Film

Nob Hill

Name: Nob Hill
Genre: Drama, Music
Released: 1945
Cast: George Raft, Joan Bennett, Vivian Blaine, Peggy Ann Garner, Alan Reed

Drama

A Barbary Coast saloon owner schemes to marry into San Francisco high society in this 1945 musical drama. It's a glossy, energetic picture about ambition and class, set in the turn-of-the-century gold rush era. George Raft carries the film with his characteristic cool, while the supporting cast provides comedy and musical interludes. The plot is slight, but the atmosphere—bustling saloons, elaborate production numbers, period costumes—is what you're really here for.

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Gilda1946

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The wildcard

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M1931

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Fritz Lang's masterpiece about the hunt for a child murderer in Berlin. It's the ancestor of all procedural crime dramas, but it's also philosophically complex—about vigilantism, justice, and moral authority. Peter Lorre's performance is haunting.

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An innocent man accused of murder; a woman determined to prove him innocent. Robert Siodmak directs with real sophistication, and the suspense builds methodically. Ella Raines is excellent, and there's a genuinely disturbing percussion scene.

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The Big House1930

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The Woman in the Window1944

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In a Lonely Place1950

Humphrey Bogart plays a volatile Hollywood screenwriter accused of murder. Nicholas Ray's direction is psychologically acute, and the film is genuinely about how suspicion corrodes trust. Bogart's performance is one of his finest—raw and sad.

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The Asphalt Jungle1950

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Sweet Smell of Success1957

Both are obsessed with social climbing and the underworld of American nightlife, but Mackendrick is interested in corruption and evil in ways Hathaway isn't. Nob Hill asks if you can marry up; Sweet Smell asks what you become trying.

A gossip columnist and a desperate press agent navigate New York's nightclub scene in this savage, sophisticated thriller. Alexander Mackendrick's direction is vicious, and the dialogue by Clifford Odets is the sharpest ever written for cinema. Tony Curtis and Burt Lancaster are both excellent.

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