The Worldwide Film Noir Tradition - Classical British Film Noir
From Selby's introduction: "The most extensive prior documentation of British noirs appears in British Film Noir Guide by Michael F. Keaney (McFarland, 2008). My research was independent of Keaney's, and there is a difference of over 100 films between his listings and mine."
30 Brit Noir Masterworks are labelled with 'MASTERWORK'.
30 Brit Noir Masterworks are labelled with 'MASTERWORK'.
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- DirectorPeter Graham ScottStarsGriffith JonesUrsula HowellsHonor BlackmanPolice find that everyone had a motive for the murder of a wealthy woman.
- DirectorKen AnnakinStarsRod SteigerDavid KnightBernard LeeA wealthy businessman attempts to run to Mexico to escape capture for embezzlement. On the way, he switches identities for a visa but that only complicates matters.
- DirectorAlan BridgesStarsJohn CarsonAnthony BateJustine LordA dangerous psychological game plays out between a man and the husband of the lover who spurned him.
- DirectorDavid MacDonaldStarsDennis PriceJack HawkinsSiobhan McKennaPeter Brandt is a soldier journeying across the countryside of South Africa after the Boer War.
- DirectorDavid MacDonaldStarsBetta St. JohnAlexander KnoxChristopher LeeJohn Preston meets Sally who agrees to marry him. Then, Preston begins to have dreams about Sylvia, a woman from his past, who comes to Deanbridge to blackmail him. In his dream, Preston strangles. He seeks help from Doctor Walton.
- DirectorBasil DeardenStarsPatrick McGoohanKeith MichellBetsy BlairThis movie, based on William Shakespeare's Othello, is neatly positioned as a vehicle to showcase some of the best jazz musicians of the period, including Dave Brubeck and Charles Mingus.
- DirectorIrving RapperStarsBette DavisGary MerrillEmlyn WilliamsA mystery writer becomes involved in a tangled web of murderous deception not unlike the plots of her novels.
- DirectorJohn HarlowStarsWilliam HartnellRobert BeattyJoyce HowardAn ex-con, released after imprisonment for a jewel theft, swears vengeance on his former accomplices and devises an intricate plan to steal their fortune.
- DirectorMichael McCarthyStarsSydney TaflerRonald HowardKatharine BlakePretending to be rare stamp dealer, a man devotedly supports wife and musically talented younger brother as a professional hit-man.
- DirectorLance ComfortStarsPatricia DaintonStephen MurrayPatrick BarrA prominent journalist is kidnapped by a lunatic who threatens to kill her unless she writes flattering articles about him.
- DirectorLance ComfortStarsJack WarnerDerek FarrVeronica HurstWhen a local bully is found shot to death, the police suspect a young man who had recently been seen arguing with him. When thy discover that they had been arguing over the affections of a young girl, they begin to suspect that the pair had conspired to kill the victim. The suspect insists he's innocent, but the evidence seems overwhelming.
- DirectorDavid MillerStarsGinger RogersLily KannStanley BakerJohnny Victor, an actress living with Louis Galt on the Riviera, becomes involved with Pierre Clemont and learns he is a dangerous criminal.
- DirectorLance ComfortStarsMargaret LockwoodIan HunterBarry K. BarnesBedelia, a newly remarried beautiful widow, is on honeymoon in Monte Carlo. A painter approaches her inquiring about her past. When she and her husband go back to England the artist will soon be there. Danger, crime and truth will follow.
- DirectorAlbert S. RogellStarsMona FreemanJean KentMaxwell ReedA college student returns home to attend her father's funeral and begins to suspect her stepmother of foul play.
- DirectorJack CardiffStarsVan JohnsonVera MilesEmlyn WilliamsA British-American returns to Britain after 20 years to discover that his father has been jailed since WW2 for a murder that took place in murky circumstances.
- DirectorPeter Graham ScottStarsAdrienne CorriWilliam RussellIan ColinA clerk sees his big chance to escape a humdrum existence, but his resolve is tested as many unexpected obstacles arise.
