Noir Movies – Humphrey Bogart

I’m into the classic noir movies now and decided to make it a Humphrey Bogart trifecta (The Maltese Falcon, The Big Sleep and Casablanca), although, where there’s Humphrey, there also seems to be Peter Lorre and Sydney Greetstreet. And while Rita Hayworth and Joan Bennett are front runners in the femme fatale roles, Lauren Becall, Mary Astor and Ingrid Bergman clearly outpace them in the ‘love interest’ category, as well as in sophistication.

There’s no need to summarize the plots of these three classic movies. I’m not sure I’d call them noir movies either, although they are mentioned in Nova Ren Suma’s book, Dani Noir (remember, that’s what got me started on this whole noir movie kick). They are star studded, action packed, well acted, absorbing movies. The actors are a delight: Sydney Greenstreet, Claude Rains, Peter Lorre, Lauren Bacall, Mary Astor, Ingrid Bergman. Of the three, Casablanca has to be my favorite, followed by The Maltese Falcon and lastly The Big Sleep. I could, and have, watched the first two multiple times. If I had to choose a femme fatale, it would have to be Ingrid Bergman.

I know I’m rambling here, so I’ll end by saying these three movies define great movies. See them. You’ll never tire of them.