Two silhouetted figures in The Big Combo (1955). The film's cinematographer was John Alton, the creator of many of film noir's iconic images.

Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize moral ambiguity and sexual motivation. 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. The Big Combo (1955) The Big Combo (1955)is director Joseph H. Lewis black-and-white film noir. ... ‹ The template below is being considered for deletion. ... Johann Altmann (October 5, 1901 – June 2, 1996), photographed some of the most famous films noir of the classic period. ... This article is about motion pictures. ... American cinema has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. ... A crime film, in its most general sense, is a film that deals with crime, criminal justice and the darker side of human nature. ... A Black and White low-key portrait. ... Black-and-white or black and white) can refer to a general term used in photography, film, and other media (see black-and-white). ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... ‹ The template below is being considered for deletion. ... Hardboiled crime fiction is a uniquely American style pioneered by Dashiell Hammett, refined by Raymond Chandler, and endlessly imitated since by writers such as Mickey Spillane. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with mystery_fiction. ... For other uses, see The Great Depression (disambiguation). ...

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. 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. Nino Frank (born 1904) is a French film critic and writer who was most active in the 1930s and 1940s. ...

Problems of definition

The New York Times described how the "moods and tensions" in the British private-eye parody Pulp came "out of the collective depths of the film noir"—the phrase's first appearance in the paper. It was February 1973.^[1]

"We'd be oversimplifying things in calling film noir oneiric, strange, erotic, ambivalent, and cruel...."^[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. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (323x833, 91 KB) low-res image of U.S. poster for UK film noir–comedy Pulp (1972), starring Michael Caine This image is of a film poster, and the copyright for it is most likely owned by either the publisher of... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (323x833, 91 KB) low-res image of U.S. poster for UK film noir–comedy Pulp (1972), starring Michael Caine This image is of a film poster, and the copyright for it is most likely owned by either the publisher of... The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ... DVD-release cover. ... In a film theory context, the term oneiric (which means pertaining to dream) is used to refer the depiction of dream-like states in films, or to the use of the metaphor of a dream or the dream-state to analyze a film. ...

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. 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. 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. 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. For the gay mens lifestyle magazine, see Genre (magazine). ... The police procedural is a sub-genre of the mystery story which attempts to accurately 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. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... A private investigator, private detective, PI, or private eye, is a person who undertakes investigations, usually for a private citizen or some other entity not involved with a government or police organization. ... Convicted spy Mata Hari made her name synonymous with femme fatale during WWI. 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 compromising, dangerous, and deadly situations. ... “Horror Movie” redirects here. ... Science fiction film is a film genre that uses speculative, science-based depictions of imaginary phenomena such as extra-terrestrial lifeforms, alien worlds, and time travel, often along with technological elements such as futuristic spacecraft, robots, or other technologies. ... 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.^[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. 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 screwball comedy is a subgenre of the comedy film genre. ... Alain Silver is a US film producer, music producer, film reviewer, film historian, and writer on film topics, especially film noir and horror films. ...

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. 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. 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. 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. 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 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. A Black and White low-key portrait. ... For other use of the term, see Chiaroscuro (disambiguation). ... From the Italian tenebroso (murky), tenebrism is a style of painting using violent contrasts of light and dark, as in the work of Caravaggio. ... In Parmigianinos Madonna with the Long Neck (1534-40), Mannerism makes itself known by elongated proportions, affected poses, and unclear perspective. ... For other uses, see Baroque (disambiguation). ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Nazism in history Nazi ideology Nazism and race Outside Germany Related subjects Lists Politics Portal         Nazism or National Socialism (German: Nationalsozialismus), refers primarily to the ideology and practices of the Nazi Party (National Socialist German Workers Party, German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP) under Adolf Hitler. ... The film director, on the right, gives last minute direction to the cast and crew, whilst filming a costume drama on location in London. ... Friedrich Christian Anton Fritz Lang (December 5, 1890 – August 2, 1976) was an Austrian-German-American film director, screenwriter and occasional film producer, one of the best known émigrés from Germanys school of Expressionism. ... Robert Siodmak (August 8, 1900 - March 10, 1973) was a film director born in Memphis, Tennessee (sometimes his birthplace is stated as Dresden, Germany). ... Michael Curtiz (December 24, 1886 - April 10, 1962) was an Academy Award-winning Hungarian-American film director. ... Mise en scène [mizɑ̃sÉ›n] has been called film criticisms grand undefined term, but that is not because of a lack of definitions. ... M (original German title: M - Eine Stadt sucht einen Mörder, M - a city in search of a murderer) is a 1931 German film noir directed by Fritz Lang and written by Thea von Harbou. ... 1902 poster advertising Gaumonts sound films, depicting an optimistically vast auditorium A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. ... A protagonist is the main figure of a piece of literature or drama and has the main part or role. ... Peter Lorre (June 26, 1904 – March 23, 1964), born László Löwenstein, was an Hungarian[1] - Austrian - American actor frequently typecast as a sinister foreigner. ...

