Otto Penzler ranks, analyzes, & celebrates the 106 greatest crime films of all-time.
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106. Sleuth (1972): dir. Joseph L. Mankiewicz
A cat-and-mouse mystery starring Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine.
105. A Shot in the Dark (1964): dir. Blake Edwards
Peter Sellers conjures up the Pink Panther magic in a madcap mystery.
104. Seven (1995): dir. David Fincher
An exploration of the nature of evil.
103. Dead End (1937): dir. William Wyler
Bogart and Co. in a gangster classic.
102. No Country for Old Men (2007): dir. Joel and Ethan Coen
The Coen Bros. adapt the gritty Cormac McCarthy crime western.
101. Foreign Correspondent (1940): dir. Alfred Hitchcock
On the eve of war, a European adventure.
100. Charlie Chan at the Opera (1936): dir. H. Bruce Humberstone
Murder at an opera house.
99. Bulldog Drummond (1929): dir. F. Richards Jones
Crooks and crime in the aftermath of WWI.
98. Bullitt (1968): dir. Peter Yates
Steve McQueen leads a car chase through the steep San Fransisco streets.
97. Anatomy of a Murder (1959): dir. Otto Preminger
A courtroom drama featuring a score by Duke Ellington.
96. The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965): dir. Martin Ritt
A genre-defining espionage classic.
95. Pulp Fiction (1994): dir. Quentin Tarantino
Neo-noir in Los Angeles.
94. The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939): dir. Sidney Lanfield
Sherlock Holmes investigates a multigenerational family curse.
93. In a Lonely Place (1950): dir. Nicholas Ray
Humphrey Bogart stars in an existential murder mystery.
92. Taxi Driver (1976): dir. Martin Scorsese
In mid-’70s New York City, an insomniac cabby spirals.
91. The Last Seduction (1994): dir. John Dahl
A femme fatale and a deadly swindle in ’90s neo-noir.
90. High Sierra (1941): dir. Raoul Walsh
A botched heist sends an aging mobster to the California mountains.
89. The Woman in the Window (1944): dir. Fritz Lang
The inception of film noir.
88. The Killing (1956): dir. Stanley Kubrick
A stylish racetrack robbery.
87. Reservoir Dogs (1992): dir. Quentin Tarantino
Tarantino’s violent debut.
86. The Ipcress File (1965): dir. Sidney J. Furie
A British spy investigates Cold War brainwashing.
85. The Kennel Murder Case (1933): dir. Michael Curtiz
A Golden Age mystery novel, adapted.
84. The Glass Key (1942): dir. Stuart Heisler
Political corruption and murder in a Dashiell Hammet adaptation.
83. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011): dir. David Fincher
An American take on Lisbeth Slander.
82. The Grifters (1990): dir. Stephen Frears
Three swindlers converge.
81. This Gun for Hire (1942): dir. Frank Tuttle
A hit man seeks vengeance.
80. Strangers on a Train (1951): dir. Alfred Hitchcock
An unwitting and deadly agreement.
79. I Wake Up Screaming (1941): dir. H. Bruce Humberstone
Love in light of murder.
78. Fargo (1996): dir. Joel and Ethan Coen
A snowy, roadside murder.
77. Harper (1966): dir. Jack Smight
Paul Newman takes on MacDonald’s Lew Archer.
76. The Fallen Idol (1948): dir. Carol Reed
A young boy and his beloved, suspicious butler.
75. In the Line of Fire (1993): dir. Wolfgang Petersen
The president’s life is threatened; one CIA agent is determined to protect him.
74. Murder on the Orient Express (1974): dir. Sidney Lumet
Everyone is a suspect.
73. Charade (1963): dir. Stanley Donen
Grant and Hepburn in “the best Hitchcock movie that Hitchcock never made.”
72. The Blue Dahlia (1946): dir. George Marshall
Raymond Chandler’s first original screenplay.
71. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962): dir. Robert Mulligan
The courtroom drama based on Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel.
70. Kiss Me Deadly (1955): dir. Robert Aldrich
Film noir at its most brutal, nihilistic, and subversive.
