Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize moral ambiguity and sexual motivation. United States cinema has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century A crime film, in the most general sense is a Film that involves various aspects Crime and the Criminal justice system Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as stretching from the early 1940s to the late 1950s. Film noir of this era is associated with a low-key black-and-white visual style that has roots in German Expressionist cinematography, while many of the prototypical stories and much of the attitude of classic noir derive from the hardboiled school of crime fiction that emerged in the United States during the Depression. Low-key lighting is a style of lighting for Photography, Film or Television. Black-and-white is a number of Monochrome forms in Visual arts. German Expressionism is the term used to refer to a number of related creative movements which emerged in Germany before the first world war which reached a peak in Berlin See also Filmmaking Cinematography (from Greek: kinesis κινησις (movement and grapho γραφω (to record is the discipline Hardboiled Crime fiction is a literary style pioneered by Carroll John Daly in the mid-1920s popularized by Dashiell Hammett over the course of the Crime fiction is the Genre of Fiction that deals with Crimes their detection criminals and their motives It is usually distinguished from
The term film noir (French for "black film"), first applied to Hollywood movies by French critic Nino Frank in 1946, was unknown to most American film industry professionals of the era. Nino Frank ( Barletta, 27 June 1904 − Paris, 17 August 1988) was a French film critic and writer who was most Cinema historians and critics defined the canon of film noir in retrospect; many of those involved in the making of the classic noirs later professed to be unaware of having created a distinctive type of film.
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Problems of definition
"We'd be oversimplifying things in calling film noir oneiric, strange, erotic, ambivalent, and cruel. In a Film theory context the term oneiric (which means "pertaining to dream " refers to the depiction of dream-like states in films or to the use of the . . . "[2] This is the first of many attempts to define film noir made by the French critics Raymond Borde and Etienne Chaumeton in their 1955 book Panorama du film noir américain 1941–1953 (A Panorama of American Film Noir), the original and seminal extended treatment of the subject. They take pains to point out that not every film noir embodies all five attributes in equal measure—this one is more dreamlike, while this other is particularly brutal. The authors' caveats and repeated efforts at alternative definition have proved telling about noir's reliability as a label: in the five decades since, no definition has achieved anything close to general acceptance. The authors of most substantial considerations of film noir still find it necessary to add on to what are now innumerable attempts at definition. As Borde and Chaumeton suggest, however, the field of noir is very diverse and any generalization about it risks veering into oversimplification.
Film noirs embrace a variety of genres, from the gangster film to the police procedural to the so-called social problem picture, and evidence a variety of visual approaches, from meat-and-potatoes Hollywood mainstream to outré. A genre (ˈʒɑːnrə also /ˈdʒɑːnrə/ from French "kind" or "sort" from Latin: genus (stem gener-) is a loose set The police procedural is a sub-genre of the mystery story which attempts to convincingly depict the activities of a Police force as they investigate Crimes A social problem film is a Narrative film that integrates a larger social conflict into the individual conflict between its characters While many critics refer to film noir as a genre itself, others argue that it can be no such thing. Though noir is often associated with an urban setting, for example, many classic noirs take place mainly in small towns, suburbia, rural areas, or on the open road, so setting can not be its genre determinant, as with the Western. The Western is a fiction Genre seen in Film, Television, Radio, Literature, Painting and other Visual arts. Similarly, while the private eye and the femme fatale are character types conventionally identified with noir, the majority of film noirs feature neither, so there is no character basis for genre designation as with the gangster film. A private investigator or private detective (often shortened to PI or private eye) is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake A femme fatale (plural femmes fatales) is an alluring and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers in bonds of irresistible desire often leading them into Nor does it rely on anything as evident as the monstrous or supernatural elements of the horror film, the speculative leaps of the science fiction film, or the song-and-dance routines of the musical. Horror films are Movies that strive to elicit Fear, Horror and terror responses from viewers Science fiction Film is a Film genre that uses speculative, Science -based depictions of imaginary phenomena such as extra-terrestrial The musical film is a Film genre in which several Songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative
A more analogous case is that of the screwball comedy, widely accepted by film historians as constituting a "genre"—the screwball is defined not by a fundamental attribute, but by a general disposition and a group of elements, some (but rarely and perhaps never all) of which are found in each of the genre's films. The screwball comedy is a subgenre of the comedy Film genre. It has proven to be one of the most popular and enduring film genres [3] However, because of the diversity of noir (much greater than that of the screwball comedy), certain scholars in the field, such as film historian Thomas Schatz, treat it as not a genre but a "style. " Alain Silver, the most widely published American critic specializing in film noir studies, refers to it as a "cycle" and a "phenomenon," even as he argues that it has—like certain genres—a consistent set of visual and thematic codes. Alain Silver is a US Film producer, Music producer, Film reviewer, film historian and writer on film topics especially Film noir Other critics treat film noir as a "mood," a "movement," or a "series," or simply address a chosen set of movies from the "period. " There is no consensus on the matter.
The prehistory of noir
Film noir has sources not only in cinema but other artistic media as well. The low-key lighting schemes commonly linked with the classic mode are in the tradition of chiaroscuro and tenebrism, techniques using high contrasts of light and dark developed by 15th- and 16th-century painters associated with Mannerism and the Baroque. Low-key lighting is a style of lighting for Photography, Film or Television. Chiaroscuro ( Italian for light-dark) is a term in Art for a contrast between light and dark Tenebrism, from the Italian tenebroso ("murky" (also called dramatic illumination is a style of Painting using violent contrasts of Light Mannerism is a period of European art which emerged from the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520. Baroque art redirects here Please disambiguate such links to Baroque painting, Baroque sculpture, etc Film noir's aesthetics are deeply influenced by German Expressionism, a cinematic movement of the 1910s and 1920s closely related to contemporaneous developments in theater, photography, painting, sculpture, and architecture. German Expressionism is the term used to refer to a number of related creative movements which emerged in Germany before the first world war which reached a peak in Berlin The opportunities offered by the booming Hollywood film industry and, later, the threat of growing Nazi power led to the emigration of many important film artists working in Germany who had either been directly involved in the Expressionist movement or studied with its practitioners. Nazism, which was a short name for National Socialism (Nationalsozialismus refers primarily to the Ideology and practices of the National Socialist German |Directors such as Fritz Lang, Robert Siodmak, and Michael Curtiz brought dramatic lighting techniques and a psychologically expressive approach to mise-en-scène with them to Hollywood, where they would make some of the most famous of classic noirs. A film director, or filmmaker, is a person who directs the making of a Film. Friedrich Christian Anton "Fritz" Lang ( December 5, 1890 &ndash August 2, 1976) was an Austrian German - American Robert Siodmak ( August 8, 1900 - March 10, 1973) was a German born American Film director. Michael Curtiz ( December 24, 1886 - April 10, 1962) was an Academy Award -winning Hungarian-American Film director Mise-en-scène (mizɑ̃sɛn is an expression used in the theatre and film worlds to describe the design aspects of a production Lang's 1931 masterwork, the German M, is among the first major crime films of the sound era to join a characteristically noirish visual style with a noir-type plot, one in which the protagonist is a criminal (as are his most successful pursuers). M is a 1931 German drama - thriller directed by Fritz Lang and written by Lang and his wife Thea von Harbou A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image as opposed to a Silent film. The Protagonist or main character is the central figure of a story. M was also the occasion for the first star performance by Peter Lorre, who would go on to act in several formative American noirs of the classic era. Peter Lorre ( June 26 1904 &ndash March 23 1964) born László Löwenstein, was a Hungarian - Austrian
By 1931, Curtiz had already been in Hollywood for half a decade, making as many as six films a year. Movies of his such as 20,000 Years in Sing Sing (1932) and Private Detective 62 (1933) are among the early Hollywood sound films arguably classifiable as noir. Giving Expressionist-affiliated moviemakers particularly free stylistic rein were Universal horror pictures such as Dracula (1931), The Mummy (1932)—the former photographed and the latter directed by the Berlin-trained Karl Freund—and The Black Cat (1934), directed by Austrian émigré Edgar G. Ulmer. Universal Studios (sometimes called Universal Pictures or Universal City Studios) a subsidiary of NBC Universal, is a major Global American Dracula is a classic 1931 Horror film directed by Tod Browning and starring Béla Lugosi as the title character The Mummy is a 1932 horror classic from Universal Pictures directed by Karl Freund and starring Boris Karloff as a See also Filmmaking Cinematography (from Greek: kinesis κινησις (movement and grapho γραφω (to record is the discipline Karl W Freund, ASC ( January 16, 1890 - May 3, 1969) was an Oscar-winning German cinematographer and Film director The Black Cat is a 1934 Horror film that became Universal Pictures ' biggest box office hit of the year Edgar G Ulmer ( September 17, 1904 &ndash September 30, 1972) was an Austrian - American film director The Universal horror that comes closest to noir, both in story and sensibility, however, is The Invisible Man (1933), directed by Englishman James Whale and shot by American Carl Laemmle Jr.
The Vienna-born but largely American-raised Josef von Sternberg was directing in Hollywood at the same time. The Invisible Man is a 1933 Horror film based on H G Wells ' Science fiction novel The Invisible Man, published James Whale ( July 22, 1889 – May 29, 1957) was a British born Film director, best known for his work in the Carl Laemmle Jr ( 28 April 1908 &ndash 24 September 1979) was in charge of production at Universal Studios from about 1928 to 1936 Josef von Sternberg aka Jonas Sternberg ( 29 May 1894, Vienna, Austria &ndash 22 December 1969, Los Films of his such as Shanghai Express (1932) and The Devil Is a Woman (1935), with their hothouse eroticism and baroque visual style, specifically anticipate central elements of classic noir. Shanghai Express is an American 1932 film directed by Josef von Sternberg. The commercial and critical success of Sternberg's silent Underworld in 1927 was largely responsible for spurring a trend of Hollywood gangster films. There were also films called Underworld in 1937, 1985, 1996 and 2003. Popular movies in the genre such as Little Caesar (1931), The Public Enemy (1931), and Scarface (1932) demonstrated that there was an audience for crime dramas with morally reprehensible protagonists. The Public Enemy is a 1931 Pre-Code American crime drama Film starring James Cagney and directed This article is about the 1932 film For the 1983 remake see Scarface.
An important, and possibly influential, cinematic antecedent to classic noir was 1930s French poetic realism, with its romantic, fatalistic attitude and celebration of doomed heroes; an acknowledged influence on certain trends in noir was 1940s Italian neorealism, with its emphasis on quasi-documentary authenticity. Poetic realism was a Film movement in France leading up to World War II. Fatalism is a Philosophical doctrine emphasizing the subjugation of all events or actions to fate or inevitable predetermination Italian neorealism is a style of film characterized by stories set amongst the poor and Working class, filmed on location frequently using nonprofessional Actors (The Warner Bros. drama I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang [1932] presciently combines these sensibilities. Warner Bros Entertainment Inc (or Warner Bros, Warner Bros Pictures) is one of the world's largest producers of Film and This article is about the 1932 movie for the article about the book see I Am a Fugitive from a Georgia Chain Gang I Am a ) Director Jules Dassin of The Naked City (1948) pointed to the neorealists as inspiring his use of on-location photography with nonprofessional extras; three years earlier, The House on 92nd Street, directed by Henry Hathaway, demonstrated the parallel influence of the cinematic newsreel. Jules Dassin, born Julius Dassin ( &ndash) was an American Film director. The Naked City is a 1948 Black-and-white Film noir directed by Jules Dassin. The House on 92nd Street is a 1945 Black-and-white film in the Film noir genre Henry Hathaway ( March 13, 1898 – February 11, 1985) was an American film director and producer A few movies now considered noir strove to depict comparatively ordinary protagonists with unspectacular lives in a manner occasionally evocative of neorealism—the most famous example is The Lost Weekend (1945), directed by Billy Wilder, yet another Vienna-born, Berlin-trained American auteur. The Lost Weekend is a 1945 motion picture directed by Billy Wilder for Paramount Pictures, starring Ray Milland, Billy Wilder ( June 22, 1906 – March 27, 2002) was an Austrian born Jewish - American Journalist (In turn, one of the primary influences on neorealism was the 1930 German film Menschen am Sonntag, codirected and cowritten by Siodmak, cowritten by Wilder, and codirected and produced by Ulmer. ) Among those movies not themselves considered film noirs, perhaps none had a greater effect on the development of the genre than America's own Citizen Kane (1941), the landmark motion picture directed by Orson Welles. Citizen Kane ( 1941) is an American Dramatic film, and the first Feature film directed by Orson Welles, who also co-authored George Orson Welles (May 6 1915 – October 10 1985 was an Academy Award -winning director, writer actor and producer for film stage radio and television Its Sternbergian visual intricacy and complex, voiceover-driven narrative structure are echoed in dozens of classic film noirs. The term voice-over refers to a production technique where a non-diagetic voice is broadcast live or pre-recorded in Radio, Television, Film,
Literary sources
The primary literary influence on film noir was the hardboiled school of American detective and crime fiction, led in its early years by such writers as Dashiell Hammett (whose first novel, Red Harvest, was published in 1929) and James M. Cain (whose The Postman Always Rings Twice appeared five years later), and popularized in pulp magazines such as Black Mask. Crime fiction is a typically 19th and 20th century genre dominated by British and American writers Detective fiction is a branch of Crime fiction in which a Detective (or detectives either professional or amateur investigate a crime usually Murder Crime fiction is the Genre of Fiction that deals with Crimes their detection criminals and their motives It is usually distinguished from Samuel Dashiell Hammett ( May 27, 1894 — January 10, 1961) was an American Author of Hardboiled detective This article deals with the Dashiell Hammett novel called Red Harvest James Mallahan Cain ( July 1, 1892 &ndash October 27, 1977) was an American Journalist The Postman Always Rings Twice is a 1934 crime Novel by James M Pulp magazines (or pulp fiction; often referred to as "the pulps" were inexpensive Fiction magazines Black Mask was a Pulp magazine launched in 1920 by journalist H The classic film noirs The Maltese Falcon (1941) and The Glass Key (1942) were based on novels by Hammett; Cain's novels provided the basis for Double Indemnity (1944), Mildred Pierce (1945), The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946), and Slightly Scarlet (1956; adapted from Love's Lovely Counterfeit). The Maltese Falcon is a 1941 Warner Bros film written and directed by John Huston, based on the novel of the same name Double Indemnity ( 1944) is an Academy Award nominated Film noir starring Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, and Edward Mildred Pierce ( 1945) is a Warner Bros Feature film starring Joan Crawford, Ann Blyth, Jack Carson, Zachary The Postman Always Rings Twice ( 1946) is a Film noir Drama film based on the 1934 The Postman Always Rings Twice Slightly Scarlet is a 1956 color Film noir based on James M Cain 's novel Love's Lovely Counterfeit A decade before the classic era, a story of Hammett's was the source for the gangster melodrama City Streets (1931), directed by Rouben Mamoulian and photographed by Lee Garmes, who worked regularly with Sternberg. Rouben Mamoulian ( October 8, 1897 &ndash December 4, 1987) was an Armenian - American film and Theatre Lee Garmes, ASC ( May 27, 1898 - August 31, 1978) was an award-winning American Cinematographer. Wedding a style and story both with many noir characteristics, released the month before Lang's M, City Streets has a claim to being the first major film noir.
