Film Noir: Intellectual Origins
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“God is Dead” -- Frederich
Nietzsche
The philosophy of noir has
been linked to the European
literary and philosophical
movement known as
Existentialism, though
frequently when commentators
use that term, it's less with the
writings of Sartre and Camus
in mind than as a stand-in for
ideas like “absurdity” and
“alienation.” The overarching
theme of film noir is that life is
meaningless.
Film Noir
Noir visual style comes from the
jagged geometries of German
Expressionism as exemplified by
Edgar G. Ulmer, the émigré
director of the stark low-budget
1945 classic “Detour,” and F. W.
Murnau director of the classic
1921 Dracula film “Nosferatu”
who said in 1928, “I think films of
the future will use more and more
of these 'camera angles', or, as I
prefer to call them, these
'dramatic angles.' They help
photograph thought.”
F.W. Murnau (1888-1931)
F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu (1921).
American Film Noir
Other key directors in the genre
include Billy Wilder, Fritz Lang, Otto
Preminger, Jacques Tourneur, and
Alfred Hitchcock.
 They brought to their work a
familiarity with European art and
culture and a skeptical view of the
American ideals of pluralism,
Joseph Cotton and Teresa Wright
egalitarianism, and self-improvement.
in Shadow of a Doubt (1943).
Wilder, for example, treats middleclass aspirations and lust with mordant
wit in Double Indemnity (1944) and
Sunset Boulevard (1950), and
Hitchcock brings scathing irony to his
portraits of small-town families in
Shadow of a Doubt (1943), Manhattan
sophisticates in the Leopold and Loeb
variation Rope (1948), and patriotic
intelligence agents in Notorious
(1946).
Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman in Notorious (1946).
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Film Noir: Common Elements
Hostility to the established order.
 Portrayal of vice: drugs and alcohol,
violence, sex, pornography, etc.
 Narratives and characters are
contradictory and complex.
 Morally ambiguous protagonist.
 There are no families as women are
femme fatales—duplicitous destroyers
and redeemers.
 Anguish and insecurity portrayed by
characters and felt by audience.
 Voice-over narration by a male
character seeks to counterbalance and
make sense of these forces through
order and hierarchy.
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At age 20, Lauren Bacall met Humphrey
Bogart on the set of Howard Hawks’ 1944
screen version of Ernest Hemmingway’s
To Have and Have Not (1944). Bogey and
Bacall were married for 12 years until his
death at age 57.
Law Noir
A subset of Film Noir are films dealing with
attorneys, courts, policing institutions, and
ultimately “the law.”
 In general, film noir and law noir is reflective of
WWII and post-WWII tensions. However, its
origins can be seen in earlier films from the
1930s.
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The Setting: City of the Angels
The labyrinth of the post-WWII southland came to reflect the psychic wounds
of its inhabitants.
 LA is portrayed as a de-centered world of crime as opposed to New
York/Chicago gangster films with bosses, structures, and centralized
organizations.
 Vice: Nymphomania, drug-use, pornography, gambling, etc. are all rampant in
the sprawling southland.
 Why? LA is the city of myths and therefore necessarily failed dreams.
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The Characters
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Lauren Bacall
“Vivian Sternwood Rutledge”
Marlowe: Morally ambiguous private detective.
General Sternwood: military-war veteran, oil
rich, privileged, powerful, old and dying after
years of substance abuse.
Carmen Sternwood: rich, spoiled, drugaddicted, nymphomaniac, psycho-killer, coerced
into pornography.
Vivian Sternwood Rutledge: alcoholic, gambler,
divorced, strong, practical.
Arthur Geiger: one-eyed, frumpy, gay, dealer in
pornography and blackmail, owns a bookstore
as a front.
Carol Lundgren: Geiger’s adolescent gay lover,
who kills for his man.
Eddie Mars: well-dressed crime boss who deals
mainly in gambling and blackmail.
Mona Mars: Though Marlowe wants her, she
sentimentalizes her husband and tries to
convince herself that he's not a killer.
Lash Canino: short, squat, professional thug
and killer.
Harry Jones: small, former bootlegger and
minor chiseler on the fringes of organized crime.
Sean Regan: handsome and vigorous Irish
soldier-turned-bootlegger.
The Plot(s)…We Think!
