Ida Lupino could justifiably be called the First Lady of Noir.  She not only appeared in a fare number of memorable noirs, she was the only female director in the genre as well as a writer.  Her noir performances may not be as high profile as other noir actresses, but her forte of playing hard luck dames  ending up with losers, endeared her to audiences.  Her best noir role may be in Roadhouse  where she more that holds her own with Richard Widmark. But true noir fans acknowledge her more for her directing (and co-writing) of The Hitch-Hiker. a film that has developed somewhat of a cult  following for its intensity and character study.

Suave and handsome, Victor Mature seems more likely to be found in a romantic 'chick flick' than the gritty world of film noir.  And indeed, later in his career he became the heartthrob hero of gladiator and Biblical epics.  But in the late 1940s he appeared in a number of noirs usually playing detectives, but his signature noir role was undoubtedly as the informant in Kiss Of Death.   Stoolies  usually don’t fare well with audiences but Mature's portrayal  helped his career.  Of course it didn’t hurt that Richard Windmark’s character was so demonic.

Mature never thought much of his acting and often  joked about his abilities.  With an eye toward the future he invested his film earnings in Southern California land.  By the early 1960s he left Hollywood and became a developer in San Diego County.  He became very wealthy and professed never to miss acting.

Virginia Mayo was one of the few real beauties to play the spectrum of roles in film noir.  From femme-fatale to  vulnerable victim, she was equally good.  She even managed a few staring roles in lesser B noirs.   Of course her signature role was in White Heat where her character evolved through every behavioral type existing in film noir.  One of the genre’s best performances.

No actor at any level is more associated with film noir than Charles McGraw, and for good reason.  With his gravely voice and chiseled face he had the ability to play hard boiled detectives or  psychotic killers with equal effect.  His well defined profile was well suited for  the hard shadows of noir, always giving him an ominous presence no matter which side of the law he was on.

Whether in a bit part like that of the an assassin in The Killers or any of  his starring roles in the RKO programmers, McGraw never disappoints.  Films like Roadblock, T-Men and Armored Car Robbery would be just run of the mill flicks were it not for the presence of McGraw.

After wining an Academy Award for his role in the 1945 war drama The Storey of GI Joe, Robert Mitchum signed a contract with RKO. The studio was entering the film noir era and Mitchum was in the right place at the right time.  He would make ten noirs during his time at RKO including the classic, Out Of The Past.   Mitchum had a  strong on-screen presence yet displayed a vulnerability that fit perfect for the type of noir characters that so often fell under the spell of a femme fatale.  He became a favorite of Howard Hughes after Hughes bought the studio in 1948.  Hughes teamed Mitchum with his discovery and Outlaw star Jane Russell in the noirs, His Kind of Women and Macao.  In 1949 Mitchum was arrested for possessing marijuana, which was a big deal at that time.  Had he been under contract to any of the other studios his career would surely have been over.  But Hughes kept him on, which only added to his noir appeal.

Mitchum left RKO in 1955, a year after Hughes sold the studio and set out on his own.  With the exception of a handful of roles, Mitchum would spend the rest of his career in mediocre films with lackluster performances.   He made no secret of his low regard for the acting profession and professed never to worry what the critics wrote. But one would think that even he would have been embarrassed by his performance in the remake of the classic noir The Big Sleep. Mitchum's legacy is his work at RKO when he was presumably hungrier. Fortunately those films remain  a testament to how good Mitchum and the genre could be.

Mr. Dependable is the best way to describe Edmund O'Brien.  Usually in supporting roles, he always brought credibility to any of his characters.   Starting with The Killers  in 1946 he appeared in a dozen noirs over the next 10 years alternating with westerns and war films.  Such was his versatility.

O'Brien won an Oscar for supporting actor for 1954’s The Barefoot Contessa, but many believe this was really a makeup for overlooking his performance  the previous year in The Hitch-Hiker.   O'Brien's best noir role was surely in D.O.A. where he appeared in almost every scene.  He brought an emotional realism to the character given the circumstances.   But he was similarly good in the under appreciated 711 Ocean Drive, playing the ordinary Joe brought down by women and money in classic noir fashion.