Raymond Chandler, who debuted as a novelist with The Big Sleep in 1939, soon became the most famous author of the hardboiled school. Raymond Thornton Chandler ( July 23, 1888 &ndash March 26, 1959) was an American Author of crime stories and novels The Big Sleep is a 1939 novel by Raymond Chandler, with two film versions one filmed in 1945, and another filmed in 1978. Not only were Chandler's novels turned into major noirs—Murder, My Sweet (1944; adapted from Farewell, My Lovely), The Big Sleep (1946), and Lady in the Lake (1947)—he was an important screenwriter in the genre as well, producing the scripts for Double Indemnity, The Blue Dahlia (1946), and Strangers on a Train (1951). Murder My Sweet ( is a Film noir directed by Edward Dmytryk, and starring Dick Powell, Claire Trevor, and Anne Farewell My Lovely is a 1940 novel by Raymond Chandler, the second novel he wrote featuring Los Angeles private eye Philip The Big Sleep ( 1946) directed by Howard Hawks, is the first film version of Raymond Chandler 's novel of the same name (1939 Lady in the Lake ( 1947) is a Film noir drama that marked the directorial debut of actor Robert Montgomery who Screenwriters or scenarists are Scriptwriters who write the Screenplays from which Films and Television programs are made The Blue Dahlia ( is an American Film noir directed by George Marshall and written by Raymond Chandler. Strangers on a Train is a Film released in 1951 by Warner Bros Where Chandler, like Hammett, centered most of his novels and stories on the character of the private eye, Cain featured less heroic protagonists and focused more on psychological exposition than on crime solving; the Cain approach has come to be identified with a subset of the hardboiled genre dubbed "noir fiction. Hardboiled Crime fiction is a literary style pioneered by Carroll John Daly in the mid-1920s popularized by Dashiell Hammett over the course of the " For much of the 1940s, one of the most prolific and successful authors of this often downbeat brand of suspense tale was Cornell Woolrich (sometimes using the pseudonyms George Hopley or William Irish). Cornell George Hopley-Woolrich ( December 4, 1903 — September 25, 1968) was an American novelist and short story writer No writer's published work provided the basis for more film noirs of the classic period than Woolrich's: thirteen in all, including Black Angel (1946), Deadline at Dawn (1946), and Fear in the Night (1947). Black Angel is a 1946 Black-and-white Film noir based on the novel by Cornell Woolrich. Deadline at Dawn is a 1946 Film noir, the only film directed by stage director Harold Clurman. Fear in the Night (1947 is a low budget Black and white Film noir directed by Maxwell Shane and starring Paul Kelly and DeForest Kelley
A crucial literary source for film noir, now often overlooked, was W. R. Burnett, whose first novel to be published was Little Caesar, in 1929. William Riley Burnett ( November 25, 1899 - April 25, 1982) often credited as W It would be turned into the hit for Warner Bros. in 1931; the following year, Burnett was hired to write dialogue for Scarface, while Beast of the City was adapted from one of his stories. Warner Bros Entertainment Inc (or Warner Bros, Warner Bros Pictures) is one of the world's largest producers of Film and Some critics regard these latter two movies as film noirs, despite their early date. Burnett's characteristic narrative approach fell somewhere between that of the quintessential hardboiled writers and their noir fiction compatriots—his protagonists were often heroic in their way, a way just happening to be that of the gangster. During the classic era, his work, either as author or screenwriter, was the basis for seven movies now widely regarded as film noirs, including three of the most famous: High Sierra (1941), This Gun for Hire (1942), and The Asphalt Jungle (1950). High Sierra ( 1941) is an early Heist film and Film noir written by John Huston and W This Gun for Hire ( 1942) is a Crime drama Film noir, directed by Frank Tuttle and based on the novel A Gun for Sale The Asphalt Jungle ( 1950) is a Film noir directed by John Huston.
The classic period
The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of American film noir. While City Streets and other pre-WWII crime melodramas such as Fury (1936) and You Only Live Once (1937), both directed by Fritz Lang, are considered full-fledged noir by some critics, most categorize them as "proto-noir" or in similar terms. Fury is a Drama film which tells the story of an innocent man who narrowly escapes being lynched and the revenge he seeks You Only Live Once is a 1937 crime drama film starring Sylvia Sidney and Henry Fonda. The movie now most commonly cited as the first "true" film noir is Stranger on the Third Floor (1940), directed by Latvian-born, Soviet-trained Boris Ingster. Stranger on the Third Floor ( 1940) is a Film noir thriller featuring Peter Lorre, co-written by Nathaniel West, and released by [5] Hungarian émigré Peter Lorre, who played secondary roles in bigger-budgeted movies, was top-billed, though here too he did not play the lead. Peter Lorre ( June 26 1904 &ndash March 23 1964) born László Löwenstein, was a Hungarian - Austrian A character actor is an Actor who predominantly plays a particular type of role rather than leading ones Stranger on the Third Floor was not recognized as the beginning of a trend, let alone a new genre, for many decades. Indeed, even though modestly budgeted—at the high end of the B movie scale—it still lost its studio, RKO, $56,000, almost a third of its total cost. A B movie is a motion picture made on a low or modest budget Originally the term was used for films intended for distribution as the less-publicized second half of a Double [6] Variety found Ingster's work "too studied and when original, lacks the flare to hold attention. Variety is a weekly entertainment trade newspaper founded in New York in 1905 by Sime Silverman It's a film too arty for average audiences, and too humdrum for others. "[7]
Most of the film noirs of the classic period were similarly low- and modestly budgeted features without major stars—B movies either literally or in spirit. In this production context, writers, directors, cinematographers, and other craftsmen were relatively free from typical big-picture constraints. Enforcement of the Production Code ensured that no movie character could literally get away with murder or be seen sharing a bed with anyone but a spouse; within those bounds, however, many films now identified as noir feature plot elements and dialogue that were—in some cases, still are—quite risqué. For the television broadcasting term please see Production code number. Thematically, film noirs as a group were most exceptional for the relative frequency with which they centered on women of questionable virtue—a focus that had become rare in Hollywood films after the mid-1930s and the end of the pre-Code era. Pre-Code films were created before the Motion Picture Production Code or Hays Code - censorship guidelines - took effect on 1 July 1934 in the United The signal movie in this vein was Double Indemnity (1944), directed by Billy Wilder; setting the mold was Barbara Stanwyck's unforgettable femme fatale, Phyllis Dietrichson—an apparent nod to Marlene Dietrich, who had built her extraordinary career playing such characters for Sternberg. Double Indemnity ( 1944) is an Academy Award nominated Film noir starring Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, and Edward Barbara Stanwyck ( July 16, &ndash January 20,) was an American actress, a star of film and television known during her 60-year career as a A femme fatale (plural femmes fatales) is an alluring and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers in bonds of irresistible desire often leading them into Marlene Dietrich maɐˈleːnə ˈdiːtrɪç (December 27 &ndashMay 6) was a German -born American Actress, Singer and Entertainer An A-level feature all the way, the movie's commercial success and seven Oscar nominations made it probably the most influential of the early noirs. "The Oscar" redirects here for the film see The Oscar (film. A slew of now-renowned noir "bad girls" would follow, such as those played by Rita Hayworth in Gilda (1946), Lana Turner in The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946), Ava Gardner in The Killers (1946), and Jane Greer in Out of the Past (1947). " Bad girl movies " are a subcategory of Film noir labeled by latter-day movie buffs to describe the dark films of the 1940s and 1950s starring beautiful Rita Hayworth (October 17 1918 &ndash May 14 1987 born Margarita Carmen Cansino was a Spanish-American actress who rose to stardom in the 1940s as the era's leading Sex symbol Gilda ( 1946) is a Black-and-white Film noir directed by Charles Vidor. Lana Turner ( February 8, 1921 &ndash June 29, 1995) was an Academy Award -nominated American Film The Postman Always Rings Twice ( 1946) is a Film noir Drama film based on the 1934 The Postman Always Rings Twice Ava Lavinia Gardner ( December 24, 1922 – January 25, 1990) was an Academy Award -nominated American actress The Killers ( 1946) is an American Film noir about the investigation of a mob murder Jane Greer ( September 9, 1924 &ndash August 24, 2001) was a film and television actress who was perhaps best known for her role as Femme Out of the Past (originally released in Britain as Build My Gallows High) ( 1947) is a Film noir directed by Jacques The iconic noir counterpart to the femme fatale, the private eye, came to the fore in movies such as The Maltese Falcon (1941), with Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade, and Murder, My Sweet (1944), with Dick Powell as Philip Marlowe. The Maltese Falcon is a 1941 Warner Bros film written and directed by John Huston, based on the novel of the same name Sam Spade is a Fictional character who is the Protagonist of Dashiell Hammett 's novel The Maltese Falcon Murder My Sweet ( is a Film noir directed by Edward Dmytryk, and starring Dick Powell, Claire Trevor, and Anne Richard Ewing "Dick" Powell ( November 14, 1904 – January 2, 1963) was an American Singer, Actor, Philip Marlowe is a fictional character created by Raymond Chandler in a series of novels including The Big Sleep and The Long Goodbye Other seminal noir sleuths served larger institutions, such as Dana Andrews's police detective in Laura (1944), Edmond O'Brien's insurance investigator in The Killers, and Edward G. Robinson's government agent in The Stranger (1946). Dana Andrews ( January 1 1909 - December 17 1992) was an American film actor Laura ( 1944) is a American Academy Award -winning Film noir directed by Otto Preminger and starring Gene Tierney Edmond O'Brien (September 10 1915 – May 9 1985 was an American Film Actor who is perhaps best remembered for his role in D Edward Goldenberg Robinson Sr (born Emanuel Goldenberg; Yiddish: עמנואל גאלדנבערג December 12 1893 &ndash January The Stranger is a 1946 Film noir /drama starring Orson Welles, Edward G
Many claim that there is a significant distinction between the noirs of the 1940s and those of the 1950s—other than the relative disappearance of the private eye as a lead character there is no consensus on how that distinction manifests, but it often comes down to a view that the later classic noirs tend to be more "extreme" in one way or another. A prime example is Kiss Me Deadly (1955). Kiss Me Deadly ( 1955) is a Film noir drama produced and directed by Robert Aldrich starring Ralph Meeker. Based on a novel by Mickey Spillane, the best-selling of all the hardboiled authors, here the protagonist is a private eye, Mike Hammer. Frank Morrison Spillane ( March 9 1918 – July 17 2006) better known as Mickey Spillane, was an American author of Mike Hammer is a fictional character created by the American author Mickey Spillane in the 1947 book I the Jury (made into a movie in 1953 and 1982 As described by Paul Schrader, "Robert Aldrich's teasing direction carries noir to its sleaziest and most perversely erotic. Paul Joseph Schrader (born July 22, 1946 in Grand Rapids Michigan) is an American Screenwriter and Film director Robert Aldrich (August 9 1918 – December 5 1983 was an American Film director, writer and producer, notable for such films as Kiss Me Deadly Hammer overturns the underworld in search of the 'great whatsit'. . . [which] turns out to be—joke of jokes—an exploding atomic bomb. "[8] Orson Welles's baroquely styled Touch of Evil (1958) is frequently cited as the last noir of the classic period. Touch of Evil ( 1958) is a black-and-white American film written directed and co-starring Orson Welles. Some scholars believe film noir never really ended, but continued to transform even as the characteristic noir visual style began to seem dated and changing production conditions led Hollywood in different directions—in this view, post-1950s films in the noir tradition are seen as part of a continuity with classic noir. A majority of critics, however, regard comparable movies made outside the classic era to be something other than genuine film noirs. They regard true film noir as belonging to a temporally and geographically limited cycle or period, treating subsequent films that evoke the classics as fundamentally different due to general shifts in moviemaking style and latter-day awareness of noir as a historical source for allusion. An allusion is a figure of speech that makes a reference or representation of or to a well-known person place event literary work myth, or work of art
During these two decades in which noir is now seen as flourishing, conventional A films, however emotionally tortuous, were ultimately expected to convey positive, reassuring messages; in terms of style, invisible camerawork and editing techniques, flattering soft lighting schemes, and deluxely trimmed sets were the rule. Continuity editing is the predominant style of editing in Narrative cinema and television The makers of film noir turned all this on its head, creating sophisticated, sometimes bleak dramas tinged with mistrust, cynicism, and a sense of the absurd, in settings that were frequently either real-life urban or budget-saving minimalist, with often strikingly expressionist lighting and unsettling techniques such as wildly skewed camera angles and convoluted flashbacks. Absurdism is a Philosophy stating that the efforts of humanity to find meaning in the Universe ultimately fail (and hence are absurd because no such The noir style gradually influenced the mainstream—even beyond Hollywood.
Directors and the business of noir
While the inceptive noir, Stranger on the Third Floor, was a B picture directed by a virtual unknown, many of the film noirs that have earned enduring fame were A-list productions by name-brand moviemakers. Debuting as a director with The Maltese Falcon (1941), John Huston followed with the major noirs Key Largo (1948) and The Asphalt Jungle (1950). The Maltese Falcon is a 1941 Warner Bros film written and directed by John Huston, based on the novel of the same name John Marcellus Huston ( August 5 1906 &ndash August 28 1987) was an American Film director and Actor. Key Largo is a 1948 Crime film starring Humphrey Bogart, Edward G The Asphalt Jungle ( 1950) is a Film noir directed by John Huston. Opinion is divided on the noir status of several of Alfred Hitchcock's thrillers from the era; at least four qualify by consensus: Shadow of a Doubt (1943), Notorious (1946), Strangers on a Train (1951), and The Wrong Man (1956). Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE (13 Shadow of a Doubt is a thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock and written by Thornton Wilder, Sally Benson and Alma Reville Notorious ( 1946) is a thriller directed and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, and starring Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman as Strangers on a Train is a Film released in 1951 by Warner Bros The Wrong Man is a 1956 Film by Alfred Hitchcock which stars Henry Fonda and Vera Miles. Otto Preminger's success with Laura (1944) made his name and helped establish 20th Century-Fox's reputation for well-appointed A noirs. Otto Ludwig Preminger ( December 5[[ 906]]&ndash April 23[[ 986]] was an Austrian born Film director who moved from the theatre to Hollywood Laura ( 1944) is a American Academy Award -winning Film noir directed by Otto Preminger and starring Gene Tierney Among Hollywood's most celebrated directors of the era, arguably none worked more often in a noir mode than Preminger—his other classic noirs include Fallen Angel (1945), Whirlpool (1949), Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950) (all for Fox) and Angel Face (1952). Fallen Angel 1945) is a Black-and-white Film noir directed by Otto Preminger, with Cinematography by Joseph LaShelle Whirlpool ( 1949) is a drama Film noir directed by Otto Preminger and written by Ben Hecht (under the Blacklist pseudonym Where the Sidewalk Ends ( 1950) is an American Film noir directed and produced by Otto Preminger. Angel Face ( 1952) is a Black-and-white Film noir directed by Otto Preminger. A half-decade after Double Indemnity and The Lost Weekend, Billy Wilder made Sunset Boulevard (1950) and Ace in the Hole (1951), noirs that weren't so much crime dramas as satires on, respectively, Hollywood and the news media. Sunset Boulevard is a 1950 American Film noir classic Directed and co-written by Billy Wilder, it was named Ace in the Hole is a 1951 American Drama film. It marked a series of firsts for auteur Billy Wilder: it was the first time In a Lonely Place (1950) was Nicholas Ray's breakthrough; his other noirs include his debut, They Live by Night (1948), and On Dangerous Ground (1952). In a Lonely Place ( 1950) is a Film noir directed by Nicholas Ray, and starring Humphrey Bogart and Gloria Grahame, produced Nicholas Ray (born Raymond Nicholas Kienzle) ( August 7, 1911 &ndash June 16, 1979) was an American Film director They Live by Night is a Film noir released in 1949. The Film was directed by Nicholas Ray (his first feature film and starred For the 1986 film known as On Dangerous Ground in the UK see Choke Canyon.
