Final Project

The Progression of Women in Film Noir

We have seen women in multiple films and how they are portrayed in these films has evolved through the course of the decades. For example, in Jeremy G. Butler’s Miami Vice: The Legacy of Film Noir, p. 291, “the women in film noir have been divided by Janey Place into two categories: the ‘rejuvenating redeemer’ and the ‘deadly seductress,’ also known as the ‘spider woman.’” First, there were women being portrayed as housewives during the World War II era, then, they were portrayed to the helpers of the main protagonists of various romantic comedy films, and finally, their roles were altered as the femme fatale characters of film noir.

As the roles and expectations of women evolved in society, the complexity and cleverness of women became a feature of media portrayals. Film noir represents an acknowledgment of women as more complex and powerful actors in their environment and society’s surprise that women are both interesting and capable of controlling their destiny.

According to the High on Films article The Representation of Women in Film Noir by Malu Barroso, women in various films were being depicted as housewives and felt re-oppressed during the WWII era. Before World War II, women spent most of their lives serving as housewives. A woman did household chores and always tended to her children while her husband is out at work. It was the usual norm for most people during the 1940s because women did not have the freedom to do whatever they wanted in life, such as applying for economically rewarding jobs or going to the well-known colleges in the U.S. Even educated women found themselves limited to the jobs that were support level rather than management of control. It was the most typical trope ever known in our society: men go to work to provide for their families, while women had to stay home to do housework, such as cooking and cleaning, and take care of their children.

When men were drafted for World War II, women decided to leave their homes and find jobs themselves in order to help make ends meet for themselves and their children. Businesses hired them because there was a shortage of men to fill the jobs. They started working as secretaries, front desk receptionists, and librarians at local bookstores. They were recruited to work as patriotic duty to the country. Working outside of home became a new experience for these women because they finally got a taste of freedom and control of their lives that they have waited for so long. But when the men came home from the war, women were forced to quit their jobs outside the home and go back to their original positions as housewives. This had a negative effect on women because they were instantly robbed of their new-found freedoms as if they were being sucked back into the pre-World War II era.

In the first chapter of Film Noir and the Cinema of Paranoia: The Dream of Return, it was clear that men had entereda post-war society after fighting in World War II. They were used to their wives staying at home to do household chores and taking care of their children while they go to work to provide for their families. As the question was asked about “what happened when men came home from war,” it meant that they came home from World War II only to find out that their wives have started working in outside jobs instead of staying home to do housework like any housewife could do before the war. It was considered to be the norm in a male-dominant society between the 1920s and 1940s because to men, women had to maintain her status as a housewife who does the cooking and cleaning around the house. For some women, however, they just felt like housekeepers rather than being actual wives to their husbands.

The author writes that “the fabric of pre-war society had been asunder by massive social, economic, and political change,” the meaning behind that is plain and simple: the men have entered into a new world where women have switched their positions from being stay-at-home mothers and housewives to genuine career women. The author makes a comparison in the first two previous paragraphs, that women in film noir also went from being housewives, to working as secretaries, receptionists, and librarians, to experiencing re-oppression of their desire for economic independence as they were forced to go back to their traditional positions. Even though they experienced re-oppression by the forced job loss after their husbands returned from fighting in World War II, women sought to have more gender equality with the option of working in jobs outside of their homes as men did.

In truth, it was not just the men who fought in the war, it was both working men and women who were the real World War II veterans back in the 1940s. This untold story was written by author Dennis Broe in his book, Film Noir, American Workers, and Postwar Hollywood. Broe wrote to educate the readers who were unaware of the difference between American labor and Hollywood labor. According to the first chapter, The Home-Front Detective as Dissident Lawman (and -woman), “On the Hollywood screen, WWII was largely fought on the battlefield; while in reality, the war was largely fought in the factories by working men and women who produced the weapons and materials necessary for first the Russians and then the Allies together to fight and defeat the fascist powers” (p. 2, Broe 2009). This example reveals the untold story about American labor and the reality of where World War II took place back in the 1940s. On the Hollywood screen, men go off to fight on the battlefield during World War II, but in reality, the war had other contributors who worked in various factories. Both working-class men and women were responsible for the allied victory. This was not emphasized in the films on World War II. The failure to show this contribution meant that the public would not include women in the list of heroes in the World War II effort.

Turns out that fascists and misogynists wanted people to believe that men had fought in the battlefield of World War II while women stayed at home to do the housework, which was considered to be lower value. But these housewives were beginning to work outside the home and developing skills in other support roles as secretaries, front desk receptionists, and librarians. This book shows the importance of how media portrays women and the intent to create imagery that supported the ideas of control and dominance by men even in a country fighting against fascism. The book discussed what it calls the “hidden truth” behind the toxic imagery of fascism and misogyny. Images in society perpetrated gender role stereotypes and would not let people discover the real story about World War II, but rather make them believe that fighting in a war was more of a men’s job and that a woman’s place was at home. Home and homemaking are not interior activities, but because this work is unpaid, it left women as dependent as children for survival. If one believed that only men were meant to fight in a war while their wives stay home, but the other believed the opposite, there are still conflicts on this idea to this very day.

However, there is a difference between the “New Women” in the U.S. and the “New Women” in Weimar Germany. In the 7th chapter of Jans B. Wager’s Dangerous Dames: Women and Representation in the Weimar Street Film and Film Noir: The Noir Years: U.S. War and Postwar Culture and Cinema, 1941-1958, for example, “The liberalism of Weimar Germany does stand in contrast to the increasing conservatism in the U.S. after World War II, particularly with regard to women” (p. 73, Wager 1999). Pre-war Germany was fascist ruled yet the post war Germany was more liberal than the U.S. that had fought against fascism in Europe. This evidence is important because the comparison between women in Weimar Germany and women in the U.S. between 1941 and 1958. The women in Weimar Germany were able to have the freedom they truly deserve in their youthful days, while women in the U.S. lived in a conservative society before their employment.

