cigarjoe Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 It would almost be better to say that, rather than call these films a genre call them a style/tool of film making used in certain film/plot sequences or for a films entirety that was used to convey claustrophobia, alienation, obsession, and events spiraling out of control, predominantly in Crime, Thriller, Horror and Suspense films (but also occasionally in other genres) that came to fruition in roughly the period of the last three decades of B&W film (though there are some color examples). Then you can say we have this Film Noir Style that can have two opposite poles one would be Films de la nuit, Films of the night, the opposite would be Films Soleil, films of the sun, those sun baked, filled with light Noirs, then all the rest would fit in the spectrum in between being various shades of grey or Films Gris. No? ;-) A few Examples: Films de la nuit Armored Car Robbery The Asphalt Jungle The Big Combo Black Angel Crime Wave Criss Cross The Crooked Way Crossfire The Dark Corner Dead Reckoning Detour Double Indemnity Edge of Doom Fallen Angel He Walked By Night Killers Kiss The Killers The Killing Kiss Me Deadly The Narrow Margin Night And The City 99 River Street The Phantom Lady Raw Deal Red Light Scarlett Street The Strange Lives of Martha Ivers Sudden Fear Storm Warming T Men The Set Up They Live By Night They Made me a Fugitive Touch Of Evil Where Danger Lives Where The Sidewalk Ends The Window Films Soleil (a lot of light in these comparatively to those above) Ace In The Hole The Hitch-Hicker High Sierra Gun Crazy Bad Day At Black Rock (color) Highway Dragnet Roadblock Inferno (color) Desert Fury (color) Niagara (color) The Naked City Violent Saturday (color) Nightfall The Lineup Suddenly Down Three Dark Streets The Breaking Point Cry Vengeance The Phenix City Story Jeopardy 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cigarjoe Posted June 3, 2015 Author Share Posted June 3, 2015 I should add Party Girl to the "Films de la nuit" as a "color" noir and a "color" Films Gris Sightly Scarlet with cinematography by the great John Alton story by James M. Cain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Anthony Posted June 5, 2015 Share Posted June 5, 2015 This is a great list. The point about noir as an expression of obsession, is right on. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wstanley Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 The first Friday of TCM's Summer of Darkness Film Noir Festival was wonderful & by the looks of the schedule it will only get better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesJazGuitar Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 I should add Party Girl to the "Films de la nuit" as a "color" noir and a "color" Films Gris Sightly Scarlet with cinematography by the great John Alton story by James M. Cain So Joe what are your views on Women on the Run as it relates to noir style. To me it really hit all the right notes in terms of visual style. First the setting being San Francisco. I like this city for noir even more so then NYC. One key reason is all the hills. So many great shots one can get showing people and cars going up and down hills as well the shots showing a much longer distance. With NYC buildings create a much shorter 'window' (but this does help with the 'I'm trapped' vibe). Maybe I'm reading into this but I get the feeling of someone struggling when I see them walking up a hill (well in Dark Passage this was clearly the case with Bogie after his surgery). Hills and the backdrop of SF just add something extra. WOTR had many other noir visuals but there was a balance so they didn't come off as being trite "conventional noir" type footage. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyMoll Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 cool, different way to see the noirs. I always saw the films as film noir genre, but i would separate them into sub-types. For me there are Crime Noirs (i.e. Asphalt Jungle, The Killing) Woman's Noirs (Mildred Pierce, Woman on the Run) Oddball Noirs (The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse, Decoy) Detective Noirs (The Big Sleep, Maltese Falcon) Love Story Noirs (Clash by Night, Laura) Pure Noirs (Out of the Past, Too Late for Tears) I guess in my own way I agree with you, because what makes film noir a different style from a mystery, comedy, drama, romance??? It's that certain mood, feel no matter what elements are in that make it that way. Kinda like just because a western has heist or a love story in it, doesn't make it less of a western. It would almost be better to say that, rather than call these films a genre call them a style/tool of film making used in certain film/plot sequences or for a films entirety that was used to convey claustrophobia, alienation, obsession, and events spiraling out of control, predominantly in Crime, Thriller, Horror and Suspense films (but also occasionally in other genres) that came to fruition in roughly the period of the last three decades of B&W film (though there are some color examples). Then you can say we have this Film Noir Style that can have two opposite poles one would be Films de la nuit, Films of the night, the opposite would be Films Soleil, films of the sun, those sun baked, filled with light Noirs, then all the rest would fit in the spectrum in between being various shades of grey or Films Gris. No? ;-) A few Examples: Films de la nuit Armored Car Robbery The Asphalt Jungle The Big Combo Black Angel Crime Wave Criss Cross The Crooked Way Crossfire The Dark Corner Dead Reckoning Detour Double Indemnity Edge of Doom Fallen Angel He Walked By Night Killers Kiss The Killers The Killing Kiss Me Deadly The Narrow Margin Night And The City 99 River Street The Phantom Lady Raw Deal Red Light Scarlett Street The Strange Lives of Martha Ivers Sudden Fear Storm Warming T Men The Set Up They Live By Night They Made me a Fugitive Touch Of Evil Where Danger Lives Where The Sidewalk Ends The Window Films Soleil (a lot of light in these comparatively to those above) Ace In The Hole The Hitch-Hicker High Sierra Gun Crazy Bad Day At Black Rock (color) Highway Dragnet Roadblock Inferno (color) Desert Fury (color) Niagara (color) The Naked City Violent Saturday (color) Nightfall The Lineup Suddenly Down Three Dark Streets The Breaking Point Cry Vengeance The Phenix City Story Jeopardy 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cigarjoe Posted June 7, 2015 Author Share Posted June 7, 2015 So Joe what are your views on Women on the Run as it relates to noir style. To me it really hit all the right notes in terms of visual style. First the setting being San Francisco. I like this city for noir even more so then NYC. One key reason is all the hills. So many great shots one can get showing people and cars going up and down hills as well the shots showing a much longer distance. With NYC buildings create a much shorter 'window' (but this does help with the 'I'm trapped' vibe). Maybe I'm reading into this but I get the feeling of someone struggling when I see them walking up a hill (well in Dark Passage this was clearly the case with Bogie after his surgery). Hills and the backdrop of SF just add something extra. WOTR had many other noir visuals but there was a balance so they didn't come off as being trite "conventional noir" type footage. Woman On The Run does hit all the right notes, another to check out is The Crooked Way featuring LA and the cinematography of John Alton. NYC does it for me too though, neither San Francisco or LA has els or much in the way of subways Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cigarjoe Posted June 9, 2015 Author Share Posted June 9, 2015 cool, different way to see the noirs. I always saw the films as film noir genre, but i would separate them into sub-types. For me there are Crime Noirs (i.e. Asphalt Jungle, The Killing) Woman's Noirs (Mildred Pierce, Woman on the Run) Oddball Noirs (The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse, Decoy) Detective Noirs (The Big Sleep, Maltese Falcon) Love Story Noirs (Clash by Night, Laura) Pure Noirs (Out of the Past, Too Late for Tears) I guess in my own way I agree with you, because what makes film noir a different style from a mystery, comedy, drama, romance??? It's that certain mood, feel no matter what elements are in that make it that way. Kinda like just because a western has heist or a love story in it, doesn't make it less of a western. I agree, I would sort of add to those: Historical Noirs (The Black Book, The Tall Target) Westerns Noirs (Pursued, Blood On The Moon) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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