Orson Welles had notorious problems with financing, but his three film noirs were reasonably well budgeted: The Lady from Shanghai (1947) received top-level, "prestige" backing, while both The Stranger—his most conventional film—and Touch of Evil —an unmistakably personal work—were funded at levels lower but still commensurate with headlining releases. The Lady from Shanghai is a 1948 Black-and-white Film noir directed by Orson Welles and starring Welles his then-estranged Like The Stranger, Fritz Lang's The Woman in the Window (1945) was a production of the independent International Pictures. The Woman in the Window ( 1944) is a Film noir directed by Fritz Lang that tells the story of psychology professor Richard Wanley ( Edward Lang's follow-up, Scarlet Street (1945), was one of the few classic noirs to be officially censored: filled with erotic innuendo, it was temporarily banned in Milwaukee, Atlanta, and New York State. Scarlet Street ( 1945) directed by Fritz Lang, is a Film noir based on the French novel La Chienne ( The Bitch) by Georges [9] Scarlet Street was a semi-independent—cosponsored by Universal and Lang's own Diana Productions, of which the movie's costar, Joan Bennett, was the second biggest shareholder. Universal Studios (sometimes called Universal Pictures or Universal City Studios) a subsidiary of NBC Universal, is a major Global American Joan Geraldine Bennett (February 27 &ndashDecember 7) was an Emmy -nominated American stage film and television actress Lang, Bennett, and her husband, Universal veteran and Diana production head Walter Wanger, would make Secret Beyond the Door (1948) in similar fashion. Walter Wanger ( July 11, 1894 – November 18, 1968) was an Academy Award -winning American Film producer Secret Beyond the Door ( 1948) is a Psychological thriller and modern updating of the Bluebeard fairytale directed by Fritz Lang [10] Before he was forced abroad for political reasons, director Jules Dassin made two classic noirs that also straddled the major/independent line: Brute Force (1947) and the influential documentary-style Naked City were developed by producer Mark Hellinger, who had an "inside/outside" contract with Universal similar to Wanger's. Brute Force ( 1947) is a brooding brutal Film noir. This prison movie directed by Jules Dassin, was shot in Black and white and Mark Hellinger ( March 21, 1903 &ndash December 21, 1947) was primarily known as a New York theatre critic and reviewer [11] Years earlier, working at Warner Bros. , Hellinger had produced three films for Raoul Walsh, the proto-noirs They Drive by Night (1940) and Manpower (1941) and the recognized classic High Sierra (1941). Raoul Walsh (born March 11, 1887 in New York City, died December 31, 1980 in Simi Valley CA) was an American For the 1938 film see They Drive by Night (1938 film They Drive by Night is a 1940 film starring George Raft High Sierra ( 1941) is an early Heist film and Film noir written by John Huston and W Walsh had no great name recognition during his half-century as a working director, but his noirs—White Heat (1949) and The Enforcer (1951) would follow—had A-list stars and are now regarded as important examples of the cycle. White Heat is a 1949 Crime film starring James Cagney, Edmond O'Brien, Virginia Mayo, Margaret Wycherly The Enforcer is a Black-and-white 1951 Film noir, starring Humphrey Bogart. [12] In addition to the aforementioned, other directors associated with top-of-the-bill Hollywood film noirs include Edward Dmytryk (Murder, My Sweet [1944]; Crossfire [1947]), the first important noir director to fall prey to the industry blacklist, as well as Henry Hathaway (The Dark Corner [1946], Kiss of Death [1947]) and John Farrow (The Big Clock [1948], His Kind of Woman [1951]). Edward Dmytryk ( September 4, 1908 &ndash July 1, 1999) was an American Film director who was amongst the Hollywood Murder My Sweet ( is a Film noir directed by Edward Dmytryk, and starring Dick Powell, Claire Trevor, and Anne Crossfire ( 1947) is a Film noir Drama film which deals with the theme of anti-Semitism, as did that year's Academy Award for "Hollywood Ten" redirects here For the 1950 short documentary film see The Hollywood Ten. Henry Hathaway ( March 13, 1898 – February 11, 1985) was an American film director and producer The Dark Corner is a 1946 Film noir directed by Henry Hathaway and starring Lucille Ball and Clifton Webb. Kiss of Death is a 1947 Film noir movie directed by Henry Hathaway and written by Ben Hecht and Charles Lederer from a John Farrow ( February 10, 1904 – January 28, 1963) was an award-winning film director producer and screenwriter The Big Clock is a Film noir thriller directed by John Farrow based on the novel of the same name by Kenneth Fearing. His Kind of Woman is a Black-and-white 1951 Comedy drama Film noir starring Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell
As noted above, however, most of the Hollywood films now considered classic noirs fall into the broad category of the "B movie. "[13] Some were Bs in the most precise sense, produced to run on the bottom of double bills by a low-budget unit of one of the major studios or by one of the smaller, so-called Poverty Row outfits, from the relatively well-off Monogram to shakier ventures such as Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC). The double feature, also known as a double bill, was a Motion picture industry phenomenon in which theatre managers would exhibit two films for the price of one The studio system was a means of film production and distribution dominant in Hollywood from the early 1920s through the early 1950s Poverty Row is a slang term used in Hollywood from the late silent period through the mid-fifties to refer to a variety of small and mostly short-lived B movie Monogram Pictures Corporation was a Hollywood studio that produced and released films most on low budgets between 1931 and Producers Releasing Corporation was one of the more humble Hollywood Film studios on Poverty Row in the late 1930s-mid-1940s Jacques Tourneur had made over thirty Hollywood Bs (a few now highly regarded, most completely forgotten) before directing the A-level Out of the Past, considered by some critics the pinnacle of classic noir. Jacques Tourneur ( November 12, 1904 &ndash December 19, 1977) was a French - American Film director. Movies with budgets a step up the ladder, known as "intermediates" within the industry, might be treated as A or B pictures depending on the circumstance—Monogram created a new unit, Allied Artists, in the late 1940s to focus on this sort of production. Allied Artists Pictures Corporation started life as a Subsidiary of Monogram Pictures in 1946 as an outlet for films with bigger names and higher budgets than Such films have long colloquially been referred to as B movies. Robert Wise (Born to Kill [1947], The Set-Up [1949]) and Anthony Mann (T-Men [1947], Raw Deal [1948]) each made a series of impressive intermediates, many of them noirs, before graduating to steady work on big-budget productions. Robert Wise ( September 10, 1914 &ndash September 14, 2005) was an American sound effects editor film editor and Academy For the 1974 film alternatively released as "Born to Kill" see Cockfighter. The Set-Up ( 1949) is an American Film noir boxing drama directed by Robert Wise and featuring Robert Ryan (a boxing champion Anthony Mann ( June 30, 1906 – April 29, 1967) was an American actor and film director T-Men ( 1947) is a Semidocumentary style Film noir shot in Black and white. Raw Deal is a 1948 Film noir directed by Anthony Mann and shot by cinematographer John Alton. Mann did some of his finest work with cinematographer John Alton, a specialist in what critic James Naremore describes as "hypnotic moments of light-in-darkness. John Alton ASC ( October 5, 1901 — June 2, 1996) was born Johann Altmann in Sopron/Ödenburg Austria-Hungary was an American "[14] He Walked by Night (1948), shot by Alton and, though credited solely to Alfred Werker, directed in large part by Mann, demonstrates their technical mastery and exemplifies the late 1940s trend of "police procedural" crime dramas. He Walked by Night ( 1948) is a Black-and-white Police procedural with Film noir styling crediting Alfred L The police procedural is a sub-genre of the mystery story which attempts to convincingly depict the activities of a Police force as they investigate Crimes Put out, like other Mann–Alton noirs, by the small Eagle-Lion company, it was the direct inspiration for the Dragnet series, which debuted on radio in 1949 and television in 1951. Eagle-Lion Films was a British film production company owned by J Dragnet, aka LA Dragnet (new title in USA is a long-running radio and television Police procedural drama about the cases of a dedicated
Directors such as Samuel Fuller (Pickup on South Street [1953], Underworld U. See Samuel Fuller (Mayflower physician for the Mayflower doctor Pickup on South Street is writer-director Samuel Fuller 's 1953 Film noir released by the 20th Century Fox studio S. A. [1961]), Joseph H. Lewis (Gun Crazy [1950], The Big Combo [1955]), and Phil Karlson (Kansas City Confidential [1952], The Brothers Rico [1957]) built now well-respected oeuvres largely at the B-movie/intermediate level. Joseph H Lewis ( April 6, 1907 &ndash August 30, 2000) was an American B-movie director Gun Crazy ( 1950) is a Film noir Feature film starring Peggy Cummins and John Dall in a story about the crime-spree The Big Combo ( 1955) is an American Film noir released in and directed by Joseph H Phil Karlson ( July 2, 1908 - December 12, 1985) was a Chicago -born film director known for his no-nonsense film noir Kansas City Confidential is a 1952 Black-and-white Crime film directed by Phil Karlson and starring John Payne. (Dalton Trumbo—like Dmytryk, one of the Hollywood Ten—wrote the Gun Crazy screenplay disguised by a front while still blacklisted. Dalton Trumbo ( December 9, 1905 &ndash September 10, 1976) was an American Screenwriter and Novelist, "Hollywood Ten" redirects here For the 1950 short documentary film see The Hollywood Ten. ) The work of others such as Felix E. Feist (The Devil Thumbs a Ride [1947], Tomorrow Is Another Day [1951]) await critical rediscovery. Felix E Feist ( February 28, 1910 - September 2, 1965) was a film and television director born in New York City. The Devil Thumbs a Ride is a 1947 suspense film considered to be Film noir, starring Lawrence Tierney. Edgar G. Ulmer spent almost his entire Hollywood career working at B studios—once in a while on projects that achieved intermediate status; for the most part, on unmistakable Bs. Edgar G Ulmer ( September 17, 1904 &ndash September 30, 1972) was an Austrian - American film director In 1945, while at PRC, he directed one of the all-time noir cult classics, Detour. Detour ( 1945) is a Film noir Cult classic that stars Tom Neal, Ann Savage, Claudia Drake and Edmund MacDonald Ulmer's other noirs include Strange Illusion (1945), also for PRC; Blonde Ice (1948), distributed by tiny Film Classics; and Murder Is My Beat (1955), for Allied Artists.
A number of low and modestly budgeted noirs were made by independent, often actor-owned, companies contracting with one of the larger outfits for distribution. Serving as producer, writer, director, and "star," Hugo Haas made several such films, including Pickup (1951) and The Other Woman (1954). Hugo Haas ( 18 February, 1901 &ndash 1 December, 1968) was a Czech film actor director and writer It was in this way that accomplished noir actress Ida Lupino became the sole female director in Hollywood during the late 1940s and much of the 1950s—her best-known film is The Hitch-Hiker (1953), developed by her company, The Filmakers, with support and distribution by RKO. Ida Lupino (4 February &ndash 3 August) was an English film actress, director, and a pioneer among women filmmakers The Hitch-Hiker ( is a Film noir directed by Ida Lupino about two hunting buddies who pick up a mysterious hitchhiker. It is one of the seven classic film noirs produced largely outside of the major studios that have been chosen to date for the United States National Film Registry. The National Film Registry is the registry of Films selected by the United States National Film Preservation Board for preservation in the Library of Of the others, one was a small-studio release: Detour. Four were independent productions distributed by United Artists, the "studio without a studio": Gun Crazy; Kiss Me Deadly; D.O.A. (1950), directed by Rudolph Maté; and Sweet Smell of Success (1957), directed by Alexander Mackendrick. This article is about the film studio Previously it was affiliated with a cinema chain bearing its name now owned by Regal Entertainment Group. DOA ( a Film noir Drama film directed by Rudolph Maté, is considered a classic of the Genre. Rudolph Maté ( 21 January 1898 – 27 October 1964) born Rudolf Matheh or Mayer, was an accomplished Cinematographer Sweet Smell of Success is a 1957 American Film noir made by Hill-Hecht-Lancaster Productions and released by United Artists Alexander Mackendrick ( September 8 1912 - December 22 1993) was a Scottish-American Film director One was an independent distributed by MGM, the industry leader: Force of Evil (1948), directed by Abraham Polonsky and starring John Garfield, both of whom would be blacklisted in the 1950s. Force of Evil ( 1948) is a Film noir directed by Abraham Polonsky who had already achieved a name for himself as a scriptwriter most notably Abraham Lincoln Polonsky (December 5 1910 - October 26 1999 was an American Screenwriter blacklisted by Hollywood Movie studios John Garfield ( March 4, 1913 – May 21, 1952) was an Academy Award -nominated American actor Independent production usually meant restricted circumstances, but not always—Sweet Smell of Success, for instance, despite the original plans of the production team, was clearly not made on the cheap, though like many other cherished A-budget noirs it might be said to have a B-movie soul.
