The Maltese Falcon - 1941 -
Emblematic film that casts the visual icons of the genre for the cinema...
Early in this period, the gangster film evolved toward a more realistic presentation of crimes and villains. At the same time, it slipped from the pure gangster story toward detective and crime-fighting plots, to finally be mixed with elements taken directly from the works of the emerging American hard-boiled writers. Violence had a purpose, and characters leaned to a more existentialist attitude regarding life, social relations and... crime.
At the time, film technique moved toward a more graphic representation of moods and ambiance due to light and camera effects, as often seen previously in the Expressionist cinema of pre-war Germany. During the end of the thirties, the influx of European cinema technicians, writers and directors into the USA was, on the other hand, bringing Hollywood a fresh set of approaches to cinema as a technique and as an art form.
Another source of influence was certainly the French cinema of the thirties. French directors had more freedom and were generally more concerned with the artistic rendition of their filming of original scripts.
Often they compensated for their lack of financial means by improvisation and creativity. For example, filming on location, using non-professional actors, realistic photography... all were elements experimented with by directors in France during the thirties.
But more than techniques, it is obvious that the daring and "contestataire" stand taken by the plots of the best French films of the time, with the very accentuated existential approach of the characters(not speaking of their pessimistic view of power and social arrangements), had a strong influence on the development of the film Noir in the USA. Everybody agrees about the impact by such film as "Le Jour se leve" (1939 by Marcel Carné) with the tragic destiny of the central character, but 'Pepe le Moko', the "poetic realism" of films scripted by Jacques Prevert, and certainly the famous "Quai des Brumes" in 1938 (antimilitarist, pessimistic and brilliantly made) all had certainly much to do with the future ethics found in the Noir film. Or even with their esthetics (see stills from these French films on this page, below).
 | Typical shot of Carné's film: Le Jour se Lève - 1939 Jean Gabin will be assaulted by police forces The film is a long flashback telling the story of the murderer |
 | Le Jour se Lève Typical street decors Realistic reconstitution of popular quarters |
 | Quai des Brumes- 1938 by Marcel Carné The central character meets his tragic destiny Pessimistic,antimilitarist, ...and close to Noir ethic by a lot of aspects |
Producers in Hollywood were concerned with quick releases of B films to fill the increasing demand of the public. As these hard-boiled, fast action plots -- with sometimes melodramatic renditions of crimes, misfits and corruptions within the modern society -- were rather successful, they were produced in increased quantities all during the forties. Tight budgets meant that directors and other film technicians had to be inventive and effective, using ellipses and visual symbols to cut the costs of elaborate scene shooting. But a lot of them were real creators and the constraint was not a real limitation. On the contrary.
As per the studio policies of distributing new scripts to designated directors, all under their wings, it also happened that due to the emerging popularity of the genre some confirmed directors were given better budgets for these types of film. A very good example was The Big Sleep, directed by Howard Hawks.
On the other hand, it was also the opportunity for unknown talents to develop their qualities in pure B series, wherein there was less control by the producers and the studio hierarchy. A very good example of excellent B series : The Narrow Margin (1951) by Richard Fleischer, who was not well known at the time.
(see still from this film, below)
It is a fact that, with the development of film Noir, this period is one of the best for creativity in Hollywood, going beyond the usual escapist pastime their production usually was.
Ironically, the best films of the period were (and still are, with very few exceptions) those black gems found in stories inspired by popular literatures, giving an account of the street life in America, but also going deeper in depicting the human weaknesses and the general corruption than what was usual in films at the time.
A consequence was that the best cineastes of that era came from that arena as well and kept those qualities in the more mainstream productions they later came to, forming the core of what America harbored as the best cinema creators of its history. They really shined amid the ocean of mediocrity and vulgarity that was the daily bread of Hollywood.
FILMS LIST
Our list next page gives you our selection of what we would recommend as the best of hard-boiled and Noir cinema for that period. This includes the emerging of the genre in some foreign productions.
As announced, we will also explore briefly the stretched boundaries of the genre. That will bring us into the territory of Westerns, war films, and others in a separate chapter.