- DirectorJulien DuvivierJosé Antonio Nieves CondeStarsGeorge SandersHerbert MarshallPatricia RocAlong the Spanish coast, American smuggler Mike Alexander comes into conflict with human-trafficker Captain Nicarescu and both of them are tracked by undercover Spanish police inspector Carnero.
- DirectorOswald MitchellStarsMichael MedwinFrank HawkinsWinifred MelvilleDanny Cruff returns home years after his father was wrongly accused and hanged for murder. But he can't escape his past.
- DirectorKen HughesStarsPeter ReynoldsRona AndersonPatrick Barr20th Century-Fox gets the blame for distributing this in the USA but they were not the production company in any manner. Peter Reynolds is the screwed-up son of a college professor who turns to a life of crime after killing a pedestrian in an automobile accident. His crime spurt is petty until one results in the killing of the night watchman at the college. Roma Anderson, secretary to the professor, is heads-over about Reynolds but he is more interested in a night club entertainer. Reynolds, keeping with the family-affair motif, meets a bad end while being pursued by an undercover agent who is his sister's boyfriend. Title refers to a roulette-wheel call. They did refrain from rolling an 8-ball across his path.
- DirectorVernon SewellStarsChristine NordenRobert AyresJennifer JayneMark Sherwin ( Robert Ayres) is the victim of a brutal beating and car theft. The thief dies in a crash; Mark suffers from amnesia, and recuperates on a horse-training property. Discovering a clue, he returns home to find he had been declared dead, his wife welcomes him back, only to plan a real death for him so she and his best friend (with whom she is having an affair) can get his substantial wealth.
- DirectorMarc AllégretStarsMai ZetterlingDirk BogardeFay ComptonMrs. Christopher (Fay Compton), a kindly volunteer worker at a large hospital, does a favor for a patient by delivering a sum of money to Mr. Sine (James Robertson Justice). After she discovers he is a blackmailer, she threatens to expose him, and a struggle ensues in which she kills him. Her willingness to take the law into her own hands has a disastrous effect on former victims of the blackmailer.
- DirectorRobert S. BakerStarsMaxwell ReedDinah SheridanPatric DoonanA blind man's sight is restored in time to solve the mystery of his girlfriend's dead (or is he) brother and a gang of currency smugglers.
- DirectorLance ComfortStarsWilliam SylvesterBarbara ShelleyElizabeth ShepherdWhen the wife of a blind composer discovers that her husband will cut her out of his estate, if he discovers that she is having an affair with a young artist, she and her lover plan to commit the perfect murder.
- DirectorJoseph LoseyStarsHardy KrügerStanley BakerMicheline PresleIn 1950s London, Dutch painter Jan Van Rooyen has an affair with a rich married Frenchwoman who is supposedly murdered, resulting in Van Rooyen becoming Scotland Yard's prime suspect.
- DirectorBasil DeardenStarsJack WarnerDirk BogardeJimmy HanleyThe daily routine of two London Policemen is interrupted by a killer.
- DirectorHenry CassStarsDermot WalshJane BarrettJohn ColicosAn escaped killer hides out by forcing a travelling family to take him with them.
- DirectorFreddie FrancisStarsAnne HeywoodPeter van EyckCecil ParkerAfter the mysterious crash of a millionaire's private airplane, three scientists secretly harvest the dying man's brain and keep it alive in a laboratory in order to communicate with it through telepathy.
- DirectorKen HughesStarsPatrick BarrElizabeth AllanMaxwell ReedA doctor is taken hostage by a drug smuggler whom she has diagnosed as psychotic. Her estranged husband has to find her before the smuggling gang find him and kill them both.
- DirectorLance ComfortStarsPeter ReynoldsDermot WalshJoanna DunhamThe nephew of a printer gets involved with foreign spies intent on making counterfeit money.