Perhaps no director better displayed that spirit than the German-born Robert Siodmak, who had already made a score of films before his 1940 arrival in Hollywood. Robert Siodmak ( August 8, 1900 - March 10, 1973) was a German born American Film director. Working mostly on A features, he made eight movies now regarded as classic film noirs (a figure matched only by Lang and Mann). In addition to The Killers, Burt Lancaster's debut and a Hellinger/Universal coproduction, Siodmak's other important contributions to the genre include 1944's Phantom Lady (a top-of-the-line B and Woolrich adaptation), the ironically titled Christmas Holiday (1944), and Cry of the City (1948). Burton Stephen "Burt" Lancaster ( 2 November &ndash 20 October) was an American film Actor and star noted for his athletic physique Phantom Lady ( 1944) is a black-and-white Film noir directed by Robert Siodmak, his first Hollywood noir Christmas Holiday is a 1944 drama directed by Robert Siodmak. Cry of the City is a 1948 Black-and-white Film noir directed by Robert Siodmak based on the novel by Henry Edward Helseth "The Criss Cross (1949), with Lancaster again the lead, exemplifies how Siodmak brought the virtues of the B-movie to the A noir. Criss Cross ( 1949) is a Film noir, directed by Robert Siodmak from a novel by Don Tracy In addition to the relatively looser constraints on character and message at lower budgets, the nature of B production lent itself to the noir style for directly economic reasons: dim lighting not only saved on electrical costs but helped cloak cheap sets (mist and smoke also served the cause); night shooting was often compelled by hurried production schedules; plots with obscure motivations and intriguingly elliptical transitions were sometimes the consequence of scripts written in haste, not every scene of which was there always time or money to shoot. In Criss Cross, Siodmak achieves all these effects with purpose, wrapping them around Yvonne De Carlo, playing the most understandable of femme fatales, Dan Duryea, in one of his deliciously charismatic villain roles, and Lancaster—already an established star—as an ordinary joe turned armed robber, a romantic obsessive on a one-way road to ruin. Yvonne De Carlo ( September 1, 1922 &ndash January 8, 2007) was a Canadian -born American Film and Dapper Dan redirects here For the Prohibition gangster see Danny Hogan. [16]
| Classic-era film noirs in the National Film Registry | |
|---|---|
| 1940-49 |
The Maltese Falcon | Shadow of a Doubt | Laura | Double Indemnity | Mildred Pierce | Detour | |
| 1950-58 |
D.O.A. | Gun Crazy | Sunset Boulevard | In a Lonely Place | The Hitch-Hiker | |
Film noir outside the United States
Some critics regard classic film noir as a cycle exclusive to the United States; e. The National Film Registry is the registry of Films selected by the United States National Film Preservation Board for preservation in the Library of Events Hundreds of full-length films were produced during the decade of the 1940s The Maltese Falcon is a 1941 Warner Bros film written and directed by John Huston, based on the novel of the same name Shadow of a Doubt is a thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock and written by Thornton Wilder, Sally Benson and Alma Reville Laura ( 1944) is a American Academy Award -winning Film noir directed by Otto Preminger and starring Gene Tierney Double Indemnity ( 1944) is an Academy Award nominated Film noir starring Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, and Edward Mildred Pierce ( 1945) is a Warner Bros Feature film starring Joan Crawford, Ann Blyth, Jack Carson, Zachary Detour ( 1945) is a Film noir Cult classic that stars Tom Neal, Ann Savage, Claudia Drake and Edmund MacDonald The Big Sleep ( 1946) directed by Howard Hawks, is the first film version of Raymond Chandler 's novel of the same name (1939 Notorious ( 1946) is a thriller directed and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, and starring Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman as Out of the Past (originally released in Britain as Build My Gallows High) ( 1947) is a Film noir directed by Jacques Force of Evil ( 1948) is a Film noir directed by Abraham Polonsky who had already achieved a name for himself as a scriptwriter most notably The Naked City is a 1948 Black-and-white Film noir directed by Jules Dassin. White Heat is a 1949 Crime film starring James Cagney, Edmond O'Brien, Virginia Mayo, Margaret Wycherly Events Films of the 1950s were of a wide variety As a result of Television, the studios and companies sought to put audiences back in theaters DOA ( a Film noir Drama film directed by Rudolph Maté, is considered a classic of the Genre. Gun Crazy ( 1950) is a Film noir Feature film starring Peggy Cummins and John Dall in a story about the crime-spree Sunset Boulevard is a 1950 American Film noir classic Directed and co-written by Billy Wilder, it was named In a Lonely Place ( 1950) is a Film noir directed by Nicholas Ray, and starring Humphrey Bogart and Gloria Grahame, produced The Hitch-Hiker ( is a Film noir directed by Ida Lupino about two hunting buddies who pick up a mysterious hitchhiker. Kiss Me Deadly ( 1955) is a Film noir drama produced and directed by Robert Aldrich starring Ralph Meeker. The Night of the Hunter is a 1955 Film noir, starring Robert Mitchum and Shelley Winters, and the only film Charles Laughton Sweet Smell of Success is a 1957 American Film noir made by Hill-Hecht-Lancaster Productions and released by United Artists Touch of Evil ( 1958) is a black-and-white American film written directed and co-starring Orson Welles. g. , Alain Silver and Elizabeth Ward: "With the Western, film noir shares the distinction of being an indigenous American form. . . a wholly American film style. "[17] Others, however, regard noir as an international phenomenon. [18] Even before the beginning of the generally accepted classic period, there were movies made far from Hollywood that can be seen in retrospect as film noirs, for example, the French productions Pépé le Moko (1937), directed by Jules Duvivier, and Le Jour se lève (1939), directed by Marcel Carné. Pépé le Moko is a 1937 film directed by Julien Duvivier and starring Jean Gabin. Le Jour se lève (or Daybreak) is a 1939 French film directed by Marcel Carné and written by Jacques Prévert Marcel Carné ( August 18, 1906 - October 31, 1996) was a French Film director.
During the classic period, there were many films produced outside the United States, particularly in France, that share elements of style, theme, and sensibility with American film noirs and may themselves be included in the genre's canon. In certain cases, the interrelationship with Hollywood noir is obvious: American-born director Jules Dassin moved to France in the early 1950s as a result of the Hollywood blacklist, and made one of the most famous French film noirs, Rififi (1955). Jules Dassin, born Julius Dassin ( &ndash) was an American Film director. "Hollywood Ten" redirects here For the 1950 short documentary film see The Hollywood Ten. Rififi is a 1955 French Heist film. Its original French title is Du rififi chez les hommes ("of brawling among men" Other well-known French films often classified as noir include Quai des Orfèvres (1947), Le Salaire de la peur (released in English-speaking countries as The Wages of Fear) (1953) and Les Diaboliques (1955), all directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot; Casque d'or (1952) and Touchez pas au grisbi (1954), both directed by Jacques Becker; and Ascenseur pour l'échafaud (1958), directed by Louis Malle. Quai des Orfèvres is a 1947 film directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot. The Wages of Fear ( Le Salaire de la peur) is a 1953 adventure - Drama film directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot, starring Les Diaboliques ( 1954) is a black-and-white film directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot, starring Simone Signoret and Véra Clouzot. Henri-Georges Clouzot ( November 20, 1907 - January 12, 1977) was a French Film director, Screenwriter and Casque d'or ( Golden Helmet) is a 1952 French Film directed by Jacques Becker. Touchez pas au grisbi is a 1954 film directed by Jacques Becker and starring Jean Gabin, Jeanne Moreau, Lino Ventura Jacques Becker ( September 15, 1906 - February 21, 1960) was a French Screenwriter and Film director. Ascenseur pour l'échafaud is a 1958 French film directed by Louis Malle. Louis Malle (30 October 1932 &ndash 23 November 1995 was a French Film director, working in both French and English. French director Jean-Pierre Melville is widely recognized for his tragic, minimalist film noirs—Quand tu liras cette lettre (1953) and Bob le flambeur (1955), from the classic period, were followed by Le Doulos (1962), Le Samouraï (1967), and Le Cercle rouge (1970). Jean-Pierre Melville (born Jean-Pierre Grumbach, October 20, 1917 – August 2, 1973) was a noted French Filmmaker Bob le flambeur ("Bob the High Roller" is a 1956 French Gangster film directed by Jean-Pierre Melville. Le Doulos (English title The Finger Man) is a 1962 French crime film directed by Jean-Pierre Melville, based on a novel by Pierre Lesou Le Samouraï (English title The Samurai) is a 1967 French minimalist crime drama / Thriller film directed Le Cercle rouge is a 1970 crime film set in Paris, France. It was directed by Jean-Pierre Melville and starred Alain Delon
A number of thrillers produced in Great Britain during the classic period are also frequently referred to as film noirs, including Contraband (1940) and The Small Back Room (1949), directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger; Brighton Rock (1947), directed by John Boulting; They Made Me a Fugitive (1947), directed by Alberto Cavalcanti; and Cast a Dark Shadow (1955), directed by Lewis Gilbert. Contraband ( is a wartime Spy film by the British director-writer team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, which brought stars The Small Back Room ( is a film by the British producer-writer-director team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger starring David Farrar Michael Latham Powell ( 30 September 1905 &ndash 19 February 1990) was a British Film director, renowned for his partnership Emeric Pressburger ( 5 December &ndash 5 February) was an Oscar -winning Hungarian / British screenwriter film director and producer Brighton Rock is a 1947 British film based on the novel of the same name by Graham Greene. John and Roy Boulting were English film-makers, who became known for their popular series of satirical comedies in the 1950s and 1960s They Made Me A Fugitive is a 1947 British Film noir set in postwar England Alberto de Almeida Cavalcanti (February 6 1897 &ndash August 23 1982 was a Brazilian born Film director and producer. Cast a Dark Shadow is a 1955 British suspense film directed by Lewis Gilbert Lewis Gilbert CBE (born March 6, 1920) is an English Film director, producer and Screenwriter, born in Terence Fisher directed several low-budget thrillers in a noir mode for Hammer Film Productions, including The Last Page (aka Man Bait; 1952), Stolen Face (1952), and Murder by Proxy (aka Blackout; 1954). Terence Fisher ( 23 February 1904 &ndash 18 June, 1980) was a film director who worked for Hammer Films. Hammer Film Productions is a film production company based in the United Kingdom. Stolen Face is a 1952 Film directed by Terence Fisher for Hammer Film Productions. Before leaving for France, Jules Dassin had been obliged by political pressure to shoot his last English-language film of the classic noir period in Great Britain: Night and the City (1950). Night and the City ( 1950) is a Film noir based on the novel by Gerald Kersh, directed by Jules Dassin, and starring Richard Though it was conceived in the United States and was not only directed by an American but also stars two American actors—Richard Widmark and Gene Tierney—it is technically a UK production, financed by 20th Century-Fox's British subsidiary. Richard Widmark ( December 26, 1914 &ndash March 24, 2008) was an American Actor of Films stage, Gene Tierney ( November 19, 1920 – November 6, 1991) was an American film and stage actress. The most famous of classic British noirs is director Carol Reed's The Third Man (1949), like Brighton Rock based on a Graham Greene novel. For the New York weathercaster see Carol Reed (weather broadcaster. The Third Man ( is an award-winning British Film noir directed by Carol Reed and starring Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Henry Graham Greene OM, CH (2 October 1904 &ndash 3 April 1991 was an English writer best known as a novelist but who also produced Short stories Set in Vienna immediately after World War II, it stars Joseph Cotten and Orson Welles, both prominent American actors who starred in U. Joseph Cheshire Cotten ( May 15, 1905 – February 6, 1994) was an American Actor of stage and Film George Orson Welles (May 6 1915 – October 10 1985 was an Academy Award -winning director, writer actor and producer for film stage radio and television S. film noirs; despite being a completely British production, the movie is sometimes discussed as if it is a classic Hollywood noir.
