FILM-NOIR Watchlist: 1950
Films I still have to see and want to see soon.
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- DirectorJoseph M. NewmanStarsEdmond O'BrienJoanne DruOtto KrugerAn electronics expert creates a huge bookie broadcast system for his crime boss, and takes over operations when his boss is murdered. His greed leads him on a deadly destructive path.
- DirectorLewis AllenStarsAlan LaddPhyllis CalvertPaul StewartWhen ruthlessly dedicated postal inspector investigates the murder of a co-worker, he finds that the sole witness, a nun, has been targeted by the killers.
- DirectorRichard FleischerStarsCharles McGrawAdele JergensWilliam TalmanA well-planned robbery goes awry with tough cop Jim Cordell in pursuit of the thieves.
- DirectorVincent ShermanStarsViveca LindforsDane ClarkVirginia MayoWhile recuperating from wartime back injuries at a hospital, veteran Bob Corey is visited on Christmas Eve by a beautiful stranger with an even stranger message.
- DirectorGordon DouglasStarsMark StevensEdmond O'BrienGale StormProwl car cops on night duty romance a reluctant young woman who works for the department while in danger from a vengeful racketeer.
- DirectorNicholas RayStarsMel FerrerJoan FontaineRobert RyanA woman's attempt to appear innocent and sweet clashes with her lover, who sees through her act, and the wealthy man she tries to trick into marrying her.
- DirectorHerbert I. LeedsStarsRobert SterlingJoan DixonRicardo CortezA detective goes after a ring of phony "mediums" who are trying to swindle a rich widow out of her fortune.
- DirectorJohn SturgesStarsLew AyresTeresa WrightVictor JoryA badly injured fugitive explains to a priest how he came to be in his present predicament.
- DirectorRalph ThomasStarsJean SimmonsTrevor HowardSonia DresdelA former British agent is employed at the Fenton country estate where he aids Fenton's niece in eluding the police after she's unjustly accused of murdering a local gamekeeper.
- DirectorHenry LevinStarsGlenn FordBroderick CrawfordMillard MitchellA D.A. becomes the prison warden where he tries to help an inmate he prosecuted, because he believes his sentence was excessive.
- DirectorWilliam DieterleStarsCharlton HestonLizabeth ScottViveca LindforsGamblers who "took" an out-of-town sucker in a crooked poker game feel shadowy vengeance closing in on them.
- DirectorGeorge BlairStarsDorothy PatrickRobert RockwellJimmy LydonSchool teacher Janet Brooks innocently involves herself in a scandal while spending the week-end alone in the mountain cabin of her fiancée, Dr. Walter Phillips. She gives first aid to a wounded racketeer, Joe Bruno, who is running out on his mob with eighty thousand dollars in cash. Unknown to Janet, Bruno hides the money in the cabin. She goes on an errand and two mobsters, Ed Somers and "Stubby" Moore), make a call on Bruno and then depart after delivering a couple of soon-to-be-fatal gunshot wounds. Bruno manages to get to the highway and hitches a ride from a passing motorist who drives him to the Coniston hospital. In front of a number of doctors as witnesses, Bruno draws up a will leaving the eighty-thousand bucks to Janet, but dies before he can reveal where the money is located. The story hits the local headlines the next day and Janet's denials of any previous acquaintance with Bruno or knowledge of the money are disbelieved. Janet, her mother, Celia, and her brother, Fred, are ostracized by the town. Only Walter, who is having trouble of his own trying to raise money to complete a polio wing for the hospital, stands by Janet. Janet publicly announces that if the money ever comes into her possession, she will turn it over to the hospital fund. Somers and Moore intensify their search. But Fred, under pressure from Pete Weiss, local racketeer to whom he owes a large gambling debt, finally succeeds in finding the money, but his conscience forces him to hide it again rather than turning it over to Weiss.
- DirectorEdward L. CahnStarsJoyce MackenzieStanley ClementsHurd HatfieldWhen Laura Mansfield's father is killed by a delivery man, the police has few clues and the investigation drags on but Laura decides to find the killer on her own.
