Amnesia Noir: 30 Films Worth Remembering

Alan Ladd, William Bendix, “The Blue Dahlia” (1946).

When Returning War Vets and Others
Suffer Memory Blackouts, Murder is Often Afoot

By Paul Parcellin

Total amnesia, the kind that wipes out memories like a damp sponge on a chalkboard, probably happens more often in movies and television than in real life. Rare as it may be, it’s a frequent problem in cinema — some call it the common cold of film noir. 

Movies about battle scarred GIs returning from overseas, disengaged from their past and unsure of their place in post-war society must have struck a chord with soldiers coming home from the battlefield — why else would Hollywood have told and retold that story in so many films? On a symbolic level, the amnesiac in films may have resonated with many a veteran who would have preferred to forget much of what he’d seen and heard in combat.

John Hodiak, Nancy Guild,
"Somewhere in the Night" (1946).

In the movies, those unlucky enough to suffer from extreme cases of amnesia are remarkably isolated. Unable to recollect any family ties or friends that could connect them to their past, they search for details that will flesh out their identity. They must navigate through a peacetime world fraught with dangerous characters while dodging the consequences of previous events blotted out of their memories. 

Rather than seek out familiar faces — for them, there are none — they haunt their old stomping grounds, hoping that someone will recognize them and help fill in the blanks. But that’s risky business and they’re often sitting ducks for foes posing as friends.

As a rule, the amnesiac was not an accountant, plumber or any other kind of humdrum wage slave in their pre-amnesia state. Many were involved in, or adjacent to, criminal activity. Consequently, a spate of old enemies looking to settle scores crouch in the shadows, ready to pounce. Sometimes it’s underworld figures, other times it’s the police, either of which could spell doom for the ones with no past.

Here are 30 films about returning soldiers, and civilians, too, in which crime and memory loss cross paths. Sometimes, a memory is erased by battle wounds or combat fatigue. For others, a night of heavy drinking, drugs, or a violent encounter create the same mental fog. Either way, each is lost and unable to trust anyone, including themselves:

“Beware, My Lovely” (1952)

A mentally disturbed handyman (Robert Ryan) on the run, for reasons even he doesn't understand, takes a job at the house of a lonely war widow (Ida Lupino) in 1918. He suffers from memory lapses and extreme mood swings. Soon, she’s a prisoner in her own house.

Dan Duryea, June Vincent, Peter Lorre, “Black Angel.”

“Black Angel” (1946)

Alcoholic pianist Martin Blair (Dan Duryea) is convinced that a heart-shaped brooch is a crucial clue in the investigation of his ex-wife's murder. Suspicion builds around dodgy nightclub owner Mr. Marko (Peter Lorre). But darker truths emerge.

“Blackout” (1954)

A broke American in London (Dane Clark) meets a woman (Belinda Lee) who offers to pay him for a marriage of convenience. He agrees, but awakens bloodied in a strange place, having unknowingly become entangled in her father's murder.

“The Blue Dahlia” (1946)


Ex-bomber pilot Johnny Morrison (Alan Ladd) is suspected of murdering his unfaithful wife. His shell-shocked pal, Buzz Wanchek (William Bendix), suffers memory lapses. He may or may not have committed the murder.

“The Blue Gardenia” (1953)


A telephone operator (Anne Baxter) ends up drunk and at the mercy of a cad (Raymond Burr). The next morning she wakes up with a hangover and the terrible fear she may have committed murder.

“Brott i sol” (1947)

After having spent six years in an asylum, Harry (Birger Malmsten) returns home. He soon remembers what happened six years ago. He had five of his friends over and one of them, Raoul (Curt Masreliez), was murdered. In order to find out which of them is the murderer, he invites them over to reconstruct the crime.

Jimmy Lydon, Claudia Barrett, “Chain of Evidence.”

“Chain of Evidence” (1957)

Paroled inmate Steve Nordstrom (Jimmy Lydon) is viciously assaulted, leaving him an amnesiac. He aimlessly wanders until he’s used as a patsy by an adulterous wife and her lover who aim to kill her rich husband.

“The Chase” (1946)

Chuck Scott (Robert Cummings) gets a job as chauffeur to tough guy Eddie Roman (Steve Cochran), but Chuck's involvement with Eddie's fearful wife, Lorna (Michèle Morgan), becomes a nightmare. To make matters worse, a recurring war malady causes Scott to lose his mental focus just when he needs to be at his sharpest.

Bill Williams, Frank Wilcox, “The Clay Pigeon.”

“The Clay Pigeon” (1949)

It’s quite a bringdown to awaken from a coma only to discover that you’re suspected of murder. Jim Fletcher (Bill Williams) is in a U.S. Naval hospital and about to be court marshalled for a crime he cannot remember committing. To make matters worse, everyone seems to think he’s traitorous scum.

“Crack-Up” (1946)

Art curator George Steele (Pat O’Brien) has a mental breakdown and thinks he was in a train wreck. Is he cracking up, or the victim of a wicked plot?

“Crime Doctor” (1943)

Amnesia victim Robert Ordway (Warner Baxter) becomes the country's leading criminal psychologist. After he is hit on the head by someone from his past, he suddenly remembers his previous life as a criminal.

John Payne, “The Crooked Way.”

