Hard-boiled, or 'Black Mask', fiction was born in America during the 1920's, a time when magazines known as pulps were flourishing. Since the turn of the century, these cheap publications had grown increasingly popular.
Probably the best known of these, and certainly the most influential, was 'The Black Mask', founded in 1920 by Henry L. Mencken and GeorgeJeanNathan. During its long run (1920-1951), the magazine came to be associated with a style of writing that profoundly changed the face of detective fiction. Originally publishing any type of adventure story, 'The Black Mask' eventually came to focus on crime and detective stories exclusively.
It was during Joseph Thompson Shaw's editorship (1926-1936) that the magazine really hit its stride. It was Shaw who shortened the magazine's title to 'Black Mask', and attempted, through the stories he published, to reflect a certain style of writing, taking detective fiction in an entirely new direction.
'Black Mask' stories reflected the harsh realities of life in America during that time; consequently the main characters were usually tough guys, loners, men who lived not only by strict ethical codes, but also "brought justice to the weak and death to those who preyed on them." (The Crime Classics)
Two 'Black Mask' writers in particular came to symbolize hard-boiled fiction.
DashiellHammett (1894-1961) and RaymondChandler (1888-1959) both created stories and characters that will forever be identified with private-eye fiction, in the process creating a whole new genre. These stories, with their harsh realism, violence, and terse dialogue, remain the best examples of a style of writing that is acknowledged to be the most important contribution the United States has made to the mystery genre.
DashiellHammett started to write for 'Black Mask' and other pulp magazines, where his first two novels, "Red Harvest" (1929) and "The Dain Curse" (1929), were serialized. These were followed by "The Maltese Falcon" (1930), which introduced his most famous character, SamSpade. The 1941 version of the novel starred HumphreyBogart as the reclusive P.I. Also appearing in "The Adventures of Sam Spade" (1944), Spade is probably the best-known private eye of all time.
Hammett also created the amateur crime-solving team of Nick and Nora Charles in his last book, "The Thin Man" (1934).
RaymondChandler began writing late in life, publishing his first novel at age 50. After losing his job as an oil executive during the Depression, he saw detective fiction as a way to earn money. His many short stories published in 'Black Mask' helped define hard-boiled fiction.
With "The Big Sleep" (1939), he introduced gumshoe PhilipMarlowe, immortalized on film when the book was made into a movie starring HumphreyBogart as the popular private eye. Chandler went on to write seven novels featuring Marlowe.
An expert at dialogue, Chandler's use of metaphor and simile in his writing conveyed a sense of time and place that exemplified hard-boiled fiction at its best.
A FemmeFatale is a stock character, a villainous woman who uses the malign power of sexuality in order to ensnare the hapless hero.
The phrase is French for "deadlywoman". She is typically portrayed as sexually insatiable.
She has existed, in one form or another, in folklore and myth in nearly all cultures. Some of the earliest examples include the Sumerian goddess Ishtar and the Judeo-Christian characters Lilith, Eve, Delilah and Salomé.
During the late 19th and early 20th century, the Femme Fatale became ubiquitous in Western culture and can be found in the works of OscarWilde, EdvardMunch, GustavKlimt, among others. This is likely to have been a reaction to women's movements and the changing role of women at the time.
With the introduction of FILMNOIR in the 1940's, the Femme Fatale began to flourish in Pop culture. Examples include espionage thrillers, and in a number of adventure comic strips, such as 'The Spirit' by Will Eisner, or 'Terry and the Pirates' by Milton Caniff.
In the Anglo-Saxon world, she is often of foreign extraction. She is often portrayed as a sort of sexual vampire; Her dark appetites were thought to be able to leach away the virility and independence of her lovers, leaving them shells of their former selves.
Only by escaping her embraces could the hero be rescued. On this account, in earlier Americanslang Femmes Fatales were often called "vamps", a word that is associated with the fashions of the 1920's.
A classic portrayal of a Femme Fatale is given in LawrenceDurrell's 'Alexandria Quartet' in the character of Justine.
In Opera and musical theater, the Femme Fatale is usually played by a mezzo-soprano, and is sometimes the enemy of the Ingenue and/or the damsel in distress.