- DirectorGerald MayerStarsMarshall ThompsonVirginia FieldAndrea KingAn escaped psychiatric patient causes havoc.
- DirectorAbby BerlinStarsMarie WindsorRichard DenningTaylor HolmesA woman inherits an Oklahoma oil well and hires an itinerant oil engineer to start drilling but she runs afoul of a greedy oil tycooness who wants her company at any cost, even if it means murder, sabotage and deceit.
- DirectorMark RobsonStarsDana AndrewsFarley GrangerJoan EvansA mentally unbalanced young man kills a priest. One of the priest's colleagues sets out to find the killer.
- DirectorEdward L. CahnStarsJohn HowardJoan DixonWalter KingsfordA doctor tests his theory that blood diseases can be cured by atomic radiation by using prison inmates as experiments.
- DirectorGeorge BlairStarsDorothy PatrickRobert RockwellKent TaylorA crime ring is smuggling gold from Mexico across the border in the US. The Customs Service sends an agent to Mexico to try to infiltrate the ring and stop the smuggling.
- DirectorTed TetzlaffStarsVictor MatureTerry MooreWilliam BendixIn New York, a small-time hood, who took the rap for a murder committed by his crime-boss in exchange for 50 G's, faces deportation because he doesn't hold American citizenship.
- DirectorDavid MacKaneStarsHoward ConnellMarjorie ThomsonBetty HendersonA young artist is almost driven to murder as a result of the pressures of living in a Glasgow slum.
- DirectorJoseph LernerStarsZachary ScottFaye EmersonMary BolandAn alcoholic ex-cop, now the house detective at a scuzzy hotel in an even scuzzier part of town, stumbles through New York City's sleazy underworld searching for his kidnapped son.
- DirectorR.G. SpringsteenStarsRichard DenningBarbra FullerSteven GerayIn the Gulf of Mexico, small-time jewelry smuggler Jim Gannon is forced by gangster H. G. Danziger to use his boat to smuggle weapons into Cuba but on the return trip Jim is robbed by a strange couple of the cash owed to Danziger.
- DirectorSam NewfieldStarsJim DavisMarcia Mae JonesSid MeltonA truck driver stops on a rainy road at night to help a stranded motorist, but it turns out to be a ruse--he is attacked, knocked out and his truck stolen. Since he has a criminal record, the police immediately suspect he's involved in the hijacking, and their suspicions are reinforced later when he is discovered--unknown to him--to be hauling stolen merchandise. He realizes he is being set up as a fall guy by the organization behind the truck hijackings, and he and a friend set out to determine who is trying to set him up, and why.
- DirectorAndrew L. StoneStarsWilliam P. Lane Jr.John S. BattleW. Kerr ScottLed by a psychopathic killer, a vicious gang of armed robbers terrorizes Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina, robbing banks and payrolls and murdering anyone who might identify them.
- DirectorGeorge ArchainbaudStarsGig YoungLynne RobertsMary AndersonThe suspect in a 12-year-old murder case is finally caught and tried, but the witnesses are a bit hard to track down...
- DirectorCharles LamontStarsScott BradyMona FreemanAndrea KingIn 1950s California, the police force tries to infiltrate and neutralize a shoplifting crime ring operating in major department stores.
- DirectorRobert FloreyStarsPat O'BrienWayne MorrisDolores MoranMartin is a wounded gangster comforted by a visits from a little girl and her tiny dog with one bad eye. As he hides out, he makes plans to find his abusive, double crossing, partner.
- DirectorEarl McEvoyStarsEvelyn KeyesCharles KorvinWilliam BishopPolice seek a smuggler while doctors, unaware she's the same person, desperately comb unprotected New York for a smallpox carrier.
- DirectorJoseph H. LewisStarsHedy LamarrJohn HodiakJames CraigDuring the 1950s, an undercover U.S. Immigration investigator travels to Cuba to bust a crime ring that smuggles illegal-aliens into the USA but he falls in love with a smuggled woman.
