Film Noir: Escaping The Past.
Movies featuring characters who are tormented by the secrets, traumas, criminality or relationships of their pasts.
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- DirectorRobert StevensonStarsRobert RyanLaraine DayJohn AgarSuccessful, newly married Brad Collins once belonged to the Communist Party of the USA, and now the Party will stop at nothing to use him.
- DirectorDelmer DavesStarsEdward G. RobinsonLon McCallisterJudith AndersonAn old man and his sister are concealing a terrible secret from their adopted teen daughter, concerning a hidden abandoned farmhouse, located deep in the woods.
- DirectorRobert SiodmakStarsBurt LancasterAva GardnerEdmond O'BrienHit men kill an unresisting victim, and investigator Reardon uncovers his past involvement with beautiful, deadly Kitty Collins.
- DirectorGeorge CukorStarsCharles BoyerIngrid BergmanJoseph CottenTen years after her aunt was murdered in their London home, a woman returns from Italy in the 1880s to resume residence with her new husband. His obsessive interest in the home rises from a secret that may require driving his wife insane.
- DirectorJacques TourneurStarsRobert MitchumJane GreerKirk DouglasA private eye escapes his past to run a gas station in a small town, but his past catches up with him. Now he must return to the big city world of danger, corruption, double crosses, and duplicitous dames.
- DirectorOtto PremingerStarsDana AndrewsGene TierneyGary MerrillDet. Sgt. Mark Dixon wants to be something his old man wasn't: a guy on the right side of the law. Will Dixon's vicious nature get the better of him?
- DirectorLewis MilestoneStarsBarbara StanwyckVan HeflinLizabeth ScottA man is reunited with his childhood friend and her husband who believes he knows the truth about the death of her rich aunt years earlier.
- DirectorIrving RapperStarsBette DavisPaul HenreidClaude RainsAfter marrying her long-lost love, a musician finds the relationship threatened by a wealthy composer who is besotted with her.
- DirectorFred ZinnemannStarsVan HeflinRobert RyanJanet LeighAn embittered, vengeful POW stalks his former commanding officer who betrayed his men's planned escape attempt from a Nazi prison camp.
- DirectorFrank BorzageStarsDane ClarkGail RussellEthel BarrymoreDanny is despised by his schoolmates because his father was accused of killing another man and sentenced to death.
- DirectorRobert StevensonStarsJane RussellVictor MatureVincent PriceThe arrival in Las Vegas of a businessman and his glamorous wife creates a complex web of murder and deceit.
- DirectorRobert StevensonStarsJoseph CottenAlida ValliSpring ByingtonAn ex-hood hopes to start a new life under an assumed name in a small town but his past catches up with him when an old crime-buddy asks him to help with a casino heist.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsLaurence OlivierJoan FontaineGeorge SandersA self-conscious woman juggles adjusting to her new role as an aristocrat's wife and avoiding being intimidated by his first wife's spectral presence.
- DirectorJoseph L. MankiewiczStarsJohn HodiakNancy GuildLloyd NolanGeorge Taylor returns from WWII with amnesia. Back home in Los Angeles, while trying to track down his old identity, he stumbles onto a 3-year old murder case and a hunt for a missing $2 million.
- DirectorWilliam WylerStarsKirk DouglasEleanor ParkerWilliam BendixOn one day in the 21st Precinct squad room, assorted characters form a backdrop for the troubles of hard-nosed Detective Jim McLeod.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsJames StewartKim NovakBarbara Bel GeddesA former San Francisco police detective juggles wrestling with his personal demons and becoming obsessed with the hauntingly beautiful woman he has been hired to trail, who may be deeply disturbed.
- DirectorRobert FloreyStarsJohn PayneSonny TuftsEllen DrewWar hero recovers from amnesia and is confronted by his criminal past.
- DirectorWilliam BerkeStarsCesar RomeroGeorge BrentAudrey TotterA governor planning to run for U.S. Senate has a secret past that could prove damaging to his political aspirations: he's a convicted murderer, and that will come to light if the FBI does an investigative check on him. He goes to a local crime boss for help. The racketeer arranges for a low-level FBI employee to take the incriminating file from FBI headquarters, but then she is conveniently murdered. Two FBI agents investigating her murder begin to think that something isn't quite kosher.
- DirectorCharles VidorStarsRita HayworthGlenn FordGeorge MacreadyA small-time gambler hired to work in a Buenos Aires casino discovers his employer's new wife is his former lover.
- DirectorGeorge MarshallStarsAlan LaddVeronica LakeWilliam BendixAn ex-bomber pilot is suspected of murdering his unfaithful wife.
- DirectorOrson WellesStarsOrson WellesPeter van EyckMichael RedgraveAn elusive billionaire hires an American smuggler to investigate his past, leading to a dizzying descent into a cold-war European landscape.
- DirectorVincente MinnelliStarsKatharine HepburnRobert TaylorRobert MitchumMiddle-aged bride Ann Hamilton soon begins to suspect that her charming husband is really a psychotic who plans to murder her.
- DirectorJean RenoirStarsJoan BennettRobert RyanCharles BickfordA Coast Guardsman suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress becomes involved with a beautiful and enigmatic seductress married to a blind painter.
- DirectorJosef von SternbergMel FerrerNicholas RayStarsRobert MitchumJane RussellWilliam BendixNick Cochran, an American in exile in Macao, has a chance to restore his name by helping capture an international crime lord. Undercover, can he mislead the bad guys and still woo the attractive singer/petty crook, Julie Benson?
