The development and metamorphosis of American noir sentiment beginning in the 1940s : a black age of frustration.

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ix ABSTRACT

Andrew Thren (2015). The Development and Metamorphosis of American Noir Sentiment Beginning in the 1940s: A Black Age of Frustration. Yogyakarta: English Language Studies, Graduate Program, Sanata Dharma University.

American noir can be seen as being a certain mood or tone of literature and films that developed in the 1930s and continued until the 1950s. It is part of the same “genre” of a literary aesthetic product with a darker mood in the film adaptation. There are various definitions of noir and what characteristics comprise a work as being noir. Film noir possesses specific characteristics, moods, and attributes of its time period. Many of these thematic elements can be seen as being a reflection or extension of American sentiment in the World War II era, as America was facing a troublesome and uncertain future in the aftermath of the war. Many characters in film noir have a cultural and theological nihilism prevalent in their lifestyles. With differing opinions as to the rise and spread of noir literature and movies in the mid 20th century, I am interested in exploring two research questions. The research questions are 1) To what extent is American film noir an extension of existentialism? 2) How is the spirit of film noir still expressed in modern American society? Through examining existentialism primarily from the perspective of Albert Camus, this thesis strives to reveal the degree of pessimism, alienation, inhumanity, and overall frustration of the time period as portrayed through the main characters of the films under analysis and the extent to which a noir sentiment is found today. The results of the study reveal that noir is a particular style that has undergone various transformations over time and has made significant contributions to literature and pop culture.

Keywords: American noir, American sentiment, alienation, nihilism, existentialism.

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x ABSTRAK

Andrew Thren (2015). Perkembangan dan Perubahan Sentimen Noir Amerika Mulai Tahun 1940an: Era Hitam Kekecewaan. Yogyakarta: Magister Kajian Bahasa Inggris, Program Pasca Sarjana, Universitas Sanata Dharma. Noir Amerika dapat dipandang sebagai suasana atau kesan tertentu dari sebuah karya sastra dan film yang berkembang tahun 1930an dan berlangsung hingga 1950an. Ini merupakan bagian dari ‘genre’ yang sama dari sebuah produk estetis kesasteraan dengan suasana yang lebih gelap dalam adaptasi film. Terdapat berbagai definisi mengenai noir serta ciri-ciri apa yang menjadikan karya tersebut menjadi noir. Film noir memiliki ciri, suasana, dan atribut tertentu dalam periode waktunya. Banyak elemen tematiknya yang dapat dipandang sebagai sebuah refleksi atau ekstensi sentimen Amerika dalam era Perang Dunia II, ketika Amerika menghadapi masa depan yang penuh kekacauan dan ketidakpastian sebagai akibat dari perang. Banyak karakter yang ada dalam film noir memiliki nihilisme budaya dan teologi yang lazim dalam gaya hidup mereka. Dengan berbagai pendapat yang berbeda mengenai perkembangan dan penyebaran karya sastra dan film-film noir pada pertengahan abad 20, saya tertarik untuk menggali dua pertanyaan penelitian. Pertanyaan tersebut adalah 1) Dalam cakupan apa film noir Amerika menjadi ekstensi dari eksistensialisme? 2) Bagaimana semangat film noir masih terlihat dalam masyarakat Amerika modern? Dengan menguji eksistensialisme terutama dari sudut pandang Albert Camus, tesis ini berusaha mengungkap tingkat pesimisme, pengasingan, kekejaman, dan rasa frustrasi atas periode waktu tersebut seperti yang digambarkan dalam karakter utama film noir melalui analisis. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukan bahwa noir adalah gaya khusus yang sudah mengalami berbagai perubahan dari waktu ke waktu dan sudah membuat kontribusi signifikan kepada sastra dan budaya populer.

Kata kunci: noir Amerika, sentiment Amerika, pengasingan, nihilisme, eksistensialisme.

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The Development and Metamorphosis of American Noir Sentiment Beginning in the 1940s: A Black Age of Frustration

A THESIS

Presented as a Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree ofMagister Humaniora

in English Language Studies

by Andrew Thren

126332039

THE GRADUATE PROGRAM OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE STUDIES SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

YOGYAKARTA 2015

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE………..………... i

APPROVAL PAGE……….. ii

ACCEPTANCE PAGE……… iii

STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY……… iv

LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS………... v

TABLE OF CONTENTS……….…………... vi

ABSTRACT………...……….. ix

ABSTRAK………. x

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION………... 1

1. Background of the Study ……….... 1

1.1What is American Film Noir? ……….... 3

1.2Noir as a Genre ………... 4

1.3Noir as a Mood/Style ………... 6

1.4Interest in the Study ……….... 10

1.5 Integrity of the Thesis asa Literary Work ……….. 12

1.6Importance of the Study ………. 15

1.7Research Questions ………. 17

1.8Methodology ………..………...… 17

1.91940s American Sentiment ……….……… 19

CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW……….... 25

2. Review of Related Studies ………... 25

2.1Effects of the World War II Period on American Society …………25

2.2Post World War II Condition ………... 30

2.3Noir Production and Censorship Restrictions ………... 34

2.4European Influence of Noir ………. 54

2.5Noir as a Reflection of American Societal Concerns ……….. 56

2.6Traditional Gender Roles and the Femme Fetale ……… 66

2.7Film and Storyline Variations in Depicting Societal Problems …... 76

2.8Noir Detective Stories ………. 80

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2.9.1 Existentialism at a Glance ………. 88

2.9.2 Arthur Schopenhauerand Existentialism ……… 93

2.9.3 Friedrich Nietzsche and Nihilism ………. 96

CHAPTER III AMERICAN FILM NOIR AS AN EXTENSION OF EXISTENTIALISM………... 105

3. Albert Camus and Existentialism……….... 105

3.1Albert Camus’The Stranger………... 105

3.2Albert Camus’The Myth of Sisyphus………... 114

3.3 Fatalism and Predetermination………... 119

3.4 Fatalism and Voiceover Narration………....121

3.5 Existentialism and Male Protagonists………... 122

3.6 Material Items and Existentialism……….... 122

CHAPTER IV THE SPIRIT OF NOIR AS EXPRESSED IN MODERN AMERICAN SOCIETY………... 129

4. The Spirit of Noir ………... 129

4.1 Post WWII Neo-Noir TV Shows ………... 132

4.2 Neo-Noir Anti-Establishment Depictions ……….... 133

4.3 ModernSocietal Issues Expressed through Noir ………. 134

4.4 Neo-Noir Femme Fetales ………. 136

4.5 Neo-Noir Anti-Heroes ………..139

4.6 Existentialism and Neo-Noir Today ……….140

4.7 Three Types of Neo-Noir ………. 141

4.8 Portrayals of Classic and Neo-Noir ………..143

4.9Manifestations of Noir Today ………... 145

4.9.1 Modern Cultural Manifestations of Noir ………...145

4.9.2 Expressions of Noir in the Media Today and in the Future….... 146

CHAPTER V CONCLUSION AND LIMITATIONS, SUGGESTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS... 152

5. Conclusion and Limitations, Suggestions and Recommendations for Further Research ……...…… 152

5.1Conclusion and Limitations ………...152

5.2 Suggestions and Recommendations for Further Research………...155

REFERENCES………... 159

APPENDICES……… 165

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viii

2. Appendix 2: Biography of Raymond Chandler (1888-1959) ……...167 3. Appendix 3: Synopsis ofThe Postman Always Rings Twiceby

James M. Cain …...170 4. Appendix 4: Synopsis ofDouble Indemnityby James M. Cain …...171 5. Appendix 5: Synopsis ofMildred Pierceby James M. Cain ……...172 6. Appendix 6: Synopsis ofThe Big Sleepby Raymond Chandler …. 173 7. Appendix 7: Synopsis ofFarewell, My Lovely

(Murder, My Sweet)... 174

TABLES………...175

1. Table 1: Common Characteristics of Noir Films ………... 175 2. Table 2: Posters Depicting Positive Propaganda for the WWII

War Effort ……... 176 3. Table 3: The Detective Model ………. 177

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ix ABSTRACT

Keywords: American noir, American sentiment, alienation, nihilism, existentialism.

