Semidocumentary Film Noir
Semidocumentary is a form of film presenting a fictional story that incorporates many factual details or actual events, or which is presented in a manner similar to a documentary. Stylistically, it has certain similarities to Italian Neorealism, such as the use of location shooting and employing non-actors in secondary roles. However, the viewer does not mistake a semidocumentary for a real documentary; the fictional elements are too prominent.
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- DirectorHenry HathawayStarsJames CagneyAnnabellaRichard ConteWhen spy chief Bob Sharkey finds out one of his agents-in-training is actually a Nazi double agent, his strategic decision not to arrest him results in tragedy.
- DirectorRichard FleischerStarsCharles McGrawAdele JergensWilliam TalmanA well-planned robbery goes awry with tough cop Jim Cordell in pursuit of the thieves.
- DirectorElia KazanStarsDana AndrewsJane WyattLee J. CobbThe true story of a prosecutor's fight to prove the innocence of a man accused of a notorious murder.
- DirectorRichard FleischerStarsLawrence TierneyPriscilla LanePhillip ReedAfter being fired for insubordination, homicide detective Mike Carter is hired as bodyguard by the owner of a local meat-packing plant where a meat inspector has been murdered.
- DirectorJules DassinStarsBurt LancasterHume CronynCharles BickfordAt a tough penitentiary, prisoner Joe Collins plans to rebel against Captain Munsey, the power-mad chief guard.
- DirectorHenry HathawayStarsJames StewartRichard ConteLee J. CobbChicago reporter P.J. McNeal re-opens a decade-old murder case.
- CreatorJack WebbStarsJack WebbBen AlexanderOlan SouleSgt. Joe Friday and his partners methodically investigate crimes in Los Angeles.
- 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.
- DirectorAndrew L. StoneStarsWilliam P. Lane Jr.John S. BattleW. Kerr ScottLed by a psychopathic killer, a vicious gang of armed robbers terrorizes Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina, robbing banks and payrolls and murdering anyone who might identify them.
- DirectorIda LupinoStarsEdmond O'BrienFrank LovejoyWilliam TalmanTwo fishermen pick up a psychopathic escaped convict who tells them that he intends to murder them when the ride is over.
- DirectorHenry HathawayStarsWilliam EytheLloyd NolanSigne HassoBill Dietrich becomes a double agent for the F.B.I. in a German spy ring.
- DirectorRobert SiodmakStarsBurt LancasterAva GardnerEdmond O'BrienHit men kill an unresisting victim, and investigator Reardon uncovers his past involvement with beautiful, deadly Kitty Collins.
- DirectorHenry HathawayStarsVictor MatureBrian DonlevyColeen GrayA crook arrested for a jewelry heist initially refuses to give up his accomplices, but he changes his mind once his wife dies under worrying circumstances.
- DirectorJohn SturgesStarsRicardo MontalbanSally ForrestBruce BennettA small-town policeman is assisted by a Harvard professor after the discovery of a human skeleton on a Massachusetts beach.
- DirectorJules DassinStarsBarry FitzgeraldHoward DuffDorothy HartA step-by-step look at a murder investigation on the streets of New York.
- DirectorNicholas RayIda LupinoStarsIda LupinoRobert RyanWard BondRough city cop Jim Wilson is disciplined by his captain and is sent upstate, to a snowy mountain town, to help the local sheriff solve a murder case.
- DirectorElia KazanStarsRichard WidmarkPaul DouglasBarbara Bel GeddesA doctor and a policeman in New Orleans have only 48 hours to locate a killer infected with pneumonic plague.
- DirectorJohn CromwellMel FerrerTay GarnettStarsRobert MitchumLizabeth ScottRobert RyanIn New York, two honest cops try to hinder a crime syndicate from moving into the precinct and also to prevent the mob's plan of electing a corrupt prosecutor to a judgeship.
- DirectorAnthony MannStarsFarley GrangerCathy O'DonnellJames CraigA struggling young father-to-be gives in to temptation and impulsively steals money from the office of a shady lawyer--with catastrophic consequences.
- DirectorWilliam KeighleyStarsMark StevensRichard WidmarkLloyd NolanA covert FBI agent infiltrates a ruthless gangster mob, but his life is at risk from a mysterious informant who funnels inside information to the hoodlums.
- DirectorRoger CormanStarsJason RobardsGeorge SegalRalph MeekerAl Capone's Valentine's Day surprise for the rival Bugs Moran gang in 1929 Chicago.
- DirectorAnthony MannStarsDennis O'KeefeWallace FordAlfred RyderTwo US Treasury agents hunt a successful counterfeiting ring.