- DirectorJohn BoultingStarsRichard AttenboroughHermione BaddeleyWilliam HartnellIn Brighton in 1935, small-time gang leader Pinkie Brown murders a journalist and later desperately tries to cover his tracks but runs into trouble with the police, a few witnesses, and a rival gang.MASTERWORK
- DirectorMartyn C. WebsterStarsRobert BeattyElizabeth SellarsPeter CokeA hit and run victim is operated on by Dr. Fenton (Robert Beatty) who becomes implicated after his patient is later murdered.
- DirectorDavid MacDonaldStarsPatricia RocWill FyffeMaxwell ReedThe McFarishes and the Macraes are lifelong enemies living on a remote island in the Western Isles of Scotland. Mary Lawson is a Scottish orphan brought up in a convent who arrives on the weekly steamer to come and work as a servant to the Macraes. Mary is warned that she must have no dealings with the McFarish family but living a lonely life she encourages the friendship of Will McFarish, with tragic consequences.
- DirectorBasil DeardenStarsJean SimmonsDavid FarrarJames DonaldIn post-WW2 Britain, a young woman marries an old flame but after he disappears, and is later declared dead, she re-marries, only to be blackmailed by the supposedly-dead first husband who suddenly re-appears in her life, in need of money.
- DirectorNorman HarrisonStarsWilliam LucasJohn RutlandDilys WatlingCrooks plan a bank heist by digging through a basement of a neighbouring house.
- DirectorDavid VilliersStarsMichael GoughErika RembergHans von BorsodyThe professional killer Kersten arrives in England and is hired by Donald Edwards to murder his wife Helene. But Helene's lover Robert Vaughan discovers the plot and he trails Kersten and Edwards to a country cottage.
- DirectorStanley HaynesStarsSally GrayMichael WildingStanley HollowayA dancer attempts to escape from the narrow conventions of society and from the fate foretold for her at her birth.
- DirectorNorman LeeStarsMichael Martin HarveyChili BouchierValentine DyallBusinessman Charles Peace leads a double life--by day he's a respected local businessman, but by night he's a professional thief who lets nothing, not even murder, stop him from getting what he wants.
- DirectorQuentin LawrenceStarsPeter CushingAndré MorellRichard VernonA charming but ruthless criminal holds the family of a bank manager hostage as part of a cold-blooded plan to steal 97,000 pounds.
- DirectorLewis GilbertStarsDirk BogardeMargaret LockwoodKay WalshEdward "Teddy" Bare is a delusional psychotic with a lust for wealth, older women and murder. Having committed what he thinks is the perfect murder of his elderly wife; Teddy sets his sights on new targets when her fortune goes elsewhere.
- DirectorPaul RothaStarsLee PattersonAnn SearsHilton EdwardsA GI deserter frames a girl for killing a blackmailer and holds her captive while seeking gems.
- DirectorGerald ThomasStarsDermot WalshSusan ShawJack WatlingA bank clerk dodges his bus fare. But this small act soon ripples through many lives - at times with catastrophic consequences.
- DirectorJohn GillingStarsJayne MansfieldAnthony QuayleCarl MöhnerA gang leader dumps her criminal boyfriend when he is convicted of robbery, but he recovers the stolen loot once he's released. In retaliation, the gang kidnaps his son and demands the money as ransom.
- DirectorRobert LynnStarsZena WalkerKenneth CopeBasil HensonAn adulterous couple turn to murder, only to discover that a petty crook and blackmailer has already had his eye upon them.
- DirectorMichael AndersonStarsRichard ToddAnne BaxterHerbert LomAt Kimberley Prescott's villa, a stranger shows up and claims he is her brother who supposedly died the previous year in a car accident.
- DirectorJack LeeStarsSuzy ParkerBradford DillmanHarry AndrewsUnbeknownst to him, a soldier is sent on a doomed mission because of the high likelihood of him divulging secrets if captured and tortured.
- DirectorMontgomery TullyStarsTerence LongdonJennifer JayneHarry FowlerA prisoner transport bus hijacked to free one inmate. Other prisoners locked in petrol-soaked barn, warned not to escape. Police find freed prisoner dead in crash, race to find bus and prisoners before barn catches fire.