- DirectorAlexander HallStarsPaul DouglasJean PetersCesar RomeroA Chicago mobster falls in love with a principled young governess, but he must keep up the appearances of being an honest businessman and a dedicated single dad if he hopes to woo her.
- DirectorJohn SturgesStarsRicardo MontalbanSally ForrestBruce BennettA small-town policeman is assisted by a Harvard professor after the discovery of a human skeleton on a Massachusetts beach.
- DirectorMitchell LeisenStarsBarbara StanwyckJohn LundJane CowlA pregnant woman adopts the identity of a railroad-crash victim and starts a new life with the woman's wealthy in-laws, but is soon blackmailed by her devious ex.
- DirectorW. Lee WilderStarsCesar RomeroJune HavocMarie McDonaldA down-on-her-luck San Francisco woman, turning in desperation to jewel robbery, barely escapes getting nabbed in a heist and moves to Los Angeles where she gets an honest job as a waitress. Her troubles start again, however, when she falls madly in love, blind to the fact that her boyfriend is a four-flushing, small-time con man.
- DirectorHugo FregoneseStarsJames MasonMärta TorénDan DuryeaAfter stealing a gangster's money and his girlfriend, a doctor heads for a small village in Mexico.
- DirectorMel FerrerStarsClaudette ColbertRobert RyanJane CowlA woman preparing to marry her fiance is accused of bigamy by a stranger but she fights back by trying to prove she's the victim of a conspiracy designed to discredit her.
- DirectorPat JacksonStarsAnn SothernZachary ScottGigi PerreauA woman impulsively murders her sister after discovering she has been having an affair with her fiancé, and later plans on killing the little girl who may have witnessed the crime.
- DirectorJoseph PevneyStarsHoward DuffPeggy DowBrian DonlevyUnscrupulous and opportunistic San Francisco news media photographer Jack Early steps on and uses folks to get ahead, but in the end he tangles with the wrong people.
- DirectorGeorge ShermanStarsRichard ConteColeen GrayRichard TaberIn New York, the murder of a Bellevue Hospital intern prompts the police to send an undercover detective to investigate.
- DirectorBernard VorhausEdgar G. UlmerStarsPaul HenreidCatherine McLeodGrace CoppinA psychiatrist and nurse overthrow the abusive heads of a girls' reform school in order to teach the unfortunate young women that they have a chance at healthy lives.
- DirectorCy EndfieldStarsFrank LovejoyKathleen RyanRichard CarlsonA man who is down on his luck falls in with a criminal.
- DirectorBoris IngsterStarsDon DeForeAndrea KingGeorge TobiasThe US secret service goes after a counterfeit ring, whose engraver Eugene Deane has covertly constructed his plates while serving a life sentence in San Quentin. In order to infiltrate the gang, federal agent John Riggs poses as an Eastern kingpin who wants to purchase a large quantity of the fake currency. During his investigations he falls in love with beautiful Nora Craig...
- DirectorGeorge ShermanStarsHoward DuffMärta TorénPhilip FriendDuring the Cold War, a microfilm concealed in the collar of a panther, transported by freight rail, is sought by several spies after the animal escapes its cage following the train's derailment in Switzerland.
- DirectorStuart HeislerStarsGinger RogersRonald ReaganDoris DayMarsha Mitchell, a traveling dress model, stops in a southern town to see her sister who has married a Ku Klux Klansman. Marsha witnesses the KKK commit a murder and helps District Attorney Burt Rainey bring the criminals to justice.
- DirectorPaul SloaneStarsSally ParrPatrick WaltzWalter ReedA young man who insists that he is innocent is slated to be the first executed in the prison's electric chair.
- DirectorHarry KellerStarsDorothy PatrickArthur FranzBarbra FullerBud Dolliver, a former WWII hero and an ex-convict, returns to his hometown in an effort to make a new life for himself, but even with help from cannery worker Lou Jellison he finds living down his reputation difficult. He manages to get a job at Kelsey's Boat Yard because an accident caused by Kelsey Bunker's no-good son Junior endangered Bud's life and revealed his excellent war record. He does well at the job, but Joe Pettigrew (NOT played by Gig Young), personnel manager of the cannery, is jealous of Lou's feeling for Bud. He frames Bud for a robbery committed by himself and Junior Bunker. Bud's alibi is weak because he is trying to protect Lou's reputation as on the night of the robbery they were out of the state trying to get married.
