Film Noir

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses reasons why the Joan Crawford's picture, "Possessed" is not really a film noir. It contends that it is rather a star vehicle for a female audience, as opposed to the male-dominated hard-boiled detectives and underworld figures who populated films noir of the '40s and '50s.

From the Paper:

"Film noir, literally black film was a term for crime melodramas usually low to medium budget and usually begun in the black-and-white eras before fancy color and special effects happened. Most of the subjects dealt with either crime, both punishment and retribution. In a sense one could say that this film genre became popular at the end of World War II when universal disillusionment set in and when the idea often was for someone to get away with it as long as it wasn't ..."

More papers on Film Noir:

• Essay # 89430 : "Casablanca as Film Noir"
• Film Review # 121279 : "Film Noir in "Double Indemnity"
• Research Paper # 61789 : "Women in Film Noir"

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