The 7th chapter of Jans B. Wager’s Dangerous Dames is related to this World War II topic due to the ironic comparison between middle-class young women in Germany and middle-class, middle-aged women in the U.S. during the 1940s and 1950s. These women in two different countries have a very interesting lifestyle. In Wiemar Germany, women were said to be employed, socially free, and autonomous while in their twenties. In the U.S., however, women got married during their youth and play their roles as housewives. But when they got older, women decided to start getting jobs while their husbands go off to fight in the World War II battlefield. Because film noir was a postwar phenomenon between the 1940s and 1950s, many people who watch those kinds of movies were wondering how women in different countries were able to govern themselves during the World War II era. While women in the U.S. lived in a misogynistically conservative society that made toxic masculinity the norm, women in Germany were able to govern themselves and live a socially free lifestyle.

Other than being portrayed as re-oppressed housewives during the World War II era, women were also portrayed as the helpers of the main protagonists of many noir films. This portrayal breaks the housewife trope for women because the producers of film noir decided to make changes for the characteristics of women in various romantic comedy films. For example, in Bringing Up Baby, Susan Vance, a high-spirited and adventurous socialite, was willing to help the straightlaced Dr. David Huxley on a life-changing adventure to find a missing dinosaur bone for his museum display. Knowing that he was trying to make an impression to her social matron aunt, Mrs. Random, Vance decided to help Dr. Huxley recover the missing piece before the he could auction off his science museum. This example is rather an opposites-attract kind of film noir because it tells the story of an uptight paleontologist and a madcap adventuress, and her pet leopard. The film demonstrates how women in film noir are willing to help the male protagonist, even when men do not need help at all.

In The Big Sleep, Vivian Rutledge helped Detective Philip Marlowe escape from bondage and allowed him to grab his gun to defeat Lash Canino, one of the gangsters who blackmailed her and her family. This hard-boiled film noir revolves around a male detective, the main protagonist, trying to uncover a blackmail case, but he did it with the help of a female character who was aware of that situation. Mrs. Rutledge was ashamed of her sister’s gambling ways and involvement with the men who took part in blackmailing her father. She is portrayed as a partner, but a subordinate one.

However, not all detectives are men; there were also 1930s Hollywood noir films that star women as female detectives, thus defying the gender stereotypes. According to Philippa Gates’ article, The Maritorious Melodrama: Film Noir with a Female Detective, women playing the traditionally male roles of detectives represents a positive feminist hero in the 1930s film noir. This is an example of a woman’s new role of defying the housewife tropes because many producers of film noir made the choice of portraying a woman as a detective instead of a man. Other than women being positive feminist role models for their careers as a detective, they also used their “masculinity” to become more successful at investigating crimes and capturing criminals easier than the male detectives would. Author Philippa wrote that “what is interesting about the Hollywood’s female detective is not that a woman could be a detective and attract a man, but that she attracted her man because of her masculinity—her outspoken nature, her independence, and her careerist ambition, drive, and success” (p. 26, Gates 2009). It means that a female detective embraced her independence, her outspoken nature, and ambition in her career as a crime investigator.

Unlike the women who were re-oppressed during the World War II era after being forced to quit their new jobs outside their homes, a female detective is a woman who operated in a male-dominated world of criminal investigation. With their power and authority over men, this type of woman could be considered a potential disruption to dominant masculinity because she is willing to get the criminal investigation job done easily. Female detectives symbolize women empowerment in the realm of Hollywood 1930s film noir and for future generations of women becoming positive role models in the United States. Instead of catching a man, also known as a husband, a female detective was more interested in catching her man, the criminal. Her succsess is not measured by the social acceptability of her husband. Instead, she is measured by her career success as men are. Even if a female detective gets married, there could be a possibility that she might give up on her career to become a housewife, which was something that she would much rather avoid. Women deserve gender equality among men when it comes to working in jobs and having a family.

Speaking of women wanting gender equality in workplaces, sometimes women who started working in career jobs and gained independence can be restrained through marriages. After World War II, there came a conflict between women demanding equal rights in a workplace and men wanting to maintain their role of patriarchy. In Helen Hanson’s Hollywood Heroines: Women in Film Noir and the Female Gothic Film, Hanson viewed two major faults in the film noir criticism; first, to challenge the delineating of noir women into the two oppositional categories of femme fatale and virginal redeemer and second, aiming to correct the marginalization of the female gothic films as a result of an overriding academic focus on film noir (McNally 2010). She wanted the readers to realize that women in film noir and the female gothic film continued to be overlooked for their gender due to sexualized imagery.

There are two noir films that characterize marriage and female domesticity as sites of fear, conflict, and anxiety: Rebecca (1940) and The Two Mrs. Carrolls (1947). In Hanson’s argument, women felt the pressure of returning to their in the post-war climate because they were afraid of losing their chance for freedom that was acquired through careers independent of their husband. When at home, they were limited to domestic activities while their husbands go off to work.

Rebecca is a 1940 film noir that tells the story about a young woman who was tangled in a domestic nightmare after marrying a widowed man whose wife, the film’s titular character, Rebecca, had passed away many years earlier. Not only was the new wife dealing with her cold-hearted husband, but also a jealous housekeeper who refused to accept that there was another woman in her boss’s life. Rebecca is the type of film where female domesticity was taken to dark level because of the female main character’s suspicions over her husband’s suggestion of living in his late wife’s shadow and the way he treated her during their marriage. At another level, the housekeeper was a power position and acts as an antagonist in support of the male patriarchy and enforcing expectations of the “lady of the house.”

