Film Studies PPT 2 Films of the 1940

Film Studies PPT #2 Films of the 1940 s and the genre of film noir

Films of the 1940 s Genres and stars • Films during this time were often dramatic, melodramatic, or considered a film noir. Other genres like the musical and comedies were around still too. • WWII influenced what was made in Hollywood since it was a dark time in the US and films reflected it. • Stars like Humphrey Bogart, Orson Welles, Abbott and Costello, Katherine Hepburn, Judy Garland, and many others. • And films like: Bambi, Casablanca, It’s a Wonderful Life, and Citizen Kane and many

Film Noir Characteristics • Crime dramas or others with a dark/cynical mood • 1940 s to 1950 s • Influenced by German expressionist cinematography by using low-key black and white visual style (very dark hence noir) • The term, by the way, was not accepted until the 1970 s • Usually melodramatic in acting but also can have melodramatic elements like music, recognition, and in other story elements. • Often features stereotypical characters like the femme fatale (a mysterious and seductive woman), or the private eye (or investigator)

Classic Film Noirs The Big Sleep (1946) with Humphrey Bogart http: //www. cleanvideosearch. com/media/action/yt/watch? v ideo. Id=Vj. Jl. Bnfyi. I 4 The Maltese Falcon (1941) with Humphrey Bogart http: //www. cleanvideosearch. com/media/action/yt/watch? v ideo. Id=ph. Uxn. XGh. Ei. I

Film Noirs cont’d Casablanca (1942) Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart http: //www. cleanvideosearch. com/media/action/yt/watch? v ideo. Id=pa-d. GYj. Sq 5 k Double Indemnity (1944) Barbara Stanwyck http: //www. cleanvideosearch. com/media/action/yt/watch? v ideo. Id=S 3 wj. Jcu. Gs. VE

Film noirs cont’d The Third Man (1949) with Orson Welles http: //www. cleanvideosearch. com/media/action/yt/watch? v ideo. Id=8 i 47 -QBL 4 Qo Sunset Boulevard (1950) with William Holden http: //www. cleanvideosearch. com/media/action/yt/watch? v ideo. Id=xz. Yq. Up. V_B-A

Mildred Pierce (1945) • Directed by Michael Curtiz • Film Noir about a longsuffering mother and her ungrateful daughter • Joan Crawford (the main character who plays the mother) won an academy award for best actress. • Tells the story in the thirdperson in chronological order in flashback with voice-over narration from the main character’s perspective. • This is also a crime drama.