Noir Production and Censorship Restrictions

many Americans. “A Gallop poll showed that 62 of the public feared a serious depression in the next 10 years.” 20 Broe claims that film noir was developed after World War II due to when Americans had many hopes and dreams that were about to be realized, but then they were taken away. Related with this, he says film noir is a longing for a desired change that did not come to fruition. At a class level, this is found in the union struggles after the war to improve worker livelihood. The position of the union worker fighting against a big corporation is similar with a fugitive going against the law. Likewise, Lingeman claims that film noir was born at the end of the war, and the product of several social, political, and artistic developments; however, many other sources point to its beginning much earlier. 21 Broe considers film noir to be primarily an expression of class, and particularly of postwar American class tensions and class struggle. 22 During the war, prices and wages were frozen and unions were not allowed to strike. In practice, especially after the war, strikes were more common. The noir character can be representative of this as a counter to government regulations. Therefore, in the period during and after WWII, many social, cultural, economic, and political factors played significant roles in societal perceptions and their portrayals through entertainment media.

2.3 Noir Production and Censorship Restrictions

In examining the popularity of crime novels in the 1920s, pulp magazines were printed in bulk and there was a sharp increase in a literate American society. Readers interested in the crime and detective stories of writers like Cain, Chandler, and Woolrich 20 Lingeman, Richard. The Noir Forties: The American People from Victory to Cold War. New York: Nation Books, 2012, p.78. 21 Ibid, p.193. 22 Broe, Dennis. Film Noir, American Workers, and Postwar Hollywood Working in the Americas. Florida: University Press of Florida, 2010, p.1. could purchase their stories for relatively cheap prices. As this writing genre gained popularity, it opened the door for Hollywood to turn their literary works into film versions that gained the interest of a society that was increasingly interested in topics of violence, sexuality, and criminality. One of the influences that affected the development of noir was the background of the writers and filmmakers. For example, in making the film Double Indemnity, it relied on the journalistic experience of James M. Cain as the novel writer and Billy Wilder as the producer and screenplay writer along with Raymond Chandler. As Wilder and Cain were both interested in tabloid journalism, it influenced their writing styles in creating the novel and film versions. Cain’s novel was inspired by one of the most sensationally publicized and photographed murder cases of the 1920s, in which Ruth Snyder was convicted of bludgeoning, strangling, and poisoning her unwanted husband. Snyder became the first woman to be executed in the electric chair, and as the fatal switch was thrown, a reporter from the Daily News used a hidden camera strapped to his ankle to snap her picture. The headline on the next day Friday, January 13, 1928 was a single word— “DEAD”—accompanied by a full-page, low-angle photo of the youthful Snyder in a dark, open-necked dress, her body fastened to the chair. ‘This is perhaps the most remarkable exclusive picture in the history of criminology,’ the caption read. ‘It shows the actual scene in the Sing Sing death house as the lethal current surged through Ruth Snyder’s body at 11:06 last night. Her helmeted head is stiffened in death, her face masked and an electrode strapped to her bare right leg. The autopsy table on which her body was removed is beside her’. 23 The fact that Cain was inspired by this story shows his interest in a kind of realism that is often found in news stories. This is also reflected in his writing style, as it resembles a news story more than an elaborately descriptive novel. James Naremore also postulates that the style of classic film noir can be attributed to the trend of urban street photography in the 1940s and 1950s. Naremore claims that this was a “period associated with tabloids such as PM, with slick-paper magazines such as Life and 23 Naremore, James. More than Night: Film Noir in its Contexts. Berkeley: The University of California Press, 2008, p.280. Look, and with the photographic movement known as the ‘New York School’.” 24 Therefore, this interest in night urban street scenes was heightened through its visual style on the big screen. During the war, the Office of War Information OWI regulated the content shown in films through the Bureau of Motion Pictures BMP. The movie industry had more pressures placed on it as it had to conform to the BMP’s guidelines and sometimes change the storylines. The BMP wanted to unite the American people in supporting the war effort for an Allied win, so it devised several themes that were deemed appropriate. These topics included the issues and why we fight, the enemy that we fight, united nations and allied peoples, work and production, the home front, and the fighting forces. 