Dennis O'Keefe defines the meaning of perseverance.  He spent 15 years in Hollywood playing extras and bit parts before he got his opportunity for more substantial parts.  Most of his leading roles came with the onset of the "B" film noirs and he made the most of them.  One of his best film is Anthony Mann's  "T-Men" in which he spends most his time being harassed by Charles McGraw.  Like some other actors of his time he was pretty much forgotten as film noir faded.  

John Payne started out as a glamour boy doing song and dance.  He made a transition in mid career similar to Dick Powell and began appearing in gritty war films and eventually film noir.  In the latter genre he usually played ordinary Joe’s who wind up trapped by circumstances beyond their making and left to their own devices to find a way out.  This type of character played especially well in the films he made for director Phil Karlson, the best being 99 River Street.

Few actors ever transformed themselves as Dick Powell did in mid career.   Throughout the 30s Powell was a leading song and dance man, both on stage and film.  He had appeared in 43 musicals and comedies, such was his popularity.  Then in 1944, in what was surely a gamble for both him and RKO, he was cast as Philip Marlowe in Murder My Sweet.   Both he and the film succeeded and almost overnight he became one of noir's tough guys.  He made three more noirs in succession and became more popular playing hard-boiled detectives than anything he had previously done.  He also starred as Richard Diamond in the popular radio show during the same time.

In the mid 50s Powell began directing and was successful both on the big screen and in television.  One of those efforts was the underrated noir Split Second in 1953.   Talented and versatile, Powell died in 1963 at the age of 49.

Let's face it, George Raft would never make anyone's list of great actors, but he did have a presence about him that  exuded noir.  Despite his success playing Guino Rinaldo in the 1932 classic gangster film Scarface, Raft  would spend most of his time at Paramount playing romantic leads.  It was when he switched to Warner Bros. in 1939 that he became synonymous with gangster roles, joining Edward G. Robinson, Humphrey Bogart and James Cagney.   But after a succession of incredibly bad career choices (he turned down the lead in The Maltese Falcon,  Casablanca and High Sierra) he was relegated to second tier at the studio.

After parting company with Warners in the early 40s he went independent.  During this time he worked for just about every studio, usually in crime dramas.  His best noirs however would come at RKO where Nocturne and Johnny Angel are both worthy films.   By the early fifties Raft's status as a major star had diminished and he signed a contract with low budget Lippert Films to star in three European made noirs and even did a television series.   Raft left a notable legacy for someone with such mediocre acting abilities.

It's hard to believe that Edward G. Robinson appeared in his first film in 1916. But it would be the gangster era at Warner Bros. during the 30s that would propel a most unlikely looking actor to leading man status.  Among Warner's gangsters, Robinson, Bogart and Raft would later find success in noir.

For someone who developed a reputation for violent characters in the 30s, it's surprising how many of Robinson's noir roles were of benign characters.  More often than not he was showing up as a detective of some sort or another.  Audiences bought in and it gave him real staying power.  Whether it was outwitting Fred MacMurray in Double Indemnity or Orson Wells in The Stranger, Robinson was at his best.  That's not to say he forgot his roots, for in 1948's Key Largo  he showed us that once a gangster, always a gangster.

Ruth Roman’s involvement in film noir is very understated.  She appeared in 7 noirs, usually as a victim of some sort.  She was stalked in Down Three Dark Streets and Five Steps To Danger.  But she displayed versatility playing a manipulative, power hungry wife in Joe MacBeth.  She never made it to the “A”  list of Hollywood actresses but had a long career in television.

