Blackout : World War II and the origins of film noir

Uploading this because Sheri Biesen is a terrible professor and doesn't deserve a SINGLE DIME from any of her students required to purchase this textbook. Best of luck to any unfortunate soul who has to download this. Challenging conventional scholarship placing the origins of film noir in postwar Hollywood, Sheri Chinen Biesen finds the genre's roots firmly planted in the political, social, and material conditions of Hollywood during the war. After Pearl Harbor, America and Hollywood experienced a sharp cultural transformation that made horror, shock, and violence not only palatable but preferable. Hard times necessitated cheaper sets, fewer lights, and fresh talent; censors as well as the movie-going public showed a new tolerance for sex and violence; and female producers experienced newfound prominence in the industry. Biesen brings prodigious archival research, accessible prose, and imaginative insights to both well-known films noir of the wartime period—The Maltese Falcon, The Big Sleep, and Double Indemnity—and others often overlooked or underrated—Scarlet Street, Ministry of Fear, Phantom Lady, and Stranger on the Third Floor.

Challenging conventional scholarship placing the origins of film noir in postwar Hollywood, Sheri Chinen Biesen finds the genre's roots firmly planted in the political, social, and material conditions of Hollywood during the war. After Pearl Harbor, America and Hollywood experienced a sharp cultural transformation that made horror, shock, and violence not only palatable but preferable. Hard times necessitated cheaper sets, fewer lights, and fresh talent; censors as well as the movie-going public showed a new tolerance for sex and violence; and female producers experienced newfound prominence in the industry.

Biesen brings prodigious archival research, accessible prose, and imaginative insights to both well-known films noir of the wartime period— The Maltese Falcon, The Big Sleep, and Double Indemnity—and others often overlooked or underrated— Scarlet Street, Ministry of Fear, Phantom Lady, and Stranger on the Third Floor.

Challenging conventional scholarship placing the origins of film noir in postwar Hollywood, Sheri Chinen Biesen finds the genre's roots firmly planted in the political, social, and material conditions of Hollywood during the war. After Pearl Harbor, America and Hollywood experienced a sharp cultural transformation that made horror, shock, and violence not only palatable but preferable. Hard times necessitated cheaper sets, fewer lights, and fresh talent; censors as well as the movie-going public showed a new tolerance for sex and violence; and female producers experienced newfound prominence in the industry. Biesen brings prodigious archival research, accessible prose, and imaginative insights to both well-known films noir of the wartime period The Maltese Falcon , The Big Sleep , and Double Indemnity and others often overlooked or underrated Scarlet Street , Ministry of Fear , Phantom Lady , and Stranger on the Third Floor . List of Illustrations ix Acknowledgments xi 1 Introduction 1 2 The Elements of Noir Come Together 15 3 Hollywood in the Aftermath of Pearl Harbor 59 4 Censorship, Hard-Boiled Fiction, and Hollywood’s “Red Meat” Crime Cycle 96 5 Rosie the Riveter Goes to Hollywood 124 6 Hyphenates and Hard-Boiled Crime 156 7 Black Film, Red Meat 189 Notes 221 Index 237 Sheri Chinen Biesen challenges conventional thinking on the origins of film noir and finds the genre's roots in the political, social and historical conditions of Hollywood during the Second World War The camera slowly zooms in on a silhouette of a man on crutches until blackness fills the screen.