Some argue that the figure has a male counterpart. Some examples could be Heathcliff from 'Wuthering Heights', or many of the heroes in LordByrons books.
Traditional Film Noir represents a world of shadows and dark overtones. The movies that comprise this genre share a number of visual themes such as murky streets, foggy nights, rain-swept towns, dimly-lit rooms, shadowy reflections in mirrors, and deep, menacing shadows.
The depiction of Female characters in Film Noir is varied and complex. From innocent victim to gutsy and sincere, there is no portrayal as compelling as the femmefatale, a beautiful woman who uses her feminine wiles and cunning to get what she wants at the expense of the men who desire her.
PANBELLO'sWebNoir is intended to explore the role of the femme fatale in Film Noir. It brings together a wealth of information relating to Film Noir, including links to the genre, its actors, and the movies. The ambition of this WebNoirBlog is to provide an invaluable starting point for students of film, communications and culture, and women's studies, as well as those who are interested in learning more about the genre.
The women selected (see below) represent the many facets of the femmefatale in Film Noir - from angel-faced innocence to the shrill and abusive harpy.
These women are as seductive as they are dangerous.
Aselection:
Mary Astor Peggy Cummins Bette Davis Ava Gardner Jane Greer Rita Hayworth Ann Savage Jean Simmons Barbara Stanwyck Lana Turner
(This still from "TheBigCombo" (1955) demonstrates the visual style of Film Noir at its most extreme. JohnAlton, the film's cinematographer, created many of the iconic images of Film Noir).
1940
The Letter
Rebecca
Stranger on the Third Floor
1941
High Sierra
TheMalteseFalcon
Suspicion
The Shanghai Gesture
1942
Casablanca
The Falcon Takes Over
The Glass Key
This Gun for Hire
1943
Shadow of a Doubt
1944
DoubleIndemnity
Experiment Perilous
Laura
Murder, MySweet
Phantom Lady
To Have and Have Not
1945
Cornered
Detour
The House on 92nd Street
Leave Her to Heaven
MildredPierce
Scarlet Street
Spellbound
The Woman in the Window
1946
TheBigSleep
Black Angel
The Blue Dahlia
Crack-Up
The Dark Corner
Gilda
The Killers
Notorious
ThePostmanAlwaysRingsTwice
So Dark the Night
Somewhere in the Night
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers
The Stranger
1947
Born to Kill
Brute Force
Crossfire
Dark Passage
Dead Reckoning
A Double Life
Kiss of Death
Nightmare Alley
OutofthePast
Possessed
The Red House
Ride the Pink Horse
TheLadyfromShanghai (released in 1948)
T-Men
1948
Berlin Express
The Big Clock
Call Northside 777
Cry of the City
Force of Evil
The Guilty
He Walked by Night
KeyLargo
The Naked City
The Pitfall
Raw Deal
Sorry, Wrong Number
1949
Body and Soul
Criss Cross
Gun Crazy
The Reckless Moment
The Set-Up
TheThirdMan
They Live by Night
White Heat
The Whistler -1940's movie series starring RichardDix.
(One of the quintessential FilmNoirs, "OutofthePast" features all of the Noir hallmarks: a cynical private detective as the "hero", a sexy femmefatale, multiple flashbacks with voice-over narration, dramatic chiaroscuro black and white photography, and a pervasive fatalistic mood. The film stars Robert Mitchum who, along with Humphrey Bogart, was the foremost male icon of FilmNoir).
1950
TheAsphaltJungle
Dark City
D.O.A.
In A Lonely Place
The Killer That Stalked New York
Night and the City
Highway 301
Panic in the Streets
SunsetBoulevard
Where the Sidewalk Ends
1951
On Dangerous Ground
The Racket
Roadblock
StrangersonaTrain
1952
AngelFace
The Captive City
The Narrow Margin
Without Warning
1953
The Blue Gardenia
The Big Heat
The Glass Wall
Niagara
PickuponSouthStreet
1954
Crime Wave
Human Desire
Naked Alibi
Suddenly
Black Tuesday
1955
The Big Combo
KissMeDeadly
Killer's Kiss
1956
The Wrong Man
The Killing
1957
Nightfall
1958
Touch of Evil
1959
Odds Against Tomorrow
Recentexamples
Some made as an homage to the genre. Sometimes referred to as neo-Noir
Klute (1971)
Cabaret (1972) -- musical in this style
TheLongGoodbye (1973) -- Altman's post-Noir take.
