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factors in hollywood 1941-1955 Paul Kerr proposes in his article, "Out of What Past? Notes on the B-film noir" that the intertwining relationships between production, distribution and exhibition made the period 1941-1955 prime for the birth and death of film noir. Prior to 1941, studio distributors' block-booking had forced many exhibitors to search for alternate ways to improve profit margins. What arose from this economic dilemma was the development of the "double bill". Double bill programming did not affect production sufficiently to create the atmosphere for film noir until the studios depleted their backlog of product. Once this happened, the studios saw a need to begin secondary units to produce pictures for the bottom, or "B", half of the double bill. The advent of the "B" picture created a niche for independent companies such as RKO and PRC, especially after 1941. As the demand for the "B"s grew, a unique style began to develop. According to Kerr, this look was primarily a by-product of the economically deprived production values of B-films. The budget for a "B" was typically anywhere from $400,000 to less than a quarter of that. These budgets were small not only because the films were secondary product, but because they were originally shown in the few theaters that were not studio-controlled. B-pictures were sold to exhibitors for a flat fee, and this influenced production values. Thus, the intertwining effects of production, distribution and exhibition. Because of these economic restraints, the B-picture could not rely upon high-key lighting, casts of thousands, elaborate action scenes, or complicated camera setups. A prime example of this visual brevity is the now classic, lengthy one-take getaway scene in Joseph H. Lewis' Gun Crazy. Moreover, "B" productions often needed to borrow previously used sets, and to shoot in unused studio backlots at night. The studio strike of 1945-47 forced more productions to rely upon location shooting. In 1946, the abolition of block-booking created additional independent productions that favored a more immediate "street" look over the glossier, studio style. Because of low production values, producers and directors had to compensate with complicated plots and convoluted visual atmosphere later deemed "expressionistic", a key visual component of film noir. Not all "B" pictures were films noir, of course, but because of the double bill, small independent producers saw the need to develop a visual style on which exhibitors could rely, and the noir style was prominent among them. Beginning near the end of the 1940s and continuing into the 50s, the break-up of the studio-controlled exhibition monopolies coupled with the rise of television and, according to Kerr, a demand for realism, effectively dried up the industrial wellspring that had spawned film noir. (Article referenced appears in Silver, Alain. Ed. Film Noir Reader. Limelight Editions, 1996.) Copyright © 2003 The Write Word, Inc. All rights reserved. |