25 The purpose of this was to unite Americans through pro-US propaganda. By showing violence in newsreels that supported the war, it eventually opened the door for noir storylines depicting violence and crime after censorship was not as strict. The film Double Indemnity was particularly influential in leading the way for other noir films to be produced and released with the true characteristics of noir. The shortage of movie production materials was significant during the early years of WWII. In 1941, Harry Warner elaborated on this by saying to various movie industry practitioners, “The thoughtless waste of one hundred feet of film may cost the life of an American soldier who may be your son or your brother. Waste is more deadly than sabotage.” 26 These kinds of constraints not only forced actors and movie producers to reduce the number of takes in making films, but it also forced the movie industry to reduce the amount of lighting, which promoted more dark and nighttime scenes as are often found in 24 Ibid, p.281. 25 Biesen, Sheri Chinen. Blackout: World War 2 and the Origins of Film Noir. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 2005, p.69. 26 Ibid, p.72. noir pictures. Besides this, filmmakers such as Alfred Hitchcock reverted to using actual towns for film locations instead of elaborate studio sets to save money and reduce waste. Contributing to the tendency to do more noir pictures was that quicker technological advancements were devised as a direct result of the war. For example, in documenting the war it was necessary to make lighter equipment with better camera lenses that could be used for nighttime viewing. This, in turn, allowed for better filming of night and dark scenes for noir pictures. As a consequence, noir films were able to emulate the way war newsreels were filmed, creating a more life-like atmosphere. This realistic aspect is an important feature of the noir moods. For the film settings, in many of the classic noir films, the settings are in an urban Los Angeles landscape. For example, The Big Sleep has an LA locale, as Philip Marlowe played by Humphrey Bogart is a detective who goes around the city trying to find clues about who committed a crime. He walks around dark and lonely streets at night interrogating suspects and considers them mostly deceitful. Murder, My Sweet, Double Indemnity, Mildred Pierce, and The Postman Always Rings Twice also have LA settings. Next, when America entered the war, various social, cultural, and economic factors contributed to making film noir prominent during and after the war years. This is due to inconsistencies in enforcing movie content regulations and the censorship was not clear-cut. For example, un-American gangster films depicting violence were not permitted but movies that supported the war effort through violence and atrocities were allowed. These inconsistencies paved the way for hard-boiled novels to be turned into films by simply reforming gangsters and promoting an American sentiment for the war. But by 1943 Hollywood stopped mentioning the war as related with patriotism and just focused on the hard-boiled aspects that were often reflections of societal concerns. More stylistic variations were found in the filming that better supported the thematic elements of noir films. 27 As coastal cities often experienced blackouts at night, so that the anti-aircraft weapons and the army could better foresee and target an enemy attack, it had an adverse effect on its citizens. It created an atmosphere of bleakness, isolation, claustrophobia, and alienation, which are all found in varying degrees in a noir film. Hollywood, according to present indications, will depend on so-called ‘red meat’ stories of illicit romance and crime for a major share of its immediate non-war dramatic productions: the apparent trend toward such material, previously shunned for fear of censorship, is traced by observers to Paramount’s successful treatment of the James M. Cain novel, Double Indemnity, which was described by some producers as ‘an emancipation for Hollywood writing’. 28 The documentary technique, or newsreel style, was cheaper to make and seemed more realistic. This filming style using a dark style and black-white contrast reflected society’s wartime setting. For example, in various cities like Los Angeles, there were frequent blackouts in effect. The mood of this condition was relayed to the big screen. James M. Cain’s novels were banned for over 10 years from being turned into films due to the harsh subject matter. But by using the documentary technique, the novel Double Indemnity was able to be turned into a motion picture. By using the black-and-white coloring schemes, dark lighting, and stark camera angles, the movie version was even better able to convey the deprived, hopeless, and anxious conditions that were conveyed in the novel. After the success of Double Indemnity on the big screen and the ability to avoid censorship, it allowed for two of Cain’s other famous novels The Postman Always Rings Twice and Mildred Pierce to be turned into film adaptations as well. Another hardboiled crimedetective writer, Raymond Chandler, would also benefit from the easing up of censorship, as he soon followed in making two of his most famous novels Farewell, My Lovely re-titled as Murder, My Sweet in the film version to avoid seeming like a musical production and The Big Sleep into 27 Ibid, p.93. 28 Stanley, Fred, New York Times 1944, from Biesen, Sheri Chinen. Blackout: World War 2 and the Origins of Film Noir. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 2005, p.96. successful film adaptations. These films were greatly influential in kick-starting the popularity of noir films and literature well into the 1950s. Originally Cain’s novel Double Indemnity was rejected to be turned into a film in the mid-1930s. The reason was because it did not conform to production code standards of the time as Cain’s work was seen to be immoral by the censorship committee. It dealt with such topics as cold-blooded murder, deception, a sexual relationship that encouraged the two people Walter Neff and Phyllis Dietrichson to kill the woman’s husband, the two lovers committing suicide in the novel, and other such unwholesome topics. The censorship committee worried that by seeing these kinds of actions and behaviors, it would encourage moviegoers to do the same. Therefore, the story was unable to be turned into a film until several years later. In the meantime, Cain published his short novel in various literary sources, making his story even more popular over the years. Only after he resubmitted his story to the censorship committee and made several changes to the screenplay was it finally approved and turned into a movie. Some of the changes he had to make were not mentioning what kind of poison was used to kill the husband Mr. Dietrichson, making the woman Phyllis Dietrichson wear clothing that covered more of her body, not giving explicit details about how the crime was committed, not using rude language, among various other restrictions. 29 In response to all the censorship hoops Cain had to jump through to finally get Double Indemnity approved for filming, he stated, What about the ban on my other stories? For example, The Postman Always Rings Twice is still gathering dust at MGM, which could be a fine movie if handled as adroitly as Double Indemnity. What about Mildred Pierce which I am told has favorable Hays comment? What about Serenade with which obvious changes could become an excellent picture? I’m getting sick of the Hays office and I’m not in the 29 Biesen, Sheri Chinen. Blackout: World War 2 and the Origins of Film Noir. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 2005, p.101. least bit amused at the money it is costing me ... I am perfectly frank to say ... It is not only the principle of the thing with me but the money. 30 With the release of the movie Double Indemnity, Cain became a prominent and well- known writer of hard-boiled literature. Chandler also became more famous as he wrote the screenplay for Double Indemnity and became more involved in screenwriting than detective story writing. Another aspect of a noir film that was prominent in its production was the use of witty dialog and innuendos that sometimes had sexual undertones. The purpose of this kind of writing style was to avoid being censored before the film release. In the film Double Indemnity but not the literary work, the use of witty dialog is visible when the protagonist Walter Neff is engaged in a conversation with the femme fetale Phyllis as he is flirting with her in her house: Phyllis: There’s a speed limit in this state, Mr. Neff. Forty-five miles an hour. Walter: How fast was I going officer? Phyllis: I’d say around ninety. Walter: Suppose you get down off your motorcycle and give me a ticket. Phyllis: Suppose I let you off with a warning this time. Walter: Suppose it doesn’t take. Phyllis: Suppose I have to whack you over the knuckles. Walter: Suppose I bust out crying and put my head on your shoulder. Phyllis: Suppose you try putting it on my husband’s shoulder. Walter: That tears it. Then before Walter leaves Phyllis’ house and says he will come back to discuss an accident insurance policy with her husband, they say to each other: Walter: Will you be here ... same chair, same perfume, same anklet? Phyllis: I wonder if I know what you mean. Walter: I wonder if you wonder. 30 Hanna, “Hays Censors Rile Jim Cain”, from Biesen, Sheri Chinen. Blackout: World War 2 and the Origins of Film Noir. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 2005, p.102. By writing a script like this with hidden meanings, Chandler and other script writers later could get approval for their movies while still defying the moral clause that the censor committee upheld. In making Double Indemnity, a voiceover narration and flashback sequence was used, which also became a trademark of these kinds of films. The reason for this is the films were supposed to have some morality attached to them like by showing the characters getting caught or killed for a crime they committed and then going back over the details from the beginning. The voiceover narration is often the protagonist’s voice of reason telling about the events that unfold in a matter of fact manner. The characters are doomed, fatalistic, and divided between doing different things, similar to the obstacles that were placed on writers during the war and due to the psychological trauma people experienced during the early 1940s. Although there were restrictions on the script and scenes, the director was free to use any kind of sound, lighting, or photography to create the desired effect he wanted. The dark and menacing style of these films became a trademark feature for noir films produced in later years. Therefore, the chiaroscuro lighting and use of shadows can be considered as responses to the censorship and how directors tried to get around that to express their creativity as well as the effects of the wartime situation. Manipulating