In the earlier parts of this series of posts, we looked at the factors that contributed to the creation of this genre, the men and women who inhabit the Film Noir Universe, their attire and their lighting. In thsi post, we will examine common themes in Noir. While we may not be able to have a complete comprehensive list of themes, we can look at some recurring ones. It should also be noted that most noir movies have a blend of multiple themes.
Crime Investigation
As we saw earlier, popular pulp novels had an enormous impact on Film Noir plots. Many of them featured the hard boiled detective or private eye. Sam Spade, Phillip Marlowe and Mike Hammer are among some of the most popular of Noir movies.
There are variations on the sleuth theme too. Sometimes, we have police officers doing the investigation. At times, someone close to an implicated person turns detective to prove the person’s innocence.
In ‘The Naked city‘, we have two detectives, Lt. Dan Muldoon (Barry Fitzgerald) and novice Det. Jimmy Halloran (Howard Duff) investigate the case of a murdered model.
In the movie, Laura, Dana Andrews as NY detective Mark McPherson investigates the death of advertising executive, Laura Hunt
In Black Angel, the wife of an adulterous man( June Vincent) and a musician (Dan Duryea) join forces to prove his innocence.
Seduction, Betrayal, Murder
Seduction and betrayal which often lead to murder,is another common theme in Noir movies. We have already covered several movies with this theme, including ‘The man who cheated Himself’, ‘Double Indemnity’ and “Scarlet Street’.
‘The File on Thelma Louise‘ is another movie based on a similar plot.
‘The Postman Always Rings Twice(1946) ‘is yet another movie based on seduction and murder.
Seeking Retribution
The male protagonist seeking retribution is another common theme in noir movies. This can take many forms. This may be the determined hero seeking to bring a powerful person down, because of a strong sense of duty.
In other cases, the male protagonist has been wronged by someone. That someone may be a close friend, an employer who is sometimes the mob boss. Oftentimes, it is the Femme Fatal.
The protagonist is oftentimes wrongly accused and seeks revenge from whoever put him there. Sometimes he is double crossed by a lover.
John Payne plays Joe Rolfe in “Kansas Confidential“. He has been wrongfully arrested of participating in a heist, thanks to a gang of double-crossing thieves, and is hellbent on getting his share of the loot.
In “The Big Heat” Glen Ford plays the gritty Cop Bannian, seeking revenge on mob boss, Lagana for murdering his partner.
Anti-Hero
While the stereotypical film noir’s male protagonist is most often of ambivalent character, many of them also featured plots centered around the anti-hero. Unlike the typical male protagonist, the anti hero is the central character of the movie, and is outright evil with no redeeming qualities. While the audience can sympathize with a morally ambivalent hero, they would have no love for an anti-hero and would wish to see him killed, arrested or facing hard justice.
In an iconic role, in “Night of the Hunter” Robert Mitchum portrays the psychotic and evil Reverend Harry Powell, a nomadic serial killer who marries and kills a widow and is not beyond killing her children to get to a stolen pile of cash.
In an earlier post in this series, I covered James Cagney’s movie where he plays the evil Cody Jarret in “White Heat”. Cagney has played the antihero in several movies, like “Public Enemy” where he rises up from being a petty thief to a murderous bootlegger.
Edward G. Robinson plays a small time crook who rises to the top rung of organized crime in ‘Little Ceaser‘.
James Cagney plays an escaped con, who kills people and jilts women in his iconic role in “Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye“.
Another memorable role of the ant-hero we discussed earlier is Jospeh Cotton’s “Uncle Charlie” from “Shadow of a doubt.
Corrupt or Compromised Cops
The Corrupt Cop is another recurring theme in Noir. Shady cops come in many varities in Noir movies. I have reviewed A Touch of Evil, where Orson Welles plays an evil cop. We have also covered Prowler earlier in this series, where a suburban cop seduces a suburban woman and murders her husband.
In “I wake Up Screaming/Hot Spot“, a cop tries to pin the murder of a Starlet on her manager.
In ‘Pushover‘, an undercover cop, Paul Sheridan (Fred MacMurray) falls for a bank robber’s woman and tries to play both the police and the bank robber’s gang.
Nazis and Nuclear disaster
In the first part of this series, we saw that the Film Noir era in coincided with World WarII. It should not be a surprise that many film noir themes centered on nuclear disasters or involving Nazis.
“Sherlock Homes and the Secret Weapon(1942) ” is features on the famous sleuth protecting a Scientist so that a nuclear weapon does not fall into Nazi hands.
“Kiss Me Deadly “has gumshoe sleuth Mike Hammer, investigate a ‘mysterious weapon’ that can cause damage.
In Hitchcock’s “Notorious“, government agent Devlin (Cary Grant recruits Alicia Huberman (Ingrid Bergman) as a spy to seduce a Nazi criminal.
In ‘The Stranger‘ Edward G. Robinson is a government agent seeking to capture a German war criminal(Orson Welles) living in a Connecticut town, posing as a teacher.
Heist or Treasure Hunt
A heist, a treasure hunt of the search for a prized item is another recurring theme in film noir. We have already covered Maltese Falcon where several parties are after a precious bird figurine.
“Criss Cross“, starring Burt Lancaster features an armored car robbery.
“The Asphalt Jungle” with Sterling Hayden and Marlyn Monroe is the story of the robbery of a Jewellery store.
‘High Sierra‘ with Bogart is a story of a robbery at a resort hotel
These are some of the most common themes of the Film Noir universes.
Conclusion
It has been fun to do my research on Film Noir and bring this series of articles to you. I hope it gives you more insights into appreciating this genre of Film Noir. I think I have said all I wanted to say on this topic (for now). Completing this series was very important to me, as I am in a much better position to understand, not just Film Noir, but also other knds of genre that evolved from Film Noir. I hope you enjoyed reading this series, as much as I have in bringing it to you.
Here are other posts in this series.
