Los Angeles and the Noir Mystique

I guess I should really Google my project ideas before I go forward. It turns out there is already a 1947 project, only it seems to be a kind of forgotten history amateur historiography of crime journalism and Los Angeles urban geography, not a film specific venture.

I do find it telling that all of the film links at 1947 Project are noir films. Since their project in fact conceived of in noir terms, that makes sense. But it speaks to a larger dominance of noir in popular and even academic memory of postwar film history. Don't get me wrong - I love noir and its mythology as much as anyone. Also if it weren't for noir fandom, I wouldn't have potential access to nearly the number of video titles from 1947 as I do. It's just that noir is not the whole history of postwar decade, whose A and even B features were just as likely to be sentimental dramas, musicals, or comedies. The film historian is in the odd position of being able to get video access to PRC crime films more easily than MGM's historical dramas.

Comments

Popular Posts