The Best Film Noir

I was up all night Sat. watching Raymond Chandler movies, black and white beauties, all shot in the 40's. I love ,film noir and femme fatales, especially from that era. Cars were big. Men wore suits to baseball games and bars. Women had elaborate, perfectly coifed hairstyles. "Bad" girls got their due. As stylized and visually appealing as these movies are, Chandler was a master at descriptions and dialogue. For example:

"There was a desert wind blowing that night. It was one of those hot dry Santa Anas that come down through the mountain passes and curl your hair and make your nerves jump and your skin itch. On nights like that every booze party ends in a fight. Meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands' necks. Anything can happen. You can even get a full glass of beer at a cocktail lounge."-- "Red Wind" (opening paragraph)

"We sneered at each other across the desk for a moment. He sneered better than I did."

"You could get to like that face a lot. Glamoured up blondes were a dime a dozen, but that was a face that would wear."

Wonderful stuff.