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The Big Sleep follows the investigation of hard-boiled shamus Philip
Marlowe (Humphrey Bogart) into the gambling debts of rich socialite
Carmen Sternwood (Martha Vickers) and her eventual blackmailing by
small-time crook Joe Brody (Louis Jean Heydt). Carmen's older sister Vivian
Sternwood Rutledge (Lauren Bacall) also likes to gamble and is indebted to
vice king Eddie Mars (John Ridgeley). Also vying for a piece of the action
are Brody's partners Agnes (Sonia Darrin) and Carol Lundgren (Thomas
Rafferty) and Agnes' boyfriend Harry Jones (Elisha Cook Jr.).
There is also a subplot quest for General Sternwood's (Charles Waldron)
confidant Sean Regan (who we never see), the disappearance and
discovery of Mona Mars (Peggy Knudsen or Patricia Clark, depending on
the version), and the fate of chauffeur Owen Taylor (Dan Wallace). Legend
has it that this plot point drove both Director Howard Hawks and Bogart to
ask novelist Raymond Chandler how Owen Taylor had died. Chandler
replied that he didn't know either!
Marlowe suspects that the old General is merely testing his caliber before
trusting him with a bigger job, the one the Sternwood daughters engage
him in anyway. The elder daughter, vampish Vivian, asks Marlowe to find
out who is blackmailing her. Determined to learn the truth and to maintain
loyalty to the General, Marlowe descends into a milieu of thugs, gamblers,
pornography, and crime bosses, meeting criminals too powerful to be
brought to justice, being shot at and beaten, helplessly witnessing
murders, and resisting the seductive blandishments of both the Sternwood
women and the others that he simply has no time for. Ultimately Marlowe
discovers secrets so dark he dare not reveal them to his employer,
preferring that the General spend the short remainder of his life in peace.
John Ridgely
vice king “Eddie Mars”
The Morally Ambiguous Protagonist
and his Relationship to Law Enforcement
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What is Marlowe’s relationship
with Chief Inspector Bernie Ohls,
the District Attorney’s office, and
law enforcement?
They cooperate with Marlowe
because they know he’s an ally.
Though the District Attorney’s
office and the local police forces
are presented as competent, they
are powerless against General
Sternwood and his daughters
because they are rich. They are
also powerless to deal with
organized crime—decentralized as
it is in the southland.
Film Noir’s Morality
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The sordid material (sex, drugs,
violence, etc.) is dealt with
implicitly.
Sex and pornography: At the house
were Geiger has been murdered,
Marlowe finds: a stoned Carmen, a
hidden camera in an oriental bust,
an oddly shaped cup with some
type of liquid, an old photographer’s
lightbulb unit, a dead body…
Vivian after she kisses Marlowe: “I
liked that. I'd like more.”
Vivian: “You've forgotten one
thing. Me.” Marlowe: “What's
wrong with you?” Vivian: “Nothing
you can't fix.”
Marlowe’s relationships with women
are always unstated: flirtatious at
least and flat-out offers at most.
Sex and the Morally Ambiguous
Protagonist: The Big Sleep’s “Little Bitches”
Carmen Sternwood (Martha Vickers) “falls” too easily for Phillip
Marlowe (Humphrey Bogart). Director Howard Hawkes told
Vickers to act like a “little bitch” and encouraged the other
actresses to play variants on the “little bitch” them in order to
drown Bogart in a sea of sexual opportunity.
Women can’t help but instantly fall for Marlowe:
 Marlowe refuses to have sex with the
spoiled, stoned, nymphomaniac Carmen
Sternwood because she blatantly throws
herself at him.
 Marlowe doesn’t have time to have sex with
Carole Douglas, the librarian, though she
seems to have all the time in the world.
 Marlowe is too busy to have sex at Eddie
Mars’ gambling joint even though hatcheck
girl Lorraine Miller and cigarette girl Shelby
Payne step all over each other’s lines to be
first in line.
 Marlowe plans to have sex later with the
butch taxi-cab driver Joy Barlow because he
knows it “wouldn’t be bad.”
 Marlowe finally has time to have sex with
the school-marmish, ACME bookstore clerk
played by Dorothy Malone. When it rains it
pours.
 Marlowe wants very much to have sex with
Mona Mars (Peggy Knudson) but cannot
because she is married to a crime boss.
 Of course Marlowe never tries to have sex
with Vivian Sternwood Rutledge and she
therefore falls in love with him in the end.
Funny how art imitates life…
Film Noir Morality: Sex & Pornography
The oriental sculpture in Geiger’s house contains the
hidden camera that is used to make pornography
involving Carmen.
 Female Taxi Driver: “If you can use me again
sometime, call this number.”
Philip Marlowe: “Day and night?”
Female Taxi Driver: “Uh, night's better. I work during
the day.”
