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"....It was a dark and stormy night. I stood at Hollywood and Vine..."Oct 16 '01 (Updated Dec 04 '01) Write an essay on this topic.The Bottom Line Dark, moody, disturbing films about love, hate, revenge, crime, loot and dames. What is film noir? It is a genre that first began around the mid 1940s, when the novels of such writers as James M. Cain and Dashiell Hammett were made into movies. When most people think of film noir, they think of the grainy look of black and white—the true film noirs (noir is French for black) in their original form. Those are the movies full of seedy detectives’ offices— with light slicing through venetian blinds, rain-slicked streets, and men in double breasted suits with fedoras. But the genre has continued through the decades, although its characteristics have become more blurred and harder to define. Many of the movies were created on smaller budgets instead of big Hollywood bankrolls at the time, so their other moniker, “B movie” is sometimes used. Although not all B movies are film noirs. But many of the actresses, like Ida Lupino and Gloria Grahame, were considered B movie actresses almost exclusively. One of the main elements of the film noir is the femme fatale. In the 1940s, she was represented by ladies such as Barbara Stanwyck (Double Indemnity), Rita Hayworth (Lady from Shanghai) Jane Greer (Out of the Past), Veronica Lake (The Blue Dahlia) or Ava Gardner (The Killers). This woman is so desirable that she persuades smart men to do really dumb things. The hero is a tough guy on the outside and a lot of doubts on the inside. Sometimes he is running from his past. He usually feels some alienation from society. He might have made one bad choice which keeps coming back to haunt him one way or another. And through the mistakes of the past, the black widow woman, or his own ambition, the hero is usually destroyed in the end. Excellent examples of the model include The Killers (1946), where The Swede (Burt Lancaster) is killed in a contract hit. When an insurance investigator checks things out, he discovers that double-crossing Kitty Collins (Ava Gardner) played a big hand in what happened. So he sets up the double-crossers himself. All this and the theme from Dragnet before it hit TV. Perfect example of film noir. Flawed hero, black widow, double crossing, and tense music. And for trivia buffs, this is where Steve Martin got quite a bit of his footage for Dead Men don't Wear Plaid. Detour (1945) is the quintessential B movie film noir. Tom Neal plays a hitchhiker who accepts a ride from a man. The man talks about some crazy woman he picked up who scratched him. The driver mysteriously dies, and Neal, suddenly frightened, dumps his body. Later, he gives a ride to an attractive lady (Ann Savage) who turns out to be the same vicious b*****. It’s noir with a capital N. Stranger on the Third Floor (1940) is often considered by some to be the first film noir. A reporter is suspected of a crime, and his girlfriend does all the legwork to prove him innocent. And film noir is still around, although nowadays, most of those films being made are nostalgia rather than the real thing. Think of films like Chinatown, The Two Jakes, or LA Confidential. They go for the gritty 1940s Hollywood vibe, but in vivid color and with more flesh and violence. You can read descriptions of some of my favorite film noir flicks in my epinions review of the best movies of the 1940s here: http://www.epinions.com/content_2157158532. Or, if you’re looking for some other great suggestions of noir viewing, check out these! The Asphalt Jungle, Big Sleep, The [1946], Chinatown, Dark Passage, Devil in a Blue Dress, D.O.A., Diabolique, Don't Bother to Knock, Double Indemnity, Key Largo, The Killers, Kiss Me Deadly, Kiss of Death, Knock On Any Door, L.A. Confidential, The Lady from Shanghai, The Lady In the Lake, Laura, The Letter, The Maltese Falcon, Mildred Pierce, Murder My Sweet, Narrow Margin [1952], The Postman Always Rings Twice [1946] , Purple Noon, Shadow of a Doubt, The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, Strangers on a Train, They Won't Believe Me, The Third Man, This Gun For Hire, True Confessions, The Two Jakes.  |
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