Most of the classic film noirs were made in America as the themes and ideas were imported to Hollywood from Europe . The heyday years were during and after the Second World War from the early 1940s to late 1950s
The name ‘Film Noir’ was first given in France
'Genre' is the term given to a film to categorize it according to its visual & aural style, typical characters, storylines, iconography etc. Comedy and Horror are examples of film Genres. Wether film noir is a genre in its own right or not has long been the subject of debate. Some people see it as a separate genre because of their distinctive visual characteristics and narratives whereas others see it as simply an extension of the Crime & Ganster genre which influences the majority film noirs. Some also see the title 'film noir' as more an indication of the mood and tone of a film rather than a genre.
Film Noirs began during a time when Hollywood movies were divided into A-movies and B-movies. The A-movies were the main productions involving the big name actors and actresses and the vast majority of the money was spent on them. B-movies were made alot more cheaply with lessor known actors and often re-using sets. As a result less attention was paid to them by critics allowing the directors to take more risks and be very experimental stylistically. Early film noirs came from these B-movies meaning many were not big budget productions. The original genre film noir developed from was Crime and Gangster and this can be seen in many of their storylines.
The early film noirs were made during the Second World War at a time of great social and political unrest around the world. This provided the base for many of the storylines as did the increased importance and power of women at the time which contributed to the making of the 'femme fatale' which will be mentioned in codes and conventions.
The Second World War is seen as the biggest factor that contributed to the making of film noir. One of the reasons was that many Eastern European film makers fled to Hollywood as they tried to escape the growing Nazi oppression in their own countries. The film noirs these people made were some of the best ever not only because of the dark and pessimistic mood they bought with them which contributed to many plots and storylines but also because they bought with them their own visual style known as German Expressionism. This style was prominant in many German films of the 1920s and 1930s and relied very heavily on the use of shadows, silohette and very striking juxtapositioning of light and dark sections within the shots. This style was new to Hollywood at the time and is what made film noir so distinctive visually. Another political factor behind film noir was the left wing politician Mccarthy who was deeply hated because of the sympathy he apparently felt for communists who were feared because of the cold war. Deep anxiety and paranoia was felt around hollywood at the time and the more artistic community was associated left wing group. This feeling was captured in many film noirs of the time.
