As a college student, I was an English major with a concentration in Film Studies. Many of my classes explored film noir and how the movies reflected post World War II culture bruised and battered by its aftershocks, notably the atomic bombings that gave ways But, in film studies and reviews, the elements of film noir are also present after World War I a/k/a the Great War. In the Pre-World War II era, specifically 1930s, Hollywood churned out crime dramas a la gangster films like Scarface with Paul Muni in 1932, Petrified Forest in 1936 starring Humphrey Bogart as an escaped convict, and Dust Be My Destiny in 1939 with Paul Muni as a former prisoner who didn’t commit the actual crime of burglary. Those are a small sampling of stories that marked the Depression era, Prohibition, and a grittiness to urban life, especially for immigrants.
In 1944, the quintessential film noir movie Double Indemnity set the benchmark for a genre that flourished throughout the 1940s and 1950s. And I have personal favorites with two on my short list, both starring Gene Tierney, cinema worthy beyond measure with her slight overbite, lustrous dark hair, and luminous presence. In producer/director Otto Preminger’s Laura she captivates audiences as we see her through the eyes of a police detective, played by Dana Andrews, assigned to investigate her death. He falls in love with her image, a framed portrait prominently placed in the living area of her digs. And then, like a ghost, she arrives home unaware that she’s been identified as a murder victim. I could watch this classic film over and over and never tire of it! The other Gene Tierney film, Leave Her to Heaven based on the novel of the same name, is noted for combining genres of film noir, psychological thriller and melodrama. The 1945 film is about a socialite who marries a famed novelist that brings out her green-eyed monster, obsession and violent tendencies. The movie, although not pure film noir, became the highest grossing film of the decade for Twentieth Century Fox and continues to hold a cult following.
Film critics tend to split hairs with film noir, tagging some movies under the genre as “proto,” partial”, and “authentic.” Even so, the stories hold common elements: Anti-hero protagonist; high-contrast lighting; post-war disillusionment; crisp dialogue; authoritative figure; and a murder. Some critics will insist on a “femme fatale” character, but I don’t view Laura as having one. She’s the ideal woman which is another characteristic element. Oh, and, of course there’s a murder or some sort of crime committed for sure in every film noir story!
Post-war disillusionment marked film noir of the 1940s and 1950s. So, what has changed in modern renditions of the genre? Although the post-war pall disappeared, the cynicism, crime-driven plot, and anti-hero protagonist remains endemic to the genre. Films like Seven, Pulp Fiction, L.A. Confidential, all released in the 1990s, join a slew of other movies tagged as new noir or neo noir from the final 20th century decade through today. Are the newer films in the genre a transformation of film noir? Sure, you can blur the boundaries and classify a film maybe as partial noir. And some critics believe great films do blend genres! My favorite example is Charade with Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn, a thriller/romance/comedy that doesn’t disappoint!
But with film noir, I don’t think any new noir films can compete with the classics of the 1940s and 1950s. I’m not a purist, but as a student of film history, the film noir genre is directly tied to a time in our country and in the world once again embroiled in war and its aftermath. So, for me, film noir, in its classic and purist form, is best illuminated by stories embedded in time from 1941 to 1958 and preserved in their images.