the lighting became the key to make a film look as realistic as possible while conveying the appropriate messages and mood. As Cain used to be a journalist, he writing style supported the gritty and realistic style that was apparent in his noir literary works. He did not use magical, flowery, or poetic writing but wanted to convey the real mood of the time. It was different with many musicals and uplifting dramas that were made during the war that did not really reflect what was especially felt by the people of the period. In filming Double Indemnity, it utilized a newsreel style that mirrored that used for war propaganda films. The character Phyllis was more realistic in her appearance as she was not as glamorous looking as the Lana Turner character in The Postman Always Rings Twice. Lana Turner’s character was perhaps too glamorous looking for a noir film as she realistically would not look that glamorous just being the wife of a diner owner. Therefore, realism is pertinent to many aspects in the literary and film versions of Cain’s and Chandler’s works. In their film versions, the writers did not want to have everything completely neat and organized in the scenes, as in real life it is illogical to expect everything to be glamorous and organized. Using enclosed rooms and tight spaces is another aspect of noir films that contributes to a claustrophobic feeling. This is felt in various scenes throughout the various movies as the characters are in cramped spaces. For example, in Double Indemnity, Phyllis and Walter meet in a crowded small grocery store that conveys a sense of claustrophobia and symbolizes that the characters will not get away with their scheme. This kind of filming emphasized the notion that if you do the crime, you pay the crime. Additionally, this scene serves as a criticism of materialism and loss of traditional values, as the characters are surrounded by tall stacks of canned goods on all the shelves. After Cain’s novel Double Indemnity gained great success in the movie theaters, it facilitated Chandler to make his novel Farewell, My Lovely into the film Murder, My Sweet. The novel was immediately approved to be turned into a film, whereas before the success of Double Indemnity it would have been rejected. However, there was still censorship on harsh language, sexuality, sadistic violence, and suicide. Nevertheless, its instant approval to be made into a film showed that by 1944 America was becoming more tolerant of and desensitized to scenes of violence due to in large part being in the midst of World War II for the past few years. Murder, My Sweet also had to deal with budget restrictions and material limitations in making the movie due to the war. But the role of femme fetales and the use of their sexuality to gain more power or favors was more noticeable in advertisements and posters for the movie. This can also represent society’s concerns about women being unfaithful to their significant others fighting overseas at the time, as well as the shifting roles of women in society to become more independent. As Double Indemnity and Murder, My Sweet gained national and international recognition, not to mention hefty profits, it encouraged another of Cain’s novels, The Postman Always Rings Twice to be turned into a film. Since Double Indemnity set a president for noir films, this movie was able to be produced, despite having a criminal and sexual theme. After this film was given the green light, Cain’s novel Mildred Pierce and Chandler’s novel The Big Sleep soon followed to become film adaptations. The Postman Always Rings Twice was Cain’s first novel. It was banned for film adaptation for so many years due to its story about two people having an affair and wanting to murder the woman’s husband. The theme dealt with violence, sex, and money. Cain’s narrative style was found in this novel and subsequent ones because he wrote in a concise manner and used first person narration. The dialog was also acidic and tough. By the mid-1940s, this novel was able to be made into a film as people recognized its artistic merit. The acceptance of this novel, as with Cain’s and Chandler’s other works, is reflective of the war situation. In filming The Postman Always Rings Twice, several concessions had to be made to gain censorship approval. For example, the femme fetale’s clothes are mostly white, so she does not look so sinister. Also, the lighting is brighter with more high key lighting than that found in Double Indemnity. Next, the film did not use the newsreel style like that is found in Double Indemnity, but used a more modern filming style which detracted from the realistic effects of the newsreel style. Also, to meet the censorship standards, if the characters are criminals or adulterers, then they have to die, be imprisoned, or repent. This is to dissuade people in real life from getting any ideas to do a similar illegal or immoral act. The censorship people wanted common citizens to be aware that all crimes are punishable, and they should not imitate what is shown on the screen. Like Double Indemnity, this film also has flashbacks done in a narrative style to show the protagonist’s psychological state of mind and eventual fall due to his criminal actions. Here, also, the narration serves as a voice of reason and sense of morality. Double Indemnity’s dark story of homicide and adultery marked not only a stylistic breakthrough for filmmakers but also signaled some relaxation in the Hays Office’s moral patrol of the screens. It was encouraging news to Wald and other producers who wanted to take more risks. Murder could make money, murder spiked with love and lust could make twice as much. With such ingredients added to Mildred Pierce, Wald deduced that he would have a hot property on his hands since the film would appeal to more than just the women’s audience. 