“The Crooked Way” (1949)

Eddie Rice (John Payne) is such an upright, good natured sort that we can scarcely believe that he committed dastardly acts before the war. A chunk of shrapnel is permanently lodged in his brain and he’s suffering from amnesia. But his ex-wife, Nina Martin (Ellen Drew) and gangster Vince Alexander (Sonny Tufts), are more than willing to refresh his memory.

“Crossroads” (1942)

French diplomat David Talbot (William Powell) is blackmailed for crimes that he committed before he lost his memory. The blackmailer alleges the diplomat committed a bank robbery and murder. Talbot was long ago treated for amnesia as the result of a physical trauma.

Bill Williams, Earle Hodgins, “Deadline at Dawn.”

“Deadline at Dawn” (1946) 

Sailor Alex Winkley (Bill Williams) and dance-hall girl June Goffe (Susan Hayward) spend a long night trying to solve a murder. After a drink-induced blackout, Winkley woke up with a pocketful of cash he received from the victim. Now he's only got until daybreak to figure it out.

“Derailed” (1942)

An uptown girl (Illona Wieselmann) loses her memory after getting a disturbing message from her doctor. She ends up in the wrong part of town among criminals and prostitutes. She falls in love with the tough guy (Ebbe Rode), who recently got out of prison.

“Fall Guy” (1947)

Joe Fraser (Elisha Cook Jr.) meets Tom Cochrane (Leo Penn) at a bar, seemingly by accident, and brings him to a party filled with seedy characters and drugs. Before the evening’s out a sexy blonde slips Tom a Mickey. He awakens on the sidewalk, stained with blood, a bloody knife by his side. He has no memory of what went on the previous evening but vaguely remembers finding the body of a murdered girl stuffed in the closet.

“Fear in the Night” (1947)

Bank teller Vince Grayson (DeForest Kelley) dreams of murdering a man in a room full of mirrors. He investigates and finds that there's ample evidence that he did commit murder. But there may be a shadowy figure lurking behind the scenes. 

“Female Fiends” (1958) (a.k.a. “The Strange Awakening”)

Peter Chance (Lex Barker), is attacked by a hitchhiker he picked up and is left unconscious. He awakens in a strange room with no memory. The homeowner, Selena Friend (Carole Mathews), tells him he is her son and is heir to millions.

“Hangover Square” (1945)

Composer George Harvey Bone (Laird Cregar) is under stress, which causes him to blackout whenever he hears dissonances. Strange gaps in his memory are troubling signs, especially after a murder occurs.

“High Wall” (1947)

After a brain-damaged war veteran Steven Kenet (Robert Taylor) confesses to murdering his wife and is sent to a psychiatric hospital, Dr. Ann Lorrison (Audrey Totter) tries to lead him to recover his memory of events as he begins to question his guilt.

“Key Witness” (1947)

With his wife out of town, unsuccessful inventor Milton Higby (John Beal) parties with a friend and two girls they meet. When he awakens from a drunken stupor, he finds the girl he was with has been shot and killed, and he is suspected of the murder.

Anthony Quinn, “The Long Wait.”

“The Long Wait” (1954)

Hitchhiker Johnny McBride (Anthony Quinn) is badly hurt and loses his memory when the car he’s riding in crashes. Two years later, a clue leads him to his old home town, where he finds he is a murder suspect. Johnny tries to discover the truth about the murder, while pursued by gangsters and several seductive women.

“Man in the Dark” (1953) 

Unlucky Steve (Edmond O'Brien), a convicted felon, is released from prison after undergoing an experimental procedure that erases from his brain all criminal impulses — the side effect being permanent memory loss. 

“Murder on Monday” (1952)

Banker David Preston (Ralph Richardson) goes missing for 24 hours and has no memory of the lost time. When he learns that the steward of his local club has implicated him in a robbery and has been found murdered, Preston has no alibi.

Hildegard Knef, Gary Merrill, “Night Without Sleep.”

“Night Without Sleep” (1952)

Awaking one morning after a night of hard drinking, composer Richard Morton (Gary Merrill) can't shake the feeling he has murdered a woman during the night.

“Nightmare” (1956)

New Orleans clarinetist Stan Grayson (Kevin McCarthy) dreams he committed a murder. He recalls from his dream a mirrored room with many doors, and a murder committed with an ice pick. Based on a Cornell Woolrich novel, “And So To Death.”

“Somewhere in the Night” (1946)

George Taylor (John Hodiak) awakens in a military hospital, and to his horror discovers that his memory has been wiped clean by a serious wound he received in the war. He embarks on a mission, believing he may fill the black holes that have replaced his memories. He searches for leads but all he’s got is a letter from a man he doesn’t know, the mysterious Larry Cravat.

Burgess Meredith, “Street of Chance.”

“Street of Chance” (1942)

Frank Thompson (Burgess Meredith) awakens to find that he's lost his memory. He slowly puts the pieces of his life together and discovers that he has a second identity, and that he's been accused of a murder that he can't remember committing. Based on the Cornell Woolrich novel “The Black Curtain”

“Violence” (1947)

Undercover reporter Ann Mason (Nancy Coleman) infiltrates a neo-fascist group that recruits disgruntled veterans, but amnesia prevents her from exposing them.

“Voice in the Wind” (1944)

Concert pianist Jan Volny (Francis Lederer) lost his memory after being tortured by the Nazis during the war. He journeys to the island of Guadeloupe to try to regain his memory and his health. Meanwhile, smugglers Angelo (Alexander Granach) and Luigi (J. Carrol Naish) blame Jan for setting fire to their boat.