The "original" femme fatale, Marlene Dietrich, complete with noir-regulation cigarette, in a publicity shot for Josef von Sternberg's mordant melodrama Der blaue Engel (The Blue Angel; 1930).

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. 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. Image File history File links MarleneSmokes2. ... Image File history File links MarleneSmokes2. ... Convicted spy Mata Hari made her name synonymous with femme fatale during WWI. 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 compromising, dangerous, and deadly situations. ... Marlene Dietrich IPA: ; (December 27, 1901 – May 6, 1992) was a German-born American actress, singer and entertainer. ... Josef von Sternberg (29 May 1894 – 22 December 1969) was an Austrian-American film director. ... Der Blaue Engel (English: The Blue Angel) is a film directed by Josef von Sternberg in 1930, and is one of the most famous films made by Marlene Dietrich. ... This article is about the American media conglomerate. ... Dracula is a 1931 horror film produced by Universal Pictures Co. ... Boris Karloff as Ardath Bey AKA Prince Imhotep in The Mummy. ... ‹ The template below is being considered for deletion. ... Karl W. Freund (January 16, 1890-May 3, 1969) was a German cinematographer who worked on over 100 films, including Metropolis (1927), Dracula (1931), and Key Largo (1948). ... The Black Cat is a 1934 horror film that became Universal Pictures biggest box office hit of the year. ... Edgar G. Ulmer - Wikipedia /**/ @import /w/skins-1. ... The Invisible Man is a film produced by Universal Pictures in 1933 and directed by James Whale. ... James Whale (July 22, 1889 – May 29, 1957) was a ground-breaking British Hollywood film director, best known for his work in the horror movie genre, making such pictures as Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, and The Invisible Man. ... Carl Laemmle Jr. ...

The Vienna-born but largely American-raised Josef von Sternberg was directing in Hollywood at the same time. 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. The commercial and critical success of Sternberg's silent Underworld in 1927 was largely responsible for spurring a trend of Hollywood gangster films. 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. Josef von Sternberg (29 May 1894 – 22 December 1969) was an Austrian-American film director. ... VHS cover of Shanghai Express Shanghai Express is a 1932 movie of the Pre-Code era starring Marlene Dietrich, Clive Brook, Anna May Wong and Warner Oland. ... The Devil is a Woman is a 1935 film by Josef von Sternberg, adapted from the 1898 novel La Femme et le pantin by Pierre Louÿs. ... Underworld is a 1927 silent film directed by Josef von Sternberg. ... Little Caesar is a 1931 crime film made during the Pre-Code era which tells the story of a man who works his way up the ranks of the mob until he reaches its upper heights. ... This article is about the 1931 film. ... Scarface (also known as Scarface, the Shame of the Nation and The Shame of a Nation) is a 1932 gangster film of the Pre-Code era which tells the story of gang warfare and police intervention when rival gangs fight over control of a city. ...