Chinatown (1974)
TaxiDriver (1976)
BodyHeat (1981) -- remake of "Double Indemnity"
Blade Runner (1982) -- sciencefictionNoir, or future-Noir.
BloodSimple (1983)
Scarface (1983)
ToLiveandDieinL.A. (1985)
Brazil (1985) -- sciencefictionNoir, or future-Noir.
BlueVelvet (1986)
AngelHeart (1987)
Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988) -- billed as a "toon-Noir"
Kill Me Again (1989)
DickTracy (1990)
The Grifters (1990)
Red Rock West (1992)
ReservoirDogs (1992)
Unforgiven (1992) -- very Noir in terms of theme and character.
Blue (1993) -- contains many Noir elements (e.g. obsession with the past, shadows, lighting, staircases, mirrors, etc.)
TrueRomance (1993)
TheLastSeduction (1994)
Léon: TheProfessional (1994)
NaturalBornKillers (1994)
PulpFiction (1994)
Devil in a Blue Dress (1995)
TheUsualSuspects (1995)
Fargo (1996)
MulhollandFalls (1996)
City of Industry (1997)
The Fifth Element (1997)
L.A. Confidential (1997)
LostHighway (1997)
The Big Lebowski (1998)
Dark City (1998)
Following (1998)
Grim Fandango (1998) -- videogameNoir
Ronin (1998)
ASimplePlan (1998)
Payback (1999)
Memento (2000) -- contains elements of Film Noir, albeit in a slightly skewed fashion
TheManWhoWasn'tThere (2001)
MulhollandDrive (2001)
Max Payne (2001) -- videogameNoir
Training Day (2001)
MinorityReport (2002) -- sci-fiNoir, or future-Noir.
RoadtoPerdition (2002)
The Salton Sea (2002)
Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne (2003) -- videogameNoir
Film Noir is the dark side of the human experience, stories of doomed love, violence, and betrayal with cynical anti-heroes and sexy "femme fatales".
Film Noir, like the Western, is a distinctly American cinematic genre. Film noir flourished during a specific period, generally regarded by film historians as beginning with 'The Maltese Falcon' in 1941 and ending with 'Touch of Evil' in 1958.
Film Noir was an artistic response to the nihilism, evil, and corruption of World War II and the alienation, and moral bankruptcy of the post war world. The term Film Noir, literally "black film", was coined in 1946 by NinoFrank - a long forgotten French film critic - to describe the dark themes and characters of many Hollywood movies of this period.
Classic Film Noir is always Black & White. The stark visual drama of the settings (hotel rooms, dingy offices, sleazy bars, diners, cars, trains, alleys, and rain slicked streets) is best seen in shades of gray. The dark atmosphere is an integral component of the austere urban landscapes where the dramas are played out.
The influence of German Expressionism, especially directors like Pabst, Murnau, and Lang is obvious in the low-key lighting, long shadows, and tight expressive face shots.
The atmosphere of casual menace is heightened and magnified by the harsh lighting and gritty realism of the staging. Urban settings are depicted as cold, impersonal, and more permanent than the characters that move through them. In rural settings the characters are overshadowed by their environment, clearly out of place.
In Film Noir the director is the "auteur" the author who creates the story, often told in flashbacks, or with dramatic voice-over narration. Story and character development are paramount, and are never sacrificed to special effects or large-scale action. The camera work and compositional technique are used to create the moody feelings of apprehension, tension, and anticipation. Pacing is quick, and the dialog is snappy, with lots of one-liners and streetwise slang. Sexual tension is pervasive and constant. Editing, scene changes and cuts are smooth, and uncontrived.
Many of the most popular films in this genre were based on novels by writers like Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and James M. Cain. These were existential stories of betrayal and alienation with flawed cynical heroes and doomed dames. The characters are as sharply drawn as the protagonists and antagonists in Greek drama. The male leads are usually working class cops, private detectives, drifters, or loners.