- DirectorFrancis SearleStarsRobert PrestonElizabeth SellarsColin TapleyA Canadian World War II veteran working for the British Foreign Office scours England for the killer who murdered his wife.
- 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.MASTERWORK
- DirectorKen HughesStarsSydney ChaplinAudrey DaltonJefferson CliffordA falling-out between thieves over the proceeds of a stickup results in several killings and a priest being marked for murder because of a confession he heard from one of the gang members.
- DirectorTerence YoungStarsEric PortmanEdana RomneyBarbara MullenA man falls in love with a beautiful young woman and begins to suspect that he may have also loved her in a previous life.MASTERWORK
- DirectorLewis GilbertStarsJames KenneyJoan CollinsBetty Ann DaviesThe life of a juvenile delinquent is threatened by his own incessant desire for trouble.
- DirectorTerry BishopStarsHarry H. CorbettFelicity YoungSpencer TeakleSet in the sleazy world of a backstreet 1950s nightclub, a serial killer is believed to be murdering the models of a glamour magazine.
- DirectorJoseph LoseyStarsStanley BakerSam WanamakerGrégoire AslanIn the UK, after pulling a racetrack robbery, repeat offender Johnny Bannion hides the loot in a farmer's field but the police and the local mob come looking for Johnny and the money.MASTERWORK
- DirectorPaul L. SteinStarsRobert BeattyMervyn JohnsNova PilbeamAn escaped World War 2 Nazi doctor impersonates a murdered English doctor so he can work on a vaccination to protect Germans in their planned germ warfare.
- DirectorMontgomery TullyStarsZachary ScottPeggie CastleMervyn JohnsA reformed forger runs into an acquaintance from his past, now an escaped murderer, who blackmails him into resuming his criminal career.
- DirectorCharles SaundersStarsNora NicholsonDiana ChesneyRichard McNeffThe manager of a halfway house for female ex-cons takes action when a blackmailer threatens to expose her secret.
- DirectorJeffrey DellStarsEdward UnderdownMaxwell ReedNatasha ParryA killer known as 'The Dark Man' commits double murder. This is witnessed by the young aspiring actress Molly Lester. The Dark Man tries everything to put Molly out of the way. Detective Inspector Viner of Scotland Yard investigates the murders.
- DirectorMaclean RogersStarsDinah SheridanEmrys JonesIrene HandlA young couple move into a charming rural cottage. They become fixated upon the mysterious death of the earlier female occupant.
- DirectorLance ComfortStarsAnne CrawfordSiobhan McKennaMaxwell ReedEmily, a pretty young Irish girl, gets a job on an English farm owned by the Tallent family. The local men take to her but the women don't, objecting to her flirtatious nature with their men and one woman, Bess Stanforth, is especially disturbed by her. When Dan, a man from Emily's past, shows up and accuses her of having tried to kill, him Beth's suspicions are further aroused, and they're confirmed after Dan is found murdered in a local barn. Beth sets out to find out exactly who Emily is and to prove that she murdered Dan.
- DirectorJohn GuillerminStarsAldo RayElizabeth SellarsPeter O'TooleIn 1901, a group of IRA members decides to rob the Bank of England in order to finance their movement and to embarrass the British government.
- DirectorCompton BennettStarsEric PortmanAnn ToddMaxwell ReedA hangman conceals his true identity when he falls in love, and sets up home with his girl on a barge in the river Thames. Tragedy strikes when the hangman's assistant tries to seduce his boss's wife - after a fight, the hangman is presumed drowned. The woman commits suicide, but the hangman has in fact survived, and manages to save his assistant from the gallows.
- DirectorThomas BentleyStarsLeslie BanksJoan MarionGeoffrey AtkinsAn amnesia victim is a well liked and respected member of his community--until one day someone from his past shows up with evidence that in "the old days" he had been a notorious criminal, and threatens to expose him unless he pays off.