Robert Ryan along with Robert Mitchum were the two leading stars at RKO after WWII so it's no surprise the many noirs each appear in.   As opposed to Mitchum, Ryan was usually cast in over the top characters which he had a knack for playing.  He was an anti-Semite killer in Crossfire, a burned out detective in On Dangerous Ground, a bigoted crook in Odds Against Tomorrow and a vicious gangster in The Racket. One would have thought that Ryan himself would become burned out constantly playing such emotional roles.  But Ryan was always convincing in these type of roles which were not easy to play.  In The Racket, one of two films that Ryan and Mitchum made together, there is a scene where the two are having a heated argument all  the time Ryan is munching on an apple.  It's a real classic as he literally steals the scene from Mitchum with the use of the apple.

His best performance may well have been in The Setup, an  under appreciated film in which he plays a washed up boxer trying to maintain his self-esteem.  Ryan is probably the most deserving actor never to win an Academy Award for any number of roles during his career.

Lizabeth Scott's career flourished in noir, and why not.  She had a winsome figure, raspy voice and could hold her own against most men.  Her sexual allure, such as it was, seemed to trump her more glamorous contemporaries. She appeared in 10 noirs beginning with 1947’s Dead Reckoning and played opposite most of the genre’s leading men in those films.  She usually played strong willed women and none was more effective than her femme fatale role in 1949's Too Late For Tears where even Dan Duryea was no match for her.

Scott's career essentially ended in 1957 with her last starring film role in Loving You with Elvis Presley.

The charming ladies man who is a complete scoundrel has always been a favorite Hollywood character.  In film noir no one was better playing those roles than Zachary Scott.  Usually cast as a suave and smooth operator, he appeared in 12 noirs.  The most notable of those was Mildred Pierce  where even Joan Crawford was no match for him.  Scott died in 1965 at the age of 51 and despite the number of noirs he made, is somewhat forgotten.

Paul Stewart's noir career was defined by the uniqueness of his roles.  In a succession of films he played not just gangsters, but crime bosses.  With his cold demeanor, piercing dark eyes and a resonating New York accent no one would doubt that here was a man in his element.    He was effective in other roles as well, like the flight surgeon he played in Twelve O'clock High, but it would be the 'the bosses' that would define his career through three decades of television work.

Another of noir's bad women, Audrey Totter could play the femme fatale as well as anyone.   The best example of that ability would come in Tension.    But she also had her opportunities to play virtuous women and none was better than her portrayal of Robert Ryan's devoted, but suffering wife in The Setup.

Totter married a physician in 1953 and appeared in her last noir in 1955's Bullet for Joey with George Raft and Edward G. Robinson.  She continued her career in television and became a regular on several series.

Marie Windsor was in her element playing femme fatales in film noir.  Playing the calculating, cold hearted lover, she was the women you loved to hate.  She didn't have the striking beauty of other actresses. But her average looks and whiney voice added an authenticity to her performances.  This was the kind of woman one could easily encounter in the real world.  Her best role was in The Narrow Margin opposite Charles McGraw, but she was equally good playing the double-crossing wife of Elisha Cook in The Killing.

Despite good reviews, she never rose to starring status  which may have resulted from her typecasting in nor. Nevertheless,  she went on to have a successful career in television usually playing tough women.

Peter Lorre developed a cult following in Europe after his portrayal in Fritz Lang's dark crime drama, “M”.  After immigrating to the U.S. in the mid 30s he became well known to American audiences in the most improbable role, playing Japanese sleuth Mr Moto. His first foray into American noir would be Stranger On The Third Floor in 1940, however it would be his role in the classic The Maltese Falcon that would that would cement is image as one of Hollywood's most iconic actors.  Although never considered a leading man, he always seemed to steal any scene in which he appeared.

Humphrey Bogart started at Warner Bros. in the early thirties just as the studio was entering its gangster era. Despite receiving critical acclaim  for his performance in the Petrified Forest  he spent most of the decade in the shadow of Warner's first string gangsters, Cagney, Robinson and Raft.  Nevertheless he was becoming adept at playing hard boiled characters in Warner's crime dramas.  His career took off in the early 40s after his success in Casablanca and The Maltese Falcon, roles turned down by others.

