You're right, "Out of the Past" is one of the all time classic crime flicks, and THE best noir flick, in a lot of peoples' opinion.

I think my favorite is the old B movie "Crime Wave", though. It conjures up time and place very well (post war, pre-rock n' roll Los Angeles). It stars Sterling Hayden, who was a real life war hero in WW2 (Medal of Honor, I think.) He wasn't a great actor, but he was 6 foot 5 inches tall and had tons of screen presence. You probably won't see the movie on TV very often, but it's on some compilations.

http://content7.flixster.com/photo/4...695597_sma.jpg