All of these examples show what a clever and gifted writer Chandler was in showing how Philip Marlowe had to maneuver and survive in his noir world. Marlowe makes many
biting and witty remarks in his interactions with other characters in Chandler’s novels, such as The Big Sleep and Farewell, My Lovely Murder, My Sweet – film version. The wry
personality of Philip Marlow is found in the first paragraph of the novel The Big Sleep, as he says, “I was neat, clean, shaved and sober, and I didn’t care who knew it. I was everything
the well-dressed private detective ought to be. I was calling on four million dollars.” The wisecrack remarks of Marlowe are found in Farewell, My Lovely also as Marlowe talks about
Moose Malloy and says he looks “about as inconspicuous as a tarantula on a slice of an angel food”. Then when a person gives Marlow a picture of a blond-haired woman, he says, “A
blond to make a bishop kick a hole in a stained glass window.” Therefore, these examples show that Chandler, like Cain, was also a gifted writer in making witty dialog and clever
phrases that he could also transfer to a movie format with ease as a talented scriptwriter. Both writers used the same literary styles in their novels as they did in their film versions as
scriptwriters.
1.6 Importance of the Study
The study is significant to examine the emergence and development of noir literature and its screen adaptations, as well as to consider how this style andor theme is still present in
modern day literary works, the film industry, and society in general. An in-depth analysis of the noir style and characters’ psychology is essential to measure the degree of societal
reflection and sentiment expressed through film noir. After World War II, Americans had to come to terms with how to deal with their
futures. One of these means was through cinematic portrayal, such as in film noir. Noir was
the primary film style and narrative style of this time. Some of the movie styles have French and German influences, but noir itself is considered to be more American in substance, as it
was influenced more directly by writers such as Dashiell Hammett, James M. Cain, Raymond Chandler, Cornell Woolrich, Ernest Hemmingway, Mickey Spillane, among others. Most of
the noir actors and cameramen were American, even though some of the directors were German. The dark moods of this genre can be seen to have arisen from the general mood of
the country after the War. There seems to be a disillusionment found after WWII when servicemen returned home and housewives and businessmen had to change their lifestyles.
Urban crime increased and poverty was on the rise. The films showed an antagonism toward American society. Some of these movies showed problems lingering from soldiers returning
home, the effects of the atomic bomb, McCarthyism, and communism in Korea. Despite these problems, there were also many other types of movies, books, and TV shows that had a
positivistic image of American society with an improving middle class.
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Therefore, it is interesting to research various aspects of noir literature and its film adaptations to fathom its
relationship with American society in the mid- 20
th
century. Several questions can be put to the forefront regarding film noir, such as: Did it just
rehash the same styles of the prewar crime films? Did American society need melodramatic illusions to overcome disillusions about the society or giving in to prosperity? Or was it just a
cycle that Hollywood embraced for a short time and then just abandoned it like any other genre? These kinds of factors can be considered to see how they influenced the popularity of
noir literature and films at the time. Various perceptions can be made about what noir literature and films reflected about American society in the 1940s era. After several decades
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Schickel, Richard. “Rerunning Film Noir”. The Wilson Quarterly. Vol. 31, No. 3, 2007, p.36.
have passed, it is also interesting to address the presence of this noir style in literature and films of today.
1.7 Research Questions
