Who knew? Pre-code, much more sexually suggestive (I think there's a nipple at one point). A pretty good take on it, interesting to see the performances. I thought that the lead, Ricardo Cortez, was a little too wisecracking and unconcerned.

The difference in sets, costumes, dialogue, etc., over a 10-year period is striking. (Maltese Falcon 1941)

Well worth your time.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0022111/

Last night, instead of watching The Maltese Fahcon for the zillionth time, I watched a Glen Ford/Gloria Grahame double feature...Human Desire and The Big Heat. I'm so glad I did. Fritz Lang is great director and Ithought both these films shined. I had never seen Human Desire before and now kick myself. The Big Heat was rewatch. It had been so long since I'd seen it, I still felt gut punched.

I only recently developed an interest in the noir genre, mainly the fashions… the fedoras, spear-point collars, overcoats…. Anyway this is one I found on DVD this week.

Sometimes that distinction feels useless, arbitrary, even contradictory. For instance, looking at the films themselves, to me, Chinatown feels more like a traditional noir than Touch of Evil, which feels way more referential and self-aware. But because Chinatown was released after 1959, it is considered neo-noir.

What do you think?

Happy noirvember!!

I'm looking for recommendations of mexican noir movies... I've only seen "the night falls" by Gavaldón and "Another dawn" by julio bracho

thanks!

So I watched this noir a couple years ago while recovering from ankle surgery & it’s been hard to recall or find since. The part that I recall most vividly is towards the end. It involves a criminal who is a crossdresser. It’s old, easily 1950s. Black and white noir based out of LA (if I’m not mistaken). I hate that I can’t recall much of it. At the time I was heavily medicated with pain killers. UPDATE: Thank you to everyone who has offered suggestions and titles. It’s really bugging me that I can’t recall it.

So somehow I’ve never read any of the fiction upon which many film noirs are based off of. Of course I’ve heard of all the famous books. But I would still like to know according to you…which crime fiction books are the ones I absolutely must read?

If you don’t have it, might be worth seeing if Criterion has a free month or something because it’s Noirvember is STACKED with classics and lesser knowns.

https://www.criterionchannel.com/noirvember

I'm looking for the origin of a a typical scene that is used in many film noir parodies and homages:

A seductive femme fatale enters the detective's office on a dark, rainy day and asks for help. She wears a red or black evening dress and sometimes a huge hat. Even though the detective knows she means trouble, usually spelled out via his off-screen narration over jazz music, he feels drawn to her since there's a sexual tension between the two.

People always claim that "The Maltese Falcon" is the template for that scene. But apart from the fact that a woman asks help from a detective, this movie has nothing of those countless details that all the parodies have in common:

In that movie, there's no sexual tension between the two. The woman doesn't act seductive. She doesn't wear a sexy evening dress, nor one of those nightclub singer hats. Instead, she wears a hat that your auntie would wear on a Sunday walk. Likewise, it's bright daylight and the office is not a run-down tiny office of a down-on-his-luck detective. He even has a secretary. Also, no voice-over narration, nor jazz music.

Some examples where this setup appears:

• Tom and Jerry Kids, Droopy-Segment, The Maltese Poodle
• Animaniacs, This Pun for Hire
• YouTube video by Bad Hombre Films: The Impasta: A Noir Parody
• YouTube video by POLYCOSM: The Unsleeping Idol
• YouTube video by Andrew Chesworth: Palm Springs - Festival Version
• TV Tropes, Private Eye Monologue, intro quote

These scenes are completely different from the mood in The Maltese Falcon, but they are so similar to each other that there must be some common origin of them.

Can anybody tell me where this specific scene originates from?