Women in Film Noir are almost always portrayed in a misogynistic light; either they are beautiful, deceitful, manipulative, and completely amoral dames or theyre sweet more or less virginal good girls who need the help of a strong man.
The rich and powerful are portrayed as . Officials (cops, judges, and politicians) are either the willing tools of the rich; powerless or afraid to act against the all pervasive corruption that surrounds them, or lazy, venal, and uncaring.
Classic Film Noir was the strongest and most direct influence on the French 'Nouvelle Vague' ('new wave') cinema of the late 50's and early 60's. Jean-Paul Belmondos character in 'Breathless' is a direct and linear descendant of Humphrey Bogart, Fred MacMurray, and JohnGarfield. Godards direction pays obvious and respectful homage to the work of John Huston, Howard Hawks, BillyWilder, Fritz Lang, and others.
If imitation truly is the sincerest form of flattery, then Film Noir is still exerting an important and continuing influence on the art of the cinema.
The 10 movies listed below are the cream of the Film Noir crop. The runners-up could easily be in the first 10 and are every bit the equals of my 10 personal favorites.
1.) 'Double Indemnity' (1944, BillyWilder) From a short story by James M. Cain, screenplay by B. Wilder and Raymond Chandler. Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, and EdwardG. Robinson. Stanwyck convinces insurance salesman MacMurray to help her kill her husband for the insurance money. If they can make it look like an accident she collects double.
2.) 'The Big Sleep' (1946, Howard Hawks) Screenplay by William Faulkner & Leigh Brackett from the novel by Raymond Chandler. Humphrey Bogart, and LaurenBacall. Bogie plays private eye Philip Marlowe, hot on the trail of blackmailers, murderers, and missing persons. This film has a complex plot, with devious characters, gorgeous dames, and perverted pornographers, the movie is a classic WarnerBros. thriller.
3.) 'This Gun For Hire' (1941, Frank Tuttle) From the novel by Graham Greene. Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake. Ladd, in his first major role, plays a cold-blooded, hired killer out to get the client who double-crossed him. He spends much of the film hiding from the cops with Lake as his hostage.
4.) 'The Maltese Falcon' (1941, John Huston) From Dashiell Hammetts classic 1929 novel. Humphrey Bogart, Sidney Greenstreet, PeterLorre, and Mary Astor. The hard-boiled dialog was taken directly from the novel. Surrounded by betrayal, deception, false identities, and desperate characters, Bogart, as private eye Sam Spade, pursues the killer of his partner. This film was Hustons debut as a director. Generally regarded as the first true Film Noir.
5.) 'Detour' (1946, directed by EdgarG. Ulmer). Many critics and film historians regard 'Detour' as the finest low budget movie ever made. Shot in just six days with a cast (Tom Neal, and Patricia Savage) of hungry unknowns, and on a budget that would have severely challenged Ed Wood ($20,000), the film tells an incredible story using just a few sets, two major actors, and one unexpected (and tragic) plot twist after another. Ulmers apprenticeship under Murnau and his work with other German Expressionism directors during the twenties had a large influence on his visual style and direction. The melancholy tone (and fatalism) of 'Detour' influenced F. Truffaut, J.-L. Godard, and other 'Nouvelle Vague' ('New Wave') directors.
6.) 'The Narrow Margin' (1952, RichardFleischer). The cops must transport mob widow Marie Windsor from Chicago to Los Angeles, where she is to testify against a powerful mobster. The mob is out to stop her at all costs, and the train trip from Chicago to L.A. is filled with one exciting twist after another, with an incredible surprise ending.
7.) 'Out of the Past' (1947, Jacques Tourneur). Best known for his atmospheric horror films, 'Cat People' and 'I Walked With a Zombie', Tourneur created one of the best Film Noirs of all time, with Robert Mitchum, KirkDouglas, and Jane Greer. Betrayal, double cross, and triple cross, nothing in this tense thriller is what it seems.
8.) 'D.O.A.' (1950, Rudolphe Maté). Edmund OBrien stumbles into a police station and says I want to report a murder. Who got killed? asks the cop on duty. Me, says OBrien. Hes been poisoned and has only a short while to live, the rest of the story is told in flashback, as OBrien tries to figure out who fed him a slow acting poison, and why.