31 Otto Friedrich stated, “At Warners, a studio so frugal that some of its employees called it ‘San Quentin’, shooting a film in moody darkness and rain tended to disguise the cheapness of the sets.” 32 Therefore, because of budgetary constraints and the fact that many of these films were not allowed to be shot outdoors if they were made near coastal areas due to the World War II environment, oftentimes those films settled with what they had for financial allocations and were attributed as “B” movie status because of their low budgets. These movies relied on various kinds of lighting like chiaroscuro, no lighting, or very bright lighting to get the special effects desired. Various camera angles were also used to convey the desired psychological effects like high, low, oblique, among others. The heyday of the noir era did not last very long because too many films saturated the market. People became bored with the depressing themes and the studios ended up losing 31 Francke, Lizzie, Script Girls, from Biesen, Sheri Chinen. Blackout: World War 2 and the Origins of Film Noir. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 2005, p.142. 32 Friedrich, Otto, qtd in Lingeman, Richard. The Noir Forties: The American People from Victory to Cold War. New York: Nation Books, 2012, p.197. money as there was a reduction in moviegoers. In addition, the theme was considered unpatriotic and subversive. Movie producers could be blacklisted for showing pessimistic or critical films of American society. It was eventually more popular to make upbeat films about religious themes. Many noir films do not make a specific reference to WWII, but the cynicism, brutality, and black-and-white visual style reflected the grim realities of living during the war. At the time Double Indemnity was produced in 1943, there was already a 10-year ban on Cain’s novels from being turned into screen adaptations due to the harsh and negative sentiment the novels conveyed. Hollywood wanted to produce films that were more positive in outlook and reflective of American ideals, such as that portrayed in movies like The Bells of St. Mary’s 1945, with Bing Crosby and Ingrid Bergman. Noir films of the World War II era often “portrayed a world of menace and urban deviance, featuring rain-slicked city streets and murderers lurking in back alleys, seductresses bathed in the haze of cigarette smoke, detectives covered in the barred shadows of venetian blinds, crooked cops, and the sound of gunfire. Enhancing the distinctive look and cinematography of film noir, moody lighting and camerawork emphasized heavy expressionistic shadows, stark visual design with low-key chiaroscuro pools of light, claustrophobic interiors and confined spaces, high-contrast black-and-white photography, oblique camera angles, and asymmetrical compositional framing.” 33 According to Biesen, “The bleak vision in these films grew out of wartime American culture, the realities of making films in Hollywood during this time, and the way home-front – and battlefront – audiences saw these pictures.” 34 Furthermore, “The noir aesthetic derived 33 Biesen, Sheri Chinen. Blackout: World War 2 and the Origins of Film Noir. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 2005, p.2. 34 Ibid, p.2. from wartime constraints on filmmaking practices. Brooding, often brutal, realism was conveyed in low-lit images, recycled sets disguised by shadows, smoke, artificial fog, and rain, tarped studio backlots, or enclosed sound stages.” 35 Related to the psychological effects, “These early noir films created a psychological atmosphere that in many ways marked a response to an increasingly realistic and understandable anxiety – about war, shortages, changing gender roles, and a world gone mad – that was distinctive from the later postwar paranoia about the bombs, the cold war, HUAC, and the blacklist, which was more intrinsic to late 1940s and 1950s noir pictures.” 36 As the war progressed, Hollywood was unable to sensor as much of the violence and sexuality as in previous years. In the past, violence was found in films, but it was still allowed as long as there was a moral message and a positive conclusion to the story. However, as society became more aware of violence and atrocities committed in the war, the realistic aspects affected the film industry. There ended up being more stories adopted from novels and stories about affairs, crimes, murders, and so on. In the 1930s, James Cain was unable to have his literary works made into films, but in the 1940s the social climate changed, facilitating Cain’s works to be adapted into screenplays. During the war there was still censorship but more in terms of promoting a positive wartime image. However, it made it easier for film noir as the violence from the war became more commonplace for people to see. Therefore, people became more numb and tolerant to violence due to the wartime images they were used to seeing in wartime newsreels. Hollywood lighting grew darker, characters more corrupt, themes more fatalistic, and the tone more hopeless. By 1949 American movies were in the throes of their deepest and most creative funk. Never before had films dared to take such a harsh 35 Ibid, p.3. 