Spy Noirs, US, from Reference Books
Introduction
The table below has 50 US spy noirs that are cited in at least one of the following reference books. These films were released during the classic period of spy noir.
John Grant, A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Film Noir: The Essential Reference Guide (Limelight Editions, 2013)
Michael F. Keaney, Film Noir Guide: 745 Films of the Classic Era, 1940-1959 (McFarland & Company, Inc., 2003)
Spencer Selby, The Worldwide Film Noir Tradition (Sink Press, 2013)
Andrew Spicer, Historical Dictionary of Film Noir (Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2010)
For each film I have cited the author(s) who identify it as a film noir.
The information in the table about each film’s director and cinematographer complements the page Noir Style: Natives – Not Émigrés.
The table provides additional evidence that film noir didn’t arise in the United States because of émigrés from France or Central Europe. With very few exceptions, the directors and cinematographers responsible for the development of US film noir were were born in America; or, if they were born elsewhere, their film careers were substantially if not entirely in the US.
Here are two examples that show how I cite information about the directors and cinematographers.
Robert Siodmak (Germany; France, US career: 1933)
Robert Siodmak was born in Germany, and his career started in France and then began in US in 1933.
Robert Florey (France; US career)
Robert Florey was born in France and his career was entirely in the US.
When the literary source of a spy noir is a novel or a play, I only provide the title when it is different from the film’s title.
The information in the table about each film’s writer(s) shows how rarely a spy noir was adapted from an espionage novel (e.g., by Eric Ambler or Graham Greene). Instead, stage plays or novels not associated with espionage literature are more often the basis for spy noirs. Most frequently, spy noirs come from original screenplays or screenplays adapted from original, unpublished stories.
Therefore, contrary to the suggestions of James Naremore (Nothing More Than Night: Film Noir and Its Contexts) and Jon Tuska (Dark Cinema: American Film Noir in Cultural Perspective), spy noirs aren’t derived from spy novels. The table shows the independence of spy noirs from spy novels. For my critique of Naremore and Tuska, see the sections “Full Recognition of America’s Forgotten Ally” and “Postscript,” respectively, in the page Spy Noirs & the Origins of Film Noir.
Presentation
|
Date |
Title & Source(s) |
Director |
Cinematographer |
Writer(s) |
|
1939 |
The Lone Wolf Spy Hunt — Grant | Peter Godfrey (UK; US career) | Allen G. Siegler (US) | Jonathan Latimer (screenplay); Louis Joseph Vance (story) |
|
1939 |
Nick Carter: Master Detective — Grant | Jacques Tourneur (France; US career) | Charles Lawton Jr. (US) | Bertram Millhauser (screenplay); Bertram Millhauser & Harold Buckley (story) |
|
1940 |
Sky Murder — Grant | George B. Seitz (US) | Charles Lawton Jr. (US) | William R. Lipman (screenplay) |
|
1941 |
Dangerously They Live — Grant | Robert Florey (France; US career) | L. William O’Connell (US) | Marion Parsonnet (screenplay) |
|
1941 |
Federal Fugitives — Grant | William Beaudine (US) | Arthur Martinelli (Italy; US career) | Martin Mooney (screenplay & story) |
|
1941 |
Man Hunt — Grant | Fritz Lang (Germany; US career: 1934) | Arthur C. Miller (US) | Dudley Nichols (screenplay); Geoffrey Household (novel, Rogue Male) |
|
1941 |
Meet Boston Blackie — Grant | Robert Florey (France; US career) | Franz Planer (Czech Republic; US career: 1937) | Jay Dratler (screenplay & story) |
|
1941 |
Pacific Blackout [Midnight Angel] — Grant | Ralph Murphy (US) | Theodor Sparkuhl (Germany; US career: 1928) | Lester Cole & W.P. Lipscomb (screenplay); Franz Schulz (as Frank Spencer) & Curt Siodmak (story) |
|
1941 |
Roar of the Press — Grant | Phil Rosen (Poland; US career) | Harry Neumann (US) | Albert Duffy (screenplay); Alfred Block (story) |
|
1941 |
Secrets of the Lone Wolf — Grant | Edward Dmytryk (Canada; US career) | Philip Tannura (US) | Stuart Palmer (story & screenplay); Louis Joseph Vance (novel) |
|
1942 |
All Through the Night — Grant | Vincent Sherman (US) | Sid Hickox (US) | Leonard Spigelgass & Edwin Gilbert (screenplay); Leo Rosten & Leonard Spigelgass (story) |
|
1942 |
Blue, White and Perfect — Grant | Herbert I. Leeds (US) | Glen MacWilliams (US) | Samuel G. Engel (screenplay); Borden Chase (story) |
|
1942 |
Casablanca — Grant — Keaney — Spicer | Michael Curtiz (Hungary; US career: 1926) | Arthur Edeson (US) | Julius J. Epstein & Philip G. Epstein, Howard Koch (screenplay); Murray Burnett & Joan Alison (play) |
|
1942 |
Counter-Espionage — Grant | Edward Dmytryk (Canada; US career) | Philip Tannura (US) | Aubrey Wisberg (screenplay) |
|
1942 |
A Date with the Falcon — Grant | Irving Reis (US) | Robert De Grasse (US) | Lynn Root & Frank Fenton (screenplay) |
|
1942 |
The Falcon’s Brother — Grant | Stanley Logan (UK; US career) | Russell Metty (US) | Stuart Palmer & Craig Rice (screenplay) |
|
1942 |
Fly-By-Night — Grant — Keaney | Robert Siodmak (Germany; France, US career: 1933) | John F. Seitz (US) | Jay Dratler & F. Hugh Herbert (screenplay); Ben Roberts & Sidney Sheldon (story) |
|
1942 |
Keeper of the Flame — Keaney — Selby | George Cukor (US) | William Daniels (US) | Donald Ogden Stewart (screenplay); I.A.R. Wylie (novel) |
|
1942 |
Nazi Agent — Grant | Jules Dassin (US) | Harry Stradling Sr. (US) | Paul Gangelin, John Meehan Jr. & Lothar Mendes (screenplay) |
|
1942 |
Quiet Please, Murder — Spicer | John Larkin (US) | Joseph MacDonald (US) | John Larkin (screenplay); Lawrence G. Blochman (story) |
|
1942 |
Saboteur — Grant — Spicer | Alfred Hitchcock (UK; US career: 1940) | Joseph Valentine (US) | Peter Viertel, Joan Harrison & Dorothy Parker (screenplay) |
|
1942 |
Secret Enemies — Spicer | Benjamin Stoloff (US) | James Van Trees (US) | Raymond L. Schrock (screenplay); Seton I. Miller (story, “Mr. Farrell”) |
|
1942 |
This Gun for Hire — Grant — Keaney — Selby — Spicer | Frank Tuttle (US) | John F. Seitz (US) | Albert Maltz & W.R. Burnett (screenplay); Graham Greene (novel, A Gun for Sale) |
|
1943 |
Background to Danger — Grant — Spicer | Raoul Walsh (US) | Tony Gaudio (Italy; US career: 1906) | W.R. Burnett (screenplay); Eric Ambler (novel, Uncommon Danger) |
|
1943 |
The Fallen Sparrow — Grant — Selby | Richard Wallace (US) | Nicholas Musuraca (Italy; US career) | Warren Duff (screenplay); Dorothy B. Hughes (novel) |
|
1943 |
Hangmen Also Die! — Grant — Keaney — Selby | Fritz Lang (Germany; US career: 1934) | James Wong Howe (China; US career) | John Wexley (screenplay); Bertolt Brecht & Fritz Lang (story) |
|
1943 |
Hitler’s Children — Keaney | Edward Dmytryk (Canada; US career) | Russell Metty (US) | Emmet Lavery (screenplay); Gregor Ziemer (novel, Education for Death) |
|
1943 |
Journey into Fear — Grant — Keaney — Selby — Spicer | Norman Foster (US) & Orson Welles [uncredited] (US) | Karl Struss (US) | Orson Welles & Joseph Cotten (screenplay); Eric Ambler (novel) |
|
1943 |
London Blackout Murders — Grant | George Sherman (US) | L. William O’Connell (US) | Curt Siodmak (screenplay) |
|
1943 |
Passport to Suez — Grant | André de Toth (Hungary; US career: 1942) | L. William O’Connell (US) | John Stone (screenplay); Alden Nash (story) |
|
1943 |
Submarine Base — Grant | Albert Kelley (US) | Marcel Le Picard (France; US career) | George M. Merrick & Arthur St. Claire (screenplay) |
|
1944 |
Address Unknown — Grant — Selby | William Cameron Menzies (US) | Rudolph Maté (Poland; US career: 1935) | Herbert Dalmas (screenplay); Kressmann Taylor (novel) |
|
1944 |
The Conspirators — Grant | Jean Negulesco (Romania; US career) | Arthur Edeson (US) | Vladimir Pozner & Leo Rosten (screenplay); Frederic Prokosch (novel) |
|
1944 |
Crime by Night — Grant | William Clemens (US) | Henry Sharp (US) | Richard Weil & Joel Malone (screenplay); Daniel Mainwaring (novel, as Geoffrey Homes, Forty Whacks) |
|
1944 |
The Mask of Dimitrios — Grant — Keaney — Selby — Spicer | Jean Negulesco (Romania; US career) | Arthur Edeson (US) | Frank Gruber (screenplay); Eric Ambler (novel, A Coffin for Dimitrios) |
|
1944 |
Ministry of Fear — Grant — Keaney — Selby — Spicer | Fritz Lang (Germany; US career: 1934) | Henry Sharp (US) | Seton I. Miller (screenplay); Graham Greene (novel) |
|
1944 |
To Have and Have Not — Grant — Keaney | Howard Hawks (US) | Sidney Hickox (US) | Jules Furthman & William Faulkner (screenplay); Ernest Hemingway (novel) |
|
1944 |
The Unwritten Code — Keaney — Spicer | Herman Rotsten (US) | Burnett Guffey (US) | Leslie T. White (screenplay); Charles Kenyon & Robert Wohlmuth (story) |
|
1944 |
Voice in the Wind — Grant — Keaney — Selby — Spicer | Arthur Ripley (US) | Dick Fryer (UK; US career) | Friedrich Torberg (screenplay); Arthur Ripley (story) |
|
1945 |
Betrayal from the East — Spicer | William Berke (US) | Russell Metty (US) | Kenneth Gamet & Aubrey Wisberg (screenplay); Alan Hind (novel) |
|
1945 |
Confidential Agent — Grant — Keaney — Selby — Spicer | Herman Shumlin (US) | James Wong Howe (China; US career) | Robert Buckner (screenplay); Graham Greene (novel) |
|
1945 |
Cornered — Grant — Keaney — Selby — Spicer | Edward Dmytryk (Canada; US career) | Harry J. Wild (US) | John Paxton (screenplay); John Wexley (story) |
|
1945 |
Escape in the Fog — Grant — Keaney — Selby — Spicer | Budd Boetticher (US) | George Meehan (US) | Aubrey Wisberg (screenplay) |
|
1945 |
House on 92nd Street — Grant — Keaney — Selby — Spicer | Henry Hathaway (US) | Norbert Brodine (US) | Barré Lyndon, Charles G. Booth & John Monks Jr. (screenplay); Charles Booth (story) |
|
1946 |
Cloak and Dagger — Grant — Keaney — Spicer | Fritz Lang (Germany; US career: 1934) | Sol Polito (Italy; US career) | Albert Maltz & Ring Lardner Jr.(screenplay); Boris Ingster & John Larkin (story) |
|
1946 |
Notorious — Grant — Keaney — Selby — Spicer | Alfred Hitchcock (UK; US career: 1940) | Ted Tetzlaff (US) | Ben Hecht (screenplay) |
| 1946 | Step by Step — Spicer | Phil Rosen (Poland; US career) | Frank Redman (US) | Stuart Palmer (screenplay); George Callahan (story) |
|
1946 |
The Stranger — Grant — Keaney — Selby — Spicer | Orson Welles (US) | Russell Metty (US) | Anthony Veiller (screenplay); Victor Trivas (story) |
|
1946 |
Tangier — Grant | George Waggner (US) | Woody Bredell (US) | M.M. Musselman & Monte Collins (screenplay); Alice D.G. Miller (story) |
Addendum
The source books include the following WWII-related spy noirs that were released after my cutoff date of 1946.
|
1947 |
My Favorite Brunette — Keaney — Spicer | Elliott Nugent (US) | Lionel Lindon (US) | Edmund Beloin & Jack Rose (screenplay) |
|
1947 |
13 Rue Madeleine — Spicer | Henry Hathaway (US) | Norbert Brodine (US) | John Monks Jr. & Sy Bartlett (screenplay) |
|
1947 |
Violence — Grant | Jack Bernhard (US) | Henry Sharp (US) | Lewis Lantz & Stanley Rubin (screenplay) |
|
1948 |
Arch of Triumph — Selby — Spicer | Lewis Milestone (Moldova; US career) | Russell Metty (US) | Lewis Milestone & Harry Brown (screenplay); Erich Maria Remarque (novel); Irwin Shaw (uncredited) |
|
1948 |
The Argyle Secrets — Selby — Spicer | Cyrus Endfield (US) | Max Stengler (US) | Cyrus Endfield (screenplay) |
|
1948 |
Berlin Express — Grant — Spicer | Jacques Tourneur (France; US career) | Lucien Ballard (US) | Harold Medford (screenplay); Curt Siodmak (story) |