Throughout the forties Warner's was one of the leading studios for film noirs and Bogart developed  into their lead-ing actor for the genre.  He had the ability to play a wide range of  characters.   Whether it was a hard boiled private eye, or scheming wife killer, he was equally convincing, and audiences loved him.    After his contract ended at Warner Bros. he formed his own production company with mixed results.  But he still made some good noirs, most notably the offbeat and dark, In  A Lonely Place and his next to last film,  The Desperate Hours.   Bogart left a legacy of film noirs that are just as popular today as when they were released.   

Steve Brodie is another actor with a long list of small but important noir roles.  He excelled in playing supporting characters that sometimes hand little screen time but were vital to the story.  As examples were his roles in Out of The Past, Crossfire and Armored Car Robbery.  One of his few starring roles was in 1949’s Desperate.  What was a “B” programmer for RKO turned out to be a top notch noir, given the direction of Anthony Mann and the work of Raymond Burr.

Brodie went on to a prolific career in television appearing in just abut every series  through the 70s, including several on Perry Mason  where he again dueled with Burr.  Another interesting aspect of his career  are the on-screen fights he had with Elvis Presley in each of the two Presley film he did.

As an actress, Barbara Stanwyck had one of the most successful careers imaginable.   She started in the silent era and soon developed a versatility that could be matched by few other actresses. Beginning in the early 30s she would play bad women - before the production code when they could really be bad, and at the same time appear in romantic, comedic and even western roles.  Moviegoers  loved her either way.  By the time  noir came her way in the 40s it was an easy fit.

Her signature noir role was the femme fatale opposite Fred MacMurray in Double Indemnity.  But she was equally good in Crime of Passion, Sorry, Wrong Number, Witness to Murder  or any number of other noirs she appeared.  Unlike her contemporaries Joan Crawford and Betty Davis in the wicked women business,  Stanwyck had real staying power.   She continued her career in television and was popular right up until her death in 1990.

Cornel Wilde was sort of an anomaly in film noir.  He could have spent his career playing  romantic  leads for which he was much in demand during the 1940s.  Instead he chose to play a number of ethnic and  and dark characters in film noir.   However there is nothing particularly remarkable about any of his film noir roles.

Whether friend or foe in the dozen film noir roles in which he appeared, William Bendix always seemed to be looking for someone to fight.  He became best known for his role in the early television comedy series, Life Of Riley playing the dimwitted father.  This overshadowed his work in film noir as the genre  faded.  But Bendix’s best work was in noir.  One only has to see The Glass Key or The Blue Dahlia to realize how good he was.  One of the better tough guys of film noir.

The film debut of Richard Widmark in 1947's Kiss of Death made quite an impact.  Playing the sadistic killer Tommy Udo earned him an Oscar nomination and made him an instant star. With the success of that film, Fox quickly followed up with The Street With No Name, and Road House, each starring Widmark as an equally unpleasant character.

Fox, which was not as committed to noir as Warner's or RKO, decided to utilize their new star in other genres. Widmark began starring in war films and westerns, usually as a good guy.   He returned to noir in 1953's Pickup On South Street, once again demonstrating his ability to captivate audiences as a thoroughly despicable character. Widmark may be best known as a western actor for the films he made in the 50s and 60s. but he earned an indelible place in film noir as Tommy Udo.  

Seductive, tough and tempting, Claire Trevor was one of the real broads of noir.  Her stardom came after appearing opposite John Wayne in the 1939 classic western, Stagecoach.   But it would be in noir where she would really find her niche.  She appeared in 10 noirs making her one of the most prolific of noir actresses.  She was also one of the few actors to win an Oscar for a role in a noir, Key Largo in 1948.  She was really in her element playing the femme fatale like those in Murder My Sweet and Johnny Angel.

