Los Angeles Noir
Films Noir set in Los Angeles , the default setting of many for obvious reasons ( that's where Hollywood is ! )
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145 titles
- DirectorEdward DmytrykStarsDick PowellClaire TrevorAnne ShirleyAfter being hired to find an ex-con's former girlfriend, Philip Marlowe is drawn into a deeply complex web of mystery and deceit.
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsHumphrey BogartLauren BacallJohn RidgelyPrivate detective Philip Marlowe is hired by a wealthy family. Before the complex case is over, he's seen murder, blackmail and what might be love.
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsWilliam HoldenGloria SwansonErich von StroheimA screenwriter develops a dangerous relationship with a faded film star determined to make a triumphant return.
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsFred MacMurrayBarbara StanwyckEdward G. RobinsonA Los Angeles insurance representative lets an alluring housewife seduce him into a scheme of insurance fraud and murder that arouses the suspicion of his colleague, an insurance investigator.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsJoan CrawfordJack CarsonZachary ScottA hard-working mother inches towards disaster as she divorces her husband and starts a successful restaurant business to support her spoiled daughter.
- DirectorRobert SiodmakStarsBurt LancasterYvonne De CarloDan DuryeaAn armored truck driver and his ex-wife conspire with a gang to have his own truck robbed on the route.
- DirectorRaymond NassourKenneth W. RichardsonStarsWilliam ThourlbyWarren J. KemmerlingMichael FoxA series of murders involving a stripper (Indus Arthur) are investigated by a hard-drinking reporter (William Thourlby) in this late-entry film-noir.
- DirectorAlfred L. WerkerAnthony MannStarsRichard BasehartScott BradyRoy RobertsThis film-noir piece, told in semi-documentary style, follows police on the hunt for a resourceful criminal who shoots and kills a cop.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsPriscilla LaneRobert CummingsOtto KrugerA young man accused of sabotage goes on the run to prove his innocence.
- DirectorRobert FloreyStarsJohn PayneSonny TuftsEllen DrewWar hero recovers from amnesia and is confronted by his criminal past.
- DirectorRobert AldrichStarsJack PalanceIda LupinoWendell CoreyHollywood actor Charles Castle is pressured by his studio boss into a criminal cover-up to protect his valuable career.
- DirectorRobert AldrichStarsRalph MeekerAlbert DekkerPaul StewartA doomed female hitchhiker pulls Mike Hammer into a deadly whirlpool of intrigue, revolving around a mysterious "great whatsit".
- DirectorWilliam CastleStarsRichard ConteJulie AdamsRichard EganAn independent producer unwisely opens a can of worms after he decides to make a movie about the unsolved murder of a famous silent film director in 1929.
- DirectorRichard L. BareStarsEfrem Zimbalist Jr.Erin O'BrienShepperd StrudwickA private investigator is hired to find and protect a singer who witnessed the murder of a union official and is being stalked by the killer. What he doesn't know is that he has actually been hired by the killer himself.
- DirectorJack PollexfenStarsLon Chaney Jr.Max ShowalterMarian CarrCharles "The Butcher" Benton, a brutal death row inmate gets double-crossed by his crooked lawyer. He gets his chance for revenge when, after he's been executed, a bizarre experiment brings him back to life and more deadly than ever.
- DirectorVincente MinnelliStarsLana TurnerKirk DouglasWalter PidgeonAn unscrupulous movie producer uses an actress, a director and a writer to achieve success.
- DirectorRaoul WalshStarsJames CagneyVirginia MayoEdmond O'BrienA psychopathic criminal with a mother complex makes a daring break from prison and leads his old gang in a chemical plant payroll heist.
- DirectorSamuel FullerStarsVictoria ShawGlenn CorbettJames ShigetaTwo detectives seek a stripper's killer in the Japanese quarter of Los Angeles, but a love triangle threatens their friendship.
- DirectorGene Fowler Jr.StarsCharles BronsonKent TaylorJennifer HoldenA Los Angeles high-school teacher's problems begin when he happens to witness a gangland killing and agrees to identify the murderers. Not realizing this will cause the underworld to retaliate "big time".
- DirectorTay GarnettStarsLana TurnerJohn GarfieldCecil KellawayA married woman and a drifter fall in love and then plot to murder her husband.
- DirectorRobert AldrichStarsBette DavisJoan CrawfordVictor BuonoA former child star torments her paraplegic sister in their decaying Hollywood mansion.
- DirectorJohn BoormanStarsLee MarvinAngie DickinsonKeenan WynnAfter being double-crossed and left for dead, a mysterious man named Walker single-mindedly tries to retrieve the money that was stolen from him.
