Dead End (1937)
[8] Humphrey Bogart's star was on the rise when he appeared in this ensemble drama based on a popular Broadway play by Sidney Kingsley. Bogart plays a murderous gangster who returns to his riverside slum in New York City after…
The Dark Past (1948)
[4] William Holden and Lee J. Cobb, who previously co-starred in Golden Boy, headline this snoozy bit of Freudian psychological propaganda. Holden plays an escaped convict who kills the warden before leading his getaway gang to a rural home where…
Fury (1936)
[8] In director Fritz Lang's first English-language film, Spencer Tracy stars as a man nearly lynched and presumed dead for a crime he didn't commit. His grieving fiancée, played by Sylvia Sidney, soon learns he's not only still alive, but…
Jeopardy (1953)
[6] Barbara Stanwyck stars in this intimate thriller from director John Sturges (The Great Escape, The Magnificent Seven) about a woman who is kidnapped by an escaped convict (Ralph Meeker) while trying to find help for her husband. While the…
Hollywoodland (2006)
[8] Adrien Brody (The Pianist, The Thin Red Line) plays a '50s Hollywood detective investigating the mysterious death of actor George Reeves, played by Ben Affleck (Gone Girl, The Town). Hollywoodland is based on the true story of Reeves, who…
Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
[8] Teresa Wright (Mrs. Miniver) plays a bored teenager who's over-joyed when her favorite Uncle (The Third Man's Joseph Cotton) comes to stay with her family. But the warmth of family reunion soon gives way to cold suspicion when Cotton…
Stage Fright (1950)
[6] Jane Wyman stars in this Alfred Hitchcock noir mystery as an aspiring actress who goes undercover to prove her best friend (Richard Todd) is innocent of murdering a theatre starlet's husband. The starlet is played with icy villainy by…
Mildred Pierce (1945)
[7] Joan Crawford won her Oscar for playing the title character in this noir-melodrama from director Michael Curtiz (Casablanca). Based on the book by James M. Cain, Mildred Pierce is told largely in flashback, with Crawford spilling the beans to…
Dark Passage (1947)
[7] Humphrey Bogart escapes from San Quentin to try and prove he's innocent of killing his wife. Lauren Bacall plays the woman who believes him and gives him shelter. He resorts to plastic surgery to hide his identity from the…
The Damned Don’t Cry (1950)
[5] Joan Crawford plays an impoverished woman who leaves her husband after a tragedy claims the life of their young son. Determined never to be poor again, she sleeps her way through a string of men to reach a higher…