 Both Vivian and Mona Mars sit above Marlowe as he is
tied up on the floor – they foreplay and sexual tension
are obvious as this is Marlowe’s ultimate manage-a-trois
fantasy.
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Film Noir Morality: Sex & Pornography
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Librarian: “You know, you
don't look like a man
who'd be interested in
first editions.”
Marlowe: “I collect
blondes ‘n bottles too.”
Bookstore clerk: “You
begin to interest me—
vaguely.” It begins to
rain, she closes the store,
and they proceed to get
drunk and have sex.
Dorothy Malone played the ACME bookstore clerk.
Film Noir’s Morality: Sex & Pornography
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Vivian Sternwood Rutledge: Speaking of
horses, I like to play them myself. But I like to
see them workout a little first, see if they're
front runners or come from behind, find out
what their whole card is, what makes them run.
Philip Marlowe: Find out mine?
Vivian Sternwood Rutledge: I think so.
Philip Marlowe: Go ahead.
Vivian Sternwood Rutledge: I'd say you
don't like to be rated. You like to get out in
front, open up a little lead, take a little breather
in the backstretch, and then come home free.
Philip Marlowe: You don't like to be rated
yourself.
Vivian Sternwood Rutledge: I haven't met
anyone yet that can do it. Any suggestions?
Philip Marlowe: Well, I can't tell till I've seen
you over a distance of ground. You've got a
touch of class, but I don't know how, how far
you can go.
Vivian Sternwood Rutledge: A lot depends
on who's in the saddle.
Film Noir’s Morality: Substance Abuse
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General Sternwood: “You knew
him too?” Marlowe: “Yes, in the
old days, when he used to run
rum out of Mexico and I was on
the other side. We used to swap
shots between drinks, or drinks
between shots, whichever you
like.” Sternwood: “My respects
to you, sir. Few men ever
swapped more than one shot
with Sean Regan.”
Marlowe: “Thanks for the drink,
General.” Sternwood: “I enjoyed
your drink as much as you did,
sir.”
Marlowe: “I don't mind your
ritzing me drinking your lunch out
of a bottle. But don't waste your
time trying to cross-examine me.”
Carmen Sternwood: “You're
cute.” Marlowe: “And you're
higher than a kite!”
Film Noir’s Morality: Substance Abuse
Marlowe: “I’ve got a
pretty good bottle.”
 Marlowe: “You'll have
to send Carmen away
from a lot of things.
They have places for
that. Maybe they can
cure her—it's been done
before.”
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Film Noir’s Morality: Gender Roles
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Philip Marlowe (Humphrey Bogart) jousts with Agnes
Lowzier (Sonia Darrin) in Geiger’s book shop.
Audiences were startled to see the most recognizable
actor in Hollywood disguise himself simply by putting
on shades, turning up the brim of his hat, and
changing his voice.
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Bogart’s turn as a gay rare-book collector
is precipitated by his knowledge that
Geiger is gay. He goes to the bookstore
in hopes of penetrating Geiger’s circle via
this act. But instead of dealing with
either of the gay couple—Geiger or
Lundgren—he runs up against a woman.
Agnes is the only woman in the film who
is not taken with Marlowe because he is
obviously gay. Agnes therefore rejects his
inquiries as she is plainly tired of being
Geiger’s female pimp.
Later, Marlowe returns as himself and we
find Agnes perplexed, scared, and
anxious in his presence.
Both Joe Brody and Harry Jones are in
love with Agnes but neither is “big”
enough for her.
Film Noir’s Morality: Violence
There are 7 Murders:
1. Carmen killed Regan (at
the film's end, the
murder rap is blamed on
Mars)
2. Owen Taylor killed
Geiger
3. Brody killed Taylor (or
Taylor may have
committed suicide)
4. Lundgren killed Brody
5. Canino killed Jones
6. Marlowe killed Canino
7. Mars' own gang
accidentally killed Mars
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Marlowe should have been the eighth:
Marlowe: The boys don't take any chances, do they? Where are they out digging a grave?
Vivian: You had to go on with this, didn't you?
Marlowe: Where are they?
Vivian: They've gone down the road to telephone.
Marlowe: To call up Eddie Mars and to find out what to do with me. I
could have told them that.
Vivian: Why did you have to go on?
Marlowe: Too many people told me to stop.
Conclusion:
The Death of Film Noir Cynicism
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The Big Sleep is a
transitional film signaling the
death of the harsh, cynical,
and morally explicit film noir
of the 1930s and early 1940s
where law enforcement is
brutish, bumbling, and
generally behind the curve to
the 1950s where obscenity is
implicit, happy endings are
the norm, and post WWIIconservatism manifests itself
in competent, strong law
enforcement triumphalism.