36 Ibid, p.3. uncompromising look at American life, and they would not dare to do so again for twenty years. 37 This infers that living in a wartime atmosphere had a great effect on American mentality. Film noir was able to grow during and after the war due to the realism of the time combined with changes in masculinity and the male psyche as gender roles shifted during the war. The mood from film noir can also be examined from the era in which these movies were made. The mood was also established because of the material limitations from financial constraints. Also, travel was limited and many indoor sets were used. The budgeting reduced the lighting as well. In the early years of the war, RKO had to focus more on making films that appealed to domestic audiences because of the bombings and instability in Europe. As a result, it produced more films like musicals, comedies, and escapist melodramas that had more of an American flair. “In accordance with the general industry trend, RKO eschewed any stories based on contemporary world problems. Thus, even though the European conflict was wreaking havoc on company commerce, the production philosophy was to pretend that World War II did not exist.” 38 Raymond Chandler and James Cain wrote stories that were based on a primary masculine point of view. Chandler wrote more about moody detectives, and Cain wrote more about protagonists who were actually criminals. 37 Schrader, Paul, qtd in Biesen, Sheri Chinen. Blackout: World War 2and the Origins of Film Noir. Baltimore, John Hopkins University Press, 2005, p.9. 38 Jewel and Harbin, qtd in Biesen, Sheri Chinen. Blackout: World War 2and the Origins of Film Noir. Baltimore, John Hopkins University Press, 2005, p.34. In 1948 Chandler wrote, “I did not invent the hard-boiled murder story and I have never made any secret of my opinion that Hammett deserves most or all of the credit.” 39 Essentially, Chandler was involved in the big box office productions of Double Indemnity and Murder, My Sweet, which led to him being recognized as a leader in hard-boiled crime stories, as they were previously low budget productions. These hard-boiled themes are a reflection of America’s hard-working culture at home and defense emphasis during the war, as well as people’s lives were being turned upside down during the war years. Although censors grew more tolerant of violence depicted in movies during WWII, they still opposed gangster films as they were seen as anti-American and could be used as Nazi propaganda. Therefore, “Hollywood transformed criminals into more patriotic, guilt- ridden, unstable, and self-destructive proto-noir protagonists – a variation on mobsters – combating espionages and sabotage; in doing so, studios succeeded in evading censorship.” 40 Related to society and the government in the 1940s, leftist filmmakers used noir to critique particular American values and promote alternative American values that focused on equality, sympathy for the oppressed, and collectivity over capitalism and rampant individualism. These filmmakers criticized materialism and the upper class hypocrites. They also called the media out for not reporting about cases of oppression that often occurred. Various noir films deal with the topic of secrecy, paranoia, betrayal in response to the House Un-American Activities Committee HUAC and its censorship and suppression of anything deemed as being unsupportive of the American war effort. Blacklists were also made by this government committee for filmmakers who did not support pro-government ideals. The 39 Chandler, Raymond, qtd in Biesen, Sheri Chinen. Blackout: World War 2and the Origins of Film Noir. Baltimore, John Hopkins University Press, 2005, p.42. 40 Biesen, Sheri Chinen. Blackout: World War 2and the Origins of Film Noir. Baltimore, John Hopkins University Press, 2005, p.49. filmmakers were against big corporations and self-interest. They also believed in liberty and equality, which are values espoused by American society today. 41 In considering the different types of noir, May divides noir into two kinds. “One set focusing on authority figures who demolish evil doers, cure pathology, or ease adaptation to the middle-class dream, and a second group created by the Left that celebrates non- conformism and perpetuates the ideal of the hybrid rebel in a quest of wholeness against an alienating society.” 42 The leftist perspective of the late 1940s changed to be more conservative in the 1950s with the increased threat of communism. “The leftist films of the 1940s primarily explored the class system, capitalism, and the ideology of the American Dream.” 43 Another kind of noir prominent during World War II was related with detective stories. Broe looks at the similarities between detectives who obeyed the law and then went out of it, as well as factory workers who obeyed the law and then engaged in going on strikes to contest the law in the post-war society. Labor and businesses were very strong during the war. “Not only profits but also business power grew during the war as business and government interests overlapped ever more tightly. Corporate profits during the war were 250 percent higher than before the war, averaging 22 billion per year during the war, a figure which exceeded that of 1929, until 41 Osteen, Mark. Nightmare Alley: Film Noir and the American Dream. Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press, 2012, p.221. 42 May, qtd in Osteen, Mark. Nightmare Alley: Film Noir and the American Dream. Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press, 2012, p.225. 43 Osteen, Mark. Nightmare Alley: Film Noir and the American Dream. Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press, 2012, p.225. then the most profitable year for the American industry.” 44 This is due primarily to cost increases but with wages frozen. During the World War II era, workers were forced to accept the wage freezes, even though they felt that they were sacrificing much and that the companies were getting all the profit. The government was also involved in businesses and workers who did not abide by the company regulations would be seen as being unpatriotic or even treasonous in not supporting the war. Therefore, the government and businesses worked hand in hand to encourage workers to abide by their regulations. In general, workers supported the war but had to suffer from the effects of it like low wages and unsafe working conditions. This eventually led to disillusionment about wanting to be independent but having to toil while working for big businesses. It is different from the frontier days where people could buy a plot of land and have a means to support themselves. Now they were dependent on government controlled or influenced businesses. This theme of disillusionment is present in many noir films as well, as characters realize their lives are not what they expected. Thus, in Hollywood as in the nation as a whole, the wartime anti-fascist consensus by the middle of the war and increasingly from then on collided with the sense that, under the guise of patriotism, the law was increasingly being used as a device to bludgeon working people into participating at no benefit to themselves in the increased prestige, profits, and power of American business. 45 “Films made immediately before and during the war tended far more than in the period of the mid to late 1930s to deal with contemporary subjects, but they put a patriotic gloss on the treatment of those subjects.” 46 “As America became more heavily involved in World War II, hard-boiled serie noir crime fiction made exemplary screen material. Its stark vision, minimal style, fast pace, 44 Broe, Dennis. Film Noir, American Workers, and Postwar Hollywood. Florida: University Press of Florida, 2010, p.2. 45 Ibid, p.9. 46 Ibid, p.14. graphic sex, life-like violence, and cynical edge suited the bleaker experience, raw realities, and lean, no-nonsense filmmaking climate of wartime Hollywood.” 47 In Los Angeles, especially, as the movie capital for the majority of films, the Pearl Harbor attack resulted in anxiety for people along the coast. As a result, there were many blackouts and bomb worries as people were concerned about being bombed by the Japanese. This altered the way movies were made and contributed to the film noir mood in movie making. Even Raymond Chandler in writing Farewell, My Lovely which the movie Murder, My Sweet was based on wrote about the insecurities brought by the war. “The effort to keep my mind off the war has reduced me to the mental age of seven. The things by which we live are the distant flashes of insect wings in a clouded sunlight.” 48 Even in writing about what it was like to live in Los Angeles during the war, Chandler stated, “There is a touch of the desert about everything in California, and about the minds of the people who live here. During the years when I hated the place I couldn’t get away, and now that I have grown to need the harsh smell of the sage I still feel rather out of place here.” 49 The urban setting in film noir is also a result of the war situation in actual reality. As America became increasingly involved in the war, people from rural areas moved to cities and bigger towns to work in factories to support the war effort. Consequently, factories were producing 24 hours a day to make weapons and other items necessary for the war. This kind of a night life made people accustomed with the atmosphere, which was transformed into noir film settings that were often at night or in dark or dimly lit locations. 47 Biesen, Sheri Chinen. Blackout: World War 2 and the Origins of Film Noir. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 2005, p.58. 48 Chandler, Raymond, qtd in Biesen, Sheri Chinen. Blackout: World War 2 and the Origins of Film Noir. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 2005, p.60. 49 Ibid, p.60. Another reason for the increase in noir films after the war was that some studio bosses were in partnerships with various mob leaders of a studio union IATSE. Even Raymond Chandler who wrote many private detective stories and eventually turned to screenwriting noticed this. He stated, “They looked like a bunch of topflight Chicago gangsters moving into read the death sentence on the beaten competitor. It brought home to me in a flash the strange psychological and spiritual kinship between the operations of big money business and the rackets. Same faces, same expressions, same manners. Same way of dressing and same exaggerated leisure of movement.” 