Filmstudion

Film noir was a genre of American crime movie popular in the 40s and 50s. Directors of film noir introduced many innovative techniques, which will be the focus of this article.

John Huston was probably the first director of the genre, with the first such movie being “The Maltese Falcon” 1941). Huston studied abroad in Paris and worked as a painter there in his early years, and he applied the visual techniques he had learned to his directing: He would sketch his scenes on paper and then carefully frame the characters during shooting time. He also created films as they were shot, rather than use post-production editing.

Otto Preminger both produced and (after he was allowed to fire the director) directed “Laura” in 1944, a movie based on Vera Caspary’s novel. He felt that the story needed revising, so he offered to rewrite it with the author. And he refused to cast the actor who had played Jack the Ripper for the villain, feeling that the audience would suspect the latter character too early.

Jules Dassin directed “Brute Force,” notorious for its level of violence, and “Thieves’ Highway,” which accurately showed the vibrant fruit and produce market of San Francisco.