In the 1947 classic, The Two Mrs. Carrolls, a married man and mentally disturbed artist, Geoffrey Carroll, falls in love with a younger woman during his vacation. Instead of telling that other woman about his marital status, Geoffrey decided to keep it a secret from his mistress before poisoning his first wife. He also began seeing another woman while painting creepy portraits of his two women. This is another mystery film noir that depicts a man who wanted control over two women after murdering his first wife to be with a younger woman or two. This dystopian view of married life paints a picture in relation to women fearing going back to their homes to do their traditional routines and be dependent on men. These two films are the prime examples of the failure to depict female positivity and instead showing only vulnerability in many noir films (McNally 2010). It was almost similar to a step backward in to female depictions in films, especially after World War II. 

In contrast to helping the male protagonist or playing the traditional male roles of a detective, the femme fatale, or “spider woman,” character is known for using and manipulating men into doing their biddings. For example, in Double Indemnity, Phyllis Dietrichson is a gold digger turned cold-blooded killer. She only married her husband, Mr. Dietrichson for his money and wanted to get all the inheritance for herself. Not wanting to get her hands dirty, Phyllis convinced her lover, an insurance agent named Walter Neff, to help her with the murder plot against her wealthy, elderly husband. Double Indemnity demonstrates how a femme fatale character could go through great lengths to get what she wants, especially when it involves seducing a male protagonist to participate in a murder-for-hire plot against her husband for his money. But as Double Indemnity reached its conclusion, Phyllis did not get her late husband’s money and instead was shot and killed by Walter Neff. This was her punishment for trying to marry a man for his money and recruiting her lover into a murder scheme.

In Scarlet Street, however, some femme fatale characters in the film noir genre, like Kitty March, are in a relationship with a con artist. Kitty and her boyfriend, Jonny Prince, created a plot to use Christopher Cross to make money by selling his paintings while Kitty takes credit for passing the work off as her own. Kitty knew that Chris had feelings for her, so she pretended to like him back. This film is another example of how women in film noir were able to take advantage of the male protagonists for their own personal gains. Femininity and attraction are used as weapons to get resources. This depicts an ambitious woman as a deceitful person. Scarlet Street depicts the femme fatale character as it tells the story of an aging artist who was looking for excitement outside of his miserable marriage only to be tricked into helping a young, conniving woman and her boyfriend in a money-making scheme. Kitty March is the type of female character who could fool anyone who would come in contact with her, while participating in scams with her partner. She is wayward and not virtuously domesticated as she only has a boyfriend and not a husband. As she feigned her interest in Chris, who was madly in love with her, Kitty was able to seduce him into putting his paintings under her name. This 1945 film noir could be a clear warning to the male viewers about coming in contact with a woman who only wanted them for either their work ability or their wealth. It could also make them wonder if they could trust women in general.

These femme fatale characters were the ploy of the main protagonist of film noir. Walter Neff was influenced into committing an extra marital affair with a married woman, which later turned deadly. Christopher Cross was unaware of Kitty’s true intentions because he was too blinded by love until he figured out the truth. Sometimes, a woman’s power to manipulate, con, and charm their way into a man’s life could lead to serious consequences. In Double Indemnity, the murder plot only drove Walter and Phyllis apart instead of bringing them together like they hoped for. Walter narrated his confession about the murder plot throughout the film and admitted to not only killing Mr. Dietrichson, but also Phyllis. Kitty and Jonny used Chris to make a buck out of Chris’s artwork in Scarlet Street. But when Kitty revealed her true intentions to Chris, she was immediately stabbed to death by the film’s main protagonist with an ice pick.

In the Los Angeles Times article, Dames of Film Noir, author Susan King describes the aftermath of the actresses portraying their femme fatale roles in film noir. In 1999, three of the retired elderly film noir actresses, Jane Greer, Marie Windsor, and Audrey Totter, sat together over lunch to talk about their careers during the 1940s and 1950s. They were reminiscing on their experiences of working as film noir actresses with MGM in Hollywood to portray their roles of femme fatales. It’s an important evidence for this topic because the readers were given the opportunity to get to know the actresses of film noir who experienced their roles as femme fatale characters between the 1940s and the 1950s. In relation to this article, King wanted the readers to picture what those three retired actresses would look like when they got together to talk about their past careers during their youthful days. After performing their femme fatale roles in film noir, Jane Greer, Marie Windsor, and Audrey Totter were able to connect with each other off-screen during and after their acting careers. Through the good times and bad times on set, these women were able to look back on their memories and laugh about it.

This article demonstrated the idea of how the retired film noir actors and actresses remember what filming a hard-boiled noir film was like behind the scenes during their youths. For example, Jane Greer, age 74, recalled her experience of being taught how to smoke for her femme fatale roles of film noir at the age of 18. As a result, Greer became hooked on smoking after her first puff of smoke until she decided to quit smoking 7 years prior to the get-together. In film noir, femme fatales were known as the type of women made themselves look sensual as they smoke a cigarette. Other than smoking while looking their best, these beautiful, but deadly leading ladies have the audacity to lure their male opposites into their evil webs with their feminine power, manipulation, and seduction.