- DirectorNicholas RayStarsRobert TaylorCyd CharisseLee J. CobbLawyer Tommy Farrell is a defender of crooks. Vicki Gaye encourages him to go straight, but mob king Rico Angelo insists otherwise.
- DirectorPeter GodfreyStarsHumphrey BogartBarbara StanwyckAlexis SmithAn artist forms an attachment with a woman on holiday in the country. As the relationship develops, his behavior and information about his past cause her increasing concern.
- DirectorJames V. KernStarsRobert YoungBetsy DrakeJohn SuttonIn flashback from a 'Rebecca'-style beginning: Ellen Foster, visiting her aunt on the California coast, meets neighbor Jeff Cohalan and his ultramodern clifftop house.
- DirectorJean YarbroughStarsPreston FosterAnn RutherfordAlan CurtisA pair of married ex-convicts trying to go straight get jobs at a department store. A gangster who knows about their past threatens to expose it unless they agree to help him rob the department store.
- DirectorVincent ShermanStarsJoan CrawfordDavid BrianSteve CochranA New York socialite climbs the ladder of success man by man until a life among rich gangsters gives her what she thought she always wanted.
- DirectorFelix E. FeistStarsJoan CrawfordDennis MorganDavid BrianA tough lady gangster learns that she will be totally blind within a week. She seeks help from the one eye surgeon who may be able to save her sight. In the process, he also causes her to have a change of heart.
- DirectorJoseph L. MankiewiczStarsEdward G. RobinsonSusan HaywardRichard ConteAfter years in prison, Max promises revenge on his brothers for their betrayal. His lover Irene and memories of his past yield him a broader perspective.
- DirectorRobert SiodmakStarsBurt LancasterYvonne De CarloDan DuryeaAn armored truck driver and his ex-wife conspire with a gang to have his own truck robbed on the route.
- DirectorPhil KarlsonStarsJohn PayneColeen GrayPreston FosterAn ex-con trying to go straight is framed for a million dollar armored car robbery and must go to Mexico in order to unmask the real culprits.
- DirectorJack HivelyStarsBurgess MeredithClaire TrevorLouise PlattAfter an accident, a New York man with amnesia finds out the ugly truth about his real identity and past by interacting with people who seem to know him well.
- DirectorFrank TuttleStarsAlan LaddVeronica LakeRobert PrestonWhen assassin Philip Raven shoots a blackmailer and his beautiful female companion dead, he is paid off in marked bills by his treasonous employer who is working with foreign spies.
- DirectorSam NewfieldStarsMarjorie LordRobert ShaynePierre WatkinHoping to bury her criminal past, Jenny Hadley settles into a comfortable existence as Gina, the wife of the politician Clinton Crane. When her former associate Floyd Durant shows up to blackmail Gina, she has no choice but to murder him. Things take a bizarre turn when Barbara Arnold is charged with Durant's murder and Gina is selected to serve on the jury.
- DirectorOrson WellesStarsCharlton HestonOrson WellesJanet LeighA stark, perverse story of murder, kidnapping and police corruption in a Mexican border town.
- DirectorJoseph PevneyStarsLoretta YoungJeff ChandlerAlex NicolA female ex-con falls in love and hesitates to reveal her past.
- DirectorRudolph MatéStarsRobert MitchumJack PalanceLinda DarnellMobster Vic Spalato's girlfriend Claire is in hiding in Mexico and she's willing to testify for a US Senate investigation committee, if she can make it back to the US alive.
- DirectorS. Sylvan SimonStarsFranchot ToneJanet BlairJanis CarterP.I. Stu is hired to investigate the past of a millionaire Johnson's wife who is missing. Stu finds that the wife had left her home town with an actor, went to college using a stolen identity and purloined $40,000 from a night club.
- DirectorHarry KellerStarsDorothy PatrickArthur FranzBarbra FullerBud Dolliver, a former WWII hero and an ex-convict, returns to his hometown in an effort to make a new life for himself, but even with help from cannery worker Lou Jellison he finds living down his reputation difficult. He manages to get a job at Kelsey's Boat Yard because an accident caused by Kelsey Bunker's no-good son Junior endangered Bud's life and revealed his excellent war record. He does well at the job, but Joe Pettigrew (NOT played by Gig Young), personnel manager of the cannery, is jealous of Lou's feeling for Bud. He frames Bud for a robbery committed by himself and Junior Bunker. Bud's alibi is weak because he is trying to protect Lou's reputation as on the night of the robbery they were out of the state trying to get married.
- 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.
- DirectorW. Lee WilderStarsCesar RomeroJune HavocMarie McDonaldA down-on-her-luck San Francisco woman, turning in desperation to jewel robbery, barely escapes getting nabbed in a heist and moves to Los Angeles where she gets an honest job as a waitress. Her troubles start again, however, when she falls madly in love, blind to the fact that her boyfriend is a four-flushing, small-time con man.
- DirectorLawrence HuntingtonStarsDerek FarrJoan HopkinsEdward ChapmanIn post-war Britain, an army deserter unwittingly gets involved in murder and armed robbery and enlists the aid of a war widow to help clear his name.
- DirectorJohn GillingStarsHugh SinclairDinah SheridanJohn Laurie1950. Drama. Directed by John Gilling. Writer Robert Southley finds his lifestyle threatened by blackmail from a former American criminal associate. Stars Hugh Sinclair, Dinah Sheridan & John Laurie.