Melville was a great admirer of American 30s and 40s genre movies, especially gangster films.
He liked nearly every director who had made at least one good contribution. The only exception was surprisingly Raoul Walsh, whose films he thought of as rather weak
I find Melville the Leone of Noir and Gangster films.
[quote=“Phil H, post:49, topic:1786”]Although I know where you’re coming from and agree on all the films listed I don’t think you can dismiss a films noir credentials purely on the basis of its being shot in colour. Certainly in the case of neo noir.
Films such as The Hot Spot and The Grifters are both in colour and both as noirish as you could ask for in terms of their content and style. (They’re both Jim Thompson stories so they qualify for my money on that alone)
I know what you mean with classic noirs of course. They did tend to be shot in monochrome and that added something to their atmosphere which became pretty much synonmous with the genre. But later films proved it could still be done very effectively in colour.[/quote]
Strangers on a Train is not only one of my favorite Hitchcock films but also has that noir feel. You see how unbalanced this other individual is and all the destruction he is causing, but it’s a slow spiral. The people involved don’t even know they’re involved until it is too late. The crime is not the main focus but the criminal. Whith out a doubt this film would have been a lot less effective in color.
Hi Riffi! I can see that you like “The Third Man” and there’s a excellent book about the making of the film called “In Search of The Third Man” by Charles Drazin (first published in 2000 and costs £9.99). It’s ISBN number is:
0-413-75070-1
I think you will enjoy it.
In my two disc Criterion release of The Third Man, the supplemental booklet has excerpts from the book, and I always found of interest so I might pick it up.
Rif, I’m still waiting for my Noir list from you! >:(
[quote=“I…I…Idiot, post:86, topic:1786”]Rif, I’m still waiting for my Noir list from you! >:(
;)[/quote]
Oops…I’ll get right on that! :o 
I watched 2 film noirs recently:
Touch of evil - 7/10
and
In a lonely place - 9/10
I recently watched the Third Man but I must say, it was a dissapointment. While it did have great camera work, I thought the interiors were too well light and not dark enough. And I didn’t think the story or subject matter was dark enough to satisfy the feel I expect from Noir. Average for me.
But the reveal… the ending… Nothing?
Ah well…
Still my favorite…
If you wan’t a truly dark noir watch The Killers or Le Doulos or Crimewave…
I’'l check them out.
Korano, while still young, I feel you are way ahead of your time as far as movie knowledge goes & I respect your opinion…with that being said, one day you will look back at this post & laugh. Third Man is one of the best, undeniably, unique & groundbreaking movies of all time. Orson Welles introduction is one of the greatest character introductions in movies history.
Another film I never really viewed as a noir film. Though it has noirish elements enough.
But a great masterwork it is, a 10/10 without any doubt. And one of those which are easily better than the novel, which was originally written by Graham Greene only to be transformed into a screenplay, but published nevertheless afterwards.
A pity it wasn’t directed by Welles himself.
If it’s 10/10 already, how could it have been better had Welles directed it? 
He he, it’s success would have helped Welles to make more films than he actually did.
Of course it’s not even sure he would have created a similar good film. But on the other hnad he had the potential to make a 12/10 film, or something like this.
What! How could you say that? It’s my third favourite film of all time!
I’m going to re-watch it today, to see if its as good as I remember it to be.
Hopefully you watched a good quality version of the film . For me the Dark/Light photography is perfect in The Third Man. IMO the story is very dark and much darker as in other Film Noirs. Don’t forget Harry Lime is responsible for the death of hundreds (?) by killing them with penicillin in cut (diluted) form. My favourite line is of course the cuckoo clock speech.
One other scene I always liked is when Holly Martin gets accused of being a Murder by the little boy. After that he had to run for his life before the angry crowd will get him. IMO a very cynical statement of mass hysteria and xenophobia.
Maybe you should give it after some time another try. 
Carol Reed was an excellent director with this film showing the height of his power after a series of hit noirs (The Fallen Idol, Odd Man Out), so I’m sure it was as perfect as can be…
Just re-watched it; its better than I remembered! The one thing that impressed me most was Joesph Cotten, who is much better than I remember.
Yeah, it was Reed in his best days, just at the peak with this film.