … "Cast a Dark Shadow" is a British film noir that skillfully uses Bogarde's considerable qualities to maximum effect. But it’s worth revisiting this earlier effort, featuring a typically impressive performance by Googie Withers as a bored working-class housewife, plodding dutifully along in a dreary, grey, terraced-house hinterland, only for a long-lost ex to turn up and ask her for shelter from the police. This is my media project in which we was tasked to make a film opening. . The 10 Best British Noir Films You Should Watch 1. The genre was prevalent mostly in American crime dramas of the post- World War II era. And as if to rub in the staidness of dear old England, the director has a lot of fun inventing ways to suggest naughty swear words and then masking them for the sake of propriety. The sense of human understanding extends to the hustle and bustle of Waterloo Road itself, with its colourful characters all carefully drawn, even if in passing. Its director, like Jules Dassin, had come to the UK after a run-in with McCarthyism. This is a story of two Americans on the run and on the make – one is Richard... 3. They Made Me A Fugitive (Alberto Cavalcanti). More tightly edited and more pacily scored, it offers an exhilarating odyssey through a bizarre underworld in which pathos, skullduggery and the grotesque are common bedfellows. This is a story of two Americans on the run and on the make – one is Richard Widmark’s Harry Fabian, a small-time hustler trying to get into the wrestling racket against the wishes of his competitors, and the other the director Jules Dassin himself, fleeing the HUAC Committee and attaching himself to this nifty UK potboiler as a way to keep making a living. He also wanted to take revenge – revenge on all the pen-pushing producers, all the dunderheaded bureaucrats in the Ministry of Information, who had stymied his creativity and scorned his ideas while he was making propaganda in the early ’40s. It’s ironic that the best-known film in this series actually came towards the end of the British noir cycle, and is in many ways the least typical (and arguably the least interesting). Endfield would go on to make the much-loved Zulu, but this is arguably his most intriguing British work. He plays an ex RAF officer forced into crime (an extraordinarily bitter comment on post-war realities) who is then framed for murder by his gang boss. After all, Britain (and, in these films’ cases, mostly London) was a country that was just emerging from one shattering nightmare – the war – into another – austerity. 8. That man, William Hartnell, again, himself on the brink of his most famous starring role. Film Noir. The old flames of desire and romance flare up for a brief, exciting moment, only to be cruelly extinguished, as the man is caught and ordinary life resumes its grip on her. 'Hunted' (1952) stars Dirk Bogarde as hapless murderer Chris Lloyd, who takes flight from his crime with six-year-old witness Robbie (Jon Whiteley) in tow. He also subtitles TV and films for the hearing-impaired and prepares audio description for the blind. For the purpose of this article, noir is defined both as a style and subject matter. The officer in the story finds his work handicapped by red tape, obfuscating time-servers, woefully under-equipped institutions, and an Establishment that in every field seems both arrogant and inadequate. All rights reserved. Pinky, a local Brighton knife-boy, is less a gangster than a dangerously troubled, overgrown adolescent; Attenborough invests him with enough complexity to make him an arresting figure. British Noir (54) Murder (40) Based On Novel (27) Husband Wife Relationship (23) London England (22) Police (16) Investigation (15) Cigarette Smoking (12) Police Inspector (11) Based On Play (10) Blackmail (9) Chase (9) Doctor (9) Fugitive (9) Scotland Yard (9) Telephone Call (9) Train (9) Bar (8) Death (8) Detective (8) Dog (8) England (8) Independent Film (8) Infidelity (8) Police … This work presents 369 British films produced between 1937 and 1964 that embody many of the same filmic qualities as those "black films" made in the United States during the classic film noir era. But perhaps more importantly, it features one of the first starring roles for a black actor in a British film – Earl Cameron, playing one of the sailors (and it’s worth noting, as an aside, that his fellow shipmate is an Italian American). Whatever the story, the narrative seemed polluted by an urban … A kind of Tarantino revenge fantasy avant la lettre, it pits a bunch of ex-squaddies against a band of spivs, the very men coining it in while the army boys were busy fighting and suffering in combat. The ultimate destination for vintage British films. Brighton Rock is principally remembered as the film in which cuddly luvvie, Richard Attenborough, managed to act against type and provide a genuinely convincing portrait of evil (though there is his turn as serial killer John Christie in 10 Rillington Place). 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