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. (The Warner Bros. drama I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang [1932] presciently combines these sensibilities.) 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. 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. (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. Its Sternbergian visual intricacy and complex, voiceover-driven narrative structure are echoed in dozens of classic film noirs. Poetic realism was a film movement in France leading up to World War II. More a tendency than a movement, Poetic Realism is not strongly unified like Soviet Montage or French Impressionism. ... It has been suggested that Theological fatalism be merged into this article or section. ... Italian neorealism is a film movement characterized by stories set amongst the poor and working class, filmed in long takes on location, frequently using nonprofessional actors for secondary and sometimes primary roles. ... “WB” redirects here. ... Paul Muni plays a prisoner working on the chain gang I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang is a 1932 movie in which Paul Muni stars as a wrongly accused escapee from a brutal chain gang. ... Jules Dassin (born Julius Dassin on December 18, 1911, in Middletown, Connecticut) is 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. ... Billy Wilder (June 22, 1906 – March 27, 2002) was an Austrian-born, Jewish-American journalist, screenwriter, film director, and producer whose career spanned more than 50 years and 60 films. ... The term auteur (French for author) is used to describe film directors (or, more rarely, producers or writers) who are considered to have a distinctive, recognizable vision, because they (a) repeatedly return to the same subject matter, (b) habitually address a particular psychological or moral theme, (c) employ a recurring... Citizen Kane is a 1941 mystery/drama film released by RKO Pictures and directed by Orson Welles, his first feature film. ... George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an Academy Award-winning American director, writer, actor and producer for film, stage, radio and television. ... VoiceOver is a feature built into Apple Computers Mac OS X v10. ...

Literary sources

The October 1934 issue of Black Mask featured the first appearance of the detective character whom Raymond Chandler would develop into the famous Philip Marlowe.^[4]

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. 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). 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. 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. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (439x640, 50 KB)low-res image of cover of cover of definitive hardboiled magazine Black Mask, october 1934; featuring Finger Man, by hardboiled pioneer Raymond Chandler—the first story featuring the detective character Chandler would develop into Philip Marlowe This image... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (439x640, 50 KB)low-res image of cover of cover of definitive hardboiled magazine Black Mask, october 1934; featuring Finger Man, by hardboiled pioneer Raymond Chandler—the first story featuring the detective character Chandler would develop into Philip Marlowe This image... Black Mask was a pulp magazine launched in 1920 by H. L. Mencken and George Jean Nathan. ... For other persons named Raymond Chandler, see Raymond Chandler (disambiguation). ... Ed Bishop had the title role in BBC Radios The Adventures of Philip Marlowe. ... Crime fiction is a typically 20th century genre, dominated by British and American writers. ... Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes Detective fiction is a branch of crime fiction that centers upon the investigation of a crime, usually murder, by a detective, either professional or amateur. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with mystery_fiction. ... Samuel Dashiell Hammett (May 27, 1894 – January 10, 1961) was an American author of hardboiled detective novels and short stories. ... Red Harvest (1929) is a novel by Dashiell Hammett. ... James Mallahan Cain (July 1, 1892 – October 27, 1977) was an American journalist and novelist. ... The Postman Always Rings Twice is a 1934 crime novel by James M. Cain. ... This article is about inexpensive fiction magazines. ... Black Mask was a pulp magazine launched in 1920 by H. L. Mencken and George Jean Nathan. ... The Maltese Falcon is a 1941 Warner Bros. ... The Glass Key is the name of two film adaptations of the classic suspense novel The Glass Key by Dashiell Hammett. ... This article is about the 1944 film. ... Mildred Pierce is an American film noir released in 1945 and directed by Michael Curtiz. ... The Postman Always Rings Twice is a 1946 film based on the 1934 novel by James M. Cain. ... DVD cover of VCI Entertainments release of the film Slightly Scarlet is a 1956 film based on James M. Cains novel Loves Lovely Counterfeit. ... Rouben Mamoulian (October 8, 1897 – December 4, 1987) was an American film and theatre director. ... Lee Garmes (May 27, 1898 - August 31, 1978) was an award-winning American cinematographer. ...

Raymond Chandler, who debuted as a novelist with The Big Sleep in 1939, soon became the most famous author of the hardboiled school. 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). 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." 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). 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). For other persons named Raymond Chandler, see Raymond Chandler (disambiguation). ... The Big Sleep is a 1939 novel by Raymond Chandler, with two film versions, one filmed in 1946, and another filmed in 1978. ... Farewell, My Lovely (film) redirects here. ... Farewell, my Lovely, by Susie Cornfield, (published by Garret Books, London UK) is a collection of tails and tributes to much-loved, departed pets, including the author’s own Brains the MagnifiCat The book features stories from Jilly Cooper, David Blunkett and Ann Widdecombe and a foreword from the Daily... The Big Sleep (1946) is the first film version of Raymond Chandlers 1939 novel of the same name. ... See also Lady of the Lake Lady in the Lake is the title of a 1947 crime film noir from MGM Studios. ... Screenwriters, scenarists, or script writers, are authors who write the screenplays from which movies and television programs are made. ... The Blue Dahlia (1946) is a film noir with an original screenplay by Raymond Chandler. ... Strangers on a Train is a film released in 1951 by Warner Bros. ... Hardboiled crime fiction is a uniquely American style pioneered by Dashiell Hammett, refined by Raymond Chandler, and endlessly imitated since by writers such as Mickey Spillane. ... Cornell George Hopley-Woolrich (December 4, 1903—September 25, 1968) was an American novelist and short story writer. ... 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 (in his film debut). ...

