![\"filmnoir\"](\"https:\/\/darkandstormynightmysteries.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/filmnoir.jpg\")
<\/a>They featured an event that often brought strangers together to find the solution. Film Noir\u2019s bleak, dark outcomes are often pessimistic compared to the typical Hollywood happy ending films.<\/p>\nFilm Noir’s Leading Men and Women<\/strong><\/p>\n The leading men of these films were all different. The hero might be a hardboiled detective, but the hero\u00a0could just as easily be an ordinary citizen unwittingly trapped in circumstances beyond his control. We might find a star crossed lover, a boxer, a cowboy, a policeman, a drifter or even a writer (William Holden in Sunset Boulevard<\/em>) as the leading man pulled into the darkness of the drama.<\/p>\n Unlike our leading men, the female stars all shared a common characteristic.\u00a0 The female lead might be the innocent housewife from suburbia or the gangster\u2019s girlfriend living on the edge of the criminal world. Their background didn’t matter\u00a0because the women all had a certain sexual overtone in common. It might be the way she sat on the edge of a desk, the arch of her eyebrow, the outfits she wore, the emotion she displayed, or the way she lit her cigarette\u2500 regardless the sexual attraction was there. This attraction might be the main story or a subplot but her presence complicated the hero\u2019s life. Two of the female actresses who displayed these characteristics and were considered icons of Film Noir are Jane Greer (Out of the Past<\/em>, The Big Steal<\/em>) and Lizabeth Scott (Dead Reckoning, Pitfall<\/em>). Between them they made films opposite most of the leading men of Film Noir.<\/p>\n B-Movies<\/strong><\/p>\n Most of Hollywood’s classic Film Noir falls into the \u201cB\u201d movie category.\u00a0This means they were shot with very low budgets. Several major studios set up separate \u201clow budget\u201d divisions or they might contract a lesser known studio to create a\u00a0B-movie to run at the bottom of a double feature.<\/p>\n Generally B-movies were shot with a budget of around $100,000 compared to a Hollywood A-movie having a budget around $600,000. However, the budget did not limit the acting talent. Some well known movie stars made appearances in Film Noir. Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake were first teamed in This Gun for Hire<\/em> and two of the most prolific Film Noir stars were Barbara Stanwyck and Burt Lancaster.<\/p>\n Film Noir Stories<\/strong><\/p>\n The Film Noir era also gets credit for using stories from some of our best mystery writers. In a previous blog we discussed Pulp Fiction and the writers who created stories for magazines like the Black Mask<\/em>. Many Pulp Fiction stories and mystery novels were the foundation for Film Noir movie scripts.<\/p>\n Raymond Chandler<\/strong><\/p>\n In the October, 1934 issue of Black Mask<\/em> Magazine, Chandler introduced his type of hard-boiled detective that later developed into Phillip Marlowe. Then in 1939 Chandler\u2019s The Big Sleep<\/em> was published and this was the first of his books\u00a0made into a\u00a0Film Noir. His book Farewell My Lovely<\/em> provided material for the film Murder My Sweet<\/em>. Then his\u00a0Lady in the Lake <\/em>was also turned into a film. But Chandler was also known as a screen writer and provided scripts for Double Indemnity, <\/em>Strangers on the Train <\/em>and the Oscar nominated The Blue Dahlia<\/em>.<\/p>\n Dashiell Hammett<\/strong><\/p>\n In 1928 Hammett published The Red Harvest <\/em>which many critics considered his best work. While this book was the\u00a0basis for the characteristics of the hardboiled detective The Red Harvest<\/em> was never made into a Hollywood film. However, Hammett\u2019s other books The<\/em> Maltese Falcon and The Glass Key<\/em> made it to the Big Screen. <\/em>Even his novel The Dain Curse <\/em>was a television series in 1978. And of course\u00a0his most famous book The Thin Man<\/em> provided the\u00a0opener for a series of movies featuring Nick (William Powell) and Nora (Myrna Loy) Charles.<\/p>\n In 1931 one of Hammett\u2019s short stories was behind the gangster melodrama City Streets. <\/em>Although this film was before the official start of the period, some film historians insist this is the first Film Noir.<\/p>\n James M. Cain <\/strong><\/p>\n James Cain\u2019s novels provided the stories\u00a0for such Film Noir classics as Double Indemnity, Mildred Pierce, The Postman Always Rings Twice, <\/em>and Slightly Scarlet<\/em> based on his story Love\u2019s Lovely Counterfeit<\/em>. Aside from his stories Cain is credited for creating the template that Film Noir scripts followed. His lurid, action packed tales take place in low rent districts with cigarette smoking anti-heroes pulled into the action by a femme fatale.\u00a0 While his characters are basically losers we still feel for them. He helps us to see that the situation they\u2019re in was through no fault of their own.<\/p>\n Cornell Woolrich and W.R. Burnett<\/strong><\/p>\n Two of the lesser known \u2500although two of the most prolific writers of film noir\u2500 are Cornell Woolrich and W.R. Burnett.<\/p>\n Cornell Woolrich<\/strong> wrote two dozen novels and over two hundred stories. He has been called the fourth greatest hard boiled fiction writer after Hammett, Chandler and Erle Stanley Gardner. He has also been called the \u201cFather of Film Noir\u201d for works including Street of Chance<\/em>, The Mark of the Whistler, Phantom Lady, Deadline at Dawn, Black Angel, Fear in the Night, <\/em>and Night Has a Thousand Eyes<\/em> to name a few. His most famous work was Hitchcock\u2019s Rear Window, <\/em>but few people would know his name as the author.