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.
