Film Noir was coined by french film critics who noticed the trend of how dark, downbeat and black the looks and themes were of many american crime and detective films released in france following the war such as, The Maltese Falcon, Double Idemnity & Murder, My Sweet.
The Maltese Falcon (1941) directed by John Huston, is one of the most popular and best classic detective mysteries ever made, and many film historians consider it the first in the dark film noir genre in hollywood. It leaves the audience with a distictly downbeat solution and bitter taste. The low-budget film reflects the remarkable directorial debut of John Huston who efficiantly and skillfully composed and filmed this american classic with great dialogue, deceitful characters and menacing scenes.
A private detective takes on a case that involves him with three eccentric criminals, a gorgeous liar and their quest for a priceless statuette.
Double Indemnity (1944) directed by Billy Wilder, "this is the directors most classic film noir masterpiece – a cynical, witty and sleazy thriller about adultary, corruption and murder." - filmsite.com
This highly stylised story was urgently told and set in the local areas of greater los angeles to show the audience how Wilder can make a local place to them seem like a dangerous, dark area in the stroy.
The urgently – told, highly- stylised story was Wilders third film. Wilder effectivly used locales in the greater Los Angeles area: the Glendale train station, the Hollywood bowl, a night-time downtown office building, a spanish – style house, the protagonists apartment at the Chateau Marmont. An insurance rep lets himself be talked into a murder/insurance fraud scheme that arouses an insurance investigators suspicions.
Murder, My Sweet (1944) directed by Edward Dmytryk, private eye Phillip Marlowe hired by Moose Malloy to look for his former girlfriend who has not been seen for the past few years. The case is tougher than Marlowe expected which leads to a complex web of deceit.
Murder, My Sweet is a masterful early film noir, a brilliant mix of convoluted plot, hard boiled dialogue, nightmarish atmosphere and comically cynical narration.
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