Typically, most noir films revolve around the two categories known to viewers and producers alike: the tough yet righteous male detective and the evil seductress. Julie Grossman’s article Women and Film Noir: Pulp Fiction and the Women’s Picture from Kiss the Blood Off My Hands: On Classic Film Noir made the gender stereotypes in film noir very clear that many of the noir movies have told stories about both the male and the female protagonists with different backgrounds and characteristics. As mentioned before about femme fatales in film noir, women were usually described as the evil seductress who created obstacles for the righteously hard-boiled male detectives in many films between the 1930s and 1950s. Because those films were set during pre-war and post-war eras, we, the viewers, were made to focus on those characters based on what their characteristics were and what their intentions were. Even critics had to focus on not only a man’s perspective, but also that of a woman.

According to Elizabeth Cowie’s observation of film noir, the psychic worlds of women have been addressed by noir films in general because they always center around the characteristics of various women (Grossman 2014). The 1940s is one of the best-known decades for producing classic noir cinemas because it was rooted by the ideas of creating crime melodramas that revolve around women, mostly the femme fatale characters. Author Julie Grossman described, in her writing, the femme fatale characters in two categories: “fatal women” and the “castrating woman.” “Fatal women” are said to be a reflection of postwar anxiety about female independence, while the “castrating woman” is, at the heart of film noir, a devouring woman who is more than interested in luring their male opposites into their evil bidding. These types of women can range from being a malevolent seductress to an ambitious yet helpless woman.

The intrigue of the dangerous or “bad” woman character became the hallmark of film noir surpassing the male roles in the story. In fact, the female character as the controlling character for the plot reveals itself as a surprise much like the surprise of a woman holding the power in a relationship. The audience discovers the manipulations of the female character as part of the surprise of the plot right along with the male character who may be her victim. For example, in Dangerous Dames: Women and Representation in the Weimar Street Film and Film Noir, Chapter 9: Why Do You Have to Kill People? The Femme Fatale and Femme Attrapée in Gun Crazy, written by Jans B. Wager,

“The female characters, especially the femme fatales, began to take visual and narrative precedence over the male protagonists. In film noir this trend continues. Although film noir is traditionally defined as a masculine form, its more interesting story is often a feminine scenario” (p. 92, Wager 1999). This evidence is important to the femme fatale topic because film noir is not always a true definition of masculinity, but rather a scenario of femininity. Without a femme fatale character, it would not be a film noir. The 9th chapter of this book is related to this topic due to the female character of the 1950 film noir Gun Crazy having a surprise role of being the controlling, manipulative character of the story’s plot. Similarly, in the stage play, The Election, written by Don Zolidis, the female character uses the underestimation of women to work in the background to pit the two protagonists against one another. Her activities create a hidden subplot that is the real driver of the plotline.

But not all femme fatale characters in noir films were considered to be the villainous characters that we, the audience, thought they would be. For example, Gloria Grahame, the actress known for her role as Vicki Buckley from a 1954 film noir, Human Desire, described her character to actually be a tragic figure who was mislabeled as a “femme fatale.” In her feminist insight, Grahame said that “most women are unhappy. They just pretend they aren’t.” This means that women in film noir are either genuinely unhappy or just pretend to be unhappy, whether it was about their marriage to the “wrong man” or that they became bored with their lives and wanted to do something exciting.

Although women were said to have played the best role of a femme fatale in film noir where they lure men to their doom, these characters were actually a projection of the misogynistic inadequacy during the 1940s and 1950s. In Halley Sutton’s article The Evolution of the Femme Fatale in Film Noir, the fact about people living in a misogynistic society where men go off to work while women stay at home to take care of household chores and raise children every day before World War II occurred. The 1950s image of the “New Woman” was proven to be a male fantasy over the celebration of a woman’s post-war return to their traditional positions at home. Sutton wanted the readers to acknowledge that women were not only known for their roles of being the dangerous female characters that were a ploy to male protagonists in film noir, but were idealized as typical homemakers when they’re off-screen. By judging the appearance of women in and outside of film noir, we were unaware of what they were actually doing behind the scenes of those films. Women in a society where misogyny and toxic masculinity was the norm during the World War II era were treated like sensual objects rather than human beings. 

Other than living in a misogynistic society, there are also third wave feminists who fought for workplace equality and freedom from sexual assault and harassment. Sexual harassment has been an ongoing issue since the post-war era, which happened in various workplaces most often. In relation to Sutton’s article, women began a third wave of feminism after World War II, which to this day they fight for workplace equality. They are also fighting for freedom from assault and harassment in many workplaces due to men maintaining their misogynistic views toward women.

As of last year, the femme fatale characters have been revitalized in various films, especially in the midst of the #MeToo movement and the controversial Trump presidency of the last 4 years. While continuing to fight for gender equality in multiple workplaces, women have protested against sexual assault and harassment, and demanded for the now former U.S. president Donald Trump to be voted out of the White House because they did not think he was fit for that position. Women deserve to be treated like actual human beings and not like sensual objects, especially in public places, such as schools, workplaces, and restaurants.

In conclusion, women in film noir have evolved throughout the decades based on their characteristics and how they interact with other people, including the male protagonists of those films. Particularly, women were seen in various noir films in many different ways such as being the housewives who felt re-oppressed during the World War II era, the helpers of the male protagonist, and the femme fatales who are obstacles to their opposites. The characteristics of those women also show the variety of how they experience their independence. Women in film noir can also be positive role models to the female viewers in future generations as they are symbols of continuing empowerment and independence for women.

Resources:

Barroso, Malu. The Representation of Women in Film Noir. High on Films, 2019, www.highonfilms.com/women-in-film-noir/.

Bringing Up Baby, 1938

Broe, Dennis. Film Noir, American Workers, and Postwar Hollywood. University Press of Florida, 2009.

Dixon, Wheeler W. Film Noir and the Cinema of Paranoia. Edinburg University Press, 2009.