- DirectorSydney PollackStarsJane FondaMichael SarrazinSusannah YorkThe lives of a disparate group of contestants intertwine in an inhumanely grueling dance marathon.
- DirectorRobert AltmanStarsElliott GouldNina van PallandtSterling HaydenPrivate investigator Philip Marlowe helps a friend out of a jam, but in doing so gets implicated in his wife's murder.
- DirectorJohn SchlesingerStarsDonald SutherlandKaren BlackBurgess MeredithAn art director in the 1930s falls in love and attempts to make a young woman an actress despite Hollywood who wants nothing to do with her because of her problems with an estranged man and her alcoholic father.
- DirectorRichard FleischerStarsCharles McGrawAdele JergensWilliam TalmanA well-planned robbery goes awry with tough cop Jim Cordell in pursuit of the thieves.
- DirectorOtto PremingerStarsRobert MitchumJean SimmonsMona FreemanAmbulance driver Frank Jessup is ensnared in the schemes of the sensuous but dangerous Diane Tremayne.
- DirectorRobert AldrichStarsJoan CrawfordCliff RobertsonVera MilesA lonely middle-aged woman meets a younger man, but their relationship is threatened when the man's troubled past reveals itself.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsAnne BaxterRichard ConteAnn SothernA telephone operator ends up drunk and at the mercy of a cad in his apartment. The next morning she wakes up with a hangover and the terrible fear she may be a murderess.
- DirectorJohn ReinhardtStarsDan DuryeaMary AndersonGordon GebertA poor father makes monumental efforts to get money to keep his phone installed, so he can get word on his critically injured little daughter.
- DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsJack NicholsonFaye DunawayJohn HustonA private detective hired to expose an adulterer in 1930s Los Angeles finds himself caught up in a web of deceit, corruption, and murder.
- DirectorRichard FleischerStarsBill WilliamsBarbara HaleRichard QuineJim Fletcher, waking up from a coma, finds he is to be given a court martial for treason and charged with informing on fellow inmates in a Japanese prison camp during WWII. Escaping from the hospital he tries to clear himself by enlisting the aid of Martha Gregory, widow of a service buddy he was accused of informing on. Helped also by Ted Niles, a surviving fellow prisoner, he gets closer to finding the answers he needs, and becomes ensnared in a grandiose scheme involving his Japanese ex-prison guard, $10,000,000 of US currency forged by the Japanese and a burgeoning crime network poised to wreak havoc throughout southern California.
- DirectorFrank TuttleStarsEdmond O'BrienBrian DonlevyNatalie WoodA deranged man kidnaps the nubile daughter of a police captain.
- DirectorR.G. SpringsteenStarsRod CameronGale RobbinsAllison HayesLawyer Marc Hill helps clear the name of his girlfriend's father who is accused of murdering a man that was blackmailing him.
- DirectorJack ArnoldStarsEdward G. RobinsonJohn ForsytheKathleen HughesA beautiful but heartless television actress, uses seduction and tricks to blackmail the men in her life to a point, where she could get herself killed.
- DirectorHarold D. SchusterStarsBarry SullivanCharles McGrawDorothy MaloneA bank teller attempts to clear his name and rebuild his career after he is wrongly accused of theft.
- DirectorJoseph LoseyStarsDavid WayneHoward Da SilvaMartin GabelIn this Americanization of the 1931 German thriller, both the police and the criminal underworld stalk a mysterious serial killer who preys on little girls.
- DirectorAndrew V. McLaglenStarsWilliam CampbellKaren SharpeAnita EkbergA locksmith gets caught up in a bank robbery.
- DirectorFranklin AdreonStarsDane ClarkMay WynnWilliam TalmanCrime drama in which a man unknowingly helps a gang pull off a big heist. The gang discovers that the man is more trouble than he is worth and as a result, things don't go as smoothly as planned.
- DirectorPaul BogartStarsJames GarnerGayle HunnicuttCarroll O'ConnorA young woman from Kansas hires LA private detective Philip Marlowe to find her missing brother.
- DirectorVictor SavilleGeorge WhiteStarsRobert BrayWhitney BlakeDonald RandolphPrivate eye Mike Hammer passes over beautiful women and corpses to find stolen jewels.
- DirectorIda LupinoStarsSally ForrestKeefe BrasselleHugh O'BrianA dancer who has just gotten engaged to her partner and choreographer and is about to embark on a major career is devastated to learn that she has contracted polio.