- DirectorAlberto CavalcantiCharles CrichtonBasil DeardenStarsMervyn JohnsMichael RedgraveRoland CulverGuests invited to a weekend in the country share their supernatural stories, beginning with Walter Craig, who senses impending doom as his half-remembered recurring dream turns into reality.MASTERWORK
- DirectorJohn GillingStarsEmrys JonesZena MarshallJohn HorsleyEscapee switches identities but finds the new one quite a handful.
- DirectorArthur CrabtreeStarsEric PortmanGreta GyntDennis PriceA businessman plans to kill his cheating wife's lover and make it look like suicide.MASTERWORK
- DirectorArthur CrabtreeStarsKeefe BrasselleBonar ColleanoJill AdamsA private detective, desperate for money to pay for an operation on his small son, bargains with a protection gangster chief to have himself killed and gets his girl to collect the insurance money.
- DirectorDouglas PeirceStarsPeter ReynoldsHonor BlackmanGordon JacksonA man's death leads a local newspaperman and the man's girlfriend to seek the killer.
- DirectorJohn HarlowStarsRobert AyresJune ThorburnAlan WheatleyA destitute, suicidal man is offered a contract for 18 months to act as a front for an unscrupulous businessman, with his life being forfeit. He carries out his agreement, also writing a successful novel and falling in love, wanting to break the contract early. He is refused.
- DirectorPaul DicksonStarsAnne HeywoodRobert ArdenCarroll LevisU.S. Army captain stationed in England has an affair with a local married woman. Together they hatch a plan to kill her husband.
- DirectorCompton BennettStarsDirk BogardeMai ZetterlingPhilip FriendSimon Van Halder (Sir Dirk Bogarde) is accused of murdering a British soldier during post-World War II mayhem. His girlfriend works on his behalf to expose the true villain.
- DirectorMontgomery TullyStarsGene NelsonMona FreemanJohn BentleyA man tells his wife that the police are after him for having killed a bookie during an alcoholic binge, but that he is innocent and is being framed for the murder. The wife and her brother hide him and try to find out who the real killer was. The more they investigate, the more holes they begin to find in the husband's story.
- DirectorLionel HarrisStarsJeanette SterkeAlan MacNaughtanRobert BrownA man who has been left for dead by the impostor who takes his place returns to bring him to justice.
- DirectorKen AnnakinStarsDerek FarrJoan HopkinsPeter LorreAfter his wife is murdered, the husband tries to divert suspicion from himself to someone else. Unfortunately, his scheme winds up getting him mixed up with some real murderers.
- DirectorJohn Llewellyn MoxeyStarsMaurice DenhamNadja ReginT.P. McKennaHarold Crossley is a barrister and respected intellectual, but proves no match to his scheming young wife.
- DirectorAlfred TraversStarsHerbert LomPhyllis DixeyTerence de MarneyTwin trapezists fall out over a lottery ticket and a worthless woman, but later extract a unique revenge.
- DirectorJohn PomeroyStarsPat O'SullivanJohn McCarthyRichard LeechLoot goes missing in robbery double-cross. Gang members, an ex-lover and a handsome stranger are left to sort it out.
- DirectorLance ComfortStarsRichard AttenboroughCathy O'DonnellDerek FarrIn post-WW2 England, a taxi driver is ostracized by society after he's accused of murdering a school-girl and his untried lawyer must find the real killer to save his client from the hangman.
- DirectorCharles SaundersStarsAlan BaxterBarbara ShelleyFerdy MayneThe wife of a night club owner frames an American writer for his murder.
- DirectorJoseph L. MankiewiczStarsRex HarrisonPeggy CumminsWilliam HartnellA convict sentenced to three years for killing a detective escapes from a prison and goes on the run aided by a local girl.
- DirectorJohn GillingStarsBonar ColleanoAndrew RaySidney JamesAn Italian racketeer on the run in London holes up in a disused theatre with a hard-drinking journalist out to get the full story.
- DirectorMuriel BoxStarsDonald SindenMuriel PavlowBelinda LeeLucy Church, the sole witness to a fatal robbery, is struck by a passing bus and her life lies in the balance as the thieves wait for a chance to finish her off.