9.) 'The Postman Always Rings Twice' (1946, Tay Garnett). From the novel by James M. Cain. Staring JohnGarfield and Lana Turner as illicit lovers who plot to kill Turners husband. Adultery, lust, greed, murder, and blackmail, this fast-paced movie has it all, plus a wonderfully twisted surprise ending.
10.) 'The Big Heat' (1953, Fritz Lang). The director of 'Metropolis' and 'M' was one of the leading auteurs of the German Expressionism movement when he fled Nazi Germany for Hollywood. In this movie honest police detective Glenn Ford embarks on a violent one-man campaign of bitter vengeance against the mobsters who killed his wife. In a stunning finale Ford learns that he is becoming what he hates most, a monster, little different from those he is trying to destroy.
Classic Noir Films: The Runners-up.
1.) 'Kiss Me Deadly' (1955, Robert Aldrich). The first Mike Hammer film. Film Noir meets cold war paranoia in hipster Los Angeles --- with the most twisted surprise ending of all time.
2.) 'The Big Steal' (1947, DonSiegel)
3.) 'The Killing' (1955, StanleyKubrick). Caper flick with dialog by Jim Thompson.
3.) 'Key Largo' (1948, John Huston). Humphrey Bogart, LaurenBacall, John Barrymore, and EdwardG. Robinson. Bogart takes on a gang of mobsters in the Florida keys.
4.) 'Kiss of Death' (1947, Henry Hathaway)
5.) 'Touch of Evil' (1958, Orson Welles). The last true classic Film Noir. A restored "directors" cut (from Welles' notes) played the big screen recently.
6.) 'The Treasure of the Sierra Madre' (1948, John Huston). From the novel by B. Traven. Humphrey Bogart, Walter Huston (John's father), and Tim Holt with John Huston in a cameo role. 'Treasure' has every classic Film Noir element except the devious dame.
7.) 'The Big Combo' (1955, JosephH. Lewis)
8.) 'Murder, My Sweet' (1944, Edward Dmytryk). One of the all time great Film Noirs with voice-over narration and surreal sequences. A Masterpiece.
9.) 'The Asphalt Jungle' (1950, John Huston).
10.) 'Act of Violence' (1949, FredZinneman).
Classic neo-Noir
These films contain many of the elements of classic Film Noir, and their makers were clearly influenced by the directors, writers, cinematographers, and actors of classic Noir Films.
They are all worth seeing in their own right, and as excellent examples of the continuing influence of Film Noir on cinema art.
1.) 'Body Double' (1984, Brian De Palma)
2.) 'Slamdance' (1987, Wayne Wang)
3.) 'Chinatown' (1975, RomanPolanski). Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston, and Polanski himself (as a knife wielding thug) in one of the finest films ever made.
4.) 'Blood Simple' (1984, JoelCoen)
5.) 'Body Heat' (1980, LawrenceKasdan). Kasdans first film as a director. He wrote the screenplays for 'The Empire Strikes Back' and 'Raiders of the Lost Ark'. Kathleen Turner made her sultry acting debut in this film, playing William Hurt for a prize chump.
6.) 'Night Moves' (1975, ArthurPenn). Gene Hackman. Melanie Griffith and James Woods made their acting debuts in this movie.
7.) 'The Long Goodbye' (1973, Robert Altman). ElliottGould as Philip Marlowe.
8.) 'The Late Show' (1977, Robert Benton). Art Carney & Lilly Tomlin.
9.) 'Bullitt' (1968, Peter Yates). Steve McQueen, Robert Vaughn, and Jacqueline Bissett. Set in San Francisco, this film is mostly about political corruption and mob influence and contains what is arguably the best car chase ever filmed. Look for Robert Duvall in an early role.
10.) 'Point Blank' (1967, John Boorman). Lee Marvin and Angie Dickinson. There truly is no honor among thieves and Marvin is out for revenge against the L. A. mob. Based on the Parker series written by Donald Westlake (writing as Richard Stark).
Film Noir is a film style and mood primarily associated with crime films, that portrays its principal characters in a nihilistic and existentialworld.
Film Noir is primarily derived from the hard-boiledstyle of crime fiction of the Depression era, (many Films Noir were adaptations of such novels), and may first be clearly seen in films released in the early 1940's.