Elsewhere, Italian director Luchino Visconti adapted Cain's The Postman Always Rings Twice as Ossessione (1943), regarded both as one of the great noirs and a seminal film in the development of neorealism. Luchino Visconti di Modrone, Count of Lonate Pozzolo ( November 2, 1906 - March 17, 1976) was an Italian Ossessione (Obsession is a 1943 film based on the novel The Postman Always Rings Twice, by James M (This was not even the first screen version of Cain's novel, having been preceded by the French Le Dernier tournant in 1939. ) In Japan, the celebrated Akira Kurosawa directed several movies recognizable as film noirs, including Drunken Angel (1948), Stray Dog (1949), The Bad Sleep Well (1960), and High and Low (1963). is a 1948 Japanese film directed by Akira Kurosawa. It stars Takashi Shimura as an Alcoholic doctor in postwar Japan who treats a For the 1991 film by Mamoru Oshii see Stray Dog Kerberos Panzer Cops. is a 1960 film directed by the Japanese director Akira Kurosawa. is a 1963 film directed by Akira Kurosawa. It was loosely based on King's Ransom, an 87th Precinct Police procedural by Evan Hunter
Among the first major neo-noir films—the term often applied to movies that consciously refer back to the classic noir tradition—was the French Tirez sur la pianiste (1960), directed by François Truffaut from a novel by one of the gloomiest of American noir fiction writers, David Goodis. Shoot the Piano Player ( French: Tirez sur le pianiste, aka Shoot the Pianist) is a 1960 French film François Roland Truffaut ( February 6 1932 – October 21 1984) was one of the founders of the French New Wave in filmmaking David Goodis ( March 2, 1917 – January 7, 1967) was an American Noir fiction writer Noir crime films and melodramas have been produced in many countries in the post-classic area, some of them quintessentially self-aware neo-noirs—for example, Il Conformista (1969; Italy), Der Amerikanische Freund (1977; Germany), The Element of Crime (1984; Denmark), As Tears Go By (1988; Hong Kong)—others simply sharing narrative elements and a version of the hardboiled sensibility associated with classic noir—The Castle of Sand (1974; Japan), Insomnia (1997; Norway), Croupier (1998; UK), Blind Shaft (2003; China). The Conformist ( Il conformista) ( 1970) is a political film directed by Bernardo Bertolucci. The American Friend ( Der Amerikanische Freund) is a 1977 film by Wim Wenders, loosely adapted from the novel Ripley's Game by The Element of Crime ( Forbrydelsens element) is the first Feature film directed by noted Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier. You may be looking for As Tears Go By (song As Tears Go By ( Jyutping: Wong6gok3 Kaa1mun4 lit Yoshitarō Nomura (野村芳太郎 Nomura Yoshitarō, 23 April 1919 in Asakusa, Tokyo, Japan - 8 April 2005 Insomnia is a 1997 Norwegian film about a police detective investigating a murder in a town located above the Arctic Circle. Croupier is a 1998 film starring Clive Owen as a Croupier. The film was directed by Mike Hodges. Blind Shaft ( is a 2003 Film about a pair of brutal Con artists operating in the illegal Coal mines of present-day northern
Neo-noir and echoes of the classic mode
The 1960s and 1970s
While it is hard to draw a line between some of the noir films of the early 1960s such as Blast of Silence (1961) and Cape Fear (1962) and the noirs of the late 1950s, new trends emerged in the post-classic era. Cape Fear is a 1962 film about an attorney whose family is stalked by a criminal whom he helped to send to jail The Manchurian Candidate (1962), directed by John Frankenheimer, Shock Corridor (1962), directed by Samuel Fuller, and Brainstorm (1965), directed by experienced noir character actor William Conrad, all treat the theme of mental dispossession within stylistic and tonal frameworks derived from classic film noir. For the novel by Richard Condon, see The Manchurian Candidate. John Michael Frankenheimer ( February 19, 1930 &ndash July 6, 2002) was an American Film director. Shock Corridor is a 1963 film which tells the story of a journalist who gets himself committed to a Mental hospital in order to track the story of an unsolved Brainstorm, released in 1965 is a late film noir whose male protagonist at first prevents the suicide of his employer's wife falls in love with her and is later
In a different vein, filmmakers such as Arthur Penn (Mickey One [1964], clearly drawing inspiration from Truffaut's Tirez sur la pianiste and other French New Wave films), John Boorman (Point Blank [1967], similarly caught up, though in the Nouvelle vague's deeper waters), and Alan J. Pakula (Klute [1971]) directed movies that knowingly related themselves to the original film noirs, inviting audiences in on the game. Arthur Hiller Penn (born September 27, 1922, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is a Film director and producer. "Nouvelle Vague" redirects here For the music group of the same name see Nouvelle Vague (band. John Boorman (born January 18, 1933) is an English filmmaker currently based in Ireland best known for his feature films such as Point Point Blank is a 1967 Crime film directed by John Boorman and starring Lee Marvin and Angie Dickinson, adapted from the "Nouvelle Vague" redirects here For the music group of the same name see Nouvelle Vague (band. Alan Jay Pakula ( April 7 1928 &ndash November 19 1998) was an American film director writer and producer noted for his contributions Klute is a 1971 Film which tells the story of a prostitute who assists a detective in solving a mystery Conscious acknowledgment of the classic era's conventions, as historical archetypes to be revived, rejected, or reimagined, is what puts the "neo" in neo-noir, according to many critics. An archetype ( pronounced: /ˈɑːkɪtaɪp/ (Brit or /ˈɑrkɪtaɪp/ (Amer Though several late classic noirs, Kiss Me Deadly in particular, were entirely self-knowing and post-traditional in conception, none that were top- or midbudgeted (like Aldrich's masterpiece) tipped its hand in a way noticeable to most audiences of the time. Robert Aldrich (August 9 1918 – December 5 1983 was an American Film director, writer and producer, notable for such films as Kiss Me Deadly The first broadly popular crime drama of an unmistakable neo-noir nature was not a movie, but the TV series Peter Gunn (1958–61), created by Blake Edwards. Peter Gunn is an American private eye television series which aired on the NBC and later ABC Television networks Blake Edwards (born July 26, 1922) is an Academy Award -winning American Film director, Screenwriter, and producer
A manifest affiliation with noir traditions—which, by its nature, allows for different sorts of commentary on them to be inferred—can also provide the basis for explicit critiques of those traditions. The first major film to work this angle (that might be thought of as the most "neo" of "neo") was French director Jean-Luc Godard's À bout de souffle (Breathless; 1960), which pays its literal respects to Bogart and his crime films while brandishing a bold new style for a new day. Jean-Luc Godard (French ʒɑ̃lyk gɔˈdaʀ (born on December 3 1930 is a French and Swiss Filmmaker and one of the founding members of the Nouvelle Vague Breathless (French À bout de souffle; literally "out of breath" is a 1960 Film directed by Jean-Luc Godard In 1973, director Robert Altman, who had worked on Peter Gunn, flipped off noir piety with The Long Goodbye. Robert Bernard Altman (February 20 1925 – November 20 2006 was an American Film director known for making films that are highly naturalistic, but with The Long Goodbye ( 1973) is a film adaptation of Raymond Chandler 's novel The Long Goodbye. Based on the novel by Raymond Chandler, it features one of Bogart's most famous characters, but in iconoclastic fashion: Philip Marlowe, the prototypical hardboiled detective, is replayed as a hapless misfit, almost laughably out of touch with contemporary mores and morality. Iconoclasm, Greek for "image-breaking" is the deliberate destruction within a culture of the culture's own religious Icons and other symbols or monuments Mores (ˈmɔːreɪz are norms or customs Mores derive from the established practices of a society rather than its written Laws. Where Altman's subversion of the film noir mythos was so irreverent as to anger many contemporary critics, around the same time Woody Allen was paying affectionate, at points idolatrous homage to the classic mode with Play It Again, Sam (1972).
The most acclaimed of the neo-noirs of the era was director Roman Polanski's 1974 Chinatown. Chinatown is a American Neo-noir film directed by Roman Polanski. Written by Robert Towne, it is set in 1930s Los Angeles, an accustomed noir locale nudged back some few years in a way that makes the pivotal loss of innocence in the story even crueler. Robert Burton Towne (born November 23, 1934) is an American Screenwriter and director. Where Polanski and Towne raised noir to a black apogee by turning rearward, director Martin Scorsese and screenwriter Paul Schrader brought the noir attitude crashing into the present day with Taxi Driver (1976), a cackling, bloody-minded gloss on bicentennial America. Paul Joseph Schrader (born July 22, 1946 in Grand Rapids Michigan) is an American Screenwriter and Film director Taxi Driver is a film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Paul Schrader. In 1978, Walter Hill wrote and directed the The Driver, a chase movie as might have been imagined by Jean-Pierre Melville in an especially abstract mood. Walter Hill may refer to Walter Hill (director (born 1942 American film director Walter Barnard Hill (1851&ndash1905 chancellor The Driver is a 1978 Crime film directed by Walter Hill and starring Ryan O'Neal, Bruce Dern, and Isabelle Adjani Hill was already a central figure in 1970s noir of a more straightforward manner, having written the script for director Sam Peckinpah's The Getaway (1972), adapting a novel by pulp master Jim Thompson, as well as for two tough private eye films: an original screenplay for Hickey & Boggs (1972) and an adaptation of a novel by Ross Macdonald, the leading literary descendant of Hammett and Chandler, for The Drowning Pool (1975). David Samuel "Sam" Peckinpah (February 21 1925 &ndash December 28 1984 was an American Film director who achieved iconic status following the release The Getaway is a 1972 crime and Action film directed by Sam Peckinpah and starring Steve McQueen, Ali MacGraw James Myers Thompson ( September 27, 1906, Anadarko, Oklahoma Territory - April 7, 1977, Los Angeles, California Ross Macdonald is the Pseudonym of the American - Canadian Writer of Crime fiction Kenneth Millar ( December 13 The Drowning Pool is a 1975 film directed by Stuart Rosenberg, and based upon Ross Macdonald 's novel The Drowning Pool. Some of the strongest 1970s noirs, in fact, were unwinking remakes of the classics, "neo" mostly be default: Altman's heartbreaking Thieves Like Us (1973), based on the same source as Ray's They Live by Night, and Farewell, My Lovely (1975), the Chandler tale made classically as Murder, My Sweet, remade here with Robert Mitchum in his last notable noir role. Thieves Like Us is a 1974 film directed by Robert Altman and starring Keith Carradine and Shelley Duvall. Farewell My Lovely ( 1975) is a Neo-noir Film directed by Dick Richards and featuring Robert Mitchum and Detective series, prevalent on American television during the period, updated the hardboiled tradition in different ways, but the show conjuring the most noir tone was a horror crossover touched with shaggy, Long Goodbye–style humor: Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974–75), featuring a Chicago newspaper reporter investigating strange, usually supernatural occurrences. Kolchak The Night Stalker is an American Television series that aired on ABC in 1974
The 1980s through the present
The turn of the decade brought Scorsese's black-and-white Raging Bull (cowritten by Schrader); an acknowledged masterpiece—often voted the greatest film of the 1980s in critics' polls—it is also a retreat, telling a story of a boxer's moral self-destruction that recalls in both theme and visual ambience noir dramas such as Body and Soul (1947) and Champion (1949). Raging Bull is a 1980 Biographical film directed by Martin Scorsese, adapted by Paul Schrader and Mardik Martin from the memoir Body and Soul is a 1947 Film noir which tells the story of a boxer who becomes involved with crooked promoters Champion ( 1949) is a American Film noir drama based on a short story by Ring Lardner. From 1981, the popular Body Heat, written and directed by Lawrence Kasdan, invokes a different set of classic noir elements, this time in a humid, erotically charged Florida setting; its success confirmed the commercial viability of neo-noir, at a time when the major Hollywood studios were becoming increasingly risk averse. Body Heat is a 1981 Neo-noir film written and directed by Lawrence Kasdan. Lawrence Kasdan (born 14 January, 1949) is an American movie producer, director and Screenwriter. The mainstreaming of neo-noir is evident in such films as Black Widow (1987), Shattered (1991), and Final Analysis (1992). Black Widow is a 1987 Neo-noir film starring Debra Winger, Theresa Russell, Sami Frey and Dennis Hopper, about two Shattered is a 1991 Neo-noir / Psychological thriller starring Tom Berenger, Greta Scacchi, Bob Hoskins, Final Analysis ( 1992) is an American Neo-noir drama directed by Phil Joanou and written by Wesley Strick. Few neo-noirs have made more money or more wittily updated the tradition of the noir double-entendre than Basic Instinct (1992), directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by Joe Eszterhas. Basic Instinct is an American thriller / Neo-noir film directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by Joe Eszterhas Paul Verhoeven (ˈpʌul vɛrˈhuvən born July 18, 1938) is a Dutch BAFTA Award - nominated Film director, Screenwriter Josef Eszterhas (born November 23, 1944) is a Hungarian - American Writer, known for his screenplays for the films Basic Over the past twenty-five years, the big-budget auteur to work most frequently in a neo-noir mode has been Michael Mann, with the films Thief (1981), Heat (1995), and Collateral (2004), and the 1980s TV series Miami Vice and Crime Story. Michael Kenneth Mann (born February 5 1943 is an American Film director, Screenwriter, and producer. Thief is a 1981 noir crime Drama written and directed by Michael Mann, based on the novel The Home Invaders by "Frank Hohimer" Heat is a 1995 American crime drama Film written and directed by Michael Mann. Collateral is a 2004 crime/thriller film starring Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx. Miami Vice is an American Television series produced by Michael Mann for NBC. Crime Story was an NBC TV drama created by Gustave Reininger and Chuck Adamson. Mann's output exemplifies a primary strain of neo-noir, in which classic themes and tropes are revisited in a contemporary setting with an up-to-date visual style and rock- or hip hop–based musical soundtrack. Rock music is a genre of Popular music often though not necessarily employing Electric guitar, Bass guitar, and Drums. Hip hop music, also referred to as rap music, is a Music genre typically consisting of a rhythmic vocal style called rap which is accompanied with Like Chinatown, its more complex predecessor, Curtis Hanson's Oscar-winning L.A. Confidential (1997), based on the James Ellroy novel, demonstrates an opposite tendency—the deliberately retro film noir; its tale of corrupt cops and femme fatales is seemingly lifted straight from a movie of 1953, the year in which it is set. Curtis Lee Hanson (born March 24 1945) is an Academy Award -winning American filmmaker LA Confidential is a 1997 Feature film based on the 1990 Crime fiction novel of the same title by James Ellroy James Ellroy (born Lee Earle Ellroy on March 4, 1948 in Los Angeles California) is an American Writer.
Working generally with much smaller budgets, brothers Joel and Ethan Coen have created one of the most substantial film oeuvres influenced by classic noir, with movies such as Blood Simple (1984) and Fargo (1996), considered by some a supreme work in the neo-noir mode. Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, known together professionally as the Coen brothers, are four-time Academy Award winning American filmmakers Blood Simple is a 1985 Neo-noir Crime film. It was the directorial debut of Joel and Ethan Coen, and the first major film of Fargo is a 1996 American Film produced directed and written by brothers Ethan and Joel Coen. The Coens' most recent nod to the noir tradition is The Man Who Wasn't There (2001); a black-and-white crime melodrama set in 1949, it features a scene apparently staged to mirror the one from Out of the Past pictured above. The Man Who Wasn't There is a 2001 Neo-noir film written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. The Coens cross noir with other generic lines in the gangster drama Miller's Crossing (1990)—loosely based on the Dashiell Hammett novels Red Harvest and The Glass Key—and the comedy The Big Lebowski (1998), a tribute to Chandler and an homage to Altman's version of The Long Goodbye. Miller's Crossing (1990 is a film directed by Joel and Ethan Coen and starring Gabriel Byrne, Albert Finney, Marcia Gay Harden, and The Glass Key is a novel by Dashiell Hammett, said to be his favorite among his works The Big Lebowski is a 1998 American Comedy film / Film noir written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen.
