Doomed hero man. He’s gots to be doomed or it ain’t real Noir.
That’s what makes Sunset Blvd work as Noir for me.
And there’s a god damn MONKEY FUNERAL!
But honestly in some ways Noir is the story of the post WWII male. These guys have come back from a hell that they can never talk about, and that steely internalization becomes the manly man way that leads the guys to their downfall. Well, that and a dame.
I always wondered how Wilder’s original planned opening for Sunset Boulevard would have played. He wanted to open the movie with Holden’s narration as the camera tracked through a hospital morgue, eventually ending on Holden’s body - who then would have suddenly sat up and continued narrating.
Billy Wilder was one crazy, crazy dude. I still can’t get over how mean Sunset Boulevard is.
I liked the book better, even though it was written to be a movie. The writing read much snappier in my head than what they did in the movie and the characters just felt different.
I think it’s mostly post-depression, rather than WWII vets, though that was certainly a factor in post-war films - at least with regard to their popularity. But the pattern was already well established by then.
Maltese Falcon, book: 1930
First movie: 1934
Satan Met a Lady adaptation: 1936
Second movie (actually third, second with the same title): 1941 (yes, Bogart’s Falcon was a remake)
The Postman Always Rings Twice (by James M. Cain - an author I highly recommend, who wrote the novel Double Indemnity, which has an ending very different from the movie. Also wrote Mildred Pierce):
Novel: 1934
French Film Version Le Dernier tournant: 1939
Italian Film Version Ossessione: 1942
American Film Version: 1946
The Big Sleep, novel: 1939.
Farewell, My Lovely, novel: 1940.
A lot of it comes from 30s literature, not post-WWII, but with the Noir style.
Heck, Stagecoach, 1939, fits the tough lone outsider who has seen rough things already, that has to come in and fix things, though it is not Noir-style.
I haven’t read it, I should go pick up a copy. I just really like the whole feel of the movie, and the zither music just completely gets it for me.
Somehow, I have not. This sounds awesome - thanks for the heads up, Andrew!
I’d toss in The Spanish Prisoner. Mamet noir.
Well, in that case, Ill add House of Games.
But yeah, gotta love the Third Man. I was in Vienna last month and got my picture taken in THE doorway from the movie. It was awesome.
Funny you frame it this way. When I reference noir, I usually say “and anything with Elisha Cook Jr. in it.”
FTR, my favorite “true” film noir is The Killing, which coincidentally stars both Sterling Hayden and Elisha Cook Jr!
What ? No love for Kiss Me Deadly ? Come on guys, that’s like the ultimate Noir film !
Yeeeeah… you should probably read the thread before you post something like this.
Now I did !
One of Mamet’s lesser-known films is Homicide, which I thought was one of his best. Noir all the way.
Also, you guys are forgetting a classic: Body Heat.
I’m looking forward to the Philip Marlowe film. Although Frank Miller directing leaves me cold as he’s completely untested.
Recently saw this for the first time: definite thumbs-up.
Plenty of good titles listed on film noir’s Wiki page. As madkevin points out, “classic” noir is traditionally defined by timeframe as much as style, bookended by “Stranger on the Third Floor” at the beginning (some go with “Maltese Falcon” instead) and “Touch of Evil” at the end.
Great recommendation on Miller’s Crossing, just saw it. Tom’s manipulation throughout the movie was easy to follow, and I like how it made you question whether he really cared about anyone or not until the very end, when you realize that all that mattered to him was Leo. I also like that despite all his backstabbing and manipulation, he had this intangible quality of honor to him that I could never quite understand. Either way, awesome flcik.
“Look into your heart!”
“What heart.”
Lot of movies to catch up on here it seems.
And it gets better every time you watch it.
Isn’t that the one where Barney is the town hero, even though Andy and Thelma find their way out through a tunnel?