'Noirs' were historically made in black and white, and had a dark, high-contrast, style with roots in German Expressionistcinematography.
Originoftheterm
Film Noir is French for "black film", and is pronounced accordingly ("fīlm nwahr"). The English plural is given variously as films noirs (the correct plural in French), films noir, or film noirs.
French film critic NinoFrank is often credited with coining the term. However, earlier use of the term has been attributed to the French writing team Thomas Narcejac and Pierre Boileau, whose novels were staples in a genre of French crime novels, popular serialized editions known as 'Série Noire', several of which were made into Film Noirs.
The term Film Noir was unknown to the filmmakers and actors while they were creating the classic Film Noirs. Film Noir was defined in retrospect by film historians and critics; many of the creators of Film Noir later professed to be unaware at the time of having created a distinctive type of film.
Precursors
Film Noir is a result of a combination of genres and styles, with origins in painting and literature, as well as film.
The aesthetics of Film Noir are heavily influenced by German Expressionism. When Germany fell to Nazism, many important (Jewish!) film artists were forced to emigrate (e.g. Fritz Lang, BillyWilder, and RobertSiodmak,...). They took with them techniques they developed (most importantly the dramatic lighting and the subjective, psychological point of view) and made some of the most famous Films Noir in the USA.
Concurrent with the development of GermanExpressionism were expressionistic gangster films in America in the 1930's, such as "I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang", "Little Caesar" (1930), "Public Enemy" (1931), and "Scarface" (1932).
Other important influences came from the French poeticrealism, with its themes of fatalism, injustice and doomed heroes, and Italian neorealism, with its emphasis on authenticity. Several later Noir Films, such as "Night and the City" (1950) and "Panic in the Streets" (1950), adopted a neorealist approach of using on-location photography with non-professional extras. Additionally, some Noir Films strove to depict comparatively ordinary or downtrodden people with unspectacular lives in a manner similar to neorealist films, such as "The Lost Weekend" and "In a Lonely Place".
In the United States, a major literary influence on Film Noir came from the hard-boiled school of detective and crime fiction, featuring writers such as DashiellHammett, RaymondChandler and JamesM. Cain, and popularized in pulpmagazines such as 'Black Mask'. Chandler's "The Big Sleep" and "Murder My Sweet" (based on "Farewell, My Lovely") and Hammett's "The Maltese Falcon" are notable Films Noir.
Boris Ingster's "Stranger on the Third Floor" (1940) is often considered to be the first full-featured Film Noir, starring PeterLorre as the sinister 'stranger'. Orson Welles's landmark film "Citizen Kane" (1941) had a huge influence on the development of Film Noir, particularly with its stunning visuals and complex narrative stucture driven by voice-over narration.
Theclassicperiod
The 1940's and 1950's were the "classic period" of Film Noir. Some film historians regard "Stranger on the Third Floor" (1940) to be the first true Film Noir. Orson Welles's "Touch of Evil" (1958) is often cited as the last film in the classic period, although "Odds Against Tomorrow" (1959) is also sometimes credited.
Some scholars believed Film Noir never really ended, but declined in popularity, only to be later revived in a slightly different form. Others critics probably a majority regard films made outside the classic time frame to be something other than genuine Film Noir. These critics regard true film noir as belonging to a cycle or period, and that subsequent films that try to evoke the classic films are different because the creators are conscious of a noir "style" in a way that the original makers of Film Noir were not.
Many of the classic Noir films were low-budget supporting features without major stars, in which 'moonlighting' writers, directors and technicians, some of them blacklisted, found themselves relatively free from big-picture restraints. Many of the most popular examples of Film Noir center upon a woman of questionable virtue and are also known as bad girl movies.
Major studio feature films demanded a wholesome, positive message. Weak and morally ambiguous lead characters were ruled out by the "star system", and secondary characters were seldom allowed any depth or autonomy. In "A" films, flattering soft lighting, deluxe interiors and elaborately-built exterior sets were the rule. Noir turned all this on its head, creating bleak but intelligent dramas tinged with nihilism, mistrust, bleakness, paranoia and cynicism, in real-life urban settings, and using unsettling techniques such as the confessional voice-over or hero's-eye-view camerawork. Gradually the Noir style re-influenced the mainstream.
