Widen your cinematic experience and consider these neo-noir releases:

The Conformist (Italy - 1970)
Get Carter (UK - 1971)
The American Friend (Germany - 1977)
Veronika Voss (Germany - 1982)
Le Femme Nikita (France - 1990)
Zentropa (Denmark - 1991)
Foreign Land (Brazil - 1995)
Croupier (UK - 1997)
Insomnia (Norway - 1997)
Fallen Angel (Hong Kong - 2000)
Lantana (Australia - 2001)
City Of God (Brazil - 2002)
2046 (Hong Kong - 2004)
36 Quai des Orfèvres (France - 2004)
El Aura (Brazil - 2005)

Originally produced for PBS, the American Cinema series examined American film. This one-hour episode examines film noir. From lighting techniques to directors and actors, and the genre’s roots in German expressionism, the program is an excellent survey of the genre. All the great noirs are featured.

Particularly fascinating are contemporary interviews with noir luminaries Edward Dmytryk, Joseph H. Lewis, A.I. Bezzerides, and Marie Windsor. Richard Widmark supplies a nuanced voice-over for some scenes.

The documentary can be viewed on-line at Veoh.com American Cinema - Film Noir.

From January 25 to February 3, 2008 San Francisco’s historic Castro Theatre will host the 6th Noir City Film Noir Festival. Presented by the Film Noir Foundation and Eddie Muller.

The festival kicks off with Joan Leslie dramas: the rare Repeat Performance (1947) a nd The Hard Way (1943). In the intermission, the 82 year-old actress will be interview on stage by Eddie Muller. The following night, Saturday, January 26, Joseph Losey’s The Prowler (1951) will be screened. 12 of the 21 films to be screened year are not available on VHS or DVD. Other highlights include: a double bill of rarities from 20th Century-Fox: Hangover Square and Dangerous Crossing, new 35mm prints of Night Has 1000 Eyes, Woman In Hiding, and The Story of Molly X, a Charles McGraw double-feature: Reign of Terror (1949) and Border Incident (1949), and a closing night double-feature: Road House and Night and the City honoring Richard Widmark.

For the full schedule of films visit the Noir City 6 web site.

This first feature from Nicholas Ray is a great film in every sense: tight and inventive direction, a sensitive script from Charles Schnee adapted from Edward Anderson’s novel “Thieves Like Us”, moody noir lighting and photography by George E. Diskant, and terrific performances from the two young leads: Cathy O’Donnell and Farley Granger.

From Steven H. Schueur’s book Movies On TV: “… possibly the most romantic crime film ever made. Granger and O’Donnell beguilingly portray an awkward young couple who are forced into becoming ‘lovers on the run’ … Their sympathetic relationship is depicted with sensitivity and touching detail, and the performances are remarkably intense…”

They Live By Night is a tragedy of Shakespearean dimensions and  transcends film noir. The genre is more crime melodrama with noir elements. We know the relationship is doomed to fail in violent tragedy, not because this is a film noir, but as an audience we have seen the crime movies that Hollywood churned out in the 30’s and early 40’s.

The two young protagonists have no way out as they do not have the maturity to make the decisions they are forced to make, and this is telegraphed by Ray at the film’s opening as sub-titles over a scene of the two lovers in the throes of gentle passion: ” … this boy and this girl were never properly introduced to the world we live in … “.

A masterpiece of 40s Hollywood cinema.

This neo-noir cum policier is a must see thriller with stunning noir cinematography. Olivier Marchal’s direction is relentless, with great performances from a stellar cast. This is Paris hip, dark, and mean.

A married DA falls for a woman with a past

Thelma Jordan, the last film noir by Robert Siodmak is under-rated, and not because of Siodmak, whose lacklustre direction disappoints, but for the intelligent script and a bravura performance from Barbara Stanwyck, who plays Thelma, the woman with a past. I have deliberately not described her as a femme-fatale, as her character is multi-layered. She is trapped by her past but genuinely loves the DA who falls for her.

Noir determinism propels the story, which to a degree is melodramatic and contrived, but the pyschological elements and literate study of the dynamics of marriage and immaturity give the film more depth than most melodramas.

“Id’ like to say I didn’t intend to kill her, but when you have a gun, you always intend when you have to…”

As introductions to film noir, you can’t go past these two books, which are immensely readable and entertaining:

The Rough Guide to Film Noir (2007)
A great introduction that covers the genre from early German expressionism to the latest neo-noirs, and highlights the movies to look out for.

Film Noir by Alain Silver (2004)
A general overview of film noir covering its most important themes with many rare stills. Among the films covered are: Double Indemnity, Kiss Me Deadly, Gun Crazy, Criss Cross, Detour, In A Lonely Place, T-Men, Out of the Past, The Reckless Moment, and Touch of Evil.

The banal and squalid machinations of a floozey and her pimp, and a lonely older man’s infatuation lead to inevitable destruction

Scarlet Street, a classic film noir from Fritz Lang, shattered the closed romantic realism of Hollywood. It is unremitting in its pessimism. A dark mood and pervading doom are devastating in their intensity.

On the surface the streetwalker Kitty (Joan Benett) is the femme-fatale to Edward G. Robinson’s chump, Chris, with her manipulative and abusive no-good boyfriend as her ally. But Kitty is not an active protagonist. She is an empty-headed girl who thinks she is in love with her pimp, Johnny (Dan Duryea), and who is pushed all the way by his cheap stratagems to milk Chris for money.

Like the Swede in Criss Cross, Chris is not so much dealt a raw deal by fate but by his own naivety and irrational need to believe that Kitty loves him.