69. The Petrified Forest (1936): dir. Archie Mayo
A drifter, a waitress, and a gangster cross paths.
68. The Asphalt Jungle (1950): dir. John Huston
Crime and punishment in a Midwestern city.
67. In Cold Blood (1967): dir. Richard Brooks
Docudrama based on Capote’s seminal work of true crime.
66. The 39 Steps (1935): dir. Alfred Hitchcock
Escapist entertainment at its best.
65. Freaks (1932): dir. Tod Browning
An infamous cult classic about revenge in a circus sideshow.
64. Notorious (1946): dir. Alfred Hitchcock
Virtuoso spy noir starring Grant and Bergman.
63. Fatal Attraction (1987): dir. Adrian Lyne
An affair goes very wrong in this controversial romantic thriller.
62. D.O.A. (1950): dir. Rudolph Maté
High concept noir classic in which a man solves his own murder.
61. Mystic River (2003): dir. Clint Eastwood
Brooding thriller adapted from Dennis Lehane’s novel.
60. Suspicion (1941): dir. Alfred Hitchcock
Romantic mystery with a lighthearted tone.
59. Crossfire (1947): dir. Edward Dmytryk
“Hate is like a loaded gun!” Hollywood takes on antisemitism.
58. Kiss of Death (1947): dir. Henry Hathaway
A gritty noir featuring a giggling psycho.
57. Spellbound (1945): dir. Alfred Hitchcock
Psychoanalysis, amnesia, and murder.
56. Topkapi (1964): dir. Jules Dassin
A motley crew teams up to rob a museum in Istanbul.
55. Key Largo (1948): dir. John Huston
Conflict unspools at a hotel in Florida.
54. The Fugitive (1993): dir. Andrew Davis
Harrison Ford on the run in this high energy chase.
53. The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956): dir. Alfred Hitchcock
Hitchcock’s iconic remake of his own film (Que Será, Será).
52. In the Heat of the Night (1967): dir. Norman Jewison
Racism, murder, and justice in small-town Mississippi.
51. Bonnie and Clyde (1967): dir. Arthur Penn
Hollywood’s game-changing story of the iconic American outlaw duo.
50. Scarface (1932): dir. Howard Hawks
The original gangster film, based on the life of Al Capone.
49. Goldfinger (1964): dir. Guy Hamilton
Sean Connery as quintessential 007, “shaken, not stirred.”
48. I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932): dir. Mervyn LeRoy
Wrongful incarceration and the making of a criminal.
47. The Manchurian Candidate (1962): dir. John Frankenheimer
A prophetic and disconcertingly relevant Cold War thriller.
46. Mean Streets (1973): dir. Martin Scorsese
A petty crook climbs the mob ladder.
45. Dirty Harry (1971): dir. Don Siegel
A cop tracks a psychopathic killer. “Well, do ya, punk?”
44. Little Caesar (1930): dir. Mervyn LeRoy
A small-time crook has dreams of being a big-city gangster.
43. The Big Heat (1953): dir. Fritz Lang
A by-the-book cop takes on the gang that killed his wife.
42. And Then There Were None (1945): dir. René Clair
Ten strangers, invited to an island mansion, are picked off one-by-one.
41. Detective Story (1951): dir. William Wyler
A dramatic day in the life of a NYC police detective.
40. L.A. Confidential (1997): dir. Curtis Hanson
Three policemen investigate a string of murders.
39. Day of the Jackal (1973): dir. Fred Zinnemann
An assassin plans to kill Charles de Gaulle.
38. To Have and to Have Not (1944): dir. Howard Hawkes
An American expatiate helps a French resistance leader escape to Martinique.
37. Blade Runner (1982): dir. Ridley Scott
A former police officer has to hunt down vengeful human clones in a dystopian future.
36. Goodfellas (1990): dir. Martin Scorsese
A young man is inspired to join the mob.
35. The Untouchables (1987): dir. Brian De Palma
A straitlaced treasury agent plots to brings down Al Capone.
34. Rear Window (1954): dir. Alfred Hitchcock
A wheelchair-bound photographer believes his neighbor has murdered his wife.
