Recently I've watched a few black and white noir films. Old movies is not usually where I go to find good lip curls. The crying often feel theatrical and I feel like there was more pressure on actresses to cry pretty, which actors had next to no crying scenes. This is why I was pleasantly surprised to find more lip curls than I expected.

I rewatched Maltese Falcon after a long time. Actress Mary Astor does a lot of crying. Mostly it's a tear-fest that truly ought to please tear lovers. However, there was a very brief moment when I distinctly caught the lip curl

Supporting actress Jean Heather has two great crying scenes in Double Indemnity. Once again, lots of tears, but again the lip curl was definitely present in her second scene where I cried with her face visible.

I think Barbara Stanwyck is slowly becoming by favourite crier of the classic era. She cries floods of tears in "Sorry, Wrong Number" and "No Man Of Her Own", and yes, she does a pretty great lip curl. I actually love her range of crying expressions, from wide eyed and tear streaked to face crumpled up in anguish. Also, just incredibly beautiful.

Of course the people who will get the most out of these movies are the handkerchief fans