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5 Films Noir You Should… Avoid
As a classic film nerd, people keep asking me what film they should watch if they’ve never seen a classic film, whether it’s a screwball comedy, Western, film noir or something else. When it comes to noir specifically, I recommend some of my favorites one a daily basis (I bet you STILL haven’t watched The Big Combo (1955), have you?). And then there are those that, how can I put it… only a mother could love. It’s not that they’re bad, it’s that they’re hard to get into, from the point of view of someone who never watched one. If you’ve never seen a film noir, you should probably start with something that more closely resembles your idea of film noir and something that has largely stood the test of time. So, leave these five bad boys for when you’ve seen at least three Double Indemnities, five Out of the Pasts and seven Asphalt Jungles.
Here they are…
Decoy (1946, dir. Jack Bernhard) — Who shot femme fatale Margot Shelby (Jean Gillie) and why? Cue the flashback. Oh, I a-d-o-r-e this movie. And I adore Margot Shelby. But, objectively speaking, this is a completely bonkers movie. It’s the silliest, wackiest film noir, with at least two of the most laughably preposterous scenes ever put on film. Watching Decoy will have you wondering if all B-noirs are this crazy. They’re not! Just ask Detour (1946).
Fallen Angel (1945, dir. Otto Preminger) — Eric Stanton (Dana Andrews) wonders into a diner in the middle of the night, after being stranded in a small town when he couldn’t pay for his bus fare, and naturally, he begins to con his way through town. Though it has one of the best uses of the Good vs Evil motif in goody-two shoes June (Alice Faye) and waitress Stella (Linda Darnell) and their respective worlds, Fallen Angel is more of a dark melodrama or suburban noir than anything else and it might not be exactly what you may have had in mind going in.
Born to Kill (1947, dir. Robert Wise) — OK the plot is a little too convoluted: essentially, Helen (Claire Trevor) and Sam (Lawrence Tierney) are awful people who deceive their respective partners and commit senseless acts of violence. Their horrible deeds are a little too much to take in this one and I personally find Born to Kill too gruesome (and that’s coming from me!) and not charming or likeable enough. Sorry Bob.