- DirectorLance ComfortStarsGriffith JonesLisa GastoniVincent BallA woman witnesses the theft of soiled banknotes from a mail delivery truck, then is threatened by the perpetrators of the crime.
- 1959–196553m7.2 (58)TV EpisodeDirectorJohn Llewellyn MoxeyStarsJeremy KempBernard ArchardRosemary LeachIn prison, two inmates are getting out soon. One, soon getting out, has been sent up for a heist of several thousand pounds, still not recovered. The other, getting out before him, pumps the other for details of his home life, so he he can assume the other's identity and get to the loot first.
- DirectorTerence FisherStarsAlex NicolEleanor SummerfieldJohn SalewNewly arrived in Britain, a jet-lagged musician impulsively goes to the apartment of a beautiful blues singer he's just met and hours later is accused of her murder.
- DirectorDavid EadyStarsJohn GregsonMai ZetterlingJohn IrelandBusinessman and inventor Richard Hammond is determined to develop and market the perfect light-bulb. In a freak lab accident he is blinded and suffers a partial breakdown. His wife, partner and brother take him to his country house, but then Hammond starts to suspect all is not what it seems.
- DirectorCarol ReedStarsRalph RichardsonMichèle MorganSonia DresdelA butler working in a foreign embassy in London falls under suspicion when his wife accidentally falls to her death, the only witness being an impressionable young boy.MASTERWORK
- DirectorMario ZampiStarsLester FergusonJean ShortLeslie ArmstrongA young American accepts a bet to spend a night in a haunted house in Mayfair.
- DirectorMontgomery TullyStarsDane ClarkCecile ChevreauPaul CarpenterA failed business deal forces James Nevill to blackmail his weak-willed friend into murdering him so that his wife can collect his insurance, but circumstances suddenly change.
- DirectorGordon FlemyngStarsLee MontagueIngrid HafnerJohn Thawlan Roper tells Bookie Larry Hart that he is planning to steal £60,000 and Hart offers to launder the money for him. What Hart doesn't know is that it is actually his money Roper intends to steal.
- DirectorReginald Le BorgStarsBarbara PaytonFrederick ValkJohn SlaterA scheming blonde seduces a fighter and convinces him to murder her husband, a fight manager.
- DirectorDon ChaffeyStarsJohn DerekMilly VitaleWilliam FranklynPimps prey on young women coming to London for work.
- DirectorCharles CrichtonStarsHoward KeelAnne HeywoodCyril CusackTwo inmates working to shore up a dike during a severe flood are swept away in the current along with their guard. The three of them wind up in an isolated house whose flooded interior contains a frightened woman.
- DirectorCompton BennettStarsLee PattersonKay CallardAlan GiffordRonnie, earning very little from his own exploits, gathers together a band of villains to carry out a robbery on 'The Flying Scotsman' passenger train. The train is carrying withdrawn bank notes from Scotland to London to be destroyed.
- DirectorAlberto CavalcantiStarsStephen MurrayRichard ToddPatricia PlunkettChristy Drew, an aspiring young writer trying to broaden his experience, gets involved with Frankie Ketchen and her two suitors, Herb Logan and Jim Heal. One night, Jim finds Frankie has been with Christy and kills her. Herb is accused of the murder and sentenced to prison. After he gets out, he blames Christy but finally proves Jim to be the real killer, based on a clue provided to him by Christy, now a famous writer.
- DirectorGeorge KingStarsDouglass MontgomeryHazel CourtPatricia BurkeAn ex-serviceman plans to escape his faithless wife.
- DirectorSidney GilliatStarsJack HawkinsArlene DahlDennis PriceAn insurance investigator runs into an ex-girlfriend, who is still as beautiful as he remembered her, but is now married. He soon finds himself involved in arson, blackmail, and murder.MASTERWORK
- DirectorFrancis SearleStarsPaul MaxwellFelicity YoungBruce SetonCraig Owen is an incarcerated criminal whose cellmate holds the secret to the valuable contents within a safe deposit box.