- DirectorEdward MontagneStarsJohn MilesPatricia BarryWalter KinsellaThe body of a Jane Doe turns up in an abandoned car in New York and the police's only clue revolves around the tattoo she has on her arm, and the fact that someone tried to destroy the corpse to erase the fingerprints.
- DirectorCy EndfieldStarsDan DuryeaHerbert MarshallGale StormThe story of the fight of a small-town newspaper to free an innocent girl of a murder charge, with the publisher of a metropolitan city newspaper heading, by forced circumstances, the opposing forces.
- DirectorRudolph MatéStarsWilliam HoldenNancy OlsonBarry FitzgeraldA sharp-eyed woman spots a man with a gun on a train and her alert to the railroad police helps them in their search for a ruthless gang who have kidnapped a blind heiress.
- DirectorGeorge BlairStarsRobert RockwellBarbra FullerRaymond BurrRoger Lewis, publisher of a vicious scandal sheet, is in the habit of tricking wealthy, gullible women into investing in his ventures. His latest conquest is a shapely ex-showgirl, Doris King, the wife of Harry Jackson, once a top-flight producer. Jackson has lost all his money, but Doris still has her jewels, and she wants to divorce her husband and marry Lewis, who has no intentions of marrying her once he gets his hands on her (money) jewels. Jackson, concerned about Doris' happiness and wanting to prevent her from ruining her life, takes the jewels. Then he becomes involved in a fight with Lewis, who takes his revenge by killing Doris and pinning suspicion on Jackson. Jackson goes into hiding and falls prey to a small-time crook, "Biggie" Wolfe, who is secretly in the pay of Lewis. Wolfe wants to sell the jewelry and keep the proceeds for himself, telling Jackson the money will serve to get him the services of a good lawyer, but Lewis wants Jackson found with the jewels on him, and he orders "Biggie" to return them. MEABWHILE, Jackson's daughter, Linda, instigates a police search for her father and Detective Lt. Jim Webster and his assistant Newcombe bring so much pressure on Jackson that he commits suicide. This lets "Biggie" off the hook reference returning the jewels and he looks up gangster Johnny Rocco, who does business at the place of an old Long Island sea-dog, "Pop" Swenson, and Rocco offers to buy the jewels IF "Biggie" will arrange a border-crossing for his brother Mort, who is set to break out of the state penitentiary. Lewis wrings this information out of "Biggie" and takes it to District Attorney George Richards, who warns the prison officials and Mort is killed in the attempted jail break. Rocco learns the source of the leak, is somewhat miffed at "Big-Mouth Biggie", takes him for a ride, comes back alone and hatches a plot to get Lewis.
- DirectorRobert StevensonStarsJoseph CottenAlida ValliSpring ByingtonAn ex-hood hopes to start a new life under an assumed name in a small town but his past catches up with him when an old crime-buddy asks him to help with a casino heist.
- DirectorSam NewfieldStarsKent TaylorSheila RyanMickey KnoxDetectives for the Western Pacific Railroad investigate several murders, including one of a railroad payroll agent.
- DirectorGeorge BlairStarsVirginia HustonRobert RockwellBarbra FullerJoyce Harper is an ex-Army nurse who enters police work with the L.A. Police Department. When her friend Ruby gets involved with petty crook Max Taylor, she refuses to listen to Joyce's warnings and eventually marries the hoodlum. Joyce gets through the detailed training required to become an L.A. policewoman, and she and her newly-assigned detective partner Harvey Gates clean up a Skid-Row bar-girl scheme. Then she and Gates are told to get the goods on a narcotics gang run by Richard Cott, and Ruby and Max Taylor reappear.
- DirectorMichael GordonStarsIda LupinoStephen McNallyHoward DuffAfter her father is killed in an accident, mill heiress Deborah Chandler marries the plant manager, Selden Clark, but his motives are suspicious.