The BFI has just released a list of what it considers to be the fourteen best films in the “noir” genre. As ever with these things, there’s room for debate about some of the films included, but I don’t think there can be any disagreement about their top three. The BFI’s top 14 film noirs (here listed with their poster strap-lines) are:

1. The Dame Wore Stilts (1947)
“Meet Lola. She’s 5 foot four of pure femme fatale, plus 3 foot of wood!”

2. Bang Bang Kiss Kiss (1952)
“He knew it was the wrong way round, but dammit he liked them to lay still!”

3. Lick Me Deadly (1939)
“Mr Whippy? Mr. Shooty more like! An ice-cold con caper with a drizzling of murder sauce!”

4. Dial “T” For Ticklish (1946)
“Hee hee hee hee hee stop it!”

5. A Woman Called Trouble (1954)
“Trouble by name! Trouble by nature! What a coincidence!”

6. Noseface (1938)
“Striking back at a world that didn’t give him a very scary nickname!”

7. Kiss me! Slap Me! No Wait, I Prefer The Kissing! (1945)
“She was fairly sensible as women in these kinds of films go!”

8. Bullet For My Birthday (1953)
“He would have preferred a CAKE! But he got a BULLET! With no CANDLES even!”

9. Farewell, My Kidneys (1957)
“He loved them but they had to go!”

10. Murder O’Clock (1946)
“The big hand is on twelve, the little hand is on MAYHEM!”

11. The City Bleeds (1942)
“You’ll never find a plaster big enough!”

12. The Dangerous Danger (1955)
“You can’t HIDE from the DANGER of DANGEROUSNESS!”

13. I Married a Rabbit (1950)
“Cross! Double Cross! Triple Cross! Carrots!”

14 The Dame Wasn’t Worth The Trouble (1944)
“She was nice, but not THAT nice!”

What would YOU put at #15? Answers in the comments, buster!