Classic Noir: A Subgenre on a Spectrum

Drew Cobb

Professor Sinowitz

HONR101C

3 November 2017

Classic Noir: A Subgenre on a Spectrum

            “It has always been easier to recognize a film noir than to define the term,” says James Naremore in his introductory sentence to his book, More Than Night: Film Noir in its Contexts (Naremore 9). Most may picture, in common fashion, wet, rainy streets with a fedora and trench-coat-clad detective ruminating on a dame in the darkness of Los Angeles’ backstreets when the term film noir is mentioned. However, is film noir a genre? A visual style? Perhaps a set of themes? More specifically, what is “classic” noir, or noir works made from the late 1920s to late 1950s, including famous texts and films like The Maltese Falcon, Double Indemnity, The Big Sleep, and The Killing? Classic noir is certainly an important term to define as it laid down a foundation for future noirs. Kick-started by Dashiell Hammett’s groundbreaking novel, The Maltese Falcon, classic noir was not even recognized as “classic noir” at the time—it was French critics later who coined the term, and the American writers and directors of these works had no knowledge beforehand they were creating “noirs,” but rather imagined their works as thrillers or detective thrillers. That said, defining noir, then, as a genre has complications. Furthermore, the variety of works from the classic noir period that our class has studied have such dynamic characteristics (such as character archetypes, themes, moods, and plot points) that make grouping them under a genre difficult. Movies like Sunset Boulevard that depart heavily from the detective crime thriller mood, style, and, well, genre complicate the ability to group all these classic noir works into a genre. On the other hand, viewing classic noir as merely a set of themes coupled, perhaps, with a mood is too loose of a definition, in my opinion. It seems that concrete, evidential material is necessary in characterizing what classic noir is—it cannot just be a bunch of themes like deceit, lust, and crime mixed with a mood if impending doom. To me, classic noir is a subgenre of the larger thriller genre, but should be viewed on a spectrum, some works erring more to the thriller side of the spectrum and some works erring more towards a detective thriller side of the spectrum.

What even is a “genre?”

           

             M.H. Abrams, an American literary critic, defines a “genre” as reliant upon rules that “[specify] subject matter, structure, style, and emotional effect proper to each [work]” (Abrams ).

Generally speaking, most of the works that can be considered classic noirs—at least the works we have studied as a class—could fit under this definition. The visual style of all films includes very consistent low-key lighting. A few of the works that include detectives and crime solving have flashbacks and/or voice-over narration, which influences the structure of the works. Finally, there is a cathartic, almost tragic ending to most all of the works. In The Maltese Falcon, for instance, Spade turns Brigid in to the police (in the film and book) and then proceeds to return to his daily, somewhat motorized life (in the book), which leaves the audience on a bleak, somewhat depressing note. Double Indemnity has a similarly tragic ending as the film outlines a confession through its duration and eventually ends in the main character’s death, following his murder of the femme fatale—an archetype common in noir novels and film that can be characterized as a woman dangerous to herself and others. These kinds of bleak endings play a role in the emotional effect that Abrams outlines in his definition of genre.

            Bernard Dick, a professor of film at Farleigh Dickinson University, also defines a genre as having to abide by two rules: one, it can never die, and two, “genres can be no more pigeonholed than can human beings” (Dick 198-199). Very clearly, film noir abides by the first rule, as contemporary noirs, or “neo-noirs,” have been and are still being made today—including works like Devil in a Blue Dress and Gone Girl. The second rule, to be defined in clearer terms, essentially is saying that while films can be categorized into genres, that does not mean it cannot have elements of other genres in it.

            For the sake of this paper and for clarity on what the word “genre” really entails, I am going to use a synthesis of these definitions. Thus, a “genre” can be considered a grouping of works that have similar subject matter, structure, style, and consistent emotional effect (but are allowed to borrow from other genres in some elements), as well as have a capability to transcend time.

How classic noir fits, or does not fit, into a genre

            

              When I think of the summation of works we have explored as a class, both novels and films, from the classic noir period, I see very distinct similarities, some of which were mentioned in the earlier section. Style-wise, the films all use low-key lighting to an effective degree, and some also utilize voice-over narration and flashback, both trademark moves in noir novels and films. The emotional effect is perhaps the most consistent, strongest argument for why these classic noir works could be put into the same genre, since the depressing, dark, and bleak endings to these works all leave the audience on a gritty, melancholic note. In Double Indemnity, for instance, Neff’s death following his long confession leaves a bleak, depressing effect, as does the film Out of the Past (1947) when both the main character and the femme fatale die. Even in films as unique within this “subgenre” as Sunset Boulevard end up having a bleak, desolate, and dark effect. The emotional effect counts for something, which is why I feel all classic noirs can be categorized into a subgenre.

