So over the last few years, I've been exploring those old, classic films that I was told I was supposed to see, but never gotten around to, largely through laserdisc collecting. I've found it really rewarding, and people liked my list of 1940s films, so I figured I'd give you another decade's worth of films that I think are worth watching.

Edit: So after I started this, I realized I was missing a film that should have been on this list. So fuck it, it's a top 11 now.

Did you know noir can cover relationship dramas? Barbara Stanwyck plays a woman who moved out east to make a better life for herself, but after a years long affair with a politician ended with the man's death, she's left with no money and returns back to her fishing town in California. A fisherman there is crazy for her, and he's a nice guy, but she's not sure she loves him. And he has this friend who's an asshole, but might be a way out. A moody film about lonely people who don't know what they want, and a complex female protagonist back when that was a rarity.

Vincent Price plays the spoiled son of a newspaper mogul who just inherited the business, but he has no interest in actually running it. There's a serial killer on the loose, and and Price's character decides that whoever unmasks the killer will get to be the new manager for the paper. It's noir, so of course this leads to everyone making the kinds of terrible, selfish, dangerous decisions you'd hope for in a great drama.

A nihilistic hardboiled detective noir that in some ways is a commentary on that detective archetype and an update for more modern anxieties. It's a great looking, influential film that's often brought up as one of the best examples of it's genre. The awkward thing about trying to talk about it is that it's one of those films that works best if you know little going in. It fucking goes places. I wouldn't recommend this as a first noir, but if you've seen one or two other old detective films, jump right in. Trust me, you'll have a time you won't forget.

When people bring up this movie, I feel like they tell you two things:

1. It was a big inspiration for Star Wars.
2. It's not one of Akira Kurosawa's better, more meaningful works.

And sadly, I have to say that they're right about point two. What we have is only a great action/adventure film by one of the best directors who ever lived starring one of Japan's greatest actors. I'm so sorry for wasting your time.

Seriously though, this film is a blast, and this would make a good break between the heavier films I've been recommending. It's probably also the most accessible thing Akira Kurosawa ever made, so it's not a bad starting point if you've ever been curious if he lives up to the hype.

Humphry Bogart is a washed up, alcoholic screenwriter with temper problem. A woman who visited was murdered, and he's the prime suspect, only saved from arrest by the alibi provided by his neighbor, played by Gloria Grahame. The two begin dating, but the police still suspect Bogart's character, and she starts to wonder if they just might be right.

This is often regarded as Bogart's greatest performance, and now that I've finally seen it, I'd agree. Grahame also does a hell of a job. The film's a bit of a slow burn, but it's a good one. A tale of romance, loneliness, abuse, and the dark side of Hollywood.

Stanley Kubrick's studio debut isn't quite as inventive and showy as you'd expect from his later films (or his previous independent film Killer's Kiss), but it's a pretty much perfectly executed heist film. Probably the last real masterpiece of classic noir.

You know a film is going to be interesting when it's narrated by a corpse. William Holden plays a hack screenwriter who's found dead in a pool at the beginning of the film and spends the rest of the film telling you how that happened, including how he became the gigalo to a washed up, mentally unstable silent film star. Norma Desmond is utterly iconic in that role. It's an odd film that's a bit hard to classify, but usually people just say it's a "black comedy noir," and I can't think of a better way to describe it.

Marty is a small movie. A butcher and a schoolteacher meet up one night, have a good time, and decide they want to do it again. The butcher's friends and family have their small, regular people anxieties that make the lead start doubting whether this romance is a good idea. The whole thing takes place over 36 hours in a handful of locations, none of which look particularly expensive. It was also a first time film director and Earnest Borgnine's first starring role. It's a charming, unpretentious film with a great script that's full of heart. And it's surprising to me that a film this small was a huge hit that won four academy awards and the Palm d'Or (one of only 3 films to win both that and best picture). But I guess sometimes even the big guys like to see small ones succeed. My second favorite romance film after Casablanca.

This is the most Japanese movie I've ever seen. I don't think people realize how much Western influence there is on most anime, and even Akira Kurosawa was highly influenced by American films (there's a reason they kept remaking them as Westerns). But this almost feels like a Noh play with its meditative pacing, slow transitions, and Buddhist themes. War has broken out, and two men want to use it to make their lives better, one by selling more pottery, the other by becoming a samurai, despite the objections of their wives. It's a ghost story about war and greed, and it's an expression of sincere regret from someone who helped make war propaganda. One of the masterpieces of Japanese cinema.

"It's the most un-American thing I've ever seen in my whole life" - John Wayne, who turned down the leading role in this film because he read it as an allegory about blacklisting, a practice he was in favor of.

I first put on this film when I'd been watching a bunch of noir for the first time. I figured a Western would be a good change of tone. So I watched the town slowly reveal their hidden darkness, the protagonist start to think he might be doomed, and I thought oh god damn it, this is just film noir in disguise! I still feel like it kind of is.

This film stars Gary Cooper, a town sheriff who is about to retire, but finds out that some men he put away have been freed and are coming to kill him. The train arrives at noon. It's 10:45 AM. The film proceeds in real time, often keeping a clock on screen, as the protagonist tries to get the townspeople to back him up, finding that a more difficult task than he expected. It's a master class in building tension.