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. 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. 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). William Riley Burnett (November 25, 1899 - April 25, 1982), often credited as W. R. Burnett, was an American novelist and screenwriter. ... “WB” redirects here. ... High Sierra (1941) is an early heist film and film noir written by John Huston and W.R. Burnett from the novel by W.R. Burnett. ... This Gun for Hire is a 1942 film noir, directed by Frank Tuttle and based on the novel by Graham Greene. ... The Asphalt Jungle is a 1950 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. 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.^[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. 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.^[6] Variety found Ingster's work "too studied and when original, lacks the flare to hold attention. It's a film too arty for average audiences, and too humdrum for others."^[7] 2005 DVD cover Fury is a 1936 film noir film which tells the story of a decent man who descends into ruthlessness when the woman he loves moves to the other side of the country to make enough money for them to be married. ... You Only Live Once is a 1937 crime drama film starring Sylvia Sidney and Henry Fonda. ... Stranger on the Third Floor is a 1940 film noir. ... Peter Lorre (June 26, 1904 – March 23, 1964), born László Löwenstein, was an Hungarian[1] - Austrian - American actor frequently typecast as a sinister foreigner. ... A character actor is an actor, especially in motion pictures, who predominantly performs in similar roles throughout the course of a career. ... The King of the Bs, Roger Corman, produced and directed The Raven (1963) for American International Pictures. ... RKO could stand for: RKO Pictures The R.K.O. - finishing manoever (and initials) of WWE professional wrestler Randy Orton. ... Variety is a daily newspaper for the entertainment industry. ...

Out of the Past (1947) features many of the genre's hallmarks: a cynical private detective as the protagonist, a femme fatale, multiple flashbacks with voiceover narration, dramatic chiaroscuro photography, and a fatalistic mood leavened with provocative banter. The film stars noir icons Robert Mitchum and Jane Greer.

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. 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. 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. 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. 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). 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. 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). This article is about the 1947 film; there was also a 1998 documentary of the same name. ... Convicted spy Mata Hari made her name synonymous with femme fatale during WWI. 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 compromising, dangerous, and deadly situations. ... In literature and film, a flashback (also called analepsis) takes the narrative back in time from the point the story has reached, to recount events that happened before and give the back-story. ... VoiceOver is a feature built into Apple Computers Mac OS X v10. ... For other use of the term, see Chiaroscuro (disambiguation). ... It has been suggested that Theological fatalism be merged into this article or section. ... Robert Charles Durman Mitchum (August 6, 1917 – July 1, 1997) was an Academy award nominated American film actor and singer. ... Jane Greer in Out of the Past (1947). ... The Production Code (also known as the Hays Code) was a set of industry guidelines governing the production of American motion pictures. ... Pre-Code films were created before the Motion Picture Production Code or Hays Code took effect on 1 July 1934 in the United States of America. ... This article is about the 1944 film. ... Barbara Stanwyck (July 16, 1907 – January 20, 1990) was a four-time Academy Award-nominated, three-time Emmy Award-winning, and Golden Globe-winning American actress of film, stage, and screen. ... Convicted spy Mata Hari made her name synonymous with femme fatale during WWI. 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 compromising, dangerous, and deadly situations. ... Marlene Dietrich IPA: ; (December 27, 1901 – May 6, 1992) was a German-born American actress, singer and entertainer. ... Although he never won an Oscar for any of his movie performances, the comedian Bob Hope received two honorary Oscars for his contributions to cinema. ... 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 women who were usually on the wrong side of the law. ... Rita Hayworth (October 17, 1918 – May 14, 1987), was an American actress who attained fame during the 1940s as the eras leading sex symbol. ... Gilda (1946) is a black-and-white film noir directed by Charles Vidor. ... Lana Turner (February 8, 1921 – June 29, 1995) was an Academy award-nominated American film actress. ... The Postman Always Rings Twice is a 1946 film based on the 1934 novel by James M. Cain. ... Ava Lavinia Gardner (December 24, 1922 – January 25, 1990) was an Academy Award-nominated American actress. ... The Killers, also known as Ernest Hemingways The Killers is a black and white film noir directed by Robert Siodmak and starring Burt Lancaster. ... Jane Greer in Out of the Past (1947). ... This article is about the 1947 film; there was also a 1998 documentary of the same name. ... The Maltese Falcon is a 1941 Warner Bros. ... Bogart redirects here. ... Poster of the 1941 Warner Brothers film version of The Maltese Falcon, directed by John Huston Sam Spade was the leading character in the novel and movie The Maltese Falcon (1931). ... Farewell, My Lovely (film) redirects here. ... Richard Ewing Dick Powell (November 14, 1904 – January 2, 1963) was an American singer, actor, producer, and director. ... Ed Bishop had the title role in BBC Radios The Adventures of Philip Marlowe. ... Dana Andrews (January 1, 1909 - December 17, 1992) was an American film actor. ... Laura, a 1944 film noir, tells the story of a police detective investigating a womans murder who falls in love with her portrait. ... Edmond OBrien (September 10, 1915–May 9, 1985) was an American film actor who is perhaps best remembered for his role in D.O.A.. Born in New York, New York, OBrien made his film debut in 1938, and gradually built a career as a highly regarded supporting... Edward Goldenberg Robinson (born Emanuel Goldenberg, Yiddish: עמנואל גולדנברג; December 12, 1893 – January 26, 1973) was an American stage and film actor of Romanian origin. ... The Stranger is a 1946 film noir/drama starring Orson Welles and Loretta Young. ...