            However, where I feel these classic noirs depart from the definition of genre lies within the subject matter. For instance, while the visual style of these works uses very effective low-key lighting, and there is a feel and mood of impending doom throughout them all (as the themes of deceit and double-crossing play major roles in the plots), subject matter becomes ambiguous, especially when comparing the more detective-like thrillers with more unique films such as Sunset Boulevard and works that are geared more towards pulling off “the perfect crime,” such as The Killing and Double Indemnity. While one can compare the main characters in these specific works—Walter Neff in Double Indemnity, Johnny Clay in The Killing, and Sam Spade in the Maltese Falcon seem to possess the same wit and hard-boiled demeanor, even though Spade is a detective trying to solve crimes while Neff and Clay are criminals in their own right—there is certainly a drop-off. To explain my standpoint, I find it easier to imagine Spade solving the crimes that Neff and Clay would be inclined to commit.

Sunset Boulevard

One outlier that I had continued trouble grouping with these other works into a genre, per-say, was the film Sunset Boulevard (1950). In the film, a seasoned, “washed-up” actress lives in her lavish mansion and attempts to seduce a young Hollywood writer in hopes of satisfying any physical desire she may have, but also in propelling herself back to fame. On the other hand, there exists works like The Big Sleep and The Maltese Falcon that are purely detective fiction. In addition, there is a great mood fluctuation in Sunset Boulevard—while it still retains a dark, impending doom feel, the dancing scene with Norma dressed as Charlie Chaplin adds something of humor to the film, and lightens the mood as compared to darker noirs like Out of the Past and even novels like The Postman Always Rings Twice, a story about a lowlife who has an affair with a married woman and then hatches a plan with her to kill her husband and run off. While Sunset Boulevard retains its suspense and dark mood, it has more aloofness than other noirs, especially those hard-boiled detective thrillers. Worth noting too is the lack of a “perfect crime” element in Sunset Boulevard, which departs heavily from the other classic noirs. While I have trouble putting Sunset Boulevard in the same genre as the classic noirs, I recognize that it has crucial elements that do indeed link it with these other works.

What I do feel is a reasonable comparison is seeing both Sunset Boulevard and these other detective thrillers as under the same, broad thriller genre, as they do both have the similar emotional effects of bleakness and grittiness, as well as low-key lighting as far as style goes. Even the voice-over narration structure plays a part in Sunset Boulevard, as technically the film is told from the perspective of a dead man who is narrating throughout, which is comparable to the flashback, voice-over narration of Out of the Past, a detective film noir, and the confessional, voice-over narration in Double Indemnity.

The Spectrum

On the other hand, though, while I can admit Sunset Boulevard is a thriller—the Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a “thriller” as “a work of fiction or drama designed to hold the interest by the use of a high degree of intrigue, adventure, or suspense” (Merriam-Webster)—I see its fit in the classic noir group as on one side of a spectrum, a spectrum that has the general thriller genre at one end (perhaps view the spectrum as top to bottom, the top being the thriller genre and the bottom being pure detective fiction). While all the works fit under this spectrum which we can label “classic noir,” Sunset Boulevard rests most closely to the top given how much it differs in subject matter from the other works.

Near the bottom would obviously be detective thriller novels, including works like The Big Sleep by Chandler and The Maltese Falcon by Hammett. Alongside these would also be their film adaptations. In the middle range, I would categorize the film noirs that focus more on “the perfect crime,” such as The Killing, Double Indemnity, and the novel The Postman Always Rings Twice. While these works have hard-boiled detective themes, the lack of an actual detective’s presence and the higher stress on pulling off a crime with a suspense-laden plot makes them slightly different from the other works on the spectrum.

Conclusion

            

              If we look at classic noir as a subgenre of the thriller genre where it originated from, it simplifies the controversy that surrounds whether classic noir is a genre or not, and instead categorizes the works from the classic noir time period in accordance with the variations in subject matter, which I believe is the founding cause for why noir films are so hard to categorize or put into a genre to begin with.

            While many of the classic noir works could fit into a genre, as defined by M.H. Abrams and Bernard Dick, the discrepancy in subject matter creates a rift, which can be best dealt with by creating a spectrum that distributes all the classic noirs in a meaningful way, the top of the spectrum being pure thriller, and the bottom being pure detective fiction. Thus, this spectrum of classic noirs can act as a subgenre of thriller, as the classic noirs all have stylistic, structural, and emotional aspects that are paralleled, but compensates for the discrepancies in subject matter. Works like Sunset Boulevard which depart from the traditional “perfect crime” theme and the detective thriller feel can be closer associated to the thriller side of the spectrum, while works like The Maltese Falcon and The Big Sleep can be positioned on the far opposite side of the spectrum.

            Ultimately, by looking at classic noir as a subgenre of the broader thriller genre, we can simplify the controversy surrounding whether noir is a genre or not, which helps bring clarity to the fact that those who began writing and directing these classic noirs were not aware that they were making “classic noirs,” but instead were imaging their works as thrillers. It also sets the foundation for the neo-noirs that were to come much later.

Works Cited

Abrams, M.H. A Glossary of Literary Terms. Wadsworth Press, 2012.

Dick, Bernard. Anatomy of Film. 6^th ed., Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2010.

Naremore, James. More Than Night: Film Noir in its Contexts. The Regents of the University of

California, 2008.

“Thriller.” Merriam-Webster, 2017. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/thriller.