Double Indemnity, 1944

Gates, Philippa. The Maritorious Melodrama: Film Noir with a Female Detective. University of Illinois Press, 2009.

Grossman, Julie. Kiss the Blood Off My Hands: On Classic Film Noir; Chapter 2: Women and Film Noir. University of Illinois Press, 2014, pp. 37-62.

King, Susan. The Dames of Film Noir. Los Angeles Times, 1999.

Jeremy G. Butler’s Miami Vice: The Legacy of Film Noir

McNally, Karen. Hollywood Heroines: Women in Film Noir and the Female Gothic Film. Feminist Review, 2010.

Rebecca, 1940

Scarlet Street, 1945

Sutton, Halley. The Evolution of the Femme Fatale in Film Noir. Crime Reads, 2019.

The Big Sleep, 1946

The Two Mrs. Carrolls, 1947

Wager, Jans B. Dangerous Dames: Women and Representation in the Weimer Street Film and Film Noir. Ohio University Press, 1999.

Zolidis, Don. The Election: A Comedy. 2012.

Project Prospectus

For my final project, I want to write an essay about how women progressed their roles in film noir. I am interested in understanding how the characteristics of female characters were depicted before, during, and after World War II. I want to explore the characteristic evolution of female characters as they were displayed in film noir, readings, and discussed in my variations describing the representation of women.

For each of the three main points of my essay, the sources I chose will help me with the debate about how women were portrayed in film noir. Each source explains the evolution of the women’s positions, ranging from being housewives during the WWII era to the helpers of the protagonist, and finally to dangerous femme fatales. I will be covering the information about the progression of a woman’s role in film noir with articles that I read this semester and use some noir films as examples for the points I make in my essay. First, I have at least one article that describes how women were oppressed during the WWII era. Second, I will explain the examples that I found in two films that describe and position women as the helpers of the male protagonists. Finally, I will explore the characteristics of femme fatales in two other noir films. In relation to the prompt, I want the readers to understand the source of each point and each paragraph about a woman’s portrayal in film noir.

I have already submitted the “outline” portion of this Prospectus, so next I will address provide my “annotated bibliography.”

Annotated Bibliography:

Barroso, Malu. The Representation of Women in Film Noir. High on Films, 2019, www.highonfilms.com/women-in-film-noir/.

  • I was drawn to this article because it describes the portrayal of women during the WWII era. I’m using this source to help make my points regarding how women were feeling oppressed before and after WWII because they believed they had been robbed of their new-found freedom outside of home.

Bringing Up Baby, 1938

  • This film caught my attention because it reminds me of my sophomore year when I took a narrative film class during the spring semester of 2019. I decided to use Bringing Up Baby as an example of how women were portrayed as helpers for the main protagonist of the film, thus breaking the housewife tropes.

Double Indemnity, 1948

  • This film noir struck my interest because it talks about how Walter Neff was tangled into a murder plot, which was orchestrated by Phyllis Dietrichson. In relation to my essay, Double Indemnity is an example of how women were positioned as femme fatale characters and sometimes portrayed as a gold digger-turned-cold-blooded murderess.

Jeremy G. Butler’s Miami Vice: The Legacy of Film Noir

  • I became interested in this article due to the comparison between two characteristics of women in film noir: one who is willing to help the protagonist, while the other is not interested in helping the protagonist, and is described as the “spider woman.” In my essay, I would like to explore the difference these two female characteristics to see what the comparison can add to my essay.

Scarlet Street, 1945

  • I was drawn to this source because it involves another femme fatale character in a film noir film. The femme fatale character (Kitty) and her boyfriend, Jonny, manipulated another character (Chris) to make a buck out his paintings. Scarlet Street will help show that femme fatale characters sometimes had questionable motives, and also reveals the consequences of their actions.

The Big Sleep, 1946

  • This film drew my interest due to Vivian’s characteristics that led her to help the main male protagonist (Detective Marlowe) take down the gangsters who blackmailed her and her family. The Big Sleep will provide more insights into the portrayal of women with characteristics that caused them to want to help the protagonist in a film noir movie.

Prospectus Outline

For my final project, I want to write an essay about how women progressed their roles in film noir because I am interested in understanding how the characteristics of female characters were depicted before, during, and after World War II. I want to explore the characteristic evolution of female characters that were displayed in film noir, the readings, and an article that describes the representation of women.

Main points:

  1. How women were feeling re-oppressed during the WWII era and how it affects them
    1. Pre-WWII
      1. A woman was depicted to be a housewife who tends to all the household chores and raising children, while their husbands are at work.
      1. Source: Barroso, Malu. The Representation of Women in Film Noir. High on Films, 2019, www.highonfilms.com/women-in-film-noir/.
    1. During WWII
      1. When the men go off to fight in World War II, the women decided to leave their homes and start working in actual jobs as secretaries, receptionists, or librarians.
      1. These women were able to experience their new-found freedom and careers for the first time.
      1. Source: Barroso, Malu. The Representation of Women in Film Noir. High on Films, 2019, www.highonfilms.com/women-in-film-noir/.
    1. Post-WWII
      1. When the men come home from the war, women were forced to quit their real jobs and go back to their original positions as housewives. This has a negative affect on women because they were robbed of their new-found freedoms as if they were being sucked back into the pre-WWII era.
      1. Source: Barroso, Malu. The Representation of Women in Film Noir. High on Films, 2019, www.highonfilms.com/women-in-film-noir/.
  2. Describe how women shift from being typical housewives to being helpers of the main protagonists of film noir
    1. Example: Susan Vance took Dr. David Huxley on a life-changing adventure to help find the missing dinosaur bone to complete his museum’s display. (Bringing Up Baby, 1938)
    1. Example: Vivian Rutledge helped Detective Philip Marlowe escape from bondage and allowed him to grab his gun to defeat Lash Canino, who was one of the gangsters that blackmailed her and her family. (The Big Sleep, 1946)
      1. It breaks the housewife tropes
  3. Femme fatale characteristics
    1. The “spider woman” character is known for using and manipulating men to do their biddings
      1. Example: gold digger becomes a cold-blooded killer (Double Indemnity, 1948)
        1. Phyllis Dietrichson only married Mr. Dietrichson for money and she wanted to get all the inheritance for herself, but she had to get of him first without getting her hands dirty. So, she convinced Walter Neff, her lover, to help her with the murder plot against her wealthy, elderly husband.
      1. Example: she could be in a relationship with a con artist (Scarlet Street)
        1. Kitty March was in a relationship with a con artist named Jonny Prince. This antagonistic couple created a plot to use Christopher Cross to make money by selling his paintings while Kitty takes credit for it. Kitty knew that Chris had feelings for her, so she pretended to like him back.
    1. Femme fatales are the ploy for the main protagonist of film noir
      1. Walter Neff was influenced into committing an extra marital affair with a married woman, which later turned deadly
    1. Sometimes, a woman’s power to manipulate, con, and charm their way into a man’s life could lead to serious consequences.
      1. Kitty and her boyfriend Jonny used Chris to make a buck out of Chris’s artwork. When she revealed to Chris about her true intentions, she was immediately stabbed to death by the main protagonist with an ice pick. 

Noir Final Project Proposal

For my final project, I would like to explore how women have progressed in noir films. This area sometimes gets complicated, but I would like to address it in my final project to explain how a woman’s role in noir films has progressed over the years.

We have seen women in multiple films and how they are portrayed in these films has evolved through the course of the decades. For example, in Jeremy G. Butler’s Miami Vice: The Legacy of Film Noir, p. 291, “the women in film noir have been divided by Janey Place into two categories: the ‘rejuvenating redeemer’ and the ‘deadly seductress,’ also known as the ‘spider woman.’” As I research multiple films related to women’s portrayal in film noir, I will be describing the three different characteristics of women in noir films. First, I will talk about how women were portrayed during the World War II era, then explore how they were portrayed to be the helpers of the protagonists, and finally, describe their femme fatale characteristics.

Women in most noir films were portrayed to be re-oppressed characters throughout and after World War II in America. According to the High on Films article, The Representation of Women in Film Noir, they were portrayed to be housewives until they began working as secretaries, receptionists, or department store clerks while the men were sent off to fight in WWII. But when it was time for the women to go back to their traditional positions, they begin feel as if their newfound careers and freedoms were taken away from them.

In various romantic comedy films, women were given the roles of helping a male protagonist throughout the plot of multiple noir films. For example, Susan Vance, a high-spirited and adventurous socialite from the 1938 film, Bringing Up Baby, was willing to help the uptight paleontologist David Huxley find the missing dinosaur bone to complete the display for his museum. Despite being the helpful character in that film, Vance was also described as being a little nutty. This characteristic of hers irritated Dr. Huxley initially, but he began to warm up to her as the movie’s storyline unfolded.

In contrast to the helpful female characters, the “spider woman” has the audacity to manipulate and use men to get what they want instead of playing the victim or helper. In Double Indemnity, for example, Phyllis Dietrichson was not only described as a gold digger who only married a man for his money, but also a cold-blooded murderess who manipulated Walter Neff into participating in a murder plot against her husband. Women who portray the role of a “deadly seductress,” or the “spider woman,” often go to great lengths to tangle the male protagonists into their web of destruction during the narratives.

In conclusion, women in film noir have had different characteristics as the years progressed and the plots evolved from the beginnings of World War II to its aftermath. Specifically, I will be covering how women were portrayed in film noir in the form of an essay. By the project’s due date, I will make sure to work on this final essay every week. For my resources, I will be researching examples from articles and films that match and analyze the women’s characteristics in film noir. If I have any issues regarding my paper, I will find writing resources from the Austin College library or meet with Professor Boessen during his office hour to discuss my research and my approach.

Sources:

Barroso, Malu. The Representation of Women in Film Noir. High on Films, 2019, www.highonfilms.com/women-in-film-noir/.

Bringing Up Baby, 1938

Double Indemnity, 1944

Jeremy G. Butler’s Miami Vice: The Legacy of Film Noir

African American Actors in Noir Films Script (Draft) and Bibliography

For many years, we’ve had films, the ones that are within the noir or neo-noir genre, that were produced by white directors and starred white actors. But have you heard about neo-noir films that were produced by African Americans and consisted primarily of African American actors?

Well, we actually do have those films that were produced by African American directors, such as Melvin Van Peebles, Carl Franklin, Spike Lee, and Jordan Peele. There are also films that primarily cast African American actors and actresses, which was considered to be a breakthrough for those artists.

In comparison between Carl Franklin and Jordan Peele, they are both African American directors who produced their films respectively, which each of them casted an African American actor for the lead role. Although they each produced a film that received positive reviews, one of the two films had a different box office rating. For example, Carl Franklin’s Devil in a Blue Dress is an American neo-noir mystery thriller that was released in 1995. Starring Denzel Washington, this neo-noir film tells the story of a WWII veteran who was given the job to investigate a missing person’s case. Despite receiving positive reviews from critics, Devil in a Blue Dress was a box office bomb that grossed $17.1 million against the $27 million budget. The reason this film did not reach to that amount of its budget is due to the fact that Devil in a Blue Dress was not commercially well-received.

