Cain (afterward coupled by Mickey Spillane, Horace McCoy, and Jim Thompson) -- whose books were also recurrently tailored in films noir. In the vein of the novels, these films were set apart by a subdued atmosphere and realistic violence, and they p Continue Reading...
Double Indemnity Scene Analysis
Double Indemnity (1944) can be considered to be one of the films most representative of American film noir. Double Indemnity (1944) is the story of a woman, Phyllis Dietrichson, who has manipulated her way into marria Continue Reading...
Film Noir / Cinema Architecture
Perhaps one of the most fruitful ways in which to trace the evolution of Film Noir as a genre is to examine, from the genre's heyday to the present moment, the metamorphoses of one of film noir's most reliable tropes: Continue Reading...
Paranoia, Entrapment, And the Corruption of the American Dream
in Double Indemnity and Detour
Film noir can be described as "murder with a psychological twist" (Spicer 1). As a genre that flourished during the 1940s, film noir came to reflect the a Continue Reading...
Of note, Out of the Past was released in Europe and Great Britain as Build My Gallows High. It seems that both films could have been subtitled with this alternative note, particularly when we focus upon the editing -- each piece is but a plank in t Continue Reading...
Gavin is able to better understand the limitations of Scottie's acrophobia as Scottie believes that Gavin is a trustworthy individual and is therefore willing to explain the limitations with which he is faced. When Gavin inquires about the extent of Continue Reading...
Memento as Film Noir
Christopher Nolan's Memento as Film Noir
Film noir rose to prominence in the late 1940s and was at first described as being "murder with a psychological twist (Spicer 1). Since the 1940s, the film noir genre has undergone a few Continue Reading...
" (p. 78)
This leads us to the very question that the Wachowskis struggle with in their work, casting figures such as Neo and Trinity, or Violet and Corky, into a struggle for individualism against a culture defined by demands for uniformity and mal Continue Reading...
Insurance Fraud
After tax evasion, insurance fraud is considered the highest-ranked among white-collar crimes. The original concept of insurance, as a for-profit endeavor, was to collect funds from a large number of people to pay for damages and acc Continue Reading...
The chairman effectively uses Howard's schtick against him, cleverly manipulating the setting of their conversation (which the film augments with its particular editing choices) to the point that Howard actually believes him to be a god. As the chai Continue Reading...
In this particular instance, while under the impression that the expression 'Gros' denoted double packs, not as the objective term signified the amount o "12 x 12," a teacher reportedly ordered toilet paper on behalf of her school. "Her order of 'Gr Continue Reading...