Lawrence Tierney was one of Hollywood's most notable  tough guys, both on and off screen.  After a series of small, mostly uncredited roles, Tierney became a star after playing the lead role in Dillinger in 1945.  He followed that with roles in The Devil Thumbs a Ride, and Born Killer, playing a vicious, but cool killer in each film.  Tierney excelled in these roles and would undoubtedly had a much more successful career had his personal life not been so turbulent.

Tierney had a proclivity for booze and fighting which often landed him in jail.  Producers became weary of his behavior and major roles became scarce.  Nevertheless, his persona attracted bit parts both in television and the big screen.  His career had somewhat of a revival in 1992 when he was cast by Quentin Tarantino to play the crime boss in Reservoir Dogs.  Physically there was no resemblance to his appearance in his earlier noir films of the 40s, however he showed he could still play a convincing tough guy.

Compared to other studios MGM made comparably few noirs.  But of the ones they did make, Robert Taylor seemed to be their go to guy.   That seems a contradiction for an actor that  was known for his romantic and action/adventure leading roles.  Nevertheless he starred in five noirs for MGM, all of them decent enough.  Yet, after watching them you get the feeling that they all could have been better with any one of a number of  other actors in Taylor's part.  I can only imagine how good  The Bribe  would have been with Charles McGraw in the lead role.  But give Taylor his due, he tried to break new ground in the dark world of noir.  For the most part he succeeded given the limitations of MGM at the time.

Barry Sullivan was one of the most generic actors to play in film noir.  He played his share of detectives and prosecutors with a detached personality.   In other roles you find him as a victim.   Even when playing a heavy  in Framed  he ends up the victim to femme fatale Janis Carter.  His most emotional role was that in Cause For Alarm where again he ended up a victim to his own paranoia.

Jane Greer only appeared in four film noirs so her resume certainly falls short of other noted noir actresses.  But it was her role in Out Of The Past that forever made her synonymous with film noir.  And why not.  Her performance as the cold and calculating Kathie is the essential femme fatale of the genre.  She never made the same impact in her subsequent films and her career tailed off as she was content to be a wife and mother to her three sons.

She did show her loyalty to Robert Mitchum in 1949 agreeing to play opposite him in The Big Steel.  This was Mitchum’s first film after his conviction for marijuana possession.  The producers had a difficult time casting the female lead as most actresses were reluctant to appear with Mitchum fearing a public backlash to his conviction.

Sterling Hayden had appeared in five minor films when John Huston selected him for the lead in The Asphalt Jungle.  The tall, blond, athletic looking Hayden seemed out of place in the netherworld of noir but Huston used him seemingly to show how the pitfalls of life can happen to anyone, even the small town, all-American guy.  It was a great bit of casting and the success of the film made Hayden a viable star, even if he didn't want to be.

Like Robert Mitchum, Hayden didn't have much regard for the acting profession.  His first love was sailing and he lived in various boats for much of his life.  He admitted that he only took roles when he needed money.   But when he took a role you could usually count on a good performance.  For Stanley Krubeck's first studio film, The Killing, he selected Hayden for the lead.   It was a similar character to the one he played in The Asphalt Jungle.  Both of these films with Hayden are regarded as among the very best  of noirs.  Hayden would make eight noirs during his career but was not choosy about his roles.  He actually made more westerns and even did some television appearances.  Despite being in two of the best noirs, he probably is best remembered for the role of General Jack D. Ripper in Krubeck's  Dr. Strangelove.

Like many aspiring starlets, Rita Hayworth spent 12 years in Hollywood trying to make it happen.  During that time she appeared in 20 films in small, inconsequential parts.  It would be the film noir Gilda in 1946 where she would be "discovered."   This would also be the film that put Glenn Ford on the map.    There were many elements (not the least of which was George Macready's contribution) that make  Gilda a fan favorite.  She played a femme fatale in the disappointing Lady From Shanghai opposite her then husband Orson Wells who also directed.  Wells had her hair bleached blond, probably for shock value.