Perhaps no contemporary films better reflect the classic noir A-movie-with-a-B-movie-soul than those of director-writer Quentin Tarantino; neo-noirs of his such as Reservoir Dogs (1992) and Pulp Fiction (1994) display a relentlessly self-reflexive, sometimes tongue-in-cheek sensibility, similar to the work of the New Wave directors and the Coens. Quentin Jerome Tarantino (born March 27, 1963) is an Academy Award - BAFTA Award - and Palme d'Or -winning Emmy - and Reservoir Dogs is the 1992 debut Film of director and writer Quentin Tarantino. Other movies from the era readily identifiable as neo-noir (some retro, some more au courant) include director John Dahl's Kill Me Again (1989), Red Rock West (1992), and The Last Seduction (1993); four adaptations of novels by Jim Thompson—The Kill-Off (1989), After Dark, My Sweet (1990), The Grifters (1990), and the remake of The Getaway (1994); and many more, including adaptations of the work of other major noir fiction writers: The Hot Spot (1990), from Hell Hath No Fury, by Charles Williams; Miami Blues (1990), from the novel by Charles Willeford; and Out of Sight (1998), from the novel by Elmore Leonard. John Dahl (born 1956 is an American Film director and Screenwriter, best known for the Neo-noir films Kill Me Again Kill Me Again is a 1989 American Action film directed by John Dahl and starring Val Kilmer, Joanne Whalley and Red Rock West is a Neo-noir 1992 film directed by John Dahl. The film written by Dahl and his brother Rick was shot in Montana and The Last Seduction is a Neo-noir 1994 film directed by John Dahl. The Kill-Off ( 1990) is a Neo-noir written and directed by Maggie Greenwald, based on a 1957 novel of the same name by Jim Thompson After Dark My Sweet ( 1990) is a Neo-noir film directed by James Foley starring Jason Patric, Bruce Dern, and Rachel This article discusses the movie The Grifters. See Grifters for information about the rock band from Tennessee The Getaway is a 1994 remake of the 1972 film starring Steve McQueen. The Hot Spot is a 1990 American drama and romance film directed by Dennis Hopper and starring Don Johnson, Virginia Madsen, and Charles Williams ( August 13, 1909 &ndash ca April 7, 1975) was an American Writer of Hardboiled Crime Miami Blues is a 1990 Film based on the novel of the same name by Charles Willeford. Charles Ray Willeford III ( January 2, 1919 – March 27 1988) was an American Writer. For other uses see Out of Sight (disambiguation. Out of Sight is a 1998 Academy Award -nominated movie directed Elmore John Leonard Jr (born October 11, 1925) is a popular and acclaimed American Novelist and Screenwriter. On television, the series Moonlighting (1985–89) paid homage to classic noir while demonstrating an unusual appreciation of the sense of humor often found in the original cycle. Between 1983 and 1989, Mickey Spillane's hardboiled private eye Mike Hammer was played with wry gusto by Stacy Keach in a series and several stand-alone TV movies (an unsuccessful revival followed in 1997–98). Frank Morrison Spillane ( March 9 1918 – July 17 2006) better known as Mickey Spillane, was an American author of Stacy Keach (born Walter Stacy Keach Jr on June 2, 1941 in Savannah Georgia) is an American Actor and Narrator Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer is the title used for two syndicated Television series that followed the adventures of fictional Private detective Mike The British miniseries The Singing Detective (1986), written by Dennis Potter, tells the story of a mystery writer named Philip Marlow; widely considered one of the finest neo-noirs in any medium, some critics cite it as the greatest television production of all time. The Singing Detective is a critically acclaimed BBC Television Miniseries, written by Dennis Potter and starring Michael Dennis Christopher George Potter (17 May 1935&ndash7 June 1994 was a controversial English Dramatist, best known for The Singing Detective
Among the leading Hollywood directors of noir during the current decade has been the British-born Christopher Nolan, with the fantastically twisted Memento (2000), the remake of Insomnia (2002), and Batman Begins (2005), his dark-toned take on the superhero. Christopher Jonathan James Nolan (born July 30 1970 is a Film director, writer and producer. Memento is a Psychological thriller Film written and directed by Christopher Nolan, adapted from his brother Jonathan 's short Insomnia is a 2002 American Remake of the 1997 Norwegian film of the same name. Batman Begins is a 2005 American Superhero film based on the fictional DC Comics character Batman, directed by Harsh Times (2006) is written and directed by David Ayer, also the screenwriter for Training Day (2001) and, adapting a story by James Ellroy, Dark Blue (2002). Harsh Times is a 2006 American Crime film set in South Los Angeles. David Ayer (born 1968 is an American Screenwriter and Film director, respected for his insight into the dual worlds of L Training Day is a 2001 Crime film directed by Antoine Fuqua, starring Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke. For the shade of blue see Dark blue (color. For the song see Everything in Transit, the album by Jack's Mannequin. The latter two update the classic noir bad-cop tale, typified by Shield for Murder (1954) and Rogue Cop (1954). In 2005, Shane Black directed Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, basing his screenplay in part on a crime novel by Brett Halliday, who published his first stories back in the 1920s. Shane Black (born December 16, 1961) is an American Actor, Screenwriter and Film director. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is a 2005 crime / Black comedy Film, which follows many conventions of the classic Film noir genre Brett Halliday ( July 31, 1904 - February 4, 1977) primary Pen name of Davis Dresser, was an American mystery The film plays with an awareness not only of classic noir but also of neo-noir reflexivity itself, making it a model neo²-noir. Director Sean Penn's The Pledge (2001), though adapted from a very self-reflexive novel by Friedrich Dürrenmatt, plays noir comparatively straight, to devastating effect. Sean Justin Penn (born August 17, 1960) is an Academy Award - and Golden Globe -winning American Film Actor The Pledge is a 2001 dramatic Psychological thriller directed by Sean Penn. Friedrich Dürrenmatt ( January 5, 1921 &ndash December 14, 1990) was a Swiss author and dramatist. The most commercially successful of recent neo-noirs is Sin City (2005), directed by Robert Rodriguez in extravagantly stylized black and white with the odd bit of color. Sin City is a 2005 film written produced and directed by Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez. Robert Anthony Rodriguez (born June 20 1968 is an American director, writer, producer, Cinematographer, editor and Musician The film is based on a series of comic books created by Frank Miller (credited as the movie's codirector), which are in turn openly indebted to the works of Spillane and other pulp mystery authors. Frank Miller (born January 27, 1957) is an American Writer, Artist and Film director best known for his dark Similarly, graphic novels provide the basis for Road to Perdition (2002), directed by Sam Mendes, and A History of Violence (2005), directed by David Cronenberg; the latter, according to many critics, is the neo-noir of the decade. A Road to Perdition is a 2002 period drama directed by Sam Mendes. Samuel Alexander Mendes CBE (born 1 August 1965) is an English stage and Film director. A History of Violence is an Academy Award nominated 2005 crime thriller Film directed by David Cronenberg David Paul Cronenberg OC, FRSC (born March 15, 1943) is a Canadian Film director and occasional Actor. Writer-director Rian Johnson's Brick (2005), featuring present-day high schoolers speaking a version of 1930s hardboiled argot, won the Special Jury Prize for Originality of Vision at the Sundance Film Festival. Rian Craig Johnson (born 1973 in Maryland) is an American writer and director who won the Special Jury Prize for Originality of Vision at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival Brick is a 2006 American Film written and directed by Rian Johnson. The Sundance Film Festival is a Film festival that takes place annually in the state of Utah, in the United States. The television series Veronica Mars (2004–7) also brought a youth-oriented twist to film noir. Veronica Mars is an American television series created by Rob Thomas.
Psycho-noir
The work of David Lynch—particularly Blue Velvet (1986), Lost Highway (1996), Mulholland Drive (2001), and the Twin Peaks cycle, both TV series (1990–91) and movie, Fire Walk with Me (1992)—shows the influence of film noir filtered through a uniquely individualistic vision. David Keith Lynch (born January 20 1946 is an American director, Screenwriter, producer, painter, Cartoonist, Composer Blue Velvet is a 1986 American Mystery film, written and directed by David Lynch, that exhibits elements of both Film noir Lost Highway is a 1997 Psychological thriller directed by David Lynch. Mulholland Drive is a 2001 Mystery film written and directed by David Lynch that exhibits elements of Film noir and Surrealism Twin Peaks is a Television Serial drama that follows the investigation of the brutal murder of popular respected Teenager and homecoming queen Twin Peaks Fire Walk with Me (sometimes referred to as Fire Walk with Me, or internationally Twin Peaks The Movie) is a 1992 movie Featuring delusionary or sociopathic protagonists (or, in the case of Blue Velvet, a scene-devouring antagonist; in the Twin Peaks cycle, bizarro spasms at every turn), Lynch's most characteristic work has come to be grouped with others sharing similarly skewed centers of interest as "psycho-noir. " Two of the earliest examples after Blue Velvet are literary adaptations directed by David Cronenberg, Naked Lunch (1991) and Crash (1996). Naked Lunch ( 1991) is a Film adaptation of the novel of the same name by William S Crash is a 1996 film written and directed by David Cronenberg based on the J
Director David Fincher followed the noir science fiction of Alien³ (1992) and the immensely successful neo-noir Se7en (1995) with a film that earns much greater regard today than it did on original release, the psycho-noir Fight Club (1999). David Leo Fincher (born August 28, 1962) is an American film and Music video director known for his dark and stylish portraits of Alien 3, styled as Alien³, is a 1992 Science fiction / Horror film (see 1992 in film) Fight Club is a 1999 American feature film adaptation of the 1996 novel of the same name by Chuck Palahniuk, adapted by Nolan's Memento, as well as his debut feature, the British Following (1998), may both be classified as psycho-noir. Memento is a Psychological thriller Film written and directed by Christopher Nolan, adapted from his brother Jonathan 's short Following is a 1998 Film noir. It tells the story of a young man who follows strangers around the streets of London and is drawn into a The torments of The Machinist (2004), directed by Brad Anderson, evoke both Fight Club and Memento. The Machinist (also known as El Maquinista) is an English-language Spanish Psychological thriller film directed by Brad Anderson may refer to Brad Anderson (cartoonist, American cartoonist most famous for creating the comic strip Marmaduke Brad Anderson In the first decade of the new millennium, Park Chan-wook of South Korea has been the most prominent director to work regularly in a psycho-noir mode—a current of noir that can be traced back through Taxi Driver, through Brainstorm, through White Heat, all the way to Stranger on the Third Floor and further still, to Fritz Lang's original M. Park Chan-wook (born August 23, 1963 in the Tanyan area of Jecheon) is a South Korean Filmmaker and Screenwriter.
Science fiction noir
In the post-classic era, the most significant trend in noir crossovers has involved science fiction. In Jean-Luc Godard's Alphaville (1965), Lemmy Caution is the name of the old-school private eye in the city of tomorrow. Alphaville is a 1965 Black-and-white French Science fiction film directed by Jean-Luc Godard. The Groundstar Conspiracy (1972) centers on another implacable investigator and an amnesiac named Welles. Soylent Green (1973), the first major American example, portrays a dystopian, near-future world via a self-evidently noir detection plot; starring Charlton Heston (the lead in Touch of Evil), it also features classic noir standbys Joseph Cotten, Edward G. Soylent Green " in popular culture the section "Cultural impact" was created as a "catch-all" of the cultural references to Charlton Heston (born John Charles Carter; October 4 1923 &ndash April 5 2008) was an American Actor of Robinson, and Whit Bissell. Whitner Nutting "Whit" Bissell ( 25 October, 1909 – 5 March 1996) was an American Character actor. The movie was directed by Richard Fleischer, who two decades before had directed several strong B noirs, including Armored Car Robbery (1950) and The Narrow Margin (1952). Richard O Fleischer ( December 8, 1916 – March 25, 2006) was an American Film director. Armored Car Robbery ( 1950) is an American Film noir shot in a semi- Documentary style and directed by Richard Fleischer The Narrow Margin ( 1952) is an American Film noir directed by Richard Fleischer and written by Earl Belton based on an unpublished
The cynical and stylish perspective of classic film noir had a formative effect on the cyberpunk genre of science fiction that emerged in the early 1980s; the movie most directly influential on cyberpunk was Blade Runner (1982), directed by Ridley Scott, which pays clear and evocative homage to the classic noir mode (Scott would subsequently direct the poignant noir crime melodrama Someone to Watch Over Me [1987]). Cyberpunk is a Science fiction genre noted for its focus on " High tech and low life. Blade Runner is a 1982 American Science fiction Film, directed by Ridley Scott. Sir Ridley Scott (born November 30 1937 in South Shields, Tyne and Wear) is a British Academy Award Nominated and Golden Globe Emmy Award and BAFTA Award winning Someone to Watch Over Me is a film starring Tom Berenger and Mimi Rogers and directed by Ridley Scott. Scholar Jamaluddin Bin Aziz has observed how "the shadow of Philip Marlowe lingers on" in such other "future noir" films as Twelve Monkeys (1995), Dark City (1998), and Minority Report (2002). Twelve Monkeys is an Academy Award -nominated 1995 Science fiction film directed by Terry Gilliam and written by David Dark City is a 1998 science fiction Film noir written by Alex Proyas, Lem Dobbs and David S Minority Report is a 2002 Science fiction film directed by Steven Spielberg, loosely based on the Philip K [19] The hero is the target of investigation in Gattaca (1997), which fuses film noir motifs with a scenario indebted to Brave New World. Gattaca is a 1997 science fiction Drama film written and directed by Andrew Niccol, starring Ethan Hawke, Uma Brave New World is a 1932 Novel by Aldous Huxley. Set in the London of AD 2540 (632 A The Thirteenth Floor (1999), like Blade Runner, is an explicit homage to classic noir, in this case involving speculations about virtual reality. The Thirteenth Floor is a 1999 Film directed by Josef Rusnak, produced by Roland Emmerich and starring Craig Bierko Virtual reality ( VR) is a technology which allows a user to interact with a Computer-simulated environment be it a real or imagined one Science fiction, noir, and animation are brought together in the Japanese films Ghost in the Shell (1995) and Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (2004), both directed by Mamoru Oshii, and the short A Detective Story (2003), set in the Matrix universe. The bouncing ball animation (below consists of these 6 frames is a 1995 Anime Film directed by Mamoru Oshii; an adaptation of the Manga Ghost in the Shell by Masamune is the 2004 sequel to the Anime Film Ghost in the Shell. Released in Japan on March 6, 2004, with a U Mamoru Oshii (押井守 Oshii Mamoru; born August 8, 1951 in Tokyo) is a Japanese Animation and live-action Film The Animatrix is a collection of nine animated Short films released in 2003 and set in the fictional universe of ''The Matrix'' series
Film noir parodies
Film noir has been parodied many times, in many manners. In 1945, Danny Kaye starred in what appears to be the first intentional film noir parody, Wonder Man. Danny Kaye ( January 18, 1913 – March 3, 1987) was an American award-winning Actor, Singer and Comedian That same year, Deanna Durbin was the singing lead in the comedic noir Lady on a Train, which makes fun of Woolrich-brand wistful miserablism. Deanna Durbin (born December 4, 1921) is a Canadian Singer and Academy Award -winning actress from Hollywood Lady on a Train is a 1945 Black-and-white Comedy shot in Film noir style Bob Hope inaugurated the private-eye noir parody with My Favorite Brunette (1947), playing a baby photographer who is mistaken for an ironfisted detective. Bob Hope, KBE KCSG ( May 29, 1903 &ndash July 27, 2003) was an American comedian and actor who appeared in My Favorite Brunette is a 1947 movie spoofing movie detectives and the Film noir style The Big Steal (1949), directed by Don Siegel, and His Kind of Woman, both of which benefit from the services of a slyly self-aware Robert Mitchum, are clear examples of the classic film noir parodying itself. The Big Steal is also a 1990 Australian film starring Ben Mendelsohn and Claudia Karvan. Donald Siegel ( October 26, 1912 - April 20, 1991) was an influential American Film director and producer The "Girl Hunt" ballet in Vincente Minnelli's The Band Wagon (1953) is a ten-minute distillation of—and play on—noir in dance. Vincente Minnelli ( February 28, 1903 &ndash July 25, 1986) was a famous Academy Award -winning Hollywood director For the musical see The Band Wagon (musical. The Band Wagon ( 1953) is a Musical comedy film that many critics rank (along The Cheap Detective (1978), starring Peter Falk, is a broad parody of several films, including the Bogart classics The Maltese Falcon and Casablanca. The Cheap Detective is a 1978 Columbia Pictures spoof comedy Film, written by Neil Simon and directed by Robert Moore Peter Michael Falk (born September 16 1927 is a two-time Academy Award -nominated five-time Emmy Award -winning and one-time Golden Globe award -winning Casablanca (in Standard Arabic: الدار البيضاء ad-Dār al-Bayḍāʼ; Moroccan Arabic: dar beïda الدار البيضا Carl Reiner's "cut and paste" noir farce, the black-and-white Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982), is among the best known of the obviously comedic latter-day parodies. Carl Reiner (born March 20, 1922) is an American Actor, Film director, producer, Writer and Comedian The word pastiche describes a literary or other artistic Genre. A farce is a Comedy written for the stage or film which aims to Entertain the audience by means of unlikely extravagant and improbable situations disguise and mistaken Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid is a 1982 Comedy film directed by Carl Reiner and starring Steve Martin and Rachel Ward. Robert Zemeckis's 1988 Who Framed Roger Rabbit? develops a noir plot set in 1940s L. Robert Lee "Bob" Zemeckis (born May 14, 1952) is an Academy Award - and Golden Globe -winning American Film director, Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a 1988 Live-action/animated film produced by Amblin Entertainment and The Walt Disney Company (released A. around a host of cartoon characters.
