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Film noir is the term used to describe a style of 1940's and 1950's Hollywood crime drama. The term "film noir" literally means "black movie", which is descriptive of both the physical and psychological aspects of the genre. Classic films shot in the film noir style include, The Maltese Falcon, Shadow of a Doubt, Laura, and The Hitch-Hiker. The use of shadows and silhouettes is characteristic of film noir.
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Fast Facts
- Term coined by Nino Frank, 1946FilmSite.org: Film Noir
- Genre rarely featured happy endings*FilmSite.org: Film Noir
- Made during the 1940's and 1950s in the post World War II periodCrime Films: Film Noir
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Origins of Film Noir
Many film historians trace the origins of film noir to the economic and political climate of the 1920s and 1930s. In the years leading up to the Great Depression in the United States, authors such as Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler and James Cain published detective fiction that reflected the fear and anxiety Americans were feeling during the period. During the same time, in Germany, directors such as Otto Preminger and Billy Wilder were producing movies in a dark and highly crafted style that is seen as a reflection of the post World War I climate in Germany. When these German film-makers emigrated to the United States as a result World War II, the combination of depression-era American crime fiction with German film-making resulted in films such as Double Indemnity and Laura, now seen as two of the first film noir movies.GreenCine: Film Noir -
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"“The disillusionment many soldiers, small businessmen and housewife/factory employees felt in returning to a peacetime economy was directly mirrored in the sordidness of the urban crime film."—Paul SchraderThe Wilson Quarterly: Rerunning Film Noir (Summer 2007) -
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The Mahalo Top 7
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IMDb: Best "Film-Noir" Titles
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Crime Films: Film Noir
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Wikipedia: Film Noir
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Images: Ten Shades of Noir
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YouTube Video: Film Noir (Time: 6:00)
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The Wilson Quarterly: Rerunning Film Noir (Summer 2007)
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Modern Times: Film Noir Palace
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IMDb: Best "Film-Noir" Titles
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Film Noir on Twitter Powered by Twitter
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a good film noir from 1947 CROSSFIRE Interesting that they had to change the hate crime victim from a gay to Jewish because of censorship
@CharlesCasillo | November 09, 2009 02:09 PM -
AICN Exclusive: WOLFMAN poster!!! It's very Film Noir... http://ow.ly/160rgO
@owf_movienews | November 09, 2009 01:25 PM -
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Ik heb het getroffen tijdens de themaweek. In het theme Film hebben mijn werkgroepje en ik het genre film noir. Ik heb kijklust!
@arjanpunter | November 09, 2009 01:02 PM -
Put The Summer Heat On Ice With Classic Film Noir « Screaming Blue... http://tinyurl.com/y8725ef
@charmauuyms | November 09, 2009 12:52 PM
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Film Noir on Amazon | View All
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Nocturne For Ava - $16.99
Through the richly textured scores of noir classics and movie music from Michel Legrand, Duke Ellington & Johnny Mandel, guitarist Bob Sneider & vibist Joe Locke add their provocative originals and arrangements to spin a darkly romantic tal...
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The Philosophy of Film Noir (The Philosophy of Popular Culture) - $24.95
From The Maltese Falcon (1941) to Touch of Evil (1958), the classic film noir is easily recognizable for its unusual lighting, sinister plots, and feeling of paranoia. For critics and fans alike, these films defined an e...
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Questions and Answers About Film Noir | View All | Ask a Question
View All Film Noir Questions (609) | Ask a QuestionWhich is the worlds big budget film? (1 Answer)According to 'The numbers', upcoming Avatar has the biggest budget, $300,000,000, followed by Spider-Man 3 with $258,000,000. The top-10: 1 Avatar 20th Century Fox $300,000,000 2 Spider-Man 3 Sony $258,000,000 ... read moreDo film students go to grad school? (3 Answers)It looks to me like most of these programs are there to teach you how to make films. Here is a place where you can start looking for grad studies ... read moreIn Depth Charge song Dreaming of the jungle we can hear some audio quotes from some horror movie. Whats the title of that film? (1 Answer)He really doesn't like to tell people from what movies he uses his samples as seen here: http://www.spiderbytes.com/ambientrance/inttyler.htm But he has used samples from The Evil Dead and Evil Dead ... read moreWhat is your favorite Natasha Richardson film? (5 Answers)You haven't seen her act till you see her in the 1988 movie, Patty Hearst! I found this small clip but it is NSFW. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMOIU5_7yx0 read more
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