the smart phone always rings twice

 

In the February 17, 2022, post here I discussed the 1948 film, Call Northside 777.  It was listed on You Tube as a film noir, but I didn't really think it was one.

Then I was reading You Must Remember This, a Hollywood memoir by actor Robert Wagner (It Takes a Thief, Hart to Hart).  In the book Wagner mentions Call Northside 777 and refers to it as a film noir:

--------------------- [excerpt, Wagner - You Must Remember] ----------------- Darryl Zanuck, who gave me my career, built one of the last great homes to be constructed along the Santa Monica stretch of beach.  

Darryl's movies were evenly divided between light entertainments in garish Technicolor (such as Betty Grable's films), grim film noirs (Nightmare Alley, Call Northside 777), and westerns that could have been film noirs (My Darling Clementine, The Ox-Bow Incident).  

Darryl was always an innovator, a ceaselessly active man -- I can barely remember him standing still. ----------------------- [end / excerpt]

What does Wikipedia say?

---------------------- [excerpt] ---------------- In 2004, the Onion AV Club Review said, "Outstanding location shooting and Stewart's driven performance turn a sober film into a vibrant, exciting one," even though the main characters are "really too noble for noir."

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Wikipedia page on film noir:

----------------- [excerpt] ----------------- Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations.  

The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of American film noir.  

Film noir of this era is associated with a low-key, black-and-white visual style that has roots in German Expressionist cinematography.  

Many of the prototypical stories and much of the attitude of classic noir derive from the hardboiled school of crime fiction that emerged in the United States during the Great Depression.  

The term film noir, French for 'black film' (literal) or 'dark film' (closer meaning