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x ABSTRAK

Kata kunci: noir Amerika, sentiment Amerika, pengasingan, nihilisme, eksistensialisme.

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1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 1. Background of the Study

“The streets were dark with something more than night.”

This sentence, taken from Raymond Chandler’s The Simple Art of Murder (1944), aptly conveys the sentiment and mood of noir literature and film productions in the 1940s. In thinking of what comes to people’s minds when trying to describe what film noir is, James Naremore (inMore than Night: Film Noir in its Contexts) mentions various generic, stylistic, and fashionable traits that are commonly associated with it.

There are, for example, noir characters and stories (drifters attracted to beautiful women, private eyes hired by femmes fatales, criminal gangs attempting to pull off heists); noir plot structures (flashbacks, subjective narration); noir sets (urban diners, shabby offices, swank nightclubs); noir decorations (venetian blinds, neon lights, “modern” art); noir costumes (snap-brim hats, trench coats, shoulder pads); and noir accessories (cigarettes, cocktails, snub-nosed revolvers).1

Therefore, all of these aspects can be combined to create a nuance that gives an overall dark effect and mood that is not just relegated to night scenes. With this in mind, it is pertinent to consider the relation of the manifestation of noir through movies and society.

Movies are often a reflection of the society into which they were created. What people do or see in reality is more often than not found on the movie screen. This can be substantiated through the social reflection theory, which puts forth the idea that there is “a relationship wherein one aspect of society is considered the reflection of another. It will usually attempt to demonstrate this relationship through a causal relationship whereby a

Naremore, James.More than Night: Film Noir in its Contexts. (Berkeley: The University of California Press, 2008), p.1.

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privileged term representing a part of society either gives rise to, imprints itself upon, influences, or determines a second term.”2 This theory goes on further to state that there is also a second relationship where the reflection is turned back on the first term to depict how a society recreates, reinforces, or changes through a process of dynamic reciprocity.

As literature continuously changes as new movements develop over time, it gives rise to social criticisms by varying groups of people in particular historical periods. The 1940s is one such period that facilitated a modernistic movement due to the pervading threats of the World War II era and uncertainty of what the future might bring. This movement was significant to literature as it refuted the notion that literature had to be realistic, naturalistic, and deterministic. In many respects, the noir movement is similar with the absurd literary movement often expressed in the theater. A couple of the most famous literary works regarding this absurd movement are Samuel Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot” (1948) and Edward Albee’s “Zoo Story” (1958). The absurd and noir movements believed more in the concept of producing art for its own purpose without necessarily having a higher moral calling attached to them, as in previous literary movements. Both of these literary styles convey a lack of purpose and illogical actions of characters that are sometimes reflected in human life. These literary movements showed narratives that were not necessarily clear-cut, characters with obscure psychological motives, and a lack of emotional catharsis. Dashiell Hammett, James Cain, Raymond Chandler, Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre, as well as to a lesser extent Ernest Hemmingway, George Orwell, and William Faulkner all contributed to the modernistic movement in this decade of trauma and transformation.

Therefore, varying film styles and periods can depict the societal metamorphoses that occurred within the society at different times. The cinematic versions of literary works can

http://www.ehow.com/about_5444124_social-reflection-theory.html. “Social Reflection Theory”. Accessed on February 12th, 2014. Web.

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accurately mirror the state of affairs of a society at a particular historical period by encouraging viewers to identify with particular characters in a film. This is especially true for film noir, which often reflects a dark, gloomy, and sadistic side of humanity. Political and economic changes are frequently expressed in a film production that can especially reveal society’s psychology at a certain period. As movies are often based on literary works, storylines are more certainly affected by such societal transformations. Therefore, movies have an important place in societies all over the world. Through movies, viewers can see how the ways they were created reflect trends, changes, and calls for alterations in society. To be considered great, movies can be radical, moving, and extreme to initiate particular societal changes. However, movies can also simply draw a mass following to reflect the spirit of the time without encouraging any great shifts in societal beliefs. Through existentialist viewpoints, this thesis puts forth the concept that film noir shows the fears of 1940s American society in the wake of a changing post-war civilization and the concerns and criticisms of modern social institutions.

In considering the gap in the scholarship of noir literature and films, this thesis strives to convey that the existentialist viewpoints found therein are not only applicable to past society but can also be applied to modern societal conditions. As most of the current literature on this topic deals with noir in a past context related to noir era films in general or to specific films related to a certain social condition, I decided to examine the primary literary works of James M. Cain and Raymond Chandler and their film versions while linking the sentiment revealed in those works with modern society. Only a limited number of sources discuss the concept of neo-noir and its evolution from classic noir.

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American film noir is an American crime/gangster and detective/mystery genre or mood/style mostly from the 1940s and 1950s. This type of movie is in black and white, as the mood will lose its effect if it is in color. For that reason, this kind of film is generally not colorized. This style of film has particular characteristics and attributes. Next, there are various debates about whether noir is best classified as a genre or as a mood/style.

In examining the difficulties of classifying film noir according to certain standards and traits, a comparison can be made with Michel Foucault, who wrote about the complexity of classifying biological organisms. “The biological classification systems attempt to tame the wild profusion of existing things. The classical field of natural history is nothing more than the nomination of the visible. Everything that presents itself to our gaze is not utilizable.”3 He elaborates further by stating, “The very category of natural life is relative, like all the other categories, to the criteria one adopts. And also, like them, subject to certain imprecisions as soon as the question of deciding its frontiers arises.”4Foucault’s points about grouping biological organisms, then, can be applied to noir as well, as noir changes and shifts over time depending on the social and cultural factors that it interacts with. This quandary with classifying is evident in films likeHigh Noon,Casablanca,Citizen Kane, among others, which have varying noir characteristics but cannot be definitively put into a noir category by many film scholars and critics. Therefore, it is important to examine the generic categories that are used to classify films as being noir or part of another mood, style, or genre, and realize that there may not be a perfect classification that can be applied to all noir films.

1.2 Noir as a Genre

Foucault, Michael.The Order of Things: An Archaeology of the Human Sciences. (New York: Vintage Books, 1970), p.133.

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There are various debates about whether noir is a genre or a mood/style. According to Foster Hirsch, it is a genre because of various reasons. “A genre is determined by conventions of narrative structure, characterization, theme, and visual design.”5 Since noir meets the criteria of this definition, Hirsch considers it a genre. Hirsh elaborates further by stating,

Noir deals with criminal activity, from a variety of perspectives, in a general mood of dislocation and bleakness which earned the style its name. Unified by a dominant tone and sensibility, the noir canon constitutes a distinct style of filmmaking; but it also conforms to genre requirements since it operates within a set of narrative and visual conventions. Noir tells its stories in a particular way, and in a particular visual style. The repeated use of narrative and visual structures certainly qualifies noir as a genre, one that is in fact as heavily coded as the Western.6

Next, Aeon J. Skoble defines film noir as a genre with various stylistic conventions like “unsettling or otherwise odd camera angles, the dramatic use of shadow and light, hard-boiled dialog, and settings that emphasize isolation and loneliness. Thematically, film noir is typically said to be characterized by moral ambiguity: murky distinctions between good guys and bad guys, ambivalence about right and wrong, conflicts between law and morality, unsettling inversion of values, and so on.”7

Additionally, Robert B. Pippin classifies film noir as “a group of films, called by some a genre, produced roughly between 1941 and sometime around the mid to late 1950s. Many of what we now, still somewhat controversially call the ‘authors’ of these films, the directors, were European and some of the most important were very influenced by German expressionist filmmaking.”8

Conard, Mark.The Philosophy of Film Noir. (Lexington: The University of Kentucky Press, 2006), p.9.