Noir parodies come in darker tones as well. Murder by Contract (1958), directed by Irving Lerner, is an eighty-one-minute-long deadpan joke on noir, with a denouement as bleak as any of the movies it kids. An ultra-low-budget Columbia Pictures production, it may qualify as the first intentional example of what is now called a neo-noir film; it certainly seems to have been a source of inspiration for Melville's acclaimed Le Samouraï. }} Columbia Pictures Industries Inc is an American Film production and distribution company Taxi Driver, one of the quintessential 1970s neo-noirs, caustically deconstructs the "dark" crime film, taking it to an absurd extreme and then offering a conclusion that manages to mock every possible anticipated ending—triumphant, tragic, artfully ambivalent—while being each, all at once. Deconstruction is a term used in Philosophy, Literary criticism, and the Social sciences, popularised through its usage by Jacques Derrida in Flirting with splatter status even more brazenly, the Coens' Blood Simple is both an exacting pastiche and an outrageous exaggeration of classic noir. A splatter film or gore film is a type of Horror film that deliberately focuses on graphic portrayals of gore and Graphic violence. The word pastiche describes a literary or other artistic Genre. Adapted by director Robinson Devor from a novel by Charles Willeford, The Woman Chaser (1999) sends up not just the noir mode but the entire Hollywood filmmaking process, with seemingly each shot staged as the visual equivalent of a Marlowe wisecrack—funny, but it smarts. Charles Ray Willeford III ( January 2, 1919 – March 27 1988) was an American Writer. The Woman Chaser is a 1999 film by director Robinson Devor, starring Patrick Warburton.
In other media, the television series Sledge Hammer! (1986–88) lampoons noir, along with Dirty Harry, capital punishment, and anything else available. Sledge Hammer! was a satirical Police sitcom produced by New World Television that ran for two seasons on ABC Harold Francis "Dirty Harry" Callahan is a fictional San Francisco Police Department inspector in the films Dirty Harry (1971 Capital punishment, the death penalty or execution, is the Killing of a person by judicial process as Punishment. Sesame Street (1969–curr. Sesame Street is an American educational Children's television series and a pioneer of the contemporary educational television standard combining ) occasionally casts Kermit the Frog as a private eye; the sketches refer to some of the typical motifs of noir movies, in particular the voiceover. Kermit the Frog is a Muppet, one of Puppeteer Jim Henson 's most famous and beloved creations first introduced in 1955 Garrison Keillor's radio program A Prairie Home Companion features the recurring character Guy Noir, a hardboiled detective whose adventures always wander into farce (Guy also appears in the Altman-directed film based on Keillor's show). Gary Edward "Garrison" Keillor (born August 7, 1942) is an American Author, Storyteller, Humorist, A Prairie Home Companion is a live Radio Variety show created and hosted by Garrison Keillor. Guy Noir is a fictional private detective regularly featured on the Public radio show A Prairie Home Companion. A Prairie Home Companion is a 2006 ensemble comedy Elegy directed by Robert Altman, his final film released just five Firesign Theatre's Nick Danger has trod the same not-so-mean streets, both on radio and in comedy albums. The Firesign Theatre is a Comedy troupe consisting of Phil Austin, Peter Bergman, David Ossman, and Philip Proctor. Cartoons such as Garfield's Babes and Bullets (1989) and comic strip characters such as Tracer Bullet of Calvin and Hobbes have parodied both film noir and the kindred hardboiled tradition—one of the sources from which film noir sprang and which it now overshadows. Garfield's Babes and Bullets is a half-hour animated special based on a segment of the same name from the book Garfield His 9 Lives. A comic strip is a sequence of drawings that tells a story Currently in the Western world, most comic strips are written and drawn by a Comics artist Calvin and Hobbes is a Comic strip written and illustrated by Bill Watterson, following the humorous antics of Calvin, an imaginative
Approaches to defining noir
The history of film noir criticism has seen fundamental questions become matters of controversy unusually intense for such a field. Where aesthetic debates tend to concentrate on the quality and meaning of specific artworks and the intentions and influences of their creators, in film noir, the debates are regularly much broader. Four large questions may be identified, two of them addressed at the beginning of this article:
- What defines film noir?
- What sort of category is it?
A third question applies at a more specific level, but is sweeping:
- Which movies qualify as film noirs?
This article refers to movies from the classic period as "film noir" if there is a critical consensus supporting that designation. That consensus is almost never complete and is in many cases provisional: The Lost Weekend and The Night of the Hunter, for instance, are now routinely referred to as film noirs, but they were seldom considered as such a quarter-century ago. The process is ongoing: today, a growing number of critics refer to Suspicion (1941), directed by Hitchcock, and Casablanca (1942), directed by Curtiz, as film noirs. Outside of the classic period, consensus is much rarer—movies are considered as noir herein if a substantial number of critics have discussed them as such. In order to decide which films are noir (and which are not), many critics refer to a set of elements they see as marking examples of the mode. This leads to a fourth major point of controversy in the field, one that overlaps with all those noted above:
- What are the identifying characteristics of film noirs?
For instance, some critics insist that a film noir, to be authentic, must have a bleak conclusion (e. g. , Criss Cross or D. O. A. ), but many acknowledged classics of the genre have clearly happy endings (e. g. , Stranger on the Third Floor, The Big Sleep, Dark Passage, and The Dark Corner), while the tone of many other noir denouements is ambivalent, in a variety of ways. In Literature, a dénouement ( IPA:/deˈnuːmɑ̃/ consists of a series of events that follow the climax of a drama or narrative and thus serves as the The ambition of this section, then, can be no more than modest: it is an attempt to survey those characteristics most often cited by critics as representative of classic film noirs. As diverse as that set of movies is, the diversity of films from outside the classic period that have been discussed as noir is so great that any similar survey would be impractical; however, those classic noir identifying marks often referenced in neo-noirs—however frequently or seldom they actually appeared in the original films—are noted as are certain signal trends of the latter-day mode. 1
Visual style
Film noirs tended to use low-key lighting schemes producing stark light/dark contrasts and dramatic shadow patterning. Low-key lighting is a style of lighting for Photography, Film or Television. Contrast is the difference in visual properties that makes an object (or its representation in an image distinguishable from other objects and the background The shadows of Venetian blinds or banister rods, cast upon an actor, a wall, or an entire set, are an iconic visual in film noir and had already become a cliché well before the neo-noir era. A cliché (from French, klɪ'ʃe or cliche is a phrase expression or idea that has been overused to the point of losing its intended force Characters' faces may be partially or wholly obscured by darkness—a relative rarity in conventional Hollywood moviemaking. While black-and-white cinematography is considered by many to be one of the essential attributes of classic noir, color films such as Leave Her to Heaven (1945), Niagara (1953), Slightly Scarlet, and Vertigo (1958) are regarded as noir by varying numbers of critics. Leave Her to Heaven is a 1945 20th Century Fox color Film noir motion picture starring Gene Tierney, Cornel Wilde Niagara ( 1953) is a dramatic thriller, Film noir directed by Henry Hathaway. Vertigo ( is a Psychological thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring James Stewart and Kim Novak and featuring Barbara
Film noir is also known for its use of Dutch angles, low-angle shots, and wide-angle lenses. A Dutch tilt, Dutch angle, oblique angle, German angle, canted angle or Batman Angle is a cinematic tactic often used to portray In Cinematography, a low-angle shot, is a shot from a camera positioned low on the vertical axis often at knee height looking up Other devices of disorientation relatively common in film noir include shots of people reflected in one or more mirrors, shots through curved or frosted glass or other distorting objects (such as during the strangulation scene in Strangers on a Train), and special effects sequences of a sometimes bizarre nature. Beginning in the late 1940s, location shooting—often involving night-for-night sequences—became increasingly frequent in noir. Location shooting is the practice of Filming in an actual setting rather than on a Sound stage or back lot. In Cinematography, night-for-night filming is the name given to the practice of actually filming night scenes at night
In an analysis of the visual approach of Kiss Me Deadly, a late and self-consciously stylized example of classic noir, critic Alain Silver describes how cinematographic choices emphasize the story's themes and mood. In one scene, the characters, seen through a "confusion of angular shapes," thus appear "caught in a tangible vortex or enclosed in a trap. " Silver makes a case for how "[s]ide light is used. . . to reflect character ambivalence," while shots of characters in which they are lit from below "conform to a convention of visual expression which associates shadows cast upward of the face with the unnatural and ominous. "[20]
Structure and narrational devices
Film noirs tend to have unusually convoluted story lines, frequently involving flashbacks, flashforwards, and other techniques that disrupt and sometimes obscure the narrative sequence. In history film television and other media a flashback (also called analepsis) is an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current In literature film television and other media a flashforward or flash-forward (also called Prolepsis) is an interjected scene that takes the Narrative A narrative or story is a construct created in a suitable format (written spoken poetry prose images song Theater, or Dance) that describes a sequence of Voiceover narration—most characteristically by the protagonist, less frequently by a secondary character or by an unseen, omniscient narrator—is sometimes used as a structuring device. Both flashbacks and voiceover narration are today often used in movies looking to quickly establish their neo-noir bona fides. Bold experiments in cinematic storytelling were sometimes attempted in noir: Lady in the Lake, for example, is shot entirely from the point of view of protagonist Philip Marlowe; the face of star (and director) Robert Montgomery is seen only in mirrors. A point of view shot also known as POV shot or a subjective camera) is a short Film scene that shows what a character (the subject is looking at (represented Robert Montgomery ( May 21, 1904 &ndash September 27, 1981) was an American actor and director The Chase (1946) takes oneirism and fatalism as the basis for its fantastical narrative system, redolent of certain horror stories, but with little precedent in the context of a putatively realistic genre. The Chase is a 1946 movie shot in Black and white, directed by Arthur Ripley. A daydream is a visionary fantasy experienced while awake especially one of happy pleasant thoughts hopes or ambitions In their different ways, both Sunset Boulevard and D. O. A. are tales told by dead men. Latter-day noir has been in the forefront of structural experimentation in popular cinema, as exemplified by such films as Pulp Fiction and Memento.
Plots, characters, and settings
Crime, usually murder, is an element of almost all film noirs; in addition to standard-issue greed, jealousy is frequently the criminal motivation. A crime investigation—by a private eye, a police detective (sometimes acting alone), or a concerned amateur—is the most prevalent, but far from dominant, basic plot. In other common plots the protagonists are implicated in heists or con games, or in murderous conspiracies often involving adulterous affairs. A heist film is a Film that has an intricate plot woven around a group of people trying to steal something A confidence trick or confidence game (also known as a bunko, con, flim flam, gaffle, grift, scam, scheme False suspicions and accusations of crime are frequent plot elements, as are betrayals and double-crosses. Amnesia is far more common in film noir than in real life, and cigarette smoking can seem virtually mandatory. Amnesia (from Greek) is a condition in which Memory is disturbed
Film noirs tend to revolve around heroes who are more flawed and morally questionable than the norm, often fall guys of one sort or another. Pursued is a 1947 movie starring Robert Mitchum that combines western, Film noir and psychological Melodrama. The Western is a fiction Genre seen in Film, Television, Radio, Literature, Painting and other Visual arts. Fall Guy ( Katmata koshin kyoku, 蒲田行進曲 is a 1982 Japanese film directed by Kinji Fukasaku. The characteristic heroes of noir are described by many critics as "alienated"; in the words of Silver and Ward, "filled with existential bitterness. In Sociology and Critical social theory, alienation refers to an individual's estrangement from traditional community and others in general Existentialism is a philosophical doctrine which posits that individuals create the meaning and essence of their lives and that this essence follows from their existence "[21] Certain archetypal characters appear in many film noirs—hardboiled detectives, femmes fatales, corrupt policemen, jealous husbands, intrepid claims adjusters, and down-and-out writers. Claims adjusters investigates claims by interviewing the claimant and witnesses consulting police and hospital records and inspecting property damage to determine the extent of the company’s As can be observed in many movies of an overtly neo-noir nature, the private eye and the femme fatale are the character types with which film noir has come to be most identified, but only a minority of movies now regarded as classic noir feature either. For example, of the nineteen National Film Registry noirs, in only four does the star play a private eye: The Maltese Falcon, The Big Sleep, Out of the Past, and Kiss Me Deadly. Just two others readily qualify as detective stories: Laura and Touch of Evil.
Film noir is often associated with an urban setting, and a few cities—Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, and Chicago, in particular—are the location of many of the classic films. In the eyes of many critics, the city is presented in noir as a "labyrinth" or "maze. " Bars, lounges, nightclubs, and gambling dens are frequently the scene of action. The climaxes of a substantial number of film noirs take place in visually complex, often industrial settings, such as refineries, factories, trainyards, power plants—most famously the explosive conclusion of White Heat. In the popular (and, frequently enough, critical) imagination, in noir it is always night and it always rains.
A substantial trend within latter-day noir—dubbed "film soleil" by critic D. K. Holm—heads in precisely the opposite direction, with tales of deception, seduction, and corruption exploiting bright, sun-baked settings, stereotypically the desert or open water, to caustic effect. Significant predecessors from the classic and early post-classic eras include The Lady from Shanghai; the Robert Ryan vehicle Inferno (1953); the French adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's The Talented Mr. Ripley, Plein soleil (Purple Noon in the U. Inferno ( 1953) is a Film noir drama/thriller directed by Roy Ward Baker, shot in Technicolor and shown in 3-D Dimension Patricia Highsmith ( January 19, 1921 - February 4, 1995) was an American Novelist known for her Psychological thrillers The Talented Mr Ripley is a Novel by Patricia Highsmith, published in 1955. S. , better rendered elsewhere as Blazing Sun or Full Sun; 1960); and director Don Siegel's version of The Killers (1964). The Killers, sometimes marketed as Ernest Hemingway's The Killers, is a 1964 Crime film released by Universal Studios. The tendency was at its peak during the late 1980s and 1990s, with films such as Dead Calm (1989); After Dark, My Sweet; The Hot Spot; Delusion (1991); and Red Rock West, and TV's Miami Vice, which premiered in 1984 and turned increasingly mordant over its five-year run. Dead Calm is a 1963 novel by Charles F Williams, which was the basis for the unreleased film The Deep (by Orson Welles) and the
Worldview, morality, and tone
Film noir is often described as essentially pessimistic. The noir stories that are regarded as most characteristic tell of people trapped in unwanted situations (which, in general, they did not cause but are responsible for exacerbating), striving against random, uncaring fate, and frequently doomed. The movies are seen as depicting a world that is inherently corrupt. Classic film noir has been associated by many critics with the American social landscape of the era—in particular, with a sense of heightened anxiety and alienation that is said to have followed World War II. Nicholas Christopher's opinion is representative: "it is as if the war, and the social eruptions in its aftermath, unleashed demons that had been bottled up in the national psyche. "[22] Film noirs, especially those of the 1950s and the height of the Red Scare, are often said to reflect cultural paranoia; Kiss Me Deadly is the noir most frequently marshaled as evidence for this claim. Red Menace redirects here For the 2007 Wildstorm Productions comic book series see Red Menace (comics. Paranoia is a disturbed thought process characterized by excessive Anxiety or Fear, often to the point of Irrationality and Delusion.