<\/p>\n Woolrich lived almost like a character from one of his stories. After a short period in Hollywood, he returned to New York where he lived as a recluse. He spent twenty-five years living with his mother (a love-hate relationship) in a seedy Harlem hotel.<\/p>\n W.R. (William Riley) Burnett<\/strong> wrote thirty-nine novels and was involved with another forty motion pictures. Burnett\u2019s stint as a night clerk in a sleazy motel exposed him to many of the character types found in his stories like hoodlums, prize fighters, indigents, and gangsters. He tended to portray characters pulled into a life of crime who then found it impossible to find their way out. However, the characters are not pure evil. Their humanity and sense of morality to\u00a0do the right thing\u00a0leads to their undoing.<\/p>\n Burnett\u2019s novel Little Caesar<\/em> provided the story for Edward G. Robinson\u2019s portrayal of the\u00a0gangster, Rico. This classic film is considered the first of the gangster movies. His writing credits also include High Sierra, This Gun for Hire, Nobody Lives Forever, The Asphalt Jungle, <\/em>and I Died a Thousand Times.<\/em><\/p>\n Orson Welles <\/strong><\/p>\n And of course we can\u2019t forget Orson Welles and his contribution to Film Noir movies starting with his classic entry of Citizen Kane<\/em>. The Third Man<\/em> is considered an iconic Film Noir, although Welles didn\u2019t receive a writing credit. He did write the screenplays for Lady from<\/em> Shanghai and Mr. Arkadin.<\/em> Most critics agree that Welles 1958 film Touch of Evil<\/em> is the last entry for the classic Film Noir period. Film Noir Techniques<\/strong><\/p>\n Film Noir is known for introducing some cinematic techniques that separate this category from others films. These techniques add to the intrigue of the story line. For instance in Lady in the Lake<\/em> the entire film is shot from the point of view of Marlowe (Robert Montgomery) and the audience only sees his face when he looks in a mirror. For the movies D.O.A.<\/em> and Sunset Boulevard<\/em> the story is told by dead men through a series of flashbacks. Flashbacks help the viewer to understand how the story reached its current point in time.<\/p>\n Another technique is voiceover narration. Here a film character or an unknown narrator explains the scene which appears in the background. This method moves the story along without every scene being shown in detail to the audience.<\/p>\n Morality and Justice<\/strong><\/p>\n Film Noir portrays a sense of good and evil and right versus wrong. Justice\u00a0usually wins, although it may not be dealt through the normal channels like a court of law. A character may be both judge and jury when dealing out punishment. Also justice may not come easily for our hero. In the Maltese Falcon,<\/em> Sam Spade is in love with Brigid, but by the end of the film he turns her in for the murder of his partner. Dealing justice, maintaining a sense of morality and choosing right over wrong is what separates our Film Noir hero from the other dark characters in the story. It allows the viewer to deal with the pessimism of the film knowing the hero stands for something good.<\/p>\n Modern Day Film Noir \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n Purists will insist that the Film Noir period ended with the 1950s. Yet there is no denying that the film techniques developed, the character types created\u00a0and the dark story lines continued well beyond this period. It\u2019s hard to see many differences in Cape Fear<\/em>, Manchurian Candidate<\/em> and Shock Corridor <\/em>all from 1962\u00a0when compared to\u00a0classic Film Noir. But it doesn\u2019t stop with films in the 60\u2019s. Is there any doubt that Chinatown<\/em> from the 70\u2019s with Jack Nicholson portraying Jack Gittes is much different from the hardboiled detectives of the past? Or is the tale told in Taxi Driver <\/em>by Robert De Niro any different from the stories\u00a0related by other troubled anti-heroes.<\/p>\n And the movies still adapt stories from writers like Ray MacDonald for The Drowning Pool <\/em>and Chandler\u2019s Farwell My Lovely <\/em>or the Oscar winning L.A. Confidential<\/em> from James Ellroy\u2019s novel.<\/p>\n Femme fatale\u2019s have not changed much either. Sharon Stone from Basic Instincts<\/em> certainly matches her counterparts from the 40\u2019s.<\/p>\n We still have black and white adaptations like Scorese\u2019s Raging Bull<\/em> film in the 80’s and the Coen brothers The Man Who Wasn\u2019t There<\/em> in 2010. And even with the addition of color there are other techniques that capture the feeling of Film Noir. For instant the constant rain and the smoky blue scenes from Blade Runner<\/em> where Harrison Ford plays futuristic detective creates the same feeling as the gloomy gray scenes from earlier films. And these are only a few examples of later \u00a0films that use the techniques from the Film Noir period.<\/p>\n Film Noir was a unique period providing great film classics, but let\u2019s not forget it is alive and well today. Whether enjoying a movie from the classic period or a movie from a more recent time Film Noir continues to entertain a new generation of audiences and mystery fans.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Film Noir is French for Black Film. Classic Film Noir generally refers to a period of Hollywood film making between 1940 through the 1950\u2019s. It’s believed its cinematic style was influenced by German Expressionism which featured bold artistic styling including … Continue reading <\/a><\/p>\n