Hayworth divorced Wells in 1948 and left Hollywood to pursue her high profile marriage to Prince Aly Kahn.  After that marriage failed - one of five - she returned to filmmaking in 1952 and was again teamed with Glenn Ford in Affair in Trinidad.   This was an obvious attempt to repeat the success of Gilda and although it's entertaining, it doesn't have the same appeal.

Playing average Joe's made Van Heflin very effective in the type of roles that would define his career. Such were many of the characters of his noirs, decent men that would pay dearly for making wrong choices.   This was the reoccurring theme in Act of Violence,   The Strange Love of Martha Ivers,  and The Prowler.  He won an Academy Award for supporting actor in the early noir Johnny Eager.   Like many other noir actors Heflin found his way into westerns as the genre faded.

John Hodiak, quaint essential looking leading man did some of his best work in film noir, even though he tends not to be associated with the genre.  Usually played  good guy characters like attorneys and such but did play the very dark character in The Arnelo Affair.  His career was cut short due to his sudden death at age 41.  

Evelyn Keys  did not possess stunning beauty,  but she could be sultry and had the allure to convincingly  play the dames and broads of film noir.   When she died in 2008 she seemed to be remembered more for her role in Gone With The Wind  than anything else. That was unfortunate because her best work was in film noir like The Prowler, and 99 River Street  where her real legacy is.

Alan Ladd was one of a number of actors who became a star after appearing in a noir.   He had been a stagehand at Paramount and managed to get a few small, uncredited parts.   But his agent, who also happened to be his wife, got him a role in the low budget noir, This Gun For Hire.   The film turned out to be a big hit and Paramount put him under contract.   He made a half dozen noirs for Paramount including two more with co-star Veronica Lake, the best being The Blue Dahlia.  Ladd went on to other genres and scored his biggest success  with his performance  in the critically acclaimed western, Shane.

Ladd fought insecurity throughout his career and was self-conscious about his appearance (he was only 5'-5"). That, and his battle with alcoholism sent his career into a tailspin.  It's ironic that he returned to noir in one of his last films, Man in a Net as both he and the genre were fading away.   Ladd died in 1964 at the age of 50.

Burt Lancaster is believed by many to be one of the best actors of his generation.  Yet his career is something of a contradiction.  He became a star after appearing in his first film, The Killers, and he wasn't even the first choice of the producer.   He developed the persona of a tough, virile individual, yet in his early noirs he played men that were psychologically weak and dominated by women. That was the case in The Killers, Criss-Cross, and Sorry, Wrong Number,  making those films particularly interesting.

As Lancaster gained star power and formed his own production company, his career became somewhat erratic.  His choice of  films often  left critics scratching their heads.  Lancaster himself didn't help, after appearing in Airport  for a big payday,  he lambasted the film calling it  garbage.  But make no mistake, the good films that Lancaster did make, including his noirs, are real gems and a legacy befitting a great actor.

Whether friend or foe in the dozen film noir roles in which he appeared, William Bendix always seemed to be looking for someone to fight.  He became best known for his role in the early television comedy series, Life Of Riley playing the dimwitted father.  This overshadowed his work in film noir as the genre  faded.  But Bendix’s best work was in noir.  One only has to see The Glass Key or The Blue Dahlia to realize how good he was.  One of the better tough guys of film noir.

Dana Andrews was very versital playing everything from priest to cops to prosecutors with equal stoic demeanor. He could be counted on for a reliable performance in any number of such roles but was seldom inspiring.  Although he had many leading roles, it was not uncommon for other supporting actors to steal his scenes.  This was especially true in his film noirs.

Long before he became television's most famous lawyer, Raymond Burr was one of noir's most prolific bad guys. His film career before television was almost exclusively playing heavies culminating with his most notable villainous role in Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window.  But he was never more menacing than in the noirs Desperate, His Kind of Women and Raw Deal.   He was  also prolific on radio appearing in many of the crime dramas of the 40s and early 50s.

Burr had become so typecast playing villains that it surprised many when he was selected for the role of Perry Mason.  Burr proved just how good an actor he was by transforming himself into  the Perry Mason character for which he will always be remembered.