Rather than focusing on simple "black and white" decisions, film noirs tend to pose moral quandaries that are unusually ambiguous and relative—at least within the context of Hollywood cinema. Characters that do pursue goals based on clear-cut moral standards may be more than willing to let the "ends justify the means. " For example, the investigator hero of The Stranger, obsessed with tracking down a Nazi war criminal, places other people in mortal danger in order to capture his target. Whereas the Production Code obliged almost all classic noirs to see that steadfast virtue was ultimately rewarded and vice, in the absence of shame and redemption, severely punished (however dramatically incredible the final rendering of mandatory justice might be), a substantial number of latter-day noirs flout such conventions; in their very different ways, the conclusions of Chinatown and The Hot Spot provide two clear examples.
The tone of film noir is generally regarded as downbeat; some critics experience it as darker still—"overwhelmingly black," according to Robert Ottoson. [23] Influential critic (and filmmaker) Paul Schrader wrote in a seminal 1972 essay that "film noir is defined by tone," a tone he seems to perceive as "hopeless. "[24] In describing the adaptation of Double Indemnity, leading noir analyst Foster Hirsch describes the "requisite hopeless tone" achieved by the filmmakers, which appears to characterize his view of noir as a whole. [25] On the other hand, definitive film noirs such as The Big Sleep, The Lady from Shanghai, and Double Indemnity itself are famed for their hardboiled repartee, often imbued with sexual innuendo and self-reflexive humor—notes of another tone. Wit is a form of intellectual Humour. A wit (person is someone skilled in making witty remarks
Notes
Note 1: Opinion is also divided on the English plural of film noir. In the English Language, Nouns are inflected for Grammatical number —that is singular or Plural. In the French from which the term derives, the plural is films noirs. Some English speakers prefer films noir, while film noirs is the most common formulation. The latest edition of Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, acknowledging all three styles as acceptable, gives as the preferred spelling film noirs. Webster's Dictionary is the name given to a common type of English language dictionary in the United States.
See also
References
- ^ Greenspun (1973), p. The following is a list of films and television series often described as film noir. 32.
- ^ Borde and Chaumeton (2002), p. 2.
- ^ See Dancyger and Rush (2002), p. 68, for a detailed comparison of screwball comedy and film noir.
- ^ See Jim Doherty's essay on Carmady at the Thrilling Detective website for a detailed analysis of the private eye character who appears in "The Finger Man. "
- ^ See, e. g. , Lyons (2000), p. 36 ("RKO is usually cited as having produced the first true film noir, Stranger on the Third Floor"); Server (1998), p. 158 ("Often credited as the 'first' film noir"); Porfirio (1980), p. 269 ("the first true film noir").
- ^ Biesen (2005), p. 33.
- ^ Variety (1940).
- ^ Schrader (1972), p. 61.
- ^ Bernstein (1995).
- ^ McGilligan (1997), pp. 314–317.
- ^ Schatz (1998), pp. 354–358.
- ^ See, e. g. , entries on individual films in Silver and Ward (1992), pp. 97–98, 125–126, 311–312.
- ^ See Naremore (1998), pp. 140–155, on "B Pictures versus Intermediates. "
- ^ Naremore (1998), p. 173.
- ^ Erickson (2004), p. 26.
- ^ Clarens (1980), pp. 200–202; Walker (1992), pp. 139–145.
- ^ Silver and Ward (1992), p. 1.
- ^ See Palmer (2004), pp. 267–268, for a representative discussion of film noir as an international phenomenon.
- ^ Aziz (2005), section "Future Noir and Postmodernism : The Irony Begins. "
- ^ Silver (1995), pp. 219, 222.
- ^ Silver and Ward (1992), p. 6.
- ^ Christopher (1997), p. 37.
- ^ Ottoson (1981), p. 1.
- ^ Schrader (1972), p. 54. For characterization of definitive tone as "hopeless," see pp. 53 ("the tone more hopeless") and 57 ("a fatalistic, hopeless mood").
- ^ Hirsch (2001), p. 7. Hirsch subsequently states, "In character types, mood [emphasis added], themes, and visual composition, Double Indemnity offer[s] a lexicon of noir stylistics" (p. 8).
Sources
- Aziz, Jamaluddin Bin (2005). "Future Noir," chap. in "Transgressing Women: Investigating Space and the Body in Contemporary Noir Thrillers. " Ph. D. dissertation, Department of English and Creative Writing, Lancaster University (chapter available online).
- Bernstein, Matthew (1995). “A Tale of Three Cities: The Banning of Scarlet Street,” Cinema Journal 35, no. 1.
- Biesen, Sheri Chinen (2005). Blackout: World War II and the Origins of Film Noir. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0-8018-8217-6
- Borde, Raymond, and Etienne Chaumeton (2002 [1955]). A Panorama of American Film Noir, 1941–1953, trans. Paul Hammond. San Francisco: City Lights Books. ISBN 0-87286-412-X
- Cameron, Ian, ed. (1993). The Book of Film Noir. New York: Continuum. ISBN 0-8264-0589-4
- Christopher, Nicholas (1997). Somewhere in the Night: Film Noir and the American City. New York: Free Press. ISBN 0-684-82803-0
- Clarens, Carlos (1980). Crime Movies: An Illustrated History. New York: W. W. Norton. ISBN 0-393-01262-X
- Dancyger, Ken, and Jeff Rush (2002). Alternative Scriptwriting: Successfully Breaking the Rules. Boston et al. : Focal Press. ISBN 0-240-80477-5
- Erickson, Glenn (2004). "Fate Seeks the Loser: Edgar G. Ulmer's Detour" (collected in Silver and Ursini, Film Noir Reader 4).
- Gorman, Ed, Lee Server, and Martin H. Greenberg, eds. (1998). The Big Book of Noir. New York: Carroll & Graf. ISBN 0-7867-0574-4
- Greenspun, Roger (1973). "Mike Hodges's 'Pulp' Opens; A Private Eye Parody Is Parody of Itself," New York Times, February 9.
- Hirsch, Foster (2001). Foster Hirsch is the Author of sixteen books on subjects related to theatre and Movies. The Dark Side of the Screen: Film Noir. New York: Da Capo. ISBN 0-306-81039-5
- Lyons, Arthur (2000). Death on the Cheap: The Lost B Movies of Film Noir. New York: Da Capo. ISBN 0-306-80996-6
- McGilligan, Patrick (1997). Fritz Lang: The Nature of the Beast. New York and London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 0-571-19375-7
- Naremore, James (1998). More Than Night: Film Noir in Its Contexts. Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-21294-0
- Ottoson, Robert (1981). A Reference Guide to the American Film Noir: 1940–1958. Metuchen, N. J. , and London: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0-8108-1363-7
- Palmer, R. Barton (2004). "The Sociological Turn of Adaptation Studies: The Example of Film Noir," in A Companion To Literature And Film, ed. Robert Stam and Alessandra Raengo (pp. 258–277). Maiden, Mass. , Oxford, and Carlton, Australia: Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-23053-X
- Porfirio, Robert (1980). "Stranger on the Third Floor (1940)" (collected in Silver and Ward, Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference).
- Schatz, Thomas (1998 [1996]). The Genius of the System: Hollywood Filmmaking in the Studio Era, new ed. London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 0-571-19596-2
- Schrader, Paul (1972). Paul Joseph Schrader (born July 22, 1946 in Grand Rapids Michigan) is an American Screenwriter and Film director "Notes on Film Noir," Film Comment 8, no. 1 (collected in Silver and Ursini, Film Noir Reader [1]).
- Server, Lee (1998). "The Black List: Essential Film Noir" (collected in Gorman et al. , The Big Book of Noir).
- Silver, Alain (1995). "Kiss Me Deadly: Evidence of a Style," rev. ver. (collected in Silver and Ursini, Film Noir Reader [1]; available online).
- Silver, Alain, and James Ursini (and Robert Porfirio—vol. 3), eds. (2004 [1996–2004]). Film Noir Reader, vols. 1–4. Pompton Plains, N. J. : Limelight Editions (introductions to vols. 1 and 2 and selected essays available online).
- Silver, Alain, and Elizabeth Ward, eds. (1992). Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the American Style, 3d ed. Woodstock, N. Y. : Overlook Press. ISBN 0-87951-479-5
- "Variety staff" (anon. ) (1940). "Stranger on the Third Floor" [review], Variety, January 1 (excerpted online).
- Walker, Michael (1992). "Robert Siodmak" (collected in Cameron, The Book of Film Noir).
Further reading
- Chopra-Gant, Mike (2005). Hollywood Genres and Postwar America: Masculinity, Family and Nation in Popular Movies and Film Noir. London: IB Tauris. ISBN 1-85043-838-2
- Cochran, David (2000). America Noir: Underground Writers and Filmmakers of the Postwar Era. Washington, D. C. : Smithsonian Institution Press. ISBN 1-56098-813-4
- Copjec, Joan, ed. (1993). Shades of Noir. London and New York: Verso. ISBN 0-86091-625-1
- Dimendberg, Edward (2004). Film Noir and the Spaces of Modernity. Cambridge, Mass. , and London: Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-01314-X
- Durgnat, Raymond (1970). Raymond Durgnat ( September 1, 1932 - May 19, 2002) was a distinctive and highly influential British Film critic, who was "Paint It Black: The Family Tree of the Film Noir," Cinema 6/7 (collected in Gorman et al. , The Big Book of Noir, and Silver and Ursini, Film Noir Reader [1]).
- Hannsberry, Karen Burroughs (1998). Femme Noir: Bad Girls of Film. Jefferson, N. C. : McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-0429-9
- Hannsberry, Karen Burroughs (2003). Bad Boys: The Actors of Film Noir. Jefferson, N. C. : McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-1484-7
- Holm, D. K. (2005). Film Soleil. Harpenden, UK: Pocket Essentials. ISBN 1-904048-50-1
- Kaplan, E. Ann, ed. (1998). Women in Film Noir, new ed. London: British Film Institute. ISBN 0-85170-666-5
- Keaney, Michael F. (2003). Film Noir Guide: 745 Films of the Classic Era, 1940–1959. Jefferson, N. C. : McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-1547-9
- Martin, Richard (1999). Mean Streets and Raging Bulls: The Legacy of Film Noir in Contemporary American Cinema. Lanham, Md. : Scarecrow. ISBN 0-8108-3642-4
- Mason, Fran (2002). American Gangster Cinema: From Little Caesar to Pulp Fiction. Houndmills, UK: Palgrave. ISBN 0-333-67452-9
- McArthur, Colin (1972). Underworld U. S. A. New York: Viking. ISBN 0-670-01953-4
- Muller, Eddie (1998). Eddie Muller is a Writer based in San Francisco. He is known for writing books about Movies particularly Film noir. Dark City: The Lost World of Film Noir. New York: St. Martin's. ISBN 0-312-18076-4
- Neale, Steve (2000). Genre and Hollywood. London and New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-02606-7
- Palmer, R. Barton (1994). Hollywood's Dark Cinema: The American Film Noir. New York: Twayne. ISBN 0-8057-9335-6
- Palmer, R. Barton, ed. (1996). Perspectives on Film Noir. New York: G. K. Hall. ISBN 0-8161-1601-6
- Rabinowitz, Paula (2002). Black & White & Noir: America's Pulp Modernism. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-11481-8
- Schatz, Thomas (1997). Boom and Bust: American Cinema in the 1940s. Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London: University of California Press. ISBN 0-684-19151-2
- Selby, Spencer (1984). Dark City: The Film Noir. Jefferson, N. C. : McFarland. ISBN 0-89950-103-6
- Shadoian, Jack (2003). Dreams and Dead Ends: The American Gangster Film, 2d ed. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-514291-8
- Silver, Alain, and James Ursini (1999). The Noir Style. Woodstock, N. Y. : Overlook Press. ISBN 0-87951-722-0
- Spicer, Andrew (2002). Film Noir. Harlow, UK: Pearson Education. ISBN 0-582-43712-1
- Telotte, J. P. (1989). Voices in the Dark: The Narrative Patterns of Film Noir. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0-252-06056-3
- Tuska, Jon (1984). Dark Cinema: American Film Noir in Cultural Perspective. Westport, Conn. , and London: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-23045-5
External links
- All-Time 100 Movies Time magazine's noir-heavy list includes a single TV production, The Singing Detective, among its 100 picks
- Classic Noir Online comprehensive survey of over 700 noir titles, with links to actors and directors
- Film Noir Q&A-style essay by leading noir critic-historian Eddie Muller; part of the GreenCine website
- Film Noir: A Bibliography of Materials holdings of the UC Berkeley Library
- Film Noir: An Introduction essay with links to discussions of ten important noirs; part of Images: A Journal of Film and Popular Culture
- Film Noir Foundation educational resource addressing the cultural, historical, and artistic significance of film noir
- Film Noir Studies writings by John Blaser, with film noir glossary, timeline, and noir-related media
- Le Film Policier Noir extensive discussion (in English) of French noir by Yuri German; part of the Hard-Boiled Mysteries website
- A Guide to Film Noir Genre ten deadeye bullet points from Roger Ebert
- An Introduction to Neo-Noir essay by Lee Horsley
- The Noir Thriller: Introduction excerpt from 2001 book by Lee Horsley
- Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir podcast close readings of many classic noirs by Shannon Clute and Richard Edwards
Time (trademarked in capitals as TIME) is a weekly American Newsmagazine, similar to Newsweek and Eddie Muller is a Writer based in San Francisco. He is known for writing books about Movies particularly Film noir. GreenCine (ˈgriːn siːn is an Online DVD rental service similar to Netflix. The University of California Berkeley (also referred to as Cal, Berkeley and UC Berkeley) is a major research university located in Berkeley Roger Joseph Ebert (iːbɝt born June 18, 1942) is an American film critic and Screenwriter. Lee Horsley (born May 15 1955, in Muleshoe Texas) is an American Actor best known for his starring roles on the television
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