Film Noir

A 3DD Production in association with Sky Arts 3x60’

Thematically, film noir frequently centered on portrayals of women of questionable virtue—this had become rare in Hollywood post the pre-Code era. Double Indemnity, directed by Billy Wilder; setting the mould was Barbara Stanwyck’s unforgettable femme fatale, Phyllis Dietrichson.

Influenced by Marlene Dietrich, who had built her career playing women for Sternberg. The film’s financial success and 7 Oscar nominations made it influential of the early noir period. A slew of now-renowned noir “bad girls” followed, such as those played by Rita Hayworth in Gilda (1946), Lana Turner in The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946), Ava Gardner in The Killers (1946), and Jane Greer in Out of the Past (1947). The iconic noir counterpart to the femme fatale, the private eye, arrived such as The Maltese Falcon (1941), with Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade, and Murder, My Sweet (1944), with Dick Powell as Philip Marlowe.  

This series will explore the work & influences of directors &writers, including Nicholas Ray, Jules Dassin, Robert Siodmak, Fritz Lang, Edward Dmytryk, Orson Welles, Raoul Walsh, Jacques Tourneur and many more.  

A 3DD Production 2022