Despite appearing in 10 film noirs, Dane Clark does not readily come to mind in a discussion of the genre.  Clark often described himself as an “Average Joe” and those were the type of characters he most liked to play.  That expectation served him well in many of the films he appeared.  But in film noir he was often cast as a heavy and he never seemed to bring emotion to those roles.  In the early 50s Clark worked in England and had leading roles in several film noirs for Hammer Pictures.

Few actors looked better in an overcoat and disheveled than Lee J. Cobb.  That fit quite well with his film noir persona which found him more often than not playing a gritty police detective.   Cobb  played his share of heavies but it was the self assured authority figure like the steady police chief in Boomerang or the captive psychiatrist in The Dark Past  where he excelled.    Cobb was a versatile actor who preferred the stage to anything else but was equally respected for both his work in film and television.

Burly and moody, would define most of the roles that Steve Cochran would come to play in film noir.  He most often would play a gangster  but his good looks and smoothness usually provided some romantic angle for his characters.  He leveraged these  traits in films like  The Damned Don’t Cry and White Heat.  Even though his roles were rather narrow, Cochran was generally a much better actor than critics ever acknowledged.

The circumstances surrounding his death in 1965, at age 49, seemed like something right out of film noir itself.  He died aboard his yacht while sailing with 3 young women off the coast of Central America.  The boat drifted with his body onboard for 10 days before the women were rescued.  Although his death was officially listed as from natural causes, many of his friends didn’t believe it and pressed for a full investigation, which never occurred.

Always gruff and rather crude, Broderick Crawford made a good bully whether he was playing a crook or cop.  He was an Academy Award winner for All The Kings Men  yet is probably best known for his role in the early television series Highway Patrol.  In between Crawford appeared in a fair number of noirs, all interesting but mediocre.  

Richard Conte was encouraged by John Garfield at the New York Theater Group and helped to his first acting part on Broadway in 1939.  Conte eventually  went to Hollywood and was signed by Paramount in 1942.  He initially appeared in war films but found his place in noir with the increasing popularity of the genre.  Conte’s stoic, unemotional manner set the stage for the many cold hearted gangsters he would play in noirs like Cry Of The City  and The Big Combo.  Even when playing a good guy like that in The Blue Gardenia he could be quite indifferent.  

Conte became a buddy  of Frank Sinatra and played a police detective in Sinatra’s two Tony Rome films.  His last film role was memorable as Marlin Brando’s rival in The Godfather.

Elisha Cook's first film role was in 1930, but it would be a decade before he would come to prominence with his role in the classic,  The Maltese Falcon.  That same year he also scored playing the psychotic killer in the noir, I Wake Up Screaming.  From that point on the diminutive Cook became one of Hollywood's most recognizable  character actors usually playing the wannabe tough guy that always comes up short.  These were the types of roles that he played in two of noir's best, The Big Sleep  and The Killing.  In both films his parts were short, but neither film would be near as good without his presence.

Cook's onscreen persona was similarly effective in other genres as well.   He played the same type of character in the western classic Shane.    He made the transition into television and was much in demand usually playing the same quirky characters.

Joan Crawford had been the Queen Bee of melodramas throughout the 1930s and 40s.  She certainly had the credibility to play tough broads and femme-fatales in film noir.  The problem is that most of her noir work came in the 50s when her career was on the downside.  Trying to capitalize on her name - and her looks of a decade earlier - left these films  short on credibility.  In those noirs she is woefully miscast as beautifully irresistible to younger lovers like Jeff Chandler and Steve Cochran, who fall head over heals for her.  That  was to much of  a stretch and left many of her noir films lacking.

A career scoundrel, Duryea had the ability to play thoroughly despicable characters  without the accompanying violence.  To be fair about it, he did slap his share of women around, but it was the sleaze factor that made him so effective.   He was the blackmailer, the miscreant, the double crossing lowlife.  These were all essential noir characters and few could do them better than Duryea.