Hirsch, Foster. “The Dark Side of the Screen: Film Noir”, qtd in Conard, Mark.The Philosophy of Film Noir. (Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 2006), p.10.

Skoble, Aeon J. “Moral Clarity and Practical Reason in Film Noir”, from Conard, Mark,The Philosophy of Film Noir. (Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 2006), p.41.

Pippin, Robert B.Fatalism in American Film Noir: Some Cinematic Philosophy. (Virginia: The University of Virginia Press, 2012), p.4.

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Similarly, Read Mercer Schuchardt also considers noir to be a genre by commenting on the essential ingredients of noir themes as “a spiritual medium that moves and talks; the discovery of a murder without the discovery of a corpse; power and dominance; a bleak, melancholic atmosphere; anxiety; dark lighting; action taking place in the city at night; foul play; and moral ambivalence.”9

Another perspective considers noir as being not a genre per se, but more between a genre and a mood or style. Kaplan considers noir films as a genre in terms of thematic concern, narrative structure, iconography, etc., because there are a number of recognizable conventions in them.10 However, Janey Place argues that, “Because of the highly specific visual style and narrative concerns of film noir, its relatively short period, and its appearance at a historical moment of crisis (post WWII), these films – rather than constituting a genre, which is rarely defined in terms of a recognizable visual style and whose conventions very much bend with societal changes – instead represent a movement.”11 In countering Place’s argument, Christine Gledhill illustrates how traditional aspects of noir films have been applied in conjunction with European films to match with modern topics.

This particular trend within the thriller genre can be seen in other 70s films and can be distinguished from the different permutations of the genre, of which Clint Eastwood’s police thrillers are an example. In other words, film noir can perhaps better be seen as a sub-genre or a generic development emerging from the earlier gangster genre than is a genre by itself.12

1.3 Noir as a Mood/Style

In contrast to those critics who consider noir a genre, there are also scholars who do not share this perspective. Andrew Spicer believes that noir does not fit into this classification

Schuchardt, Read Mercer. “Cherchez La Femme Fetale: The Mother of Film Noir”, from Conard, Mark.The Philosophy of Film Noir. (Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 2006), p.50.

Kaplan, Ann.Women in Film Noir. (London: British Film Institute, 2008), p.15.

Place, Janey, qtd in Kaplan, Ann.Women in Film Noir. (London: British Film Institute, 2008), p.15.

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because it is “a discursive critical construction that has evolved over time.”13This essentially means that the term “noir” was applied retroactively after undergoing various developments. Spicer goes on further to state that noir plots are quite different. “Any attempt at defining film noir solely through its essential formal components proves to be reductive and unsatisfactory because film noir, as the French critics asserted from the beginning, also involves a sensibility, a particular way of looking at the world.”14 Spicer essentially means that you cannot just look at the studio effects in how the noir visual style is created, but you have to look deeper at how these films convey a certain perspective on the world and humanity. In this way, the moods found in the early noir literary and film works can be applied in future noir works of various genres. Raymond Durgnat supports Spicer’s argument by claiming that you have to classify noir based on its motif and tone. Durgnat conveys that the tone is bleak and cynical, and the dominant motifs are related to crime and social criticism, gangsters, private eyes and adventurers, middle-class murder, portraits and doubles, sexual pathology, and psychopaths.15Besides these characteristics, other traits that can be found are a feeling of loss, nostalgia, and insecurity. R. Barton Palmer also uses the term “transgeneric” to describe noir because it can be expressed through various genres like melodramas, thrillers, Westerns, horrors, etc. Usually it will deal with a breakdown in society and some kind of criminality.16 J.P. Telotte supports this position by stating that noir does not use a conventional narration because these kinds of stories are in a third-perspective, have characters with specific goals that are logical, and have a finality or everything tied up at the end. Instead, Telotte states that

Spicer, Andrew, qtd in Conard, Mark.The Philosophy of Film Noir. (Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 2006), p.11.

Spicer, Andrew.Film Noir, qtd in Conard, Mark.The Philosophy of Film Noir. (Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 2006), p.11.

Durgnat, Raymond, qtd in Conard, Mark.The Philosophy of Film Noir. (Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 2006), p.11.

Palmer, R. Barton, qtd in Conard, Mark.The Philosophy of Film Noir. (Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 2006), p.12.

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noir stories are unconventional and deal with problems of truth, objectivity, and the ability to understand reality.17

In trying to come up with a proper definition for noir, Naremore claims, “Film noir belongs to the history of ideas as much as to the history of cinema; in other words, it has less to do with a group of artifacts than with a discourse—a loose, evolving system of arguments and readings that helps to shape commercial strategies and aesthetic ideologies.”18Naremore goes on further to say, “Noir is not merely a descriptive term, but a name for a critical tendency within the popular cinema—an anti-genre that reveals the dark side of savage capitalism.”19

Similarly, in defining noir, Steven M. Sanders claims, “Noir themes and moods include despair, paranoia, and nihilism; an atmosphere of claustrophobic entrapment; a nightmarish sense of loneliness and alienation; a purposefulness fostered in part by feelings of estrangement from one’s own past even as one seems driven to a compulsive confrontation with that past. Film noir presents us with moral ambiguity, shifting identities, and impending doom. Urban locales give noir films authenticity, adding texture to their psychologically dense and convoluted plots.”20

Next, Jason Holt defines noir as “characterized in terms of its bleak existential tone, cynically pessimistic mood, stylistic elements inherited from German expressionism (low-key lighting, deep focus, subjective camera shots, canted angles, and so on), and stories and

Telotte, J.P., qtd in Conard, Mark.The Philosophy of Film Noir. (Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 2006), p.13.

Naremore, James.More than Night: Film Noir Film Noir in its Contexts. (Berkeley: The University of California Press, 2008), p.11.

Naremore, Ibid, p.22.

Sanders, Steven M. “Film Noir and the Meaning of Life”, from Conard, Mark.The Philosophy of Film Noir. (Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 2006), p.92.

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narrative patterns adapted from American hard-boiled fiction.”21 Holt also likes to think of noir as being “stylized crime realism”, meaning that the crime elements can happen in real life to morally ambiguous characters but the filming style accentuates the storyline. Likewise, Paul Schrader denies that film noir is a genre. He argues that noir films can “be roughly grouped together only by the more subtle qualities of tone and mood.”22

In Table 1 (pg.175), the commonalities of film noir characteristics are outlined. Therefore, for a noir movie to be considered as a true noir it must contain most of the following elements: it should be dark, shadowy, and have contrasting images; it should be in black and white; the characters are hard and disillusioned with a degree of likeability; a male character faces a moral dilemma; there is a woman who is dangerous, alluring, and independent; it is a crime or detective story; there are flashbacks, voice-over narration, one-liners, witty dialog, angst, paranoia, betrayal, insecurity, and no happy ending. The movies are often shot or influenced by German directors. Many kinds of novels and movies have been made in a noir style, including Sunset Boulevard, The Maltese Falcon, Double Indemnity,Kiss Me Deadly,The Big Sleep,The Blue Dahlia,Gilda,Mildred Pierce,Murder, My Sweet,The Killers,The Postman Always Rings Twice, among others).

Related to the use of one-liners often found in a noir work, oftentimes one-liners can traverse time and become memorable associations with noir productions several decades later. Some famous one-liners that are still well-known today from the 1942 movie Casablancainclude “Here’s looking at you, kid”, “Play it again, Sam”, “Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship”, “We’ll always have Paris”, and “Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine”. These are easily identifiable in the film

Holt, Jason. “A Darker Shade: Realism in Neo-Noir”, from Conard, Mark.The Philosophy of Film Noir. (Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 2006), p.24.

Schrader, Paul, qtd in Pippin, Robert B.Fatalism in American Film Noir: Some Cinematic Philosophy. (Virginia: The University of Virginia Press, 2012), p.5.