33. Criss Cross (1949): dir. Robert Siodmak
A armored-truck driver and his ex-wife scheme to steal the money he’s transporting.
32. The Silence of the Lambs (1991): dir. Jonathan Demme
A rookie FBI agent needs help from a convicted cannibal to find a serial killer.
31. Murder, My Sweet (1944): dir. Edward Dmytryk
Phillip Marlowe has to find an ex-con’s former girlfriend.
30. The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946): dir. Tay Garnett
A drifter and his girlfriend conspire to kill her husband.
29. The Big Sleep (1946): dir. Howard Hawks
Phillip Marlowe is hired by a wealthy family to find a missing person.
28. Rebecca (1940): dir. Alfred Hitchcock
A woman moves into her husband’s house to find it’s dominated by his dead wife.
27. Witness for the Prosecution (1957): dir. Billy Wilder
A lawyer must defend a client in a murder trial (adapted from Agatha Christie).
26. Body Heat (1981): dir. Lawrence Kasdan
A woman convinces her lawyer boyfriend to murder her husband.
25. The Lady Vanishes (1938) dir. Alfred Hitchcock
On a train, a young woman is told that a older woman she met never existed.
24. The Killers (1946) dir. Robert Siodmak
A hitman’s past is investigated when he and another kill a gas-station worker.
23. Vertigo (1958): dir. Alfred Hitchcock
An ex-police detective becomes obsessed with a woman he’s hired to tail.
22. The Usual Suspects (1995): dir. Bryan Singer
A boat explodes and people are killed after five men meet in a police lineup.
21. Shadow of a Doubt (1943): dir. Alfred Hitchcock
A young woman suspects her namesake uncle is a murderer.
20. The Conversation (1974): dir. Francis Ford Coppola
A veteran surveillance expert investigates footage he records.
19. North by Northwest (1959): dir. Alfred Hitchcock
An advertising executive is wrongfully thought to be a spy.
18. Touch of Evil (1958): dir. Orson Welles
A narcotics officer investigates a bombing on the Mexican-US border.
17. The Public Enemy (1931): dir. William Wellman
A young man rises through the ranks of the Chicago crime world.
16. The Night of the Hunter (1955): dir. Charles Laughton
A religious-fanatic con-man seduces a young widow to locate a hidden fortune.
15. Sunset Boulevard (1950): dir. Billy Wilder
A screenwriter and a former silent film star use one another to help their careers.
14. Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988): dir. Robert Zemeckis
A PI must help a cartoon rabbit prove his innocence after he’s framed for murder.
13. Double Indemnity (1944): dir. Billy Wilder
An insurance salesman and a bored housewife conspire to kill her husband.
12. The Sting (1973): dir. George Roy Hill
A young hustler teams up with a seasoned grifter for a big con.
11. Psycho (1960): dir. Alfred Hitchcock
A woman on the run checks into a motel run by a man oppressed by his mother.
10. The French Connection (1971): dir. William Friedkin
Two NYPD narcotics cops discover an international drug case.
9. White Heat (1949): dir. Raoul Walsh
An insane criminal escapes from jail and reunites his gang for a big score.
8. Out of the Past (1947): dir. Jacques Tourneur
A private eye’s past catches up to him.
7. The Thin Man (1934): dir. W.S. Van Dyke
A boozy, wealthy couple investigates a missing person’s case.
6. Laura (1944): dir. Otto Preminger
A detective falls in love with the woman whose murder he’s investigating.
5. The Godfather: Part II (1974): dir. Francis Ford Coppola
The origin story of Don Corleone.
4. The Godfather (1972): dir. Francis Ford Coppola
A mob patriarch hands the family business to his son.
3. Chinatown (1974): dir. Roman Polanski
A PI is hired to find a cheating husband but stumbles on a bigger mystery.
2. The Maltese Falcon (1941): dir. John Huston
A PI is hired to find a missing girl, but winds up on the trail of a murderer.
1. The Third Man (1949): dir. Carol Reed
A writer in Vienna looks into the death of the friend he had planned to meet.