Duryea lacked the appeal when he tried other types of  roles, even comedy, so he resigned himself to the fact that  it would be villains or nothing and he made the most of it.  Duryea's persona was usually the same regardless of the genre and his characters would be just as sleazy in a western as they would be in  noir.  He died at the age of 61 but left a legacy appearing in more than a dozen noirs.

Not just another pretty face, Nina Foch brought a level of sophistication to her roles and avoided playing the broads, femme fatales or losers usually found in film noir.   Even playing the girlfriend of hoodlum William Holden in The Dark Past she seemed to rise above the fray as if she didn't belong.

In later years she became a highly respected instructor at the University of Southern California's Film School.

Glenn Ford had appeared in 16 films before he made Gilda, the noir that would punch his ticket to stardom.  It's the same path that Rita Hayworth took, although she languished  in bit parts for a much longer time as did Ford.  Ford's stoic demeanor resonated with audiences and would be a style of acting that Seve McQueen and Clint Eastwood would utilize so effectively.

Ford had the versatility to play in every genre and became one Hollywood's most popular stars. But it would be the westerns in which Ford felt most comfortable and enjoyed making.   Today he is primarily regarded as a cowboy star equal to that of John Wayne or James Stewart.   Yet, during his days at Columbia he was that studio's main guy for their noirs.  In-between his western, adventure and even comedy roles he made seven noirs, the best being The Big Heat.   Ford appeared in one of the last film noirs, The Money Trap in 1965.

Always smooth and believable in every role he played, John Garfield never disappoints.   Garfield died at the age of 39 and in his short life appeared in only 31 films.  We are fortunate however, because a third of those films were noirs.   His performance  in Force of Evil  made that film  one of the very best of noirs.   The part called for the sophistication of a clever lawyer and the toughness of a streetwise brawler.  Few actors could pull it off, but that's what distinguished Garfield.  Such was the case throughout his career.  Interestingly, Garfield never appeared in a color film and his last film was a noir, He Ran All The Way, in 1951.

Thomas Gomez was a heavy, both in the literal and physical sense.  His size along with the ability to project a sinister character provided many opportunities in noir.  He was usually cast as a crime boss of one type or another. One of his best noir roles was the numbers racketeering brother of John Garfield in Force of Evil.  

Gomez spent much time on Broadway which he professed to be his first passion.  Nevertheless, he was in his element in film noir supporting roles, like those in Key Largo,  Macao  and Johnny O' Clock.

It’s easy to make the case that Gloria Grahame became typecast in noir roles.   She had a pixie face and mannerisms that allowed her to play a succession of losers and secondhand lovers.  These would be the type of forlorn women she would play in Crossfire, Macao, The Big Heat, and Odds Against Tomorrow.   She also had her opportunities to play true femme fatale roles in Human Desire and Sudden Fear where she was able to show her sultry side quite effectively.

With all of her work in noirs, it's easy to overlook that Grahame won an Academy Award for her performance as the perky, star struck wife of Dick Powell in The Bad And The Beautiful.   Yet her portrayal of Humphrey Bogart's anguished lover in In a Lonely Place is arguably the best of her career.  She is at her best riding the emotional roller coaster trying to support  the unstable and explosive Bogart.

Early in his career Farley Granger  alternated between roles in romantic dramas and gritty film noirs.  In the half dozen noirs in which he appeared he usually played some unlucky stiff who becomes a victim of circumstances  not necessarily of his own making.   It is in They Live By Night that Granger, along with Cathy O’Donnell is most effective in turning his criminal character into a sympathetic figure,  an essential element of noir.

Ed Begley is among a small circle of actors to win both an Oscar and a Tony award.  He was equally good in any genre, including westerns as demonstrated in Hang Em High  playing opposite Clint Eastwood.  Although most of his acclaim came from non noir films - Patterns, Twelve Angry Men and Sweet Bird of Youth,  his performance in Odds Against Tomorrow is masterful.