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or through the movie script.23By being able to recognize one-liners in noir literature and movies, it can be seen how famous phrases are still integrated and engrained into society today. One-liners are often re-cycled in later literary works or films and even found in the advertising industry.

American noir literature and film noir also has a specific style of dialog. There are many kinds of idiomatic expressions used that are explicit to this particular mood. In the films, it is also necessary to pay attention to the tone, body movements, and character interactions. This type of dialog affects the interactions between the characters in a noir literary work or film. The ways the characters in these novels and movies converse reflect the historical backdrop of World War II themes, fear of foreigners, alienation, etc. Therefore, the style of dialog can be considered a representation of the mood of the World War II period.

As the characters of these kinds of movies generally have certain traits, it is pertinent to be able to get inside the characters’ heads and know how to empathize with various predicaments that the characters may be facing. The dialog, interactions, character traits, settings, among other aspects can familiarize viewers with the time period and main concepts found in the movie. These kinds of literary works and movies are also beneficial to promote cultural understanding of the time period when the novels were written and movies were made. The noir period is very fascinating to study as it encourages one to be engaged authentically with the language use of 1940s and 1950s noir movies and noir literature. Numerous cultural insights can further be contributed by analyzing a noir literary work from one of numerous literary theoretical perspectives.

1.4 Interest in the Study

http://screenplayexplorer.com/wp-content/scripts/Casablanca.pdf. “Casablanca”. Accessed on February 12th, 2014. Web.

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I am interested in exploring the development of American noir literature and movies in the 1940s and how that development came about as a reflection of societal beliefs and changes in the wake and aftermath of World War II. Two of the most prolific writers of American noir literature of this time are James M. Cain (see Appendix 1) and Raymond Chandler (seeAppendix 2). I have decided to focus on a few of the more well-known works by James M. Cain: The Postman Always Rings Twice(seeAppendix 3)–same title as in the film version, Double Indemnity (see Appendix 4) – same title as in the film version, and Mildred Pierce (see Appendix 5) – same title as in the film version); and Raymond Chandler: The Big Sleep (see Appendix 6)– same title as in the film version, and Farewell My Lovely – called Murder My Sweet (see Appendix 7) in the film version to compare the themes and character traits as a reflection of societal beliefs at that time.

There are also other important writers of this genre, but they are from outside the period I would like to research. Dashiell Hammett is an important writer of this genre, but his more significant works are from the 1930s. He is equally as famous as Cain and Chandler, but since most of novels were written before World War II, I decided not to cover his works, as the society sentiment between his literary works and the 1940s film adaptations are slightly different. However, he had a great influence on Cain and Chandler. Cornell Woolrich is an important crime writer of the mid-20th century that had many of his short stories and novels turned into noir films as well. Mickey Spillane is another noteworthy writer popular for the Mike Hammer character in many of his works. I did not opt to write about him as most of his literary accomplishments are from the 1950s and 1960s, although he is also considered a prominent figure of American noir literature. Many other significant (such as David Goodis) and lesser known writers are also part of American noir literature. Even Joseph Conrad, Ernest Hemmingway, and William Faulkner contributed several noteworthy novels during

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the classic noir period. However, Cain and Chandler are more well-known and have even had several of their works turned into screen adaptations. Cain’s and Chandler’s literary works and the film adaptations are more closely related with the World War II era.

1.5 Integrity of the Thesis as a Literary Work

As film studies and pop culture are also accepted in literature, I believe that my topic is also relevant. However, my topic is not merely about film studies and pop culture. It is clearly in the literature field. The theoretical framework I used was mostly based on Albert Camus’ literary and philosophical works. Also, I compared five film versions of five literary works by Cain and Chandler. These five films are not merely adaptations of their novels that are only loosely based on the actual stories, but in fact they are truly representative of the novels. In discussing the various works of Cain and Chandler here, the original novels and the film versions are discussed simultaneously. If there is a difference between the novel and film versions, I mention that in my analysis. Cain and Chandler were also actively involved in the screenplays of their movie versions. Besides being writers, Cain and Chandler were also talented screenwriters (especially Chandler). Interestingly, Chandler was also the primary screenwriter in the movie version of Double Indemnity, which was actually written by James M. Cain. Furthermore, another great writer, William Faulker, was also involved in screenwriting for James M. Cain’s film version of Mildred Pierce and Raymond Chandler’s The Big Sleep. Therefore, when considering that great literary writers were also screenwriters of the five films under analysis, it is clear that the integrity of the original literary works is maintained in the film versions, as prominent writers of the period ensured that the narrative and noir elements of the novels were also depicted on the Big Screen. Films of this time period generally did not deviate much from the novel versions as artistic integrity was important in the filming process for James M. Cain and Raymond Chandler.

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An example of James M. Cain’s writing style in his novel The Postman Always Rings Twicecan be seen in the excerpt below taken from pg. 3.

They threw me off the hay truck about noon. I had swung on the night before, down at the border, and as soon as I got up there under the canvas, I went to sleep. I needed plenty of that, after three weeks in Tia Juana, and I was still getting it when they pulled off to one side to let the engine cool. Then they saw a foot sticking out and threw me off. I tried some comical stuff, but all I got was a dead pan, so that gag was out. They gave me a cigarette, though, and I hiked down the road to find something to eat.

That was when I hit this Twin Oaks Tavern. It was nothing but a roadside sandwich joint, like a million others in California. There was a lunchroom part, and over that a house part, where they lived, and off to one side a filling station, and out back a half dozen shacks that they called an auto court. I blew in there in a hurry and began looking down the road. When the Greek showed, I asked if a guy had been by in a Cadillac. He was to pick me up here, I said, and we were to have lunch. Not today, said the Greek. He layed a place at one of the tables and asked me what I was going to have. I said orange juice, corn flakes, fried eggs and bacon, enchilada, flapjacks, and coffee. Pretty soon he came out with the orange juice and the corn flakes.

This is typical of James M. Cain’s writing style in all of his novels as an American hard-core crime fiction writer. His writing style is sparse in a first-person perspective, as a reflection of the Great Depression. As he was a newspaperman, he writes in a reporting style. This first-person perspective was also used to depict how they characters themselves would write as if they were telling their own stories in a sort of confessional perspective relaying the events that unfolded leading up to their demise. Cain avoided having a moral tone or message to his writing style to convey a gritty and dark side of living during the Great Depression. He writes in a minimalist writing style only conveying the most essential information with straightforward and oftentimes brutal simplicity. This writing style is also carried over to the Big Screen as a first person narrative in the same mold as the novel version.

The jargon and word choice that Cain uses in his novels is also done in the same style as in the film versions. His characters are also self-destructive losers and everyman characters, generally because of a femme fetale. He also wanted this style of writing to be

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conveyed to the Big Screen in his major works such asDouble IndemnityandMildred Pierce, which along withThe Postman Always Rings Twice, were shown in movie theaters during the World War II era. Cain originally considered movies to be an inferior art form to the printed form. However, this is ironic as Cain eventually wanted to pursue a career as a scriptwriter also. He worked on several scripts, but he was not as successful as Raymond Chandler in scriptwriting. As Cain and Chandler were actively involved in the screenplays for their own novels turned into films, with the exception of Double Indemnity, in which Chandler primarily was the screenwriter, they strived to keep the particular mood and writing style of their dime-store novels the same on the Big Screen.

Chandler’s writing style is similar to that of Cain in that Chandler also writes in a terse and hardboiled fashion about a male protagonist in a first-person perspective. The difference is that Chandler writes from the perspective of a detective, Philip Marlowe, who is an everyday man with a distrustful and jaded perspective of those around him. Chandler uses many wisecracks to defy authority figures like police officers and political figures in his novels that are also transferred to the Big Screen. His use of similes in a negative sense is also found in the film versions as in the novels, such as found in The Big Sleep. Marlow is very clever in using his similes by saying such things as:

(1) The heat made me feel like a New England boiled dinner. (2:46).