On the other hand, Jordan Peele’s Get Out, a 2017 thriller, was a box office hit, grossing up to $255.4 million over a $4.5 million budget, due to the surprising plot twists that brought the audience to the edge of their seats. Starring Daniel Kaluuwya and Lil Rel Howery, this modern thriller tackles an African American’s point of view about racial profiling. It also received multiple awards in 2018, including an Academy Award for Writing Original Screen, an Empire Award for Best Horror, and an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Writing in a Motion Picture. Get Out is about an African American man who was spending his weekend visiting his Caucasian girlfriend’s family home. Everything was going fine until he became suspicious about the working staff in this strange environment. It is revealed that the girlfriend’s family was actually luring a few African Americans into their home and brainwashing them. The audience enjoyed watching Get Out because director Jordan Peele wanted to produce a film that contains shocking plot twist that no one in the audience would see coming as they are watching it.

As the years progressed, many more films are becoming more accepting to the actors and producers of a different race. Devil in a Blue Dress was one of the first films of neo-noir to primarily cast an African American actor for the lead role, as well as it was directed by an African American producer. It was the first step of portraying racial diversity in various films in the future. Despite that it wasn’t well-received in the box office like it should’ve been, it was well-praised by critics because of Carl Franklin’s casting choice for his film. However, Get Out was not only well-praised by critics and audience alike, but also in the box office due to the large amount of budget that went above the anticipated amount of money.

Overall, not every neo-noir film is going to be considered a box office hit like our modern thriller motion pictures. But the only thing that matters is that we were given films that primarily cast African American actors and actresses and were produced by African Americans as well. Honestly, I’m glad we have those movies that feature African Americans and were directed by them because it helps to break racial barriers in the history of filming.

Bibliography:

Devil in a Blue Dress, 1995, Carl Franklin

Dickos, Andrew. Comments on the Classic Film Noir and the Neo-Noir. pp. 240-41.

“The neo-noir, in keeping with its time, has become racially variegated and sexually complex.”

“Tokenism would have prevented any such viciousness from being shown by any of the very few black screen actors at that time.”

Get Out, 2017, Jordan Peele

Wilkinson, Alissa. Get Out is a horror film about benevolent racism. It’s spine-chilling. Vox, 2017.

“Get Out is about a black man who stumbles into a very white, very weird world”

Video Essay Proposal

For my video essay proposal, I will be talking about films that primarily cast African American actors because we have had films that are not considered to be diverse for many years until now. It took a while for the African American community to go from being casted for minor roles to major roles. This is because casting white actors for major roles used to be norm in our society before Jordan Peele released his first horror film, Get Out. 

Most African American actors were not getting paid as much as white actors are, based on what role they were portrayed to be in both films and TV shows. Typically, actors get paid more when they are cast as lead characters.   

Useful Reading:

  • Dickos: Neo-Noir

Diverse Films:

  • Get Out (2017)
  • Black Panther (2018)
  • Us (2019)

Films with All-White Cast:

  • The Others (2001)
  • Red Eye (2005)
  • Thor (2011)

Scene Analysis #3: Formal Events (The Big Sleep)

The Big Sleep is a classic noir film in 1946, which was based on the 1939 novel of the same name written by Raymond Chandler. Starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, respectively as Detective Philip Marlowe and Vivian Rutledge, this film tells the story about a “process in a criminal investigation, not its results” as Detective Marlowe tries to uncover a blackmail case. Today, I will be discussing a scene where Detective Marlowe meets Vivian Rutledge before he heads off to proceed his investigation. The time frame of this scene runs from 9:55 to 12:50.

In The Big Sleep, the scene begins where detective Philip Marlowe was about to leave the Sternwood mansion after speaking with the general about the blackmail. As he was heading toward the door, Marlowe was intercepted by a servant who informed him that one of General Sternwood’s daughters, Vivian Rutledge, wanted to speak with the detective. At first, detective Marlowe was against the idea of meeting Vivian, but he ended up doing so anyway. During their first meeting, Vivian suggested that her father’s case was handled in a way the general wanted it to be and that there should be no professional secrets during the investigation. For the first time in numerous noir films, The Big Sleep features a female character that was portrayed differently. Unlike many of those “femme fatale” characters, Vivian Rutledge was portrayed as the headstrong woman who takes her father’s blackmail situation very seriously. She is also more mature than her younger, “party girl” sister, Carmen.

Detective Philip Marlowe with Vivian Rutledge (11:40 and 11:55)

During their meeting, Detective Marlowe was slowly becoming annoyed when Vivian was cross-examining him about his role of being a detective. In 11:43-11:55, he told her, “I’m not crazy about yours. I didn’t ask to see you, I don’t mind if you don’t like my manners. I don’t like ‘em myself. They’re pretty bad. I grieve over them long winter evenings and I don’t mind your ritzing me or drinking your lunch out of a bottle, but don’t waste your time trying to cross-examining me.” This quote seemed interesting because many viewers do not have characters that did not like each other at first until the film’s conclusion. Although he was frustrated by Mrs. Rutledge’s judgment, Marlowe calmly understood that the way he was talking to her was unacceptable. Just like many detectives in noir films, he always keeps calm when talking to women, including General Sternwood’s two daughters.The first meeting between Detective Marlowe and Mrs. Rutledge was a bit of a mistake, on Marlowe’s part that is.

