A good example of clasic American noir: Johnny O'Clock

The 1947 Robert Rosssen film, Johnny O'Clock, is a good example of classic American noir, as tough-guy, rumpled, stocky, cheap-cigar-smoking NYPD detective investigates a case of a high-stakes gambler shot to death, a probe that leads the detective (Koch, played by Lee J Cobb) down some strange and confusing pathways. Unlike most noir classics, in this one the detective is a secondary figure; the title character, played by Dick Powell, operates as small private (illegal, obviously) casino and knows little about the killing under investigation, but gets drawn ever-deeper into an increasingly Byzanatine narrative about a murdered police detective who was way too close to to O'Clock and his "partner," a sleazy mobster who has dreams of expanding his gaming parlour (and who, stupidly, is himself a heavy gambler; O'Clock, in contrast, runs the games but he himself is never stupid enough to rely on chance). O'Clock gets drawn deeper into the story when he falls for - I can't quite say "falls in love w/" - the sister of a murder victim, and a highlight of the film is their tough-guy/gal dialog. Another highlight: A vision of NYC in the 1940s, and who won't be amused by rotary-dial pay phones on which the caller can pick up, dial O, and say: Get me the municipal airport. And what about the airport?: you can leave Manhattan 30 minutes before the flight at get to the airport in time; you get to the airport and they ask at curbside What flight? Answer: Flight 4. And Flight 4 boarding call announced over a loudspeaker. Air travel has changed! It's definitely a period piece, but a look back at this period of smooth-talking gangsters and disheveled but shrewd cops is always a kick.