The Set-Up (1947)

"The Set-Up from noir director, Robert Wise, is a sharp expose of the fight game packed into a lean 72 minutes. From RKO and filmed at night on a studio lot, this movie is brooding and intense, with Robert Ryan, as the aging boxer, 'Stoker' Thompson, in perhaps his best role, with a great supporting cast. The boxing scenes are as real as they get: Ryan himself was a college boxing champ. The arena is brilliantly filmed with focused and repeated shots on selected spectators, which portray not only the excitement, but also the unadorned mob brutality, that reaches fever pitch as the fighters struggle to a climactic finish. The film opens and ends with zoom shots of a street clock: starting at 9.05pm and ending at 10.17pm – yes – the actual length of the picture…"
Films Noir, Wikipedia, amazon, YouTube, Only the Cinema, Goodfella's Movie Blog

White Heat (1949)

"White Heat (1949) is one of the top classic crime-heist dramas of the post-war period, and one of the last of Warner Bros' gritty crime films in its era. White Heat is an entertaining, fascinating and hypnotic portrait of a flamboyant, mother-dominated and fixated, epileptic and psychotic killer, who often spouts crude bits of humor. The dynamic film, with both film noir and documentary-style elements, is characterized by an increased level of violence and brutality along with classical Greek elements."
AMC, Wikipedia, YouTube, White Heat: Top of the World 01, 02, Doctor Macro, Google - White Heat (1949), Scott's Film Watch

Niagara (1953)

"Released in 1953, Niagara is one of a handful of noir movies that were exclusively intended as a star vehicle for a single personality—oddly enough in this case, Marilyn Monroe. The majority of A-list noirs of the classic period were packed with characters, especially in cases of urban detective stories. A jungle of characters and subplots is one of the genre’s strengths, resulting in consistently complex plot lines unheard of in other genre films. At the same time, the intricacies of film noir are sometimes an Achilles heel, serving only to confuse even the most attentive audience (John Huston’s The Big Sleep is notorious for its various ‘inexplicables,’ due more to editing-under-pressure than anything else). That being said, Niagara is the exception to the rule; though produced by 20th Century Fox, it appears that the studio didn’t care much for having a Byzantine story or a large cast—the film is strictly meant to be an eye-popping, figure-hugging, titillating introduction to a gal named Marilyn Monroe."
Film Monthly, Wikipedia, YouTube - Niagara 1953 TRAILER, Niagara (part 1), amazon, Noir of the Week, Coleman's Corner in Cinema..., Another Old Movie Blog

The Narrow Margin (1952)

"Landscapes and environment were undeniably integral aspects of many classic film noirs. They seemed nearly as important in conveying the crucial noir elements of suspense and dread as the actors starring in them. From the cobblestone streets of Vienna in The Third Man, the seedy underworld of London in Night and the City, the sprawling metropolis of Los Angeles in Double Indemnity and Sunset Boulevard, and of course the concrete jungle of Manhattan in Scarlet Street, The Naked City and Pickup on South Street are just few of some of the numerous possible match-ups. These environments breathed aesthetic life into these films and literally set the stage for the players to interact, investigate, pursue, be chased, live and die on their streets."
Noir of the Week, Coleman Corner in Cinema, amazon, YouTube, Films Noir

The Big Steal (1949)

"‘The Big Steal’, starring Robert Mitchum and Jane Greer and scripted by Geoffrey Holmes (Daniel Mainwaring) often appears to be best known and least admired for what it isn’t, namely ‘Out of the Past’. The latter, released in 1947 - starring Robert Mitchum and Jane Greer and scripted by Geoffrey Holmes - is regarded as an elegant and sublime evocation of noir. The ‘Big Steal’ is hardly referenced and not much regarded at all."
Noir of the Week, amazon, Films Noir, YouTube

The Enforcer (1951)

Wikipedia - "The Enforcer is a black-and-white 1951 film noir starring Humphrey Bogart. Based on the Murder, Inc. trials, the film is largely a police procedural directed by Bretaigne Windust with uncredited help from Raoul Walsh, who shot most of the film's suspenseful moments, including the ending. The opening narration is voiced by Estes Kefauver who, at the time, was chairing a US Senate investigation into organized crime."
Wikipedia, The Night Editor, YouTube, amazon