SUSPENSE / FILM NOIR / THRILLER
Beat the Devil
Published 1953
On their way to Africa are a group of rogues who hope to get rich there, and a seemingly innocent British couple. They meet and things happen...
Director: John Huston
Writers: Claud Cockburn (based on the novel "Beat the Devil" by) (as James Helvick), Truman Capote (screenplay)
Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Jennifer Jones, Gina Lollobrigida
Black Dragons
Published 1942
​
A cabal of American industrialists, all fifth-columnists intent on sabotaging the war effort, are methodically murdered by the malevolent Monsieur Colomb. It is only until detective Dick Martin is assigned to the case that everyone's true motives and identities are revealed.
Director: William Nigh
Writers: Harvey Gates (original story), Harvey Gates (screenplay)
Stars: Bela Lugosi, Joan Barclay, George Pembroke
Blue Beard
Published 1944
​
In Paris, an artist hires portrait models, and after he finishes their portraits, he strangles them.
Director: Edgar G. Ulmer
Writers: Arnold Lipp (story) (as Arnold Phillips), Werner H. Furst (story)
Stars: John Carradine, Jean Parker, Nils Asther
Bulldog Drummond in Africa
Published 1938
​
Drummond, his girlfriend and his butler try to free an high post of Scotland Yard who has been kidnapped.
Director: Louis King
Writers: Garnett Weston (screen play by), Herman C. McNeile (novel) (as H.C. 'Sapper' McNeile)
Stars: John Howard, Heather Angel, H.B. Warner |
Cause For Alarm
Published 1951
​
An invalid husband wrongly believes his wife and doctor are conspiring to kill him and outlines that suspicion in a letter, which causes a serious concern when he ends up dying anyway.
Director: Tay Garnett
Writers: Mel Dinelli (screenplay), Tom Lewis (screenplay)
Stars: Loretta Young, Barry Sullivan, Bruce Cowling
D.O.A.
Published 1949
​
Frank Bigelow, told he's been poisoned and has only a few days to live, tries to find out who killed him and why.
Director: Rudolph Maté
Writers: Russell Rouse (story and screenplay), Clarence Greene (story and screenplay)
Stars: Edmond O'Brien, Pamela Britton, Luther Adler
Detour
Published 1945
​
Chance events trap hitch-hiker Al Roberts in a tightening net of film noir trouble.
Director: Edgar G. Ulmer
Writers: Martin Goldsmith (screenplay), Martin Goldsmith (original story)
Stars: Tom Neal, Ann Savage, Claudia Drake
Doomed to Die
Published 1940
​
Mr. Wong and a girl reporter investigate a shipping magnate's murder.
Director: William Nigh
Writers: Michael Jacoby (screenplay) (as Michel Jacoby), Ralph Gilbert Bettison (adaptation) (as Ralph Bettinson)
Stars: Boris Karloff, Marjorie Reynolds, Grant Withers
Fear in the Night
Published 1947
​
A man dreams he committed murder, then begins to suspect it was real.
Director: Maxwell Shane
Writers: Cornell Woolrich (story "Nightmare") (as William Irish), Maxwell Shane (written for the screen by)
Stars: Paul Kelly, DeForest Kelley, Ann Doran
Dressed to Kill
Published 1946
​
Sherlock Holmes sets out to discover why a trio of murderous villains, including a dangerously attractive female, are desperate to obtain three unassuming and inexpensive little music boxes.
Director: Roy William Neill
Writers: Leonard Lee (screenplay), Frank Gruber (adaptation)
Stars: Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Patricia Morison
The Bat
Published 1959
​
A crazed killer known as "The Bat" is on the loose in a mansion full of people.
Director: Crane Wilbur
Writers: Crane Wilbur (screen story), Crane Wilbur (screenplay)
Stars: Vincent Price, Agnes Moorehead, Gavin Gordon
Jamaica Inn
Published 1939
​
In Cornwall in 1819, a young woman discovers that she's living near a gang of criminals who arrange shipwrecks for profit.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Writers: Sidney Gilliat (screen play), Joan Harrison (screen play)
Stars: Maureen O'Hara, Robert Newton, Charles Laughton
And Then There Were None
Published 1945
​
Seven guests, a newly hired personal secretary and two staff are gathered on an isolated island by an absent host and someone begins killing them off one by one. They work together to determine who is the killer?
Director: René Clair (as Rene Clair)
Writers: Agatha Christie (novel), Dudley Nichols (screenplay)
Stars: Barry Fitzgerald, Walter Huston, Louis Hayward
M
Published 1931
​
When the police in a German city are unable to catch a child-murderer, other criminals join in the manhunt.
Director: Fritz Lang
Writers: Thea von Harbou (script), Fritz Lang (script)
Stars: Peter Lorre, Ellen Widmann, Inge Landgut
The 39 Steps
Published 1935
​
A man in London tries to help a counterespionage agent. But when the agent is killed and the man stands accused, he must go on the run to both save himself and also stop a spy ring which is trying to steal top secret information.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Writers: John Buchan (adapted from the novel by), Charles Bennett (adaptation)
Stars: Robert Donat, Madeleine Carroll, Lucie Mannheim
The Pyx
Published 1973
​
A detective investigating the death of a heroin-addicted prostitute uncovers evidence pointing to the existence of a murderous devil cult.
Director: Harvey Hart
Writers: Robert Schlitt (screenplay), John Buell (novel)
Stars: Karen Black, Christopher Plummer, Donald Pilon