(2) Her eyes became narrow and almost black and as shallow as enamel on a cafeteria tray. (12:56).

(3) She was as limp as a fresh-killed rabbit. (14:72).

(4) The boy stood glaring at him with sharp black eyes in a face as hard and white as cold mutton fat. (18:10).

(5) You leak information like a radio announcer. (23:29).

(6) Her eyelids were flickering rapidly, like moth wings. (25:12). (7) I was as empty of life as a scarecrow's pockets. (25:1).

(8) There was a dry click, like a small icicle breaking. I hung there motionless, like a lazy fish. (26:9).

(9) The purring voice was now as false as an usherette's eyelashes and as slippery as a watermelon seed. (30:44).

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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 inFarewell, My Lovelyalso 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 and/or 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

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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.24 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- 20thcentury.

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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have passed, it is also interesting to address the presence of this noir style in literature and films of today.

1.7 Research Questions

The research questions I am interested in exploring related to film noir are: 1) To what degree is American film noir an extension of existentialism? 2) How is the spirit of film noir still expressed in modern American society?

1.8 Methodology

In conducting the research, I will first scrutinize the sentiment of American society during the World War II period by examining various historical texts and noir literary works. Then I will conduct a background study on American noir and its development. Next, I will observe the prominent American noir literature and screen adaptations of the 1940s. After that, I will conduct a study of American noir characteristics in pre-determined Cain and Chandler literary works. As significant contributors to noir literature, Dashiell Hammett has written many works that preceded those of Cain and Chandler and had a great influence on the two writers in the 1930s. Some of his more noteworthy literary works that have a noir mood includeRed Harvest,The Dain Curse, andThe Maltese Falcon. From these novels it is possible to examine the thematic continuity of Hammett’s, Cain’s, and Chandler’s works from the 1930s to the 1940s. As a comparative work, I will also read Patricia’s Highsmith’s Strangers on a Train, which is considered a valuable work in the noir tradition with its own screen adaptation.

After these steps have been completed, I will conduct a literary criticism analysis of existentialism from various perspectives. First, I will explore Schopenhauer’s standpoint on existentialism through his essay On the Vanity of Existence. As a founding existentialist,

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Schopenhauer had a great influence on Friedrich Nietzsche. In examining Nietzsche’s existentialism perspective, several of his works will be briefly analyzed. One of these works isHuman, All too Human: A Book for Free Spirits. This book gives an insight into his way of thinking and affinity for Voltaire. This is divided into numerous aphorisms and related to various aspects of human philosophy. Another work that will be delved into is The Portable Nietzsche, which is a compilation of Twilight of the Idols,The Antichrist, Nietzsche Contra Wagner, andThus Spoke Zarathustra. This compilation contains some of his basic beliefs on existentialism that will be used to analyze several noir literary works and their film versions. This work is also essential to explore Nietzsche’s rejection of Western thought related to belief in God and overall concept of good and evil. He thinks of the Christian world as being full of a false piety and infected with a slave morality. This notion can be used in investigating its application to noir literature. The last book of Nietzsche to be explored isOn the Genealogy of Morals. This work deals with the interpretation and history of ethics in relation to violence. This can also be connected with the themes of noir literature. In Hammer of the Gods: Apocalyptic Texts for the Criminally Insane, Nietzsche discusses his various futuristic and apocalyptic philosophies against society, including the state and the masses. Although Schopenhauer’s and Nietzsche’s works are written before the advent of noir literature, the basic philosophical concepts can be applied to it. After that, I will analyze Albert Camus and his perspective of existentialism from two of his prominent stories: The Stranger and The Myth of Sisyphus. Camus is a significant bridge from Schopenhauer and Nietzsche, because he shared many of their philosophical positions and was influenced by the American hard-boiled crime stories during the 1930s and 1940s, as Camus lived during the same period as Cain and Chandler. Therefore, between the traditional existentialists and the modern crime writers, Camus was able to reveal existentialism as found in American society from the past to the present. Finally, I will report on the spirit of noir still present in modern

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American literature, film productions, and pop culture, as well as what the future holds for noir sentiment in the entertainment industry.

1.9 1940s American Sentiment

The dark moods of this genre can be seen to have arisen from the general mood of the country after the war. There was 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.

A common theme in noir films is of an individual striving to reinvent oneself but ultimately failing. Film noir can be seen as being against the American Dream of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. During World War II, many Americans had a dream of improving their status, obtaining liberty, getting equality, and engaging in free enterprise. Materialism and individualism were increasingly prevalent during the period.

In relation to film noir and the American Dream, one can analyze the relationship between one’s personal background and current personality. In looking at film noir, it is pertinent to consider whether one’s identity is permanent from birth or whether the person can better himself. Associated with this, it is important to think about the possibility of a person escaping from his/her past.

Many Hollywood movies deal with the theme of achieving the American Dream, which centers on improving one’s social position, equality, home ownership, and Western ideals. This theme is underlined in the Declaration of Independence, which was drafted by

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Thomas Jefferson in June of 1776.25The concept of individualism even supersedes the belief of pursuit of happiness. Individualism basically means that regardless of one’s status, race, gender, or background, the person can achieve a better life through endurance and self-effort. In many film noir stories, and Mildred Pierce in particular, the characters counter and clash with their struggle to reach the American Dream.

Various historical figures are representative of individuals who have succeeded to reach the American Dream through their own determination. One such individual is Benjamin Franklin. He reinvented himself several times through various entrepreneurial endeavors like being a printer, publisher, inventor, scientist, ambassador, military leader, legislator, among others. Franklin can be seen as being an example of how one’s past does not necessarily affect success in the future. By looking at Franklin, one can see how all you need is a will to find a way to reach your goals.

A different train of thought can be seen from the likes of Ralph Waldo Emerson, who believes you cannot simply reinvent yourself, but rather have to discover and refine your true nature by looking within.26Essentially, this means that you cannot escape from your past but must rely on your “aboriginal self”. Emerson believes that your true nature will greatly affect choices or changes you make in the future, as you always have to look back to your past. Emerson believes that you must “Insist on yourself, never imitate.”27

Even though the philosophies espoused by Franklin and Emerson are slightly different, they both deal with the concept of individualism, which is strongly related with

http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration.html. “The Charters of Freedom”. Accessed on March 2nd, 2014. Web.

Osteen, Mark.Nightmare Alley: Film Noir and the American Dream. (Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press, 2012), p.3.

http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/12080.Ralph_Waldo_Emerson. “Ralph Waldo Emerson Quotes”. Accessed on March 12th, 2014. Web.

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achieving the American Dream. If you do not have a strong desire, you cannot reach your goal.

In Franklin’s mindset, a person needs to balance individual and community interests to successfully reach one’s dream. In noir films, the characters are often unable to reach this balance and succumb to their own fate. The characters are unable to control the events in their lives and face many hindrances from their own character shortcomings to societal constructs. Therefore, “noir protagonists come to recognize the difficulty – if not impossibility– of achieving modernity’s implicitly cosmopolitan promise than an individual, by dint of hard work, education, and reason, can develop a politically robust subjectivity.”28 This infers that even though characters can obtain social mobility or achieve success in certain aspects, it is often short-lived or not as what they had previously imagined. The characters come to the realization that their lives are not in their control and they cannot ultimately reach the American Dream.

Noir films can be seen as being contrary to the concept of equality. Made in the World War II era, the movies are an extension of society struggling to achieve its own national identity, in conflict with the ideas put forth by Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence. These kinds of movies are often against Franklin’s and Emerson’s concept of identity. “The films are disguised parables of social mobility as a punishable deviation from one’s assigned place.”29

Osteen, Mark.Nightmare Alley: Film Noir and the American Dream. (Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press, 2012), p.3.

