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HISTORY
5 Classic Works of Film Noir
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A movement that spread through Hollywood cinema from the 1940s, 1950s and beyond, Film Noir is still saluted for its cinematic prowess.
By Will Street
Jul. 25, 2019, 11:30 AM
Emerging in Hollywood cinema across the 1940s and 1950s, Film Noir envisioned themes of cynicism and sexual motivations through film. In its stylistic character, the genre projected low-key, black and white images whose origins link back to German Expressionism of the 1920s. Its storylines, typically presenting stories of doomed characters who become obsessed with bewitching women, derive largely from the unsentimental school of crime fiction that emerged in the United States during the Great Depression. Characterising the world as dark and flawed, the genre set a movement of films that continued through the 1960s to the recent past. We’ve put forward our favourite 5 films of the dark genre.
Number 5 - Double Indemnity (1944)
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A seminal work of film noir, Billy Wilder's Double Indemnity was nominated for 7 awards at the 1944 Oscars although picked up none of the top prizes. It was based on the hard-boiled novella of the same name by James M. Cains, a genre of literature which became the standard norm for later works of film noir to follow. Beginning at the climax of the tale where lead character, Walter Neff, played by Fred MacMurray, returns to his office late at night and leaves a confession to his friend and colleague, the claims adjuster, Barton Keyes, (Edward G. Robinson), the remaining film acts a flashback narrating the events that led up to this point. In a film that is to many considered as paradigmatic film noir, director Billy Wilder and co-writer Raymond Chandler exhibited what became quintessential film noir themes, characterizations, world views, settings, performances and writings. Sexual passions go irrevocably wrong and the world in which it is set appears unequivocally cheerless and forlorn. In its storyline and visual appearance, and as the originator of particular film noir conventions such as "Venetian blind" lighting and voice-over narration, the film acted as a guiding piece for future films to come.
Number 4 - Scarlet Street (1945)
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Less critically acclaimed than Billy Wilder's Double Indemnity and nominated in no categories at the 1946 Academy Awards, Fritz Lang's Scarlet Street is nonetheless another seminal work of film noir. The film sets forth a similar plot to Double Indemnity in which lead character, Chris Cross, played by Edward G. Robinson, leads an ordinary humdrum life before he is seduced by a femme fatale, in this case a woman called Kitty, played by Joan Bennett, and which eventually leads to both's demise. The film was based on the unsentimental novel La Chienne by Georges de la Fouchardière and established what became later film noir conventions such as an opening gloomy rain-stricken scene. Considered by many to be one the darkest thrillers ever made, the film was banned by several city censors including New York and Atlanta in 1946 and was the first instance in Hollywood cinema where a criminal goes unpunished, setting in motion a long chain of films that followed similar example. A dark psychological tale of deceit and injustice, this film typified the grim and macabre vision of the film noir movement.
Number 3 - The Maltese Falcon (1941)
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Considered the first work of film noir, The Maltese Falcon, premiered on October 3, 1941 in New York City and was later nominated in 3 categories at the 1942 Academy awards. Its enthralling tale of blackmail, manipulation and crime in which lead character, Sam Spade, played by Humphrey Bogart, meets the femme fatale, Ruth Wonderly, played by Mary Astor, before they both are entangled in another man's quest to find the legendary Maltese Falcon was a success at the time, earning close to a million dollars at the box office, and proved the same in its legacy, being selected in 1989 for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. Ending on a sad moment of the protagonist betraying his more innocent seeming accomplice, the film championed the cynicism that would so apparently pervade future films of the genre over the coming two decades.
Number 2 - A Touch of Evil (1958)
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Where cynicism pervades the The Maltese Falcon, in Orson Welles’ A Touch of Evil the prevailing theme of sexual motivations underpins most of the film. The film carries out the quintessential approach to a genre that was coming to the end of its lifespan in 1958, portraying a psychotic law enforcement officer in a Mexican border town, in an environment that appears highly dark and sinister throughout. By the later stages of the film noir movement, the cinematic conventions form into a further developed visual language than its predecessors, with a hyperactive and restless camera, disfigured angles and complex patterns of shadows. By the late 20th century, A Touch of Evil was considered one of the greatest works of the Film Noir movement and in 1993, it was selected for preservation in United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically and aesthetically significant.” The end point of all its predecessors’ contributions to the genre, the film goes all out with its sinister plots and spectacular cinematography.
Number 1 - Laura (1944)
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In a dispiriting climax, the winner of our list is Laura. Released in 1944, Otto Preminger’s production charted the story of a detective investigating the murder of a remarkably beautiful woman, whom he falls in love with through a photograph of her in the process of his enquiries. After interrogating three suspects, the eponymous character Laura eventually returns on the scene alive followed by a thrilling showdown in which the murderer of another woman, that had been originally mistaken for Laura, is shot dead by the detective’s sergeant. The theme of the film is the beguiling influence of a femme fatale, that turns the lead male protagonists in a treacherous state. In its cinematography and mise-en-scene, Preminger created a powerful atmosphere of repressed sexuality. The film was based on the 1943 novel of the same name by Vera Caspary and was a box office success, earning close to $2 million. It would go on to be highly acclaimed by later generations, being selected for preservation in the Library of Congress in 1999 and also named as one of the best 10 mystery films of all time by the American Film Institute. Concluding our list with a film illustrating that few echelons of society are void of evil, I hope you’ll join us as Blawa.com in saluting the cynical and sinister genre.