NotableFilmNoirsoftheclassicperiod : TheMalteseFalcon (1941, JohnHuston) Murder, My Sweet (1944, EdwardDmytryk) Double Indemnity (1944, BillyWilder) Scarlet Street (1945, Fritz Lang) TheBigSleep (1946, HowardHawks) The Lady from Shanghai (1947, OrsonWelles) Out of the Past (1947, JacquesTourneur) The Third Man (1949, CarolReed) SunsetBoulevard(1950, Billy Wilder) The Asphalt Jungle (1950, JohnHuston) Touch of Evil (1958, OrsonWelles)
Directors associated with classic Film Noir include John Huston, BillyWilder, Fritz Lang, and Orson Welles. Sir Alfred Hitchcock made some crime films that are similar to Film Noir, but are generally not considered part of the Film Noir canon.
FilmNoiroutsidetheU.S.A.
There have been a number of films made outside the U.S. that can reasonably be called Film Noir, for example "Pepé le Moko". JulesDassin moved to France in the early fifties as a result of the Hollywood blacklist and made one of the most famous French films Noir, "Du Rififi Chez les Hommes" (1955).
Other well-known French films sometimes considered to be Noir include "Touchez pas au grisbi" (1954), "Les Diaboliques / Diabolique" (1955), and "Quai des Orfèvres" (1947). The French director Jean-PierreMelville is widely recognized for his tragic, minimalist Films Noirs, such as "Le Samouraï" or "Le Cercle rouge". Additionally, the British director Sir Carol Reed made "The Third Man" (1949), which is often considered Film Noir. It is set in Vienna immediately after the war, with the collaboration of Joseph Cotten and Orson Welles, both prominent American film-Noir actors.
Neo-noir is a term often applied to films made after the classic period. Neo-noir films have been produced internationally in most countries with a prominent film industry. Examples include "High and Low" (Japan), "La Haine" (France), "Insomnia" (Norway), "Alphaville" (France), "The American Friend" (Germany), and "Blind Shaft" (China).
Neo-noirandtheinfluenceofFilmNoir
In the 1960's American film-makers like Sam Peckinpah, ArthurPenn, and Robert Altman created films that drew from (and commented upon) the original Film Noirs. In "The Long Goodbye", Altman's hard-boiled detective is presented as a hapless bungler who can't help but lose the moral battle.
Film Noir has been parodied (both broadly and affectionately) on many occasions. Bob Hope first parodied Film Noir in "My Favorite Brunette" (1947), playing a baby photographer who is mistaken for tough private detective. Other notable parodies are Steve Martin's black-and-white "cut and paste" homage "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid", and WoodyAllen's "Play It Again, Sam".
Many of Joel and EthanCoen's films are excellent examples of modern films influenced by Noir, especially "The Man Who Wasn't There" and "Miller's Crossing", the comedy "The Big Lebowski", and "Blood Simple", the title of which was lifted from the DashiellHammett story 'Red Harvest'. Also DavidCronenberg's adaptation of Burroughs' surreal 'Naked Lunch' is strongly influenced by the genre.
The cynical, pessimisticworldview of Noirs strongly influenced the creators of the cyberpunk genre of science fiction in the early 1980's. "Blade Runner" is among the most popular films from this era. Characters in these films are derived from 1930's gangster films and, more importantly, from pulpfiction magazines such as 'The Shadow', 'Dime Mystery Detective', and 'The Black Mask'. Other examples for SF-Noir films are "Gattaca", "The Thirteenth Floor", "Ghost in the Shell" and "Dark City".
Recent works of popular fiction in a Noir vein include the 2005 movie "Sin City", the video game series Max Payne, and Christopher Nolan's take on "Batman".
Characteristics
Visual style
Noir films, traditionally black and white, tended to include dramatic shadows and stark contrastusing low-keylighting and monochromefilm, typically resulting in a 10:1 ratio of dark to light, rather than the more typical 3:1 ratio. A number of Noir films were shot on location in cities, and night-for-night shooting was common. Also common to be seen in any Noir film are shadows of venetian blinds. These are dramatically cast upon an actor's face as he looks out a window. This is one of the many iconic visuals in Noir.
