The Film Noir Files for August 2026

Welcome to The Film Noir Files, the noir series here at Shadows and Satin and over at Speakeasy, the blog authored by my pal Kristina, where each month we recommend a film noir feature for you to watch on TCM. We never know what the other has selected until we post, and part of the fun is trying to never pick the same movie! There are lots of great noirs airing in August – including Laura (1944), Scarlet Street (1945), and Night and the City (1950) – but my pick of the month (like my Pre-Code Crazy recommendation) stars Barbara Stanwyck: Sorry, Wrong Number (1948). This is a movie that is so close to my heart; it’s one of the first films I remember seeing as a child – and what I remember most is that the last scene scared the poop out of me. (But that didn’t stop me from watching it every time it came on The Late, Late Show!) Leona and Henry: The Salad Days. Stanwyck plays Leona Stevenson, a possessive, self-centered heiress who has been spoiled by her over-doting father (Ed Begley)…