Film noir, which literally translates as ‘black film’ or ‘dark film’, refers to both a genre of classical Hollywood crime dramas of the 1940s and 1950s, as well as a particular style of film-making marked by high contrast lighting, cynical themes, and atmospheric storytelling.
Most of these black-and-white movies unfold in an urban setting—cities or suburbs, rife with corruption, theft, and decadence.
The protagonist is often a stoic private investigator or an embittered police officer, forced to take the law into their own hands, drawn into a tangled web of lies, deceit, and murder, often by a seductive tragic heroine.
The plots and themes of these films were inspired by the American school of hardboiled detective fiction, as well as the aesthetics of German Expressionism.
The result: tightly-wrought films that are gritty in tone, with low-key lighting, morally dubious characters, witty dialogue, and very rarely, a happy ending—that have stood the test of time.
So, if you’re in the mood to revisit some Hollywood classics, add these film noir gems to your watchlist.
Double Indemnity
Double Indemnity was directed by Billy Wilder, one of the most astute and versatile directors of classic Hollywood, known for hits such as The Apartment (1960), Sunset Boulevard (1950), Some Like It Hot (1959), Ace in the Hole (1951) and many more.
An intricately-crafted film, with many twists and turns that constantly manipulate the audience’s expectations, Double Indemnity set the standards for film noir for many years to come.
It follows an insurance agent who colludes with an unhappy housewife to kill her husband and claim a life insurance payment—but the murder, despite its successful execution, draws suspicion and investigation from all quarters.
The Big Heat
Directed by Fritz Lang, The Big Heat is a heartbreakingly beautiful film about a lone cop mourning the death of his murdered wife, taking on the town’s corrupt crime syndicate.
The movie unabashedly dives into the bleakness of the genre, and isn’t afraid to be harsh to its characters, dooming every femme fatale from the start but not before giving them some agency.
The chemistry between the embittered detective Sergeant Dave Bannion (played by Glenn Ford) and the facially-scarred housewife Debby Marsh (played by Gloria Grahame) is very palpable, yet inflected with a bittersweet flavor, that elevates the film to greatness.
The Maltese Falcon
Another of the classics, this John-Huston-directed film stars Humphrey Bogart in the lead role, and is packed with mystery and suspense elements.
Bogart plays the detective Sam Spade whose partner is murdered, shortly after a mysterious woman contacted them for their investigative services. The bloody trail leads Sam on a frantic search for the “Maltese falcon”—an antique figurine of immense value, exchanging hands in the black market.
The romance, like in most of these films, has a painfully tragic twist to it, yet manages to emphasize the need for moral integrity and candor in an unjust and selfish world.
Laura
It’s no surprise that film noir is a rather depressive genre, where the quest for personal happiness is hard to achieve, replaced with seeking justice or vengeance instead, no matter the cost.
However, if you’re in the mood for something tightly-written, lighter in tone, and an unexpectedly happy-for-now editing, you can check out Laura (1944) directed by Otto Preminger, wherein a detective investigating the murder of a charismatic and beautiful young woman slowly falls in love with her, himself.
In particular, the latter half of the film is utterly brilliant, as the mystery elements slowly fall into place, with the movie’s last few minutes riddled with extreme suspense but resolving satisfactorily.
Moreover, the screenplay is smartly done, with the villains delivering some of the most memorable and wittiest lines.
The Big Sleep
Also starring Humphrey Bogart, The Big Sleep is directed by Howard Hawks, based upon Raymond Chandler’s 1939 novel of the same name.
The movie follows the detective Philip Marlowe, hired by a rich family to help resolve the gambling debts of one of the daughters, but the case turns out to be increasingly complex—rife with murder, blackmail, lies, and even the possibility of love.
Intricately-plotted and utterly engrossing, the film has multiple moments of characters double-crossing each other, making for a riveting watch among crime drama fans.
Dial M for Murder
Finally, if the spate of black-and-white films has you longing for a world of color, check out Alfred Hitchcock’s Dial M for Murder, a suspense-ridden crime thriller, deeply influenced by film noir classics such as Double Indemnity and others.
The film follows a conniving ex-tennis player who intends to do away with his wealthy socialite wife for her fortune, and therefore plots the ‘perfect’ murder—but of course, executing the same isn’t so easy.
Masterfully crafted, fast-paced, and filled with tension, Dial M for Murder transfers film noir’s artistic sensibility into the color screen, with mesmerizing elan.
Featured still from “The Maltese Falcon” via Warner Bros.