Noir is also known for its use of dutchangles, low-angleshots, and wideanglelenses. Other devices of disoritentation common in Film Noir include shots of people in mirrors or multiple mirrors, shots through a glass (such as during the strangulation scene in "Strangerson a Train"), and multiple exposures (Schultheiss).
Setting
Film Noir tends to revolve around flawed and desperate characters in an unforgiving world. Crime, usually murder, is an element of all Films Noir, often sparked by jealousy, corruption, or greed. Most Films Noir contain certain archetypal characters (such as hardboiled detectives, femmes fatales, corrupt policemen, jealous husbands, insurance agents, or down-and-out writers), familiar locations (downtown Los Angeles, New York, or San Francisco), and archetypal storylines (heist films, detective stories, court films, and films about rigged boxing games).
Outlook
Film Noir is at its core pessimistic. The stories it tells are of people trapped in a situation they did not want, often a situation they did not create, striving against random uncaring fate, and usually doomed. Almost all Film Noir plots involve the hard-boiled, disillusioned male and the dangerous femmefatale.
TheBottomLine: Dark, moody, disturbing films about love, hate, revenge, crime, loot and dames.
It is a genre that first began around the mid 1940's, when the novels of such writers as JamesM. Cain, RaymondChandler, and DashiellHammett were made into movies.
When most people think of Film Noir, they think of the grainy look of black and white the true Film Noirs ('Noir' is French for "black") in their original form. Those are the movies full of seedy detectives offices with light slicing through venetian blinds, rain-slicked streets, and men in double breasted suits with fedoras. But the genre has continued through the decades, although its characteristics have become more blurred and harder to define. Many of the movies were created on smaller budgets instead of big Hollywood bankrolls at the time, so their other moniker, B-movie is sometimes used. Although not all B-movies are Film Noirs. But many of the actresses, like Ida Lupino and Gloria Grahame, were considered B-movie actresses almost exclusively.
One of the main elements of the Film Noir is theFemme Fatale. In the 1940's, she was represented by ladies such as Lana Turner ('ThePostmanAlwaysRingsTwice'), Barbara Stanwyck ('Double Indemnity'), Rita Hayworth ('The Lady from Shanghai') Jane Greer ('Out of the Past'), Veronica Lake ('The Blue Dahlia') or Ava Gardner ('The Killers'). This woman is so desirable that she persuades smart men to do really dumb things.
The hero is a tough guy on the outside and a lot of doubts on the inside. Sometimes he is running from his past. He usually feels some alienation from society. He might have made one bad choice which keeps coming back to haunt him one way or another. And through the mistakes of the past, the black widow woman, or his own ambition, the hero is usually destroyed in the end.
If youre looking for some other great suggestions of Noir viewing, check out these!
ActOfViolence Angel Face TheAsphaltJungle The Big Carnival The Big Combo The Big Heat The Big Sleep [1946] The Big Steal BloodSimple (neo-Noir) Body Heat (neo-Noir) Chinatown (neo-Noir) Crossfire Dark Passage The Dark Past Desperate Detour Devil in a Blue Dress (neo-Noir) D.O.A. Diabolique [1955] Don't Bother to Knock DoubleIndemnity Force Of Evil Gilda Gun Crazy The Hitch-Hiker In A Lonely Place Key Largo The Killers The Killing Kiss Me Deadly Kiss of Death Knock On Any Door L.A. Confidential (neo-Noir) The Lady from Shanghai TheLadyIntheLake Laura The Letter The Maltese Falcon The Man Who Wasn't There (neo-Noir) MildredPierce Murder,MySweet The Narrow Margin [1952] The Night Of the Hunter On Dangerous Ground Panic In the Streets Pickup On South Street The Postman Always Rings Twice [1946] Purple Noon Raw Deal The Reckless Moment Ride the Pink Horse Scarlet Street Secret Beyond the Door The Set-up Shadow of a Doubt The Strange Love of Martha Ivers Strangers On ATrain They Won't Believe Me The Third Man The Woman In the Window This Gun For Hire Touch Of Evil True Confessions (neo-Noir) The Two Jakes (neo-Noir) WhiteHeat.
