3.6 Discussion: "A" Noir & Gangster Film

 

The Public Enemy (William A. Wellman, 1931)

PURPOSE
Film noir emerged in the 1940s after the meteoric rise and fall of gangster films of the 1930s. While the pre-code gangster films of the 1930s feature graphic depictions of violence compared to crime films one decade later, noir style of the 1940s reflects the growing cynicism and darkness of postwar America. Noir draws on the style of artistic movements such as German Expressionism to paint a bleak portrayal of life in the nuclear age. The noir world is often described as a dark place, psychologically and morally, but also cinematographically. The design of shots and the composition of images matter just as much as what is conveyed via story and plot. Our discussion in this Module centers around the connections between German Expressionism's aesthetic influence on the rise of Gangster films during the pre-code era and the "mainstreaming" of Film Noir with "A" pictures like Double Indemnity.

INSTRUCTIONS:

In your post please include the following, please ensure you meet a 300 word minimum in your discussion post. I have split the class into 2 Discussion Groups to make it more manageable for everyone.

You do not have to address every detail of the prompt, but your post should contribute to the discussion and not merely repeat what has already been posted by your classmates. While I encourage you to offer your personal views of the films in this Module, please refrain from unproductive summaries of story or plot and/or why a film is "good" or "bad." Your analysIs should refer to course materials and reflect on how film style and history function. A post that earns full points will not merely agree with course materials, but will visually illustrate ideas in the reading. Do not forget to include embedded media (YouTube clip or image) that visualizes the example(s) in your post. Please make sure that you read all of the posts in your discussion group before posting. I cannot give full points to posts that duplicate examples or YouTube clips.

What similarities/differences do you see in the stylistic and thematic approaches used in The Public Enemy and Double Indemnity?

Please choose one scene from The Public Enemy or Double Indemnity and embed a screenshot or clip into your post.

Describe how one or more of the formal elements of the shot including:
lighting, composition, cinematography, placement of characters and objects in the frame, decor, set design, and camera angles communicate something unique that story, plot, and dialogue alone do not.

How does noir OR gangster style show the darkness of the time period and how is it influenced by German Expressionism?

 (I do not expect your analysis to reflect a prior study of film, many of you are taking your first film class, but our goal is to begin looking at how formal design reflects unique historical periods and allows us to see film in a new way.)

Do not duplicate discussion of a scene or event in the film already covered by one of your classmates who posted before you.

Nosferatu (F.W. Murnau, 1922)

Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder, 1944)

As soon as I saw Walter Neff leave by the service stairs the image of Orlock from Nosferatu (1922) came to my mind.

In our study of Nosferatu as an example of German Expressionism, we learned that “atmosphere and visual composition represent two of Nosferatu’s most prominent features.” Source (Links to an external site.) James Berardinelli, Reel Views.

In the shot composition, both shots are low angle, looking up to Orlock, the antagonist and Walter Neff, the anti-hero. It is us the viewer that are looking up at these dangerous or threatening men. Seen from this angle we are almost helpless, watching from down in the corner of the room.

In high contrast lighting and there are sharp blacks and strong whites. The strong low-key lighting, enables strong shadows that we see in Nosferatu’s arm and the staircase banister. In Double Indemnity (1944) the banister railings are reflected all around Walter Neff also like a prison cell.  An eeriness is created in the composition, we don’t see the faces of the characters. We see these larger-than-life figures above us. This as visual composition creates a foreboding atmosphere. These are cinematic forms used in German Expressionist and Film Noir film.

In The Public Enemy (1931) the gangster genre, similar cinematic form is used. In this scene composition there is high contrast lighting giving sharp black and whites. Also, the mise-en-scene is uncrowded and the black elements stand out. The black images are the key points of the scene to watch. The low-key lighting enables the shadow of Tommy in his hat on the far right and a fainter shadow of Matt above him. The lighting and wide angle and somewhat of a low angle shot, sets the tone of eeriness and unease.

The Public Enemy (William A. Wellman, 1931)

There are similar thematic approaches and styles used in The Public Enemy and Double Indemnity.

1) Dialogue. There is the  use of of double entendres, phrases usually open to two types of interpretation and one of them is usually risque. There is also funny banter between characters with colloquial language of the time:

Examples from The Public Enemy:

a)Tom Powers: Hello baby. What are you gonna have?

 Kitty: Anything you say, big boy. 