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Many noir films show traumatized veterans, missing or displaced characters, women stressed because of their roles in the workplace and domestic arena, fear of communism, and characters with psychic disorders, in response to the effect of the war period.30

It is also necessary to point out that noir films were not called as such at the time period they were made. They were considered more as melodramas. Only in recent times has the term been used in looking at the time period in retrospect. The movies can be seen as being reflections of concerns of an American society that was in transition.

In the 1940s, the societal expectations of women changed. On the one hand, women were supposed to play a domestic role. Their entire worth and value was based on their domestic prowess. However, in the World War II era, a sense of urgency emerged for women to abandon or compliment their traditional roles of being homemakers to having to seek gainful employment, as much of the male workforce had to fight in the war. A struggle ensued between traditional beliefs and modern aspirations through materialism. Women were divided through societal expectations of being a homemaker and having a desire to pursue non-traditional lifestyles. During the war, these traditional expectations shifted as women were encouraged to gain skills and do non-domestic jobs to help boost the war effort.

The time that noir films were made was during a great tumultuous period which changed all citizens’ lives. There were many problems with people having to adapt to those changes, which caused gender and racial problems. Film noir often shows expressionistic visual styles and pessimistic or doomed worldviews in American cinema during the World War II era. World War II caused many Americans to feel anxious about their lives and question the traditional identity of what being an American is and should be in the future. There was some discord and confusion about where America was going in the future.

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Americans had to reconsider whether the established American ideals during the foundation of the nation still applied or not. This identity crisis can be seen in the noir characters’ personalities as well.

Americans during World War II also experienced a sense of need for authenticity related to modernity. This means they wanted to experience new things and escape from their boring and mundane lives.31 This need for authenticity is seen through the eyes of various characters in film noir as well. Several of the main characters strive to achieve wealth, personal sexual experiences, and new adventures, often at the detriment of others. The characters link authenticity with the pursuit of happiness through materialism. Many of the characters in film noir, like Mildred Pierce, have a deep-seated obsession with a particular goal or object. Concerns about identity crisis and authenticity can be seen in the nature of femme fetale characters. Some film noir reveals the difficulty of social mobility during the 1940s and a critical viewpoint of capitalism. Consumerism can be seen as a means of dealing with the anxiety of the time period.

Related with existentialism, film noir can be considered as a reaction or reflection of this belief and how people see the world. By thinking in these terms, various commonalities can be found in analyzing a film noir, and Mildred Pierce in particular. The characteristics found within this noir style reflect the loss of value and meaning in human lives.

Therefore, by looking at the characters’ traits and their relations to the general traits of a noir film listed above, they can illustrate how existentialism can be applied to this particular style. It shows the nihilism and lack of morality or conflicting morality present in the characters. Even though America was built on a Puritan foundation, the noir style can be seen as being counter or opposite to that particular way of believing. Maybe from an existentialist

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perspective, this story can be seen as a way to depict how through modernism people have lost their morality, here in response to World War II fears and alienation, and perhaps more generally to the realization that people are nowadays disoriented, not knowing the meanings in their lives or how to live at peace with themselves.

In summary, then, films can be considered as having a very influential role in society, whether as an active or reflective function. Films can act as a permanent record and preserve a particular language. It will be preserved from one generation to the next to show how society has changed over time. Movies can be a social construct of the family, community, and a particular institution. Films can reveal how a society was shaped and the morals and values found within it. In a time of war, villains can be painted as an enemy nation like with the Cold War and Communism in various film noir works. These beliefs can be transferred into a film noir and used as an instrument to teach society about the present, show its connection with the past, or reveal where it might be heading in the future. Films are essential to portray how individuals interact with each other in various social situations and what kinds of social constraints or dilemmas they are faced with. Therefore, it is essential to realize the significance of film noir to show how the ideas and themes found within it can influence a person’s ideology as well as how the values are reflected in society at that time.

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25 CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW 2. Review of Related Studies

The 1940s noir era is rich in existential concepts and characteristics as a reflection of the societal constraints of the period. Various articles and books have been written about the topic ranging from the development of noir, the concept of whiteness in noir, the historical context of noir, the economic conditions of the period, the various films belonging to that genre, the characteristics of these films, the philosophical connections, and the shifts in sentiment over time.

2.1 Effects of the World War II Period on American Society

Before the war, Americans were used to having easy access to food and material items. These shortages had a psychological effect on people’s mindsets. The deprivations

during the war shocked many people who were unaccustomed to living in such a way. For example, Raymond Chandler stated about the shortages of meat in Los Angeles,

The meat situation would make you scream. On Wednesday morning the guy opens at 7 AM and all the desert rats are there waiting for him to give out numbered tickets. Anybody who delays long enough to wash his face is automatically classed as parasitic and gets a high number, if he gets one at all. On Thursday at 10 the inhabitants bring their bronchitis and halitosis into the store and park in front of the meat counter and the numbers are coonshouted. When we, having a very late number, kick our way up to the collapsed hunk of hamburger we are greeted with a nervous smile that suggests a deacon caught with his hand in the collection plate, and we leave bearing off enough meat for the cat. This happens once a week and that is all that

happens in the way of meat … I should be out in the desert trying to dig up a dead

gopher. We happened on a rib roast a couple of weeks back, just walked in and said hello, and there the damn thing was. We ate for six nights running, behind drawn

curtains, chewing quietly, so the neighbors wouldn’t hear.1

Chandler, Raymond, qtd inSelected Letters, from Biesen, Sheri Chinen.Blackout: World War 2 and the Origins of Film Noir. (Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 2005), p.65.

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Therefore, some of the anxiety of the period was due to rationing. Besides food, movie studios had to cut back on electricity, equipment, and film in making pictures. Even gasoline and motor vehicles were restricted. This meant that studios had to limit the amount of travel they did in the daytime. It became more practical to shoot movies at night.

As the war went on, Americans were more reluctant to save and give up on essential or luxurious things. Even for attire, cloth became a wanted commodity and clothing was made shorter and skimpier. However, by doing this it eroded some of the traditional values and women were not as modest in their attire.

The consequences of a war that had eroded the moorings of family, church, and community were frightening. In just four years, truancy and juvenile crime had increased by more than twenty percent, the divorce rate by more than sixty percent. Cultural changes during the war unleashed forces that Hollywood could not ignore. The 1930 proscriptions against violence and murder, and especially adultery and illicit sex, now seemed outmoded; the endless stream of movies about fearless warriors and faithful wives old-fashioned. Just beyond the door of the Production Code Administration on Hollywood Boulevard, sex was in the ozone.2

The wartime deaths also had a significant effect on the American psyche.

Paul Fussell wrote in Wartime that people in America hadn’t been told about even

10% of the horror of this war. The real war was tragic and ironic, beyond the power of any literary or philosophic analysis to suggest, but in un-bombed America especially, the meaning of the war seemed inaccessible. As experience, thus, the suffering was

wasted … America has not yet understood what the Second World War was like and

has thus been unable to use such understanding to reinterpret and redefine the national reality and to arrive at something like public maturity.3

This essentially means that America had a more romanticized and patriotic notion of war and death. Being far from the warfront, Americans did not really comprehend the atrocities and horrible suffering involved with the war. Many of the deaths were paid respect

in ceremonies, and the mantra ‘No man left behind’ was used throughout the war and is even

applicable today. When corpses were brought back to America, they were even put on special

Leff and Simmons, “Dame in the Kimono”, from Biesen, Sheri Chinen.Blackout: World War 2 and the Origins of Film Noir. (Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 2005), p.65.

Lingeman, Richard.The Noir Forties: The American People from Victory to Cold War. (New York: Nation Books, 2012), p.54.

