After the Cold War era, the noir era had ended but aspects of noir could still be found in various films. The bleak cynicism and dark visual style of 1940s noir was present in films
like Dirty Harry 1971, Invasion of the Body Snatchers 1955, On the Waterfront 1954, among others. Movies that dealt with darker topics would reflect this through darker lighting
and various obscure camera angles. Today the noir hero or anti-hero can be seen as a figure that rejects authority and is
considered an outsider. Parallels can be made in comparing the threat of communism in the post-war era and the war on terrorism today. Both were fighting an invisible enemy of sorts
as no one could be directly attacked through a mobilization effort. At a societal and political level, the noir era reveals the struggle between a capitalist society and the threat that
communism posed to it as well as the current threat of terrorism on a capitalist society.
4.1 Post WWII Neo-Noir TV Shows
The noir characteristics of the 1940s are best found in today’s films and literary works as expressed through neo-noirs. The typical protagonist that was a sympathetic fugitive figure
or leftist anti-government anti-establishment character of the World War II era and the working-class police officer in the McCarthy Cold War era have surfaced in various forms in
today’s modern era. Two TV shows that carried this theme in the 1950s were The Fugitive 1940s theme and Dragnet Cold War era theme.
Other TV shows that developed from the success of The Fugitive and Dragnet were Maverick similar perspective as The Fugitive as well as Wyatt Earp and Gunsmoke similar
perspective as Dragnet. The Rockford Files starring James Garner, also in Maverick is a detective story from the 1970s with noir traits as well. Jim Rockford is an ex-con who
became a private investigator, but he is more concerned about money like Sam Spade in
Dashiell Hammet’s novels and Philip Marlowe in Raymond Chandler’s novels and not as brave or tough as traditional film and literary detectives. Mike Hammer starring Stacy Keach
was a popular detective TV show in the 1980s based on Mickey Spillane’s classic private eye character. He also has noir detective characteristics in that he is tough, honest, a lady’s man,
and dedicated to solving murders. In comparing The Fugitive and Dragnet, The Fugitive has a noir characteristic of
being on the outside fighting against the law government just like many noir films did in conveying a struggle against big business censorship, and the government. In contrast,
Dragnet has more of the realism factor found in early noir films as many of the TV episodes are based on actual cases. Dragnet also uses narration and emphasizes the fact that crime
does not pay as the criminals go to court and jail. This resembles the message the censorship board wanted to convey in WWII era films.
4.2 Neo-Noir Anti-Establishment Depictions