Raymond Chandler, the author of his 1939 novel, The Big Sleep, was one of the hard-boiled writers who “replaced a world that reflects a Victorian sense of order with a corrupt, chaotic world” (Profirio, p. 90). He wanted to tell the story about a private detective who offered to help unfold a blackmail case, of which General Sternwood was the victim, but little did he know was that there’s more to investigate in. As the climax of both the book and the film approaches, we came to realize that Vivian Rutledge was keeping secrets from Detective Marlowe, which sparked his suspicions throughout the story. It was revealed that Mrs. Rutledge shot and killed Arthur Geiger and was aware of her sister, Carmen’s, gambling habits with the men who were responsible for blackmailing Vivian and Carmen’s father, General Sternwood.

Scene Analysis #2

Themes: The Asphalt Jungle

In The Asphalt Jungle, the scene I chose matches the theme of betrayal as Alonzo Emmerich and Bob Brannom plan to double cross Doc Riedenschneider and Dix Handly. The four men, Erwin “Doc” Riedenschneider, Dix Handly, Alonzo Emmerich, and Bob Brannom, gathered around in a hotel suite to talk about the exchange between a large amount of jewels from a successful jewelry heist and a large sum of money. However, Brannom and Emmerich were secretly planning to turn Handly and Doc in to the police because they heard about Doc being recently released from prison after serving seven years for committing theft. Under suspicion about the double crossing scheme, Dix shot and killed Brannom, but got himself injured as a result. The time frame of the double cross scene is between 58:53 and 1:04:47.

Prior to this scene, Alonzo Emmerich knew that he was broke and that he was about to face bankruptcy. Desperately needing money, Emmerich learns from Doc that he and his gang were about to go on a jewelry heist, which could actually be worth half $1 million. So, he recruited Detective Bob Brannom in a double crossing scheme to get half of the $1 million and promised to split that amount of money with him 50/50. But, Emmerich’s real intention was to leave town and sell the stolen jewels a little bit at a time. The Asphalt Jungle is a German expressionism/gangster film that surrounds the theme of betrayal and death after Doc Riedenschnieder and his gang perform their successful late night jewelry heist, so they can cash in up to $1 million.

On p. 77 of Profirio’s No Way Out: Existential Motifs in the Film Noir, the text explained that “the film noir, a Hollywood staple of the 1940s and 1950s, has come into its own as a topic of critical investigation. By now its foreign and domestic roots (German expressionism, French poetic realism; Gangster film, Hard-boiled novel) have been clearly established.” For example, two German characters from The Asphalt Jungle, Erwin “Doc” Riedenschneider, a criminal mastermind who led his gang to partake in a jewelry heist, and a taxi driver who appeared later in the film. Although they both speak in a German language before the film’s climax, Doc was the only character who spoke in a thick German accent. This new type of motif was able to establish foreign characters, including the German and French characters, into various noir films during the 1940s and 1950s.

Overall, not only is that noir gangster film surrounding the theme about betrayal, like in the double crossing scene, it also established German expressionism because it helped make the film appear to be interesting to the viewers. As I was watching the climax of The Asphalt Jungle, the true moral of this story is to never double cross a person who comes to you for assistance. Otherwise, you would end up double crossing yourself, which is exactly what Alonzo Emmerich learned the hard way as the police came knocking on his door to arrest him under the suspicion of Bob Brannom’s murder. In 1:32:16, Emmerich knew that his life was over and he ended up committing suicide, so he can avoid getting convicted.

Bibliography

Profirio, Robert G. No Way Out: Existential Motifs in the Film Noir. Wall Street Journal, p. 77.

The Asphalt Jungle -1950

Film Noir: Scene Analysis #1

Narration: Double Indemnity

In the film, Double indemnity, Walter Neff, a 35-year-old automobile insurance salesman, was visiting the Dietrichson mansion to discuss some automobile insurance policies on dairy trucks. But instead of meeting with Mr. Dietrichson, which was originally planned, Neff met Phyllis Dietrichson, the wife of the late Mr. Dietrichson. It seems to me that after meeting for the first time, Walter became visibly smitten towards Phyllis, especially during and after their discussion over her husband’s automobile insurance policy. Their interaction with each other was already beginning to hint at an illicit affair between the auto insurance salesman and a gold digging, femme fatale. This segment of the film went from 7:12 to 13:05 minutes.

As femme fatale characters are often introduced in the narrative, women in noir films are known to use their sexual power over men to get what they want in return before they unleash their destructive personalities during the middle of a film’s plot. Upon their first meeting, Phyllis’ first appearance was when she came near the staircase in nothing but a towel, which flattered Walter. This is a sign of how a femme fatale character is being introduced in this noir film. When Phyllis was fully clothed, she and Mr. Neff go into the living room to discuss her husband’s insurance policies. Neff explained to her that after 3 years of handling Mr. Dietrichson’s insurance policy, he was worried that it might be overdue if Mr. Dietrichson doesn’t get his papers signed on time.

Furthermore, this scene took place during the beginning of the flashback sequence as Walter Neff was trying to explain to his boss what really happened to Mr. Dietrichson. It was also long before Neff was tangled into a dangerous liaison with a woman who wanted to be rid of her husband, so she can get all his money. He admitted to killing Mr. Dietrichson for the money and for Phyllis, but ended up with neither one because he felt guilty for his actions and for being influenced by a manipulative gold digger turned cold-blooded murderess.

Overall, many women in noir films are described to be the ones who tend to lure men in their string of manipulation and powerful lust, but their personalities later become destructive to the point where actions could lead to serious consequences. Phyllis Dietrichson is the prime example of how a femme fatale character could influence her male victim, hence Walter Neff, into doing her bidding, such as plotting a murder scheme against her husband. Phyllis’ motive to kill her husband is more than just greed and her sexual power over Walter, but she was rather depicted as a manipulative murderess.

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