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). Based on a novel by Mickey Spillane, the best-selling of all the hardboiled authors, here the protagonist is a private eye, Mike Hammer. As described by Paul Schrader, "Robert Aldrich's teasing direction carries noir to its sleaziest and most perversely erotic. 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. 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. This article is about the 1955 film. ... Frank Morrison Spillane (March 9, 1918 – July 17, 2006), better known as Mickey Spillane, was an American author of crime novels, many featuring his signature detective character, Mike Hammer. ... Mike Hammer is a fictional American detective created by the American author Mickey Spillane in the 1947 book I, the Jury (made into a movie in 1953 and 1982). ... 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 a United States film director, writer and producer notable for a number of films including What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte, and The Dirty Dozen. ... Touch of Evil (1958) is considered one of the last examples of film noir in the genres classic era (from the early 1940s until the late 1950s). ... Allusion is a figure of speech, reference/representation of/to a well-known person, place, event, literary work, 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. 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. The noir style gradually influenced the mainstream—even beyond Hollywood. Continuity editing is the predominant style of film editing practiced by most Hollywood editors. ... Absurdism is a philosophy stating that the efforts of humanity to find meaning in the universe will ultimately fail (and, hence, are absurd) because no such meaning exists, at least in relation to humanity. ...

Directors and the business of noir

A scene from In a Lonely Place (1950), directed by Nicholas Ray based on a novel by noir fiction writer Dorothy B. Hughes. Two of noir's defining actors, Gloria Grahame and Humphrey Bogart, portray star-crossed lovers in the film.