- DirectorJohn FarrowStarsEdward G. RobinsonGail RussellJohn LundAfter phony stage mentalist Triton mysteriously acquires supernatural powers of precognition, he becomes frightened and abandons his act to live in anonymity.
- DirectorHubert CornfieldStarsGene RaymondJeanne CooperWayne MorrisFive men rob a train in Utah of 10 million dollars in gold and head to Los Angeles in 3 trucks hoping to meet up with their beautiful accomplice and leave the country.
- DirectorR.G. SpringsteenStarsRobert RockwellHanna Axmann-RezzoriBetty Lou GersonAn ex-GI becomes involved with the American Communist party, and falls in love with his instructor. The pair quickly realise their mistake, when they see how party leaders handle a member who questioned the party's principles. When they try to leave, they're marked for assassination and hunted by the party killers.
- DirectorRaoul WalshStarsGeorge RaftHumphrey BogartAnn SheridanWhen one of two truck-driving brothers loses an arm, they both join a transport company where the other is falsely charged as an accessory in the murder of the owner.
- DirectorFrank TuttleStarsAlan LaddVeronica LakeRobert PrestonWhen assassin Philip Raven shoots a blackmailer and his beautiful female companion dead, he is paid off in marked bills by his treasonous employer who is working with foreign spies.
- DirectorHenry LevinStarsEdmond O'BrienLizabeth ScottTerry MooreA lawyer for a rich elderly industrialist works out a complex inheritance scam to pass off a con as the industrialist's long-lost son and claim the huge inheritance.
- DirectorJack BernhardStarsNancy ColemanMichael O'SheaSheldon LeonardUndercover reporter Ann Mason infiltrates a neo-fascist group that recruits disgruntled veterans, but amnesia prevents her from exposing them.
- DirectorArnold LavenStarsAdam WilliamsMeg RandallEdward BinnsQuiet, unobtrusive LA citizen Carl Martin picks up look-alikes for his estranged blonde wife and murders them with garden shears.
- DirectorRichard FleischerWilliam Cameron MenziesStarsCharles McGrawMarie WindsorJacqueline WhiteA woman planning to testify against the mob must be protected against potential assassins on the train trip from Chicago to Los Angeles.
- DirectorDick RichardsStarsRobert MitchumCharlotte RamplingJohn IrelandLos Angeles private eye Philip Marlowe is hired by paroled convict Moose Malloy to find his girlfriend Velma, former seedy nightclub dancer.
- DirectorWalter HillStarsRyan O'NealBruce DernIsabelle AdjaniA getaway driver becomes the latest assignment for a tenacious detective.
- DirectorPaul SchraderStarsGeorge C. ScottPeter BoyleSeason HubleyA religious businessman from Michigan has to venture into the world of pornography in California, desperately searching for his runaway teenage daughter.
- DirectorRidley ScottStarsHarrison FordRutger HauerSean YoungA blade runner must pursue and terminate four replicants who stole a ship in space and have returned to Earth to find their creator.
- DirectorAlex CoxStarsHarry Dean StantonEmilio EstevezTracey WalterA young punk, recruited by a car repo agency, finds himself in pursuit of a Chevrolet Malibu with a huge, $20,000 bounty--and something otherworldly stashed in its trunk.
- DirectorBrian De PalmaStarsCraig WassonMelanie GriffithGregg HenryA young actor's obsession with spying on a beautiful woman who lives nearby leads to a baffling series of events with drastic consequences.
- DirectorJames CameronStarsArnold SchwarzeneggerLinda HamiltonMichael BiehnA human soldier is sent from 2029 to 1984 to stop an almost indestructible cyborg killing machine, sent from the same year, which has been programmed to execute a young woman whose unborn son is the key to humanity's future salvation.
- DirectorHal AshbyStarsJeff BridgesRosanna ArquetteAlexandra PaulA former police detective, still recovering from his alcohol addiction, is seemingly drawn into L.A's criminal underworld after stumbling upon a local drug ring.
- DirectorJack NicholsonStarsJack NicholsonHarvey KeitelMeg TillyThe sequel to Chinatown (1974) finds J.J. "Jake" Gittes investigating adultery and murder, and the money that comes from oil.
- DirectorQuentin TarantinoStarsHarvey KeitelTim RothMichael MadsenWhen a simple jewelry heist goes horribly wrong, the surviving criminals begin to suspect that one of them is a police informant.
- DirectorQuentin TarantinoStarsJohn TravoltaUma ThurmanSamuel L. JacksonThe lives of two mob hitmen, a boxer, a gangster and his wife, and a pair of diner bandits intertwine in four tales of violence and redemption.
