TCM's Noir Alley in March

Noir Alley has been off this February on Turner Classic Movies, but it will return on March 4. Here is a look at the movies that will be airing on Noir Alley next month.

March 4: Noir Alley returns with one of the best and best known films noirs of all time. The Big Heat (1953) stars Glenn Ford as Sergeant Dave Bannion, a homicide detective with the Kenport Police Department, who investigates the suicide of a fellow officer. This being noir, he naturally finds more than he bargained for! The film was directed by Fritz Lang, whose earlier films had an influence on film noir.

March 11:  There are some who claim Stranger on the Third Floor (1940) was the very first film noir, although I would give that honour to They Drive By Night (1940), which was released several weeks before it. Regardless, Stranger on the Third Floor is an interesting example of early noir and established many of the visual hallmarks of the genre.

March 18: There are some who might consider Crossfire (1947) to be more of a message film than a film noir, although I really don't think there is anything to keep it from being both. The film deals with a topic that is still all too relevant, that of anti-Semitism. It also stars Robert Mitchum in an early role, as well as Robert Young (who would go from a successful film career to success in the TV shows Father Knows Best and Marcus Welby M.D.).

March 25: No Questions Asked (1951) is not necessarily one of the best films noirs out there, but it benefits from a good cast that includes Barry Sullivan, Arlene Dahl, and George Murphy. It features a screenplay by Sidney Sheldon, well before he created the classic TV shows The Patty Duke Show and I Dream of Jeannie (for those who are wondering, he had a highly successful career as a screenwriter before he moved into television).