 Tom Powers: You're a swell dish. I think I'm going to go for you.

b)Tom: your old man swipes pigeons; Putty nose - always plays on the square with you. You owe me dues for the club.

Examples from Double Indemnity:

a)Phyllis Dietrichson: There's a speed limit in this state, Mr. Neff. 45 

 miles an hour.

 Walter Neff: How fast was I going, officer?

 Phyllis Dietrichson: I'd say around 90.

 Walter Neff: Suppose you get down off your motorcycle and give me a   ticket.

b)Barton Keyes: Guess I was wrong. You're not smarter, Walter... you're just a little 

  taller.”; Walter, you're all washed up

2.Character types:

2A)The Femme Fatale:

In Denah’s class lecture we discussed the femme fatale as a type of “wicked spider woman,  who's you know going to cast this evil web before these innocent or not so innocent men to kind of like stumble into and become their next meal.”

In The Public Enemy Gwen Allen has a special walk, stylish dress, a look of confidence, platinum hair and a coy nature that is as if she has cast out a spider web and Tommy seeing her, got caught right in it as he has Matt slam the brakes on the car. She is comfortable with criminal men and likes to find a man to keep her. I would say she is motivated by greed. She is different than Phyllis in that she is not an active criminal that we know of from her short dialogue. Maybe the fact that she was, “going out of town” was an indicator of crime but it is not explicit.

Similar to the notes on wardrobe for Barbara Stanwyck, it appears that this woman came up through the streets showing from the outfit Tom found her in to the satin robes she has later in the hotel suite. Her clothing style is expensive, nouveau riche like Phyllis.

Jean Harlow plays a dominant powerful female character. I found a quote by critic Graham Greene about Jean Harlow.  "Her technique was the gangster's technique - she toted a breast like a man totes a gun.". source imdb (Links to an external site.).  Besides his mother, Gwen was the only woman he respected in the film and it was an asexual relationship.

Barbara Stanwyk in Double Indemnity (1944) is the blueprint for the Femme Fatale. Her spider web was a towel and an anklet that got Walter’s blood pressure going. Gwen has a great line that she has known many many men. We find out that Phyllis has not only Walter but also Nino Zaccheti as lovers. She is motivated by greed, sex is just a tool. 

Similar to Gwen, she worked her way up from poor beginnings. Growing up poor can affect one psychologically as there are factors beyond their control. Phyllis is a psychopath, in The Film Noir Reader it says of psychopaths these factors beyond their control can contribute to their psychopathy: “1.The slum environments; 2.psychological traits subtly extrinsic to character neurosis; and 3. a subtly corrupting social morality.” (Source: Film Noir Reader, pg. 49).

2B)The psychopath profile comes back to The Public Enemy (1931), Tommy, who is the protagonist/anti-hero with the motif of rags to riches by being a prohibitionist gangster. He like Phyllis doesn’t care about who killing people that get in the way of their goal.

3)Corruption is a theme in both films. Tommy seems to be a prohibitionist gangster, yet on the city payroll. Which I believe means there is an element of government corruption as well.

Walter Neff is a corrupt inside-man, knowing the insurance business and trying to come up with the perfect murder for pay.

4)The films end in the theme of fatalism. In the end, crime does not pay. We do not feel optimistic for the characters in either film that there will be a happy ending with crime, happiness and success.

Response from Student Erin Blackwell:

Ida, I enjoy your passion for detail and documentation.

"In Double Indemnity (1944) the banister railings" I think of are the ones behind which Phyllis's ankles appear, descending the staircase, at least three times.

There was so much interest in Harlow in yesterday's zoom, I went back to the four scenes she appears in. At 46:30 she enters the frame, walking on the street — is she a street-walker? I would say, she's got to pay the rent. She's wearing an insanely gaudy rabbit jacket and skirt suit designed to attract the male gaze. At minute 50 and 53 she's with Tom in night clubs. At 58:50 she opens with, "I'm going out of town." I take this to mean, a man is paying her to accompany him on a business trip. She tells Tom he's "different" from the dozens of men she's known, who are polite, but she likes him, he's "strong" and "takes what he wants." They are one of a kind. When Matt busts in, Gwen has not yet closed the deal. This is a tragic moment of incompletion, as others pointed out.

She is a study in deco magnificence as she breaks porcelain into the fireplace. Everything is broken, breaking now.

Edited by Erin Blackwell on Feb 15 at 1:02pm