- DirectorCarl FranklinStarsDenzel WashingtonTom SizemoreJennifer BealsA Black war hero is hired to find a mysterious woman, and gets mixed up in a murderous political scandal in 1948 Los Angeles.
- DirectorMichael MannStarsAl PacinoRobert De NiroVal KilmerA group of high-end professional thieves start to feel the heat from the LAPD when they unknowingly leave a verbal clue at their latest heist.
- DirectorLee TamahoriStarsNick NolteMelanie GriffithJennifer ConnellyIn 1950's Los Angeles, a special crime squad of the LAPD investigates the murder of a young woman.
- DirectorCurtis HansonStarsKevin SpaceyRussell CroweGuy PearceAs corruption grows in 1950s Los Angeles, three policemen - one strait-laced, one brutal, and one sleazy - investigate a series of murders with their own brand of justice.
- DirectorDavid LynchStarsBill PullmanPatricia ArquetteJohn RoseliusAnonymous videotapes presage a musician's murder conviction, and a gangster's girlfriend leads a mechanic astray.
- DirectorQuentin TarantinoStarsPam GrierSamuel L. JacksonRobert ForsterA flight attendant with a criminal past gets nabbed by the ATF for smuggling. Under pressure to become an informant against the illegal arms dealer she works for, she must find a way to secure her future without getting killed.
- DirectorDavid LynchStarsNaomi WattsLaura HarringJustin TherouxAfter a car wreck on Mulholland Drive renders a woman amnesiac, she and a Hollywood-hopeful search for clues and answers across Los Angeles in a twisting venture beyond dreams and reality.
- DirectorJoel CoenEthan CoenStarsJeff BridgesJohn GoodmanJulianne MooreJeff "The Dude" Lebowski, mistaken for a millionaire of the same name, seeks restitution for his ruined rug and enlists his bowling buddies to help get it.
- DirectorRobert ZemeckisStarsBob HoskinsChristopher LloydJoanna CassidyWhen a cartoon rabbit is accused of murder, he enlists the help of a burnt out private investigator to prove his innocence.
- DirectorRobert BentonStarsPaul NewmanSusan SarandonGene HackmanA retired detective accepts a simple task, unaware that it will tear open old, forgotten, but deadly wounds.
- DirectorKen LoachStarsPilar PadillaAdrien BrodyElpidia CarrilloTwo Latina sisters work as cleaners in a downtown office building, and fight for the right to unionize.
- DirectorNicolas Winding RefnStarsRyan GoslingCarey MulliganBryan CranstonA mysterious Hollywood action film stuntman gets in trouble with gangsters when he tries to help his neighbor's husband rob a pawn shop while serving as his getaway driver.
- DirectorGeorge ShermanStarsRichard DixLeslie BrooksMichael DuaneAn artist married to a wealthy but ill woman begins an affair with one of his models, who is after him solely for his money. His wife discovers the affair and threatens to cut him out of her will. In order to be able to keep both the wife's money and his girlfriend, he begins to secretly poison his wife - but events take a surprising turn after she eventually dies.
- DirectorNicholas RayStarsHumphrey BogartGloria GrahameFrank LovejoyA potentially violent screenwriter is a murder suspect until his lovely neighbor clears him. However, she soon starts to have her doubts.
- DirectorKenneth BranaghStarsKenneth BranaghEmma ThompsonAndy GarciaA woman who has lost her memory is taken in by a Los Angeles orphanage, and a private eye is enlisted to track down her identity, but he soon finds that he might have a past life connection to her that endangers their lives.
- DirectorCurtis BernhardtStarsJoan CrawfordVan HeflinRaymond MasseyAfter being found wandering the streets of Los Angeles, a severely catatonic woman tells a doctor the complex story of how she wound up there.
- DirectorGeorge MarshallStarsAlan LaddVeronica LakeWilliam BendixAn ex-bomber pilot is suspected of murdering his unfaithful wife.
- DirectorRobert WiseStarsSusan HaywardSimon OaklandVirginia VincentA prostitute, sentenced to death for murder, pleads her innocence.
- DirectorJoseph L. MankiewiczStarsJohn HodiakNancy GuildLloyd NolanGeorge Taylor returns from WWII with amnesia. Back home in Los Angeles, while trying to track down his old identity, he stumbles onto a 3-year old murder case and a hunt for a missing $2 million.
- DirectorJohn BrahmStarsGeorge MontgomeryNancy GuildConrad JanisDetective Philip Marlowe encounters a variety of characters while checking on why Leslie Murdock stole a rare doubloon from his mother.