50 When noir films were at the height of their popularity the fears and anxiety associated with the war were transposed to movies that dealt with themes like crime, violence, and brutality. To avoid censorship in dealing with these themes, some movie producers would disguise them under the theme of patriotism. As censorship restrictions became more lax, the use of crime and violence increased in noir films. Raymond Chandler’s involvement in writing screenplays as well as his and Cain’s novels becoming increasingly popular for film adaptations contributed to this shift. It also became trendier to use actual real-life urban settings at night instead of tarped studio settings during the war. These real-life settings are obvious in such films as Double Indemnity and Mildred Pierce, as they were filmed directly in Los Angeles. These local settings were combined with violence, crime, and sexual undertones. Related with the shift in film content, Raymond Chandler wrote, The studios have gone in for these pictures because the Hays office is becoming more liberal ... okaying treatments now which they would have turned down ten years ago, probably because they feel people can take the hard-boiled stuff nowadays. Of course, people have been reading about murderers, cutthroats and thieves in the newspapers 50 Chandler, Raymond, qtd in Lingeman, Richard. The Noir Forties: The American People from Victory to Cold War. New York: Nation Books, 2012, p.187. for years, but only recently has the Hays office permitted the movies to depict life as it really is. 51 Film noir became much more popular overseas after the war ended as European countries that were previously cut off from the entertainment and literary developments in the USA, now gained exposure to these trends. France was especially impressed with the noir style, as the American film industry and literary world had developed it so much, in keeping in mind that originally the noir style was borrowed from France. French critics claimed that the American picture industry “boasted an unusual and cruel atmosphere ... one tinted by a very particular eroticism. What used to be known as the detective genre ... from now on we’d be better to call ‘crime adventure stories’ or, better still, ‘criminal psychology’.” 52 Therefore, the noir style was able to develop and be influenced by various wartime conditions. Before the war started, the trend was to make more gangster and horror type films. But as the war became a part of American lives, the government banned these types of films from being shown or drastically altered them to conform to censorship standards. During the war, it was preferred to make more patriotic and combat films to support the Allied effort overseas. But after the war, the trend changed again to make more criminal psychology films. The purpose of this was to show that not everything is good allies or bad axis – Germany and Japan, but that people have varying degrees of goodness and badness in them. Besides being based on crime and detective novels, many noir films were also developed from news or tabloid stories. Many war-time and early post-war noir films conveyed a social message. Many times they dealt with underlying themes of veterans with psychological problems who cannot adapt with regular society after leaving the war, criminality in their surroundings because of the 51 Chandler, Raymond, New York Times, from Biesen, Sheri Chinen. Blackout: World War 2 and the Origins of Film Noir. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 2005, p.189. 52 Borde and Chaumeton, Panorama of American Film Noir, from Biesen, Sheri Chinen. Blackout: World War 2 and the Origins of Film Noir. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 2005, p.189. war, wartime atrocities, or other social problems resulting from the wartime conditions. The primary focus was on being realistic. After the war, the themes and elements of noir films started to change. Facing a communist threat and the Cold War, the messages conveyed through these films varied. The political, economic, and social issues were different from those themes during World War II. To compound this, bigger budgets were allotted for the film industry and Technicolor films started to replace the black-and-white ones. The wartime constraints and materials were also lifted and the filming industry became more technologically advanced. During the Cold War period, the cultural anxieties were based more on such themes as the atomic bomb, communism, xenophobia, organized crime, among others. The filming was also different as it was more grayish than the traditional blackwhite contrast of the World War II era. The location shootings also changed to more suburban or small town settings. Eventually as the threat of communism became more intense, many topics became blacklisted for noir films and even various writers, directors, producers, and actors. To add to that, the market was already saturated with the noir style of film and viewers became bored. This led to the rapid decline of noir films by the mid-1950s. Films of the 1950s preferred to use brighter scenes, colored images, and positivistic themes with an emphasis on religion and the family. Therefore, many places of worship and anti-communist messages were conveyed through films of this era. The style of filming shifted to escapist and non-political stories, westerns, melodramas, science fiction, fantasy, musicals, as well as police movies and TV shows.

2.4 European Influence of Noir