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ships as if they were living passengers instead of cargo. This denial and unwillingness to accept the true war situation can be perceived as being manifested in noir films. The mass

deaths of Americans overseas may represent people’s own mortality at home, especially

when those who die are relatives or friends. Related to the film industry, most war movies traditionally showed patriotic and noble efforts of people fighting for their country. The noir film era put a different twist on this notion by showing the grim realities of death and war that can happen atyour own doorstep or in your own backyard. As Sigmund Freud suggested, “At bottom no one believes in his own death … in the unconscious every one of us is convinced

of his own immortality. We attribute deaths to normal causes (accident, disease, infection) and muffle its import in stylized rituals and religious consolation. This is done to modify the significance of death from a necessity to an accident. But in war death comes in great numbers, overwhelming our emotional defenses; thus, we think about war deaths as

exceedingly terrible.”4 Therefore, noir films with violent deaths can symbolize the lingering realities of wartime deaths for all those involved.

In relating the damage that was done by the Pearl Harbor attack, a World War II veteran, Paul Fussell, wrote, “The damage the war visited upon bodies and buildings, planes

and tanks and ships, is obvious. Less obvious is the damage it did to intellect, discrimination, honesty, individuality, complexity, ambiguity, and irony, not to mention privacy and wit.”5

This quotation reveals how the society changed in its outlook to be more anxious and pessimistic. This concern was transformed to the big screen through the jaded and troubled characters in film noir. Americans were overcome with worries and concerns that pervaded many aspects of their lives.

Ibid, p.57. 5

Fussell, Paul,Wartime, from Biesen, Sheri Chinen.Blackout: World War 2 and the Origins of Film Noir. (Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 2005), p.59.

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Another effect of the war was that many individuals involved in the movie industry enlisted in the Armed Forces, resulting in a shortage of actors, studio executives, movie producers, and screen writers. This opened opportunities for those who were unable to fight or too old to enlist. This also affected the type of scripts being written, which provided more opportunities for Chandler and other writers of crime and detective scripts.

The shortage of story materials and writers now has film companies seriously ogling the pulp mag scripts and scripters. It marks the first time that Hollywood has initiated a concerted drive to replenish its dwindling library supplies and its scripter ranks from the 20 cent-a-word authors of the weird-snappy-breezy-argosy-spy-crime-detective mag school.6

Even though there were many shortages during the war period, it did not have a

negative effect on noir film productions. Fewer films were made but ‘A’ level films were

shown longer in theaters, resulting in higher profit.

Another pertinent effect of the war was related to women’s involvement. The WWII era was significant for the advancement of women’s causes in a shifting of gender roles. As

many men in the film industry went to fight the war overseas, it provided women with an opportunity to fill some of their roles. Besides filling acting roles, women also became writers, producers, and directors. This enabled women to partake in addressing various concerns about gender issues. Traditionally being homemakers, now they had more power as active members of the workforce. Women were no longer just confined to the home to rear

children and engage in household activities. “The films on which these women worked

furnish complex, critical, and generally progressive analyses of American mores and institutions. While facing the same obstacles dramatized in the films, these female filmmakers nudged Hollywood toward more enlightened views about gender and, in one

Variety Magazinefrom Biesen, Sheri Chinen.Blackout: World War 2 and the Origins of Film Noir. (Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 2005), p.67.

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case, helped to redefine cinematic authorship.”7 As a consequence, more feminist perspectives were able to be introduced into this genre that was previously male-dominated.

Angela Martin commented about the effect of the war on women and soldiers. “Over

4 million women were working in 1943… coinciding with the peak of woman’s involvement

in the labor force, the armed services began, in late 1943, discharging psychoneurotic veterans at the rate of 10,000 cases a month, leading to the hospitalization of 850,000 soldiers and the addition of 2,500 army medical officers to the 25 thus far working in psychiatry.”8

This was also compounded with a sharp increase in the divorce rate due to the effects of the war. There was disillusionment among the people about the war and concerns for women about having to leave the workforce towards the end of the war.

Woman played an instrumental role in making noir films, both as actresses and behind the scenes in assisting the filmmaking process. They were able to bring to light alternate realities of gender roles in the 1940s and beyond and show the oppressive conditions faced by women during this period. Noir films were essential in depicting the cultural shifts transpiring in a changing world that gave a glimpse into various hopes and fears in the minds of Americans post WWII.

The change in gender roles had a significant impact on American society in WWII.

“More than six million took new jobs, increasing the female labor force by more than 50

percent. By 1944, women composed more than 36 percent of the total labor force, up from 25 percent in 1941. Defense jobs spelled significant social mobility, as many women traded low-paying employment in restaurants or laundries for wartime production work that as much as

Osteen, Mark.Nightmare Alley: Film Noir and the American Dream. (Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press, 2012), p.185.

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doubled their wages.”9Nevertheless, it still had contradictions in society, as women were still expected to maintain their traditional roles and only work out of necessity until the male workforce was reintegrated with society. This viewpoint was even more prevalent among war veterans when they returned home after the war. Many war veterans still kept their traditional pre-war viewpoints about traditional gender roles or even felt more strongly about them.

As women also made up a greater viewership in movie theaters during the war, more films had to be produced that were appealing to them. As a consequence, more melodramas

were made with stories that female moviegoers could relate to. Therefore, “Femme noirs –

noir films written, produced, or directed by women – share many traits with the woman’s

film: female protagonists; gender anxiety; and ambivalence, or downright cynicism, about

marriage. In addition to treating women’s issues, then, these films blurred generic boundaries and brought strong women characters into formerly male territory.”10

2.2 Post World War II Condition

Wheeler Winston Dixon detailed the effects of the war for veterans when WWII was

over. “They returned to a world transformed into an alien landscape, something they didn’t understand and didn’t recognize as home, a place full of new and strange social customs, in which the fabric of prewar society had been torn asunder by massive social, economic, and

political change.”11 In essence, post-war noir films depicted the realities of the new world they had to adjust to.

In the mid-1940s, many of the noir films reflected cynicism by a society that was suspicious of others, even though the USA had won the war. These kinds of films depict a

Osteen, Mark.Nightmare Alley: Film Noir and the American Dream. (Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press, 2012), p.186.

Ibid, p.187. 11

Wheeler, Winston, and Dixon.Film Noir and the Cinema of Paranoia. (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2009), p.9.

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Appendix 5: Synopsis of Mildred Pierce by James M. Cain

The story begins in media res, as Mildred Pierce’ssecond husband, Monte Beragon, is murdered in her beachfront house. Then Mildred Pierce lures longtime acquaintance Wally Fay to the house and then runs away, leaving him with the body. A short time later, Mildred returns to her Pasadena house to find the police and her daughter Veda waiting for her.

Mildred tries to frame Wally for Monte’s murder. Then at the police station she retells all the events leading up to the murder. After Mildred’s first husband, Bert, loses his job in real estate, he becomes discouraged and leaves Mildred for another women. Mildred has to raise her two daughters, Kay and Veda, by herself. The only way she can do this is to enter the restaurant business and learn from the ground up. As in a typical noir film, Mildred is frowned up for being too successful and neglecting her children. For example, when she is having an affair with Monte, her daughter Kay dies. Kay is seen coughing several times preceding her death, which signifies that Mildred does not pay as much attention to her as she should. Her other daughter Veda is spoiled rotten and very snobbish. Veda is kind of a young femme fetale with horrendous behavior. Veda always criticizes her mother for her hard work and Veda even pretends to be pregnant to get a rich boy to give her a lot of settlement money for an abortion. Mildred does everything for Veda, but she never appreciates her mother. Then Mildred even marries Monte, who just uses Mildred for her successful business. Then Mildred loses her business to Wally, because Monte wasted all the profits from it. After telling the police her story, Mildred confesses to murdering Monte. The police then question Veda, who admits she shot Monte, with whom she was having an affair, after he refused to marry her. Veda blames Mildred for making her the way she is, but Mildred finally has had enough of Veda and rejoins the loyal Bert outside the police station. At the end of the film, it shows women scrubbing the floor of the police station and a sort of golden arch effect above the entrance door of the police station, signifying that Mildred and Bert will be happy again if Mildred returns to her domestic role and remains faithful to Bert.

Source: http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/321/Mildred-Pierce/. “Mildred Pierce Synopsis”.