- DirectorTed TetzlaffStarsGeorge RaftElla RainesPat O'BrienLA ex-cop Vince Kane is a bail-bondsman who bails out the suspect of a securities bonds robbery but his client disappears, prompting Vince to investigate.
- DirectorMax OphülsStarsJames MasonJoan BennettGeraldine BrooksAfter discovering the dead body of her teenage daughter's lover, a housewife takes desperate measures to protect her family from scandal.
- DirectorIda LupinoStarsJoan FontaineIda LupinoEdmund GwennA man secretly married to two women feels the pressure of his deceit.
- CreatorJack WebbStarsJack WebbBen AlexanderOlan SouleSgt. Joe Friday and his partners methodically investigate crimes in Los Angeles.
- DirectorJack WebbStarsJack WebbBen AlexanderRichard BooneTwo homicide detectives investigate the brutal shotgun murder of a crime syndicate member.
- DirectorArnold LavenStarsEdward G. RobinsonPaulette GoddardK.T. StevensPolice procedural film following a few cases assigned to LAPD captain of detectives Barnie Barnaby.
- 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.
- DirectorLászló KardosStarsMickey RooneySally ForrestWilliam DemarestDrummer Stanley Maxton moves to Los Angeles with dreams of opening his own club, but falls in with a gangster and a nightclub dancer and ends up accused of murder.
- 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.
- DirectorRowland BrownStarsGeorge BancroftJudith AndersonFrances DeeBill Bailey (George Bancroft) is a Los Angeles, California bail bondsman who lives in a world of complete, casual corruption, where all he has to do is pick up the phone to get the charges against a client dismissed. He falls in love with a slumming socialite who bluntly and startlingly declares her sexual preferences with this immortal line: "If I could find a man who would be my master and give me a good thrashing, I'd follow him around like a dog on a leash."
- DirectorJack SmightStarsPaul NewmanLauren BacallJulie HarrisCool private investigator Lew Harper is hired by a wealthy California matron to locate her kidnapped husband.
- DirectorEdwin L. MarinStarsGeorge RaftLynn BariVirginia HustonIn 1940s Los Angeles, when womanizing composer Keith Vincent is found dead, the inquest concludes it was a suicide but police detective Joe Warne isn't so sure.
- DirectorIrving LernerStarsVince EdwardsLyle TalbotJohn ArcherA vicious killer escapes from San Quentin with a cannister of what he believes to be heroin but is actually a radioactive substance that threatens all Los Angeles.
- DirectorPhil KarlsonStarsJeffrey HunterPat CrowleyDennis HopperIn Los Angeles, a brave witness to murder agrees to testify in court against the street gang leader who's desperate to silence him.
- DirectorChester ErskineStarsWilliam PowellShelley WintersMarsha HuntDuring a conference-trip to L.A., an academic runs into an old-flame and into trouble with the police when she disappears, presumed murdered.
- DirectorAndrew L. StoneStarsTom ConwayHillary BrookeEddie MarrTwo conartists swindle a Los Angeles department store out of a mink coat, cheat a pawnbroker out of $8000 and leave the police baffled.
- DirectorAlfred L. WerkerStarsLee TracySally BlanePaul HarveyLos Angeles newspaper reporter Toby Prentiss is continually in trouble with his editor. He is demoted to running the paper's "Miss Lonelyhearts" advice column because he missed the scoop on a major earthquake whilst out on the town. Determined to be fired from the column he starts to give crazy advice to the readers, but this only makes him even more popular.
- DirectorJohn ReinhardtStarsLee TracyDon CastleJulie BishopA fast-moving automobile fails to make a sharp turn of the highway from Malibu to Los Angeles. It overturns and its occupants, Tim Slade, Newspaper man turned private investigator, and Hugh Fresney, managing editor of the Los Angeles Currier, are pinned underneath. Both are seriously injured and are unable to move. As they wait for the tide to come in and cover them, Fresney recounts that his boss, Clint VAughn has been killed, presumably by gangsters in the pay of Nick Dyke, who Fresney has fought against through his newspaper columns. Slade had been hired to avenge Fresney if Dyke's gang killed him in retaliation, Slade, one-time sweetheart of Vaughn's dipsomaniac wife Julie Vaughn, believed she still loved him, but he had fallen for Dana Jons, Vaughn's beautiful secretary. Police Detective O'Haffey investigated Vaughn's death and unearthed several suspects, including Slade, Julie, Dykes and Dana, but Slade was not satisfied and looked elsewhere.