Aside from Westerns, Film Noir is the only movie genre that can be said to be a truly American invention.  Born out of the cynicism following the Great Depression and WW2, Film Noir showed not the American dream, but its seamy underbelly.  Classic noir, usually shot on high contrast black and white film, is known for it’s dingy night time street and bar scenes, tragically flawed protagonists, and fem fatales.

As a kid growing up in Detroit, I saw hundreds of these movies on BILL KENNEDY AT THE MOVIES.  Kennedy, a famous B movie actor with 48 films to his credit (he was also the narrator for the entire Superman tv series, and appeared in a number of episodes), moved to Detroit in 1956 and hosted his daily movie show for the next 27 years.  He hooked me on film noir, an addiction I still happily carry on to this day.  

Here are my favorites:   

20.  THE STRANGER (Orson Wells, Loretta Young, Edward G. Robinson) 1946

19.  THE THIRD MAN (Joseph Cotton, Orson Wells) 1949

18.  DEAD RECKONING (Humphrey Bogart, Lizabeth Scott) 1947

17.  THE STRANGE LOVES OF MARTHA IVERS (Van Heflin, Barbara Stanwick, Kirk Douglas, Lizabeth Scott) 1946

16.  RESERVOIR DOGS (Harvey Kietel, Tim Roth) 1992

15.  DOUBLE INDEMNITY (Fred Mac Murray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson) 1944

14.  OUT OF THE PAST (Robert Mitchem, Kirk Douglas, Rhonda Fleming) 1947

13.  THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE (Lana Turner, John Garfield) 1946

12.  SCARFACE (Paul Muni, Ann Dvorak, George Raft) 1932

11.  LAURA (Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews, Vincent Price) 1944

10. THE BIG SLEEP (Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall) 1946

9.  KANSAS CITY CONFIDENTIAL (John Payne, Colleen Gray, Preston Foster, Jack Elam, Lee Van Cleef) 1952

8.  KEY LARGO  (Humphrey Bogart, Edward G Robinson, Lauren Bacall) 1947

7. THE ASPHALT JUNGLE (Sterling Hayden, Sam Jaffe) 1950

6.  THE GIRL HUNTERS (Mickey Spillane, Lloyd Nolan)  1963

5.  THE MALTESE FALCON (Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Peter Lorre) 1941

4.  DEAD AGAIN (Kenneth Branaugh, Emma Thompson, Andy Garcia) 1991

3.  CAPE FEAR  (Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum, Polly Bergen) 1962

2.  SPELLBOUND (Gregory Peck, Ingrid Bergman) 1945

1.  CASABLANCA  (Humphrey Bogart, Paul Henreid, Ingrid Bergman) 1942