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Appendix 6: Synopsis of The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler

This is a detective story that takes place in Los Angeles as private detective Philip Marlowe is called to the mansion of General Sternwood, a wealthy, aging invalid with two wild young daughters: the femme fetale and childish Carmen and the divorced Vivian Rutledge. Sternwood explains that Arthur Gwynne Geiger, a rare book dealer, is demanding payment of Carmen's gambling debts. This is sort of a confusing storyline as many subplots and characters are involved, which is a typical characteristic of a noir detective film. Philip Marlowe is sort of a distrustful everyday man who is always striving to earn money and solve a case. He is sort of a loner and seems to be at odds with the world around him. He tries to make changes to what happens around him, but in the end the world is too big for him to change. This is shown in his demeanor as he seems to be sort of a disillusioned character and rather harsh with those around him. In the story, Marlow is distrustful of rich people, but he seems to feel sorry for Sternwood, as he is forced to sit in the wheelchair all day. Therefore, Marlowe tries to keep his daughter Carmen out of trouble and takes her out of a house where a person is killed. The convoluted plot involves bribery, deception, and murder, all characteristics of a noir story. The characters live in a world of distrust where everyone is out for their own best interests. At the end of the story, Marlowe solves the crime and helps Vivian to send Carmen away where she will be prevented from hurting anyone else. Marlowe also seems to fall in love with Vivian at the end of the story.

Source: http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/45/The-Big-Sleep/. “The Big Sleep Synopsis”. Accessed on September 6th, 2013. Web.

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Appendix 7: Synopsis of Farewell, My Lovely (Murder, My Sweet) by Raymond Chandler

This is a detective story about private detective Philip Marlowe, who is interrogated by police lieutenant Randall about his involvement in several murders. As with other noir stories, it is a media res as Marlowe recounts the events leading up to the interrogation. Philip Marlowe investigates a case with no fresh leads when he encounters Moose Malloy in a bar looking for his ex-girlfriend Velma Valento. Moose seeks Marlowe’s help to find her after he was in prison for several years. Then Marlowe goes on a quest to find Velma and meets many unsavory and tough characters along the way. This story also has many subplots with various characters involved in the particular subplots. As Marlowe searches for Velma, he eventually discovers that she is alive and has been using the alias Mrs. Grayle. This concept of double identity is another common feature of a noir film. It uses a first person narrative to tell the story, similar with many other noir films. The situation is only solved at the end of the story when Marlowe is kissed by Velma and realizes he has seen her before. Then they get into a cab together and leave. Throughout the story, Marlowe is also blinded, which is characteristic of a noir film. Often a male protagonist is literally blinded so it puts him at a disadvantage or emotionally blinded, leaving him to be manipulated by a femme fetale.

Source: http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/84186/Murder-My-Sweet/. “Murder My Sweet Synopsis”. Accessed on September 6th, 2013. Web.

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TABLES

Table 1: Common Characteristics of Noir Films

The primary moods of classic film noir were melancholy, alienation, bleakness, disillusionment, disenchantment, pessimism, ambiguity, moral corruption, evil, guilt, desperation and paranoia. Heroes (or anti-heroes), corrupt characters and villains included down-and-out, conflicted hard-boiled detectives or private eyes, cops, gangsters, government agents, sociopaths, crooks, war veterans, petty criminals, and murderers. These protagonists were often morally-ambiguous low-lifes from the dark and gloomy underworld of violent crime and corruption. Distinctively, they were cynical, tarnished, obsessive (sexual or otherwise), brooding, menacing, sinister, sardonic, disillusioned, frightened and insecure loners (usually men), struggling to survive - and in the end, ultimately losing.

The females in film noir were either of two types (or archetypes) - dutiful, reliable, trustworthy and loving women; or femme fetales - mysterious, duplicitous, double-crossing, gorgeous, unloving, predatory, tough-sweet, unreliable, irresponsible, manipulative, and desperate women. Usually, the male protagonist in film noir wished to elude his mysterious past and had to choose what path to take (or have the fateful choice made for him).

Invariably, the choice would be an overly ambitious one, to follow the dangerous but desirable wishes of these dames. It would be to follow the goadings of a traitorous, self-destructive femme fatale who would lead the struggling, disillusioned, and doomed hero into committing murder or some other crime of passion coupled with twisted love. When the major character was a detective or private eye, he would become embroiled and trapped in an increasingly-complex, convoluted case that would lead to fatalistic, suffocating evidences of corruption, irresistible love, and death. The femme fatale, who had also transgressed societal norms with her independent and smart, menacing actions, would bring both of them to a downfall.

Noir films (mostly shot in gloomy grays, blacks and whites) showed the dark and inhumane side of human nature with cynicism and doomed love, and they emphasized the brutal, unhealthy, seamy, shadowy, dark and sadistic sides of the human experience. An oppressive atmosphere of menace, pessimism, anxiety, suspicion that anything can go wrong, dingy realism, futility, fatalism, defeat, and entrapment were stylized characteristics of film noir. The protagonists in film noir were normally driven by their past or by human weakness to repeat former mistakes.

Film noir was marked by expressionistic lighting, deep-focus camera work, disorienting visual schemes, jarring editing or juxtaposition of elements, skewed camera angles (usually vertical or diagonal rather than horizontal), circling cigarette smoke, existential sensibilities, and unbalanced compositions. Settings were often interiors with low-key lighting, venetian-blinded windows and rooms, and dark, claustrophobic, gloomy appearances. Exteriors were often urban night scenes with deep shadows, wet asphalt, dark alleyways, rain-slicked or mean streets, flashing neon lights, and low key lighting. Story locations were often in murky and dark streets, dimly-lit apartments and hotel rooms of big cities, or abandoned warehouses.

Narratives were frequently complex, maze-like and convoluted, and typically told with foreboding background music; flashbacks (or a series of flashbacks); witty, razor-sharp, and acerbic dialogue; and/or reflective and confessional, first-person voiceover narration. Amnesia suffered by the protagonist was a common plot device, as was the downfall of an innocent Everyman who fell victim to temptation or was framed. Revelations regarding the hero were made to explain/justify the hero's own cynical perspective on life.

Source: http://www.filmsite.org/femmesfatales.html. “The Greatest Femmes Fetales in Classic Film Noir”.Accessed on June 15th, 2013. Web.

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Table 3: The Detective Model

Classic: Sherlock Holmes Hard-Boiled: Marlowe/Spade

Setting: less realistic (can be fantastic) Setting: always realistic (and urban)

Uses drugs (morphine and cocaine) Uses alcohol (typically bourbon)

First-person singular about friend First-person singular voice-over

Mind: two sides (slow-creative vs. fast-precise) Mind: steady, even

Lives with friend (Dr. Watson) Lives alone, has no friends

Femme fatale (anti-Ariadne) nonessential Femme fatale (anti-Ariadne) essential

Method: science of deduction (but is really abduction and musement)

Implicit method: abduction (without musement)

Character is intellectual (scholarly) Character is non-intellectual

Natural opponents: Scotland Yard Natural opponents: city cops

Artistic (enjoys music, plays violin) Non-artistic

Well-traveled (e.g., knows foreign tattoos) Not traveled

Work is a game (“the game is afoot”) Work is just a job (for fee only)

Upper-class tastes and manners Middleclass: an “Everyman”

Tall, languid, nonphysical Shorter, tough, aggressive (fistfights)

Link to medicine with Dr. Watson (detective clues like medical symptoms)

Stories are typically nonmedical

No regular weapons (save reason) Carries a gun (and shoots people)

Smokes a pipe Smokes cigarettes

Form is masochistic Form is sadistic

Hobbies: beekeeping, violin, drugs (stingers, violin, needles signify precision)

No hobbies (flatter character form)

Mannerist maze Rhizomatic maze

Source: Jerold J. Abrams in “From Sherlock Holmes to the Hard-Boiled Detective”, as found

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