Ultimate Film Noir Collection, The

Ultimate Film Noir Collection, The

Film noir - literally "black film" - is Hollywood's moody vision of a dark, shadowy, smoky underworld populated by beautiful-but-deadly dames and the regular Joes who fall for them. These films are literally black in that they often take place at night or in the shadows - or both.

But they are black in other ways, too: Shady characters with no redeeming or "light" qualities; likeable people who mean well but are pulled into the dark world of murder and mayhem; and plots that focus primarily on the darker aspects of man's nature.

Although films noir continue to be produced today, the heyday of these low-budget, high-tension pictures was from the early 1940s to the mid-1950s. Here are ten classic films noir that set the tone for countless "black films" that followed in their echoing, unsettling footsteps.

Disc 1

Scarlet Street (1945)

Detour (1945)

Disc 2

The Strange Love Of Martha Ivers (1946)

Whistle Stop (1946)

Disc 3

He Walked By Night (1948)

Trapped (1949)

Disc 4

Impact (1949)

D.O.A. (1950)

Disc 5

Quicksand (1950)

The Hitch-Hiker (1953)