Appendix: Two Versions
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The first difference between the two versions
occurs in reel 3 about 25 minutes into the
film. After Marlowe discovers the body of
Geiger, the 1945 version contains a longer
version of Marlowe searching the house.
Once he finds the set of keys and the code
book, he bundles Carmen up and drives her
home. In the 1945 version, there is a shot of
both of Marlowe and Carmen in the car (this
scene does not appear in the 1946 version).
When he arrives at the Sternwood mansion
the first major retake was inserted. In the
1945 version, it rains heavily. Marlowe talks
to Norris the Butler while standing outside. In
the 1946 version, Marlowe speaks to Norris
briefly before Vivian appears and they have a
scene together.
Reel 7 of the 1945 version of the film
contains a scene at the District Attorney's
office that provides a recap of the movie's
events. The scene occurs just after Marlowe
apprehends Lundgren for the shooting of
Brody. Marlowe is taken to the DA's office by
his pal Chief Inspector Bernie Ohlhs (Regis
Toomey). The key events of the movie are
perfectly encapsulated in this scene. Deleting
this scene from the 1946 film contributes to
the narrative confusion.
Appendix: Two Versions
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What follows is the infamous veil scene. The following day,
Marlowe returns to his office and is confronted by Vivian wearing
a veil. Their conversation lacks gusto; the chemistry from
previous scenes is lost. This was the main scene that prompted
Feldman to request the retakes and its deletion doesn't hurt the
1946 version. Both the DA's office and the veil scene were
replaced with the famous bar scene between Bogart and Bacall
which is one of the highlights of the 1946 version of The Big
Sleep.
When Vivian leaves Eddie Mars' gambling house in reel 8,
another retake was inserted. The scene where Marlowe rescues
Vivian from a robbery exists in both the 1945 and the 1946
versions, but in the 1946 version, both Bogart and Bacall are
more relaxed and the scene plays better. Reel 9 of the 1946
version has a scene between Marlowe and Carmen that is
priceless; she sucks her thumb and attempts to bite Marlowe.
The true manic and childish nature of Carmen is shown.
The final retake happens near the end of the film in reel 11.
Marlowe has been captured and tied up by Eddie Mars. He wakes
up to find himself in a room with Vivian and Mona Mars (played
by Patricia Clark). In the 1945 version, the conversation between
Marlowe and Mona is a fairly straightforward reading of lines.
Vivian is poorly posed and on her knees beside Marlowe. In the
1946 retake, a different actress plays Mona (Peggy Knudsen) and
their dialogue is charged with excitement. Also, Vivian now has
better lighting and more close ups as she sits beside Marlowe.
This retake is superior to the 1945 version.
Credits
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Biesen, Sheri Chinen, Blackout: World War II and the Origins of Film Noir (Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins
University Press, 2005).
Chopra-Grant, Mike, Hollywood Genres and Postwar America: Masculinity, Family, and Nation in Popular Movies and
Film Noir (New York, NY: I.B. Tauris, 2005).
Christopher, Nicholas, Somewhere in the Night (, 1997).
Clute, Shannon and Richard Edwards, “Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir—Episode 11: The Big Sleep and
The Big Lebowski.” November 15, 2005. 70 minutes. Podcast from www.noircast.net.
Conrad, Mark T., The Philosophy of Film Noir (Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky, 2005).
Fujiwara, Chris, “Dark Art: What Make a Film ‘Noir’? A New Book Highlights the Surprising European Origins of an
Iconic American Genre.” Boston Globe, January 15, 2006.
Hirsch, Foster, Detours and Lost Highways: A Map of Neo-Noir (New York, NY: Limelight Editions, 2004).
Hirsch, Foster, The Dark Side of the Screen: Film Noir (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1998).
Kaplan, E. Ann, Women in Film Noir (British Film Institute, 1999).
Naremore, James, More than Night: Film Noir in its Contexts ().
Schwartz, Ronald, Neo-Noir: The New Film Noir Style from Psycho to Collateral (Lanham, MD: The Scarecrow
Press, 2005).
Silver, Alain and James Ursini, L.A. Noir: The City as Character (Santa Monica, CA: Santa Monica Press, 2005).
Spicer, Andrew, Film Noir (New York, NY: Longman Press, 2002).
Wagner, Jans B., Dames in the Driver’s Seat: Rereading Film Noir (Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 2005).