The MoFo Top 100 Film Noir Countdown

Rififi was almost certainly on my list. It's great.


Elevator to the Gallows left me cold the only time I saw it. I should give it another chance at some point. It's soundtrack is killer though.

I forgot to put Rififi on my list. It's a masterpiece and on my list of all time favourite films, but imdb didn't tag it as film noir, so I forgot to include it. Shame on me. Elevator to the Gallows is great too, but it didn't make my list either.

Seen: 57/60

And I draw 2 blanks. I'm not really very familiar with French Noir.

I've checked and re-checked my ballot and just can't imagine how I missed putting Rififi. It should've been there, maybe even in the Top 10. Ahh, c'est la vie. You can all read my full review here, but it's great.

I haven't seen Elevator to the Gallows, but it's been one that has been on my radar for a long time. Looks like something I would enjoy.


SEEN: 12/60
MY BALLOT: 6/25

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How much higher would it have ended if we all had remembered?

List facts...

• Both Rififi and Elevator to the Gallows have two of the highest IMDb ratings of the countdown so far (8.1 and 7.9).
• The 8-point gap between yesterday's The Narrow Margin and today's Rififi is the second highest after that big 18-point gap from yesterday.

It didn't occur to me to include either of those films, but they both would've made it had I voted in time.

Love both, voted for neither. Elevator to the Gallows/A Lift to the Scaffold came closer to making my cut. Terrific stuff, even with the one major plot hole of...
Ultimately it doesn't matter, and it does have maybe the best score for any Noir or Neo Noir by the one and only Miles Davis. Much of the film seems to be Jeanne Moreau walking around the streets at night to the strains of Miles, and frankly that is wonderful. I am down for it!

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"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra

Big surprise today as I thought Rififi was going to be top 10.

I've seen Elevator to the Gallows but can't recall it right now.

3. Rififi (#42)
7. Body and Soul (#94)
13. Detective Story (#57)
15. Force of Evil (#85)
16 Ride the Pink Horse (#45)
20. The Blue Dahlia (#74)
24. Drunken Angel (#70)
25. The Letter (#72)

It appears it would've been top ten if everyone remembered it.

Stats: Pit Stop #6

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After hitting our sixth pit stop (60), here's were we are now:

Yearly Breakdown

• 1940 = 3
• 1941 = 1
• 1942 = 1
• 1943 = 1
• 1944 = 5
• 1945 = 2
• 1946 = 3
• 1947 = 8
• 1948 = 9
• 1949 = 5
• 1950 = 6
• 1951 = 2
• 1952 = 3
• 1953 = 3
• 1954 = 0
• 1955 = 4
• 1956 = 2
• 1957 = 0
• 1958 = 2
• 1959 = 0

1948 stayed pretty much the same, while 1947 and 1949 both made a push for the top spot.


Repeating Directors

• Robert Wise = 3
• Henry Hathaway = 3
• Otto Preminger = 3
• William Wyler = 3
• Jules Dassin = 2
• Robert Siodmak = 2
• Alfred Hitchcock = 2
• Nicholas Ray = 2
• Jules Dassin = 2
• Fritz Lang = 2
• John Cromwell = 2
• Robert Rossen = 2

Robert Wise joins Hathaway, Preminger, and Wyler at the top spot, while Jules Dassin, Robert Siodmak, and Alfred Hitchcock join the list.

I would have voted for Rififi, but Wikipedia lists it as a "crime film," so I didn't put it on my list.
(Bill Clinton voice) "Genre semantics are tearing this country apart!"

Anyway, that heist scene is spectacularly tense, isn't it? I've seen some that come close like the ones in Le Cercle Rouge, Grand Slam and Topkapi, but no cigar.

Based on all of us who could've/should've/would've voted for it, it might as well have been Top 10.

Totally!!
“Ride the cotton pony” was a thing

I’m pretty sure this was the one.

Bonjour. So far the only two from my list that have made it are from France. I wasn't a huge fan of Elevator to the Gallows but recognize the great performance by Jeanne Moreau and appreciate the influence on the new wave that was to follow. I do like Rififi a lot and had it at #17. Everything is on point with this film and what we get is a quality, brutal, heist noir. One of the essential films to come out of France in the fifties, especially this genre. Dassin had a great run of films leading up to getting blacklisted and so he goes off to France to make a movie and what I think is the peak film of his career. An easy add to my list.

15. Bob le flambeur (1956)
17. Rififi (1955)

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1 out of these 2 seen. Well, Rififi is the second French heist movie I have yet to watch. The other being #63 Bob le Flambeur. I'll leave it up to the fates and check out the first one I run across.

But what do you know. I actually watched the other French noir, Elevator to the Gallows. But it's one of several films stretching back a couple of years that I never wrote up. I'll get around to doing that sooner or later. For some reason I always associate this with Death of a Cyclist (Muerte de un ciclista), a 1955 Spanish film. Maybe because both feature clandestine lovers, a murder and the inexorable unraveling of their lives.

32 of 60 seen so far.

I had Elevator to the Gallows at #15. The incredible score by Miles Davis elevates the movie to next-level greatness.

My List:
11. Where the Sidewalk Ends (#66)
15. Elevator to the Gallows (#41)
20. This Gun for Hire (#78)
23. The Set-Up (#46)

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I may go back to hating you. It was more fun.

Yay for French noir. I had Elevator to the Gallows at #15 although I could have sworn I'd put it higher. Very tense, very cold noir movie.

I sure did notice Tony dancing with Yvonne! And I totally forget to mention it! Argh! So cool that they (he and Burt) were in a Noir together before the other Noir they did. Shades of things to come.

I've seen neither of today's Noirs but they're both on my list, and Rififi has been on my radar since I was going to watch a group of heist films but got sidetracked a while back. Still, it will be watched, oh yes, it will be watched! And thanks, @Holden Pike for including that fairly comprehensive list of funicular scenes! Some I've seen and totally forget they were in those films!

#4 The Big Combo List Proper List Proper #52
#6 Kansas City Confidential List Proper #53
#14 Kiss of Death List Proper List Proper #59
#15 He Walked By Night List Proper #88
#16 The Naked City List Proper #60
#22 This Gun For Hire List Proper #78
#23 The Narrow Margin List Proper #43
#25 Crossfire List Proper #51

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