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). 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). Otto Preminger's success with Laura (1944) made his name and helped establish 20th Century-Fox's reputation for well-appointed A noirs. 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). 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. 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 is a 1950 film noir directed by Nicholas Ray, starring Humphrey Bogart and Gloria Grahame, and produced for Bogarts Santana Productions. ... Nicholas Ray (born Raymond Nicholas Kienzle) (August 7, 1911–June 16, 1979) was an American film director. ... Hardboiled crime fiction is a uniquely American style pioneered by Dashiell Hammett, refined by Raymond Chandler, and endlessly imitated since by writers such as Mickey Spillane. ... Dorothy Belle Hughes (1904—May 6, 1993) was a U.S. crime writer and critic. ... Gloria Grahame (November 28, 1923 - October 5, 1981) was an Academy Award-winning American film actress. ... Bogart redirects here. ... The Maltese Falcon is a 1941 Warner Bros. ... John Marcellus Huston (August 5, 1906 – August 28, 1987) was an American film director and actor. ... Key Largo is a 1948 film starring Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson, Lauren Bacall, Claire Trevor, and Lionel Barrymore. ... The Asphalt Jungle is a 1950 film noir directed by John Huston. ... Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock KBE (August 13, 1899 â€“ April 29, 1980) was an iconic and highly influential British-born film director and producer who pioneered many techniques in the suspense and thriller genres. ... For other uses, see Shadow of a Doubt (disambiguation). ... Notorious is a 1946 thriller directed and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, and starring Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman as two people whose lives become intimately entangled during an espionage operation. ... 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 Ludwig Preminger (December 5, 1906 – April 23, 1986) was a film director. ... Laura, a 1944 film noir, tells the story of a police detective investigating a womans murder who falls in love with her portrait. ... 20th Century Fox logo Fox Plaza, the company headquarters. ... Fallen Angel is a 1945 black-and-white film noir-style movie directed by Otto Preminger. ... Whirlpool is an Otto Preminger-directed film, considered film noir, starring Gene Tierney as the kleptomaniac wife of a psychoanalyst. ... Where the Sidewalk Ends is a 1950 film directed by Otto Preminger starring Dana Andrews, Gene Tierney, and Karl Malden. ... Robert Mitchum and Jean Simmons in Angel Face Angel Face is a 1952 black-and-white film shot in the film noir style. ... It has been suggested that Norma Desmond be merged into this article or section. ... Ace in the Hole is a 1951 black-and-white film starring Kirk Douglas and directed by Billy Wilder. ... In a Lonely Place is a 1950 film noir directed by Nicholas Ray, starring Humphrey Bogart and Gloria Grahame, and produced for Bogarts Santana Productions. ... Nicholas Ray (born Raymond Nicholas Kienzle) (August 7, 1911–June 16, 1979) was an American film director. ... They Live by Night is a Film noir released in 1949. ... On Dangerous Ground is a 1952 film released by RKO Radio Pictures, directed by Nicholas Ray and produced by John Houseman. ...

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. Like The Stranger, Fritz Lang's The Woman in the Window (1945) was a production of the independent International Pictures. 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.^[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. Lang, Bennett, and her husband, Universal veteran and Diana production head Walter Wanger, would make Secret Beyond the Door (1948) in similar fashion.^[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.^[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). 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.^[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]). The Lady from Shanghai is a black-and-white film noir directed by and starring Orson Welles. ... Directed by Fritz Lang, The Woman in the Window, a black-and-white film noir, is the story of psychology professor Wanley (Edward G. Robinson), who meets and falls in love with a young femme fatale. ... Scarlet Street is an American film noir from 1945. ... This article is about the American media conglomerate. ... Joan Bennett on the December, 1945 issue of Movie Story Magazine Joan Geraldine Bennett (February 27, 1910 – December 7, 1990) was an American film actress who also achieved success later in life as a television actress. ... Walter Wanger (July 11, 1894 - November 18, 1968) was an important American film producer. ... DVD cover of French release Secret Beyond the Door. ... Brute Force is a 1947 brooding, brutal drama movie considered film noir. ... Mark Hellinger (March 21, 1903 to December 21, 1947) is primarily known as a New York theatre critic and reviewer. ... Raoul Walsh as John Wilkes Booth in Birth of a Nation Raoul Walsh (March 11, 1887 – December 31, 1980) was an American film director, actor, founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) and the brother of silent screen actor George Walsh. ... They Drive by Night is a 1940 black-and-white film starring George Raft and Humphrey Bogart. ... High Sierra (1941) is an early heist film and film noir written by John Huston and W.R. Burnett from the novel by W.R. Burnett. ... White Heat is a 1949 crime film starring James Cagney, Edmond OBrien and Virginia Mayo. ... The Enforcer is a black-and-white 1951 film, considered film noir, starring Humphrey Bogart. ... Edward Dmytryk (September 4, 1908 - July 1, 1999) was an American film director who was amongst the Hollywood Ten, a group of blacklisted film industry professionals who served time in prison for being in contempt of Congress during the McCarthy era red scare. ... Farewell, My Lovely (film) redirects here. ... Crossfire is a 1947 film which dealt with the theme of anti-semitism, as did that years Academy Award for Best Picture winner, Gentlemans Agreement. ... Protestors opposing the jailing of the Hollywood Ten in 1950 (from the 1987 documentary Legacy of the Hollywood Blacklist). ... Henry Hathaway (March 13, 1898 – February 11, 1985) was an American film director and producer. ... The Dark Corner (1946) Ex con turned Private investigator Bradford Galt suspects someone is following him and maybe even trying to kill him. ... Kiss of Death is a 1947 film noir movie written by Ben Hecht and Charles Lederer from a story by Eleazar Lipsky. ... John Farrow was an award-winning film director, producer and screenwriter, born John N.B. Villiers-Farrow on February 10, 1904 in Sydney, Australia. ... The Big Clock is a 1948 film noir thriller set in New York City based on the novel by Kenneth Fearing. ... His Kind of Woman is a black-and-white 1951 film noir mystery film 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). 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. 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. 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. 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."^[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. 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. 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, supplanting an earlier format in which one feature film and various short subject reels would be shown. ... 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 mostly short-lived small studios, many clustered in the area of Los Angeles, USA known as Gower Gulch, near the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Gower... For other uses, see Monogram (disambiguation). ... PRCs logo 1945 One of the larger Hollywood production conglomerates of Poverty Row of the late 30s-mid 40s (along with Republic Pictures and Monogram Pictures and smaller outfits) PRC, as it was commonly known, intentionally made mostly small-budget B-movies. ... Jacques Tourneur, born November 12, 1904 – died December 19, 1977, was a French film director. ... Allied Artists Pictures Corporation This subsidiary of Monogram Pictures was founded in 1946. ... Robert Wise (September 10, 1914 – September 14, 2005) was a sound effects editor, film editor, and Academy Award-winning American film producer and director. ... Born to Kill, a 1947 black and white film, was the first film noir directed by Robert Wise, who later directed The Set-Up (1949), The Captive City (1952), and Odds Against Tomorrow (1959). ... The Set-Up (1949) is an example of film noir. ... Anthony Mann (June 30, 1906 - April 29, 1967), was an American actor and film director. ... T-Men is a 1947 semi-documentary style film noir shot in black and white. ... Raw Deal is a 1948 film noir directed by Anthony Mann and with cinematography by John Alton. ... Johann Altmann (October 5, 1901 – June 2, 1996), photographed some of the most famous films noir of the classic period. ... Police plan of attack late in He Walked By Night He Walked by Night is a 1948 black-and-white film noir directed by Alfred L. Werker. ... The police procedural is a sub-genre of the mystery story which attempts to accurately depict the activities of a police force as they investigate crimes. ... Eagle Lion Films was a British film company that merged with PRC Pictures in the 1940s. ... Dragnet was a long-running radio and television police procedural drama about the cases of a dedicated Los Angeles police detective, Sergeant Joe Friday, and his partners. ...

Cheap at twice the price: Detour (1945) cost $117,000 to make when the biggest Hollywood studios spent around $600,000 on the average feature. But the accountants at small PRC weren't happy—it was 30% over budget.^[15]

Directors such as Samuel Fuller (Pickup on South Street [1953], Underworld U.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. (Dalton Trumbo—like Dmytryk, one of the Hollywood Ten—wrote the Gun Crazy screenplay disguised by a front while still blacklisted.) The work of others such as Felix E. Feist (The Devil Thumbs a Ride [1947], Tomorrow Is Another Day [1951]) await critical rediscovery. 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. In 1945, while at PRC, he directed one of the all-time noir cult classics, Detour. 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. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1215x950, 108 KB) low-res image of poster for PRCs Detour (1945), directed by Edgar G. Ulmer This image is of a movie poster, and the copyright for it is most likely owned by either the publisher of the movie... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1215x950, 108 KB) low-res image of poster for PRCs Detour (1945), directed by Edgar G. Ulmer This image is of a movie poster, and the copyright for it is most likely owned by either the publisher of the movie... Detour is a 1945 film noir cult classic that stars Tom Neal, Ann Savage, Claudia Drake and Edmund MacDonald. ... PRCs logo 1945 One of the larger Hollywood production conglomerates of Poverty Row of the late 30s-mid 40s (along with Republic Pictures and Monogram Pictures and smaller outfits) PRC, as it was commonly known, intentionally made mostly small-budget B-movies. ... Samuel Fuller (1987) Samuel Michael Fuller (August 12, 1912 – October 30, 1997) was an American fil