Top 5

Top 5 Actresses in Classic Film Noir

I just saw Born to Kill (1947) and Claire Trevor's superb performance, and I wondered . . . What are the top five performances by an actress in a traditional film noir (1942 to 1957)? Why?

1. Claire Trevor in Born to Kill (1947). Trevor, sometimes called the Queen of Film Noir, is in an A-movie and gives an A-performance--hard-nosed, yet expressive; cold, yet good looking; remote, yet earthy.

2. Jane Greer in Out of the Past (1947). She relentlessly out-smarts the guys in a classic femme fatale performance. One of my favourite images in film noir is when Robert Mitchum is sitting in the dark of a Mexican restaurant/bar hoping she will appear, and she walks out of the sunlight dressed in a tight white dress and a cavalier white hat.

3. Joan Crawford in Mildred Pierce (1945). Even though I can't remember many individual scenes, I can still feel the sense of pain at her betrayal.

4. Rita Hayworth in The Lady from Shanghai. Admittedly, she does not have to do as much difficult acting as required in some other roles, but she is perfect for the part. And just when I was starting to think that the femme fatales never looked great, she was beautiful.

5. Jacqueline White in The Narrow Margin (1952). I know I'm going against the grain picking someone who was not a femme fatale and had to share the spotlight with another lead actress, but White was perfect as the seemingly nice middle-class housewife who was a gangster's wife and had more guts than most.

There are lots more possiblities: Veronica Lake in This Gun for Hire (1942); Joan Bennett in Scarlet Street; Ingrid Bergman in Notorious (1946), Jean Tierney in Laura; and maybe even Claire Trevor or Marsha Hunt in Raw Deal (1948).

What do you say?

Re: Top 5 Actresses in Classic Film Noir

Wow, great topic, since the women really make film noir sexy and mysterious 

1.  I loooove Gloria Grahame in everything so I guess I have to cheat and say that I would put three of her noir performances in a tie- tough and sexy Debby Marsh in The Big Heat, scheming Irene Neves in Sudden Fear, and complicated Laurel Grey in In a Lonely Place

2. I think Joan Crawford gets a bad rap because of her personal life, but I think she makes every movie she's in better. I'm going to cheat again and list two favorites, as Myra Hudson in Sudden Fear and as the indomitable Mildred Pierce

3. I agree with you Jim that Jane Greer's entrance in Out of the Past is one of the most memorable, maybe only rivaled by Lana Turner's in The Postman Always Rings Twice. Jane's performance makes that movie all the more mysterious and menacing.

4. Gene Tierney is a great noir actress as well. She is the haunting prescence in one of my all-time favs., Laura and she's great in the noirs Whirlpool and Where The Sidewalk Ends as well as the noirish Leave her to Heaven,

5. If you are talking about single performances it would be hard to beat the portrayal of a vicious femme fatale that Ann Savage gives in Detour. You don't root for Vera and she isn't glamorous, but she catches Tom Neal in her web and leads him to his destruction. Maybe Peggy Cummings in Gun Crazy comes close.

Lauren Bacall in Dark Passage and Key Largo, Veronica Lake in This Gun for Hire, Joan Bennett in Woman in the Window, and Barbra Stanwyck in Double Indemnity are my alternates.

Re: Top 5 Actresses in Classic Film Noir

don't know if these are "traditional" but what about...

1. Barbara Stanwyk - Double Indemnity.
2. Gene Tierney - Laura
3. Ida Lupino - The Hard Way
4. Jean Simmons - Angel Face
5. Claire Trevor - Murder My Sweet

Re: Top 5 Actresses in Classic Film Noir

You are a true Warrior Princess, Wonga, and will one day claim your rightful place in the kingdom if you so desire.

It's interesting that Jymkata also mentiioned Barbara Stanwyk in Double Indemnity.  Although I have no big argument with this choice, I don't list it as Top 5 because, as good as the movie is, there is something a little hollow; as great as the plot is, something does not ring quite true about the passion between the two leads. I'm not the first person to notice this, but, generally, viewers don't notice it. I still loved the movie, and it was a huge groundbreaker in American cinema.

Although I'm not a film historian by any means, I think it is interesting to note what the talented Gene Tierney said about her famous role in Laura. When she first saw the script, she wondered what actress would be stupid enough to take a role where she starts off the movie dead. When the film was a hit and Tierney praised for her acting, she demurred. She assessed her performance as average, competent, middle-of-the road. MOst of the fuss, she said, was for the idea or ideal of Laura rather than for the actual portrayal.

I know nothing about Jean Simmons and the movie Angel Face. Any comments as to why it is in your top five?

Re: Top 5 Actresses in Classic Film Noir

In the two dozen film noir I've watched, I have by chance missed Gloria Grahame. What is it you like so much about her acting?

 Sometimes the answer is simple, sometimes rather complex. For example, I gradually came to like Claire Trevor in pretty much every picture because she was ordinary looking and didn't try to "talk tough," but also had a very expressive face with deep eyes, and had a tough edge to her voice (which someone attributed to her NY background). She also changed to fit the roles. For example, in Raw Deal where she loves the guy but he treats her as his sister/partner-in-crime, she is a plain-Jane who radiates no sexual energy to speak of. But in Born to Kill, she gets to wear big-budget clothes (she looks great) and smolder in scenes of unfulfilled love with Lawrence Tierney.

Re: Top 5 Actresses in Classic Film Noir

JimBell:

I know nothing about Jean Simmons and the movie Angel Face. Any comments as to why it is in your top five?

i haven't seen this movie for ages but i remember that i really liked it, especially the ending. Jean Simmons plays somewhat against type and it also has Robert Mitchum, one of my faves.  

Re: Top 5 Actresses in Classic Film Noir

I think she had a very natural and charasmatic sexy quality about her and she was very diverse in her acting (noir, It's a Wonderful Life, Oklahoma, etc...) not just limited to the noir genre. Her voice, her face, her height and frame all add up to a an attractive, egnimatic figure that acts like a magnet in any film I see her in.

I couldn't believe the difference in Clare Trevor's performance in Raw Deal compared to her other portrayals in other noirs and westerns. She was so dressed down and mean - it was quite a performance.

JimBell:

In the two dozen film noir I've watched, I have by chance missed Gloria Grahame. What is it you like so much about her acting?

 Sometimes the answer is simple, sometimes rather complex. For example, I gradually came to like Claire Trevor in pretty much every picture because she was ordinary looking and didn't try to "talk tough," but also had a very expressive face with deep eyes, and had a tough edge to her voice (which someone attributed to her NY background). She also changed to fit the roles. For example, in Raw Deal where she loves the guy but he treats her as his sister/partner-in-crime, she is a plain-Jane who radiates no sexual energy to speak of. But in Born to Kill, she gets to wear big-budget clothes (she looks great) and smolder in scenes of unfulfilled love with Lawrence Tierney.

Re: Top 5 Actresses in Classic Film Noir

Re: Top 5 Actresses in Classic Film Noir

Three plus one that I've seen recently:

Good girls:

1. Alida Valli - The Third Man - Long career in Europe

2. Cloris Leachman  - Kiss Me Deadly 

3. Janet Leigh - Touch of Evil - Wardrobe!!

and Gloria Swanson in Sunset Blvd. 

Re: Top 5 Actresses in Classic Film Noir

The top 5 for me are in no particular order....that would be too hard!

• Lana Turner - The Postman Always Rings Twice.
• Susan Hayward - I Want To Live
• Barbara Stanwick - Double Indemnity
• Greta Garbo - Grand Hotel
• Gene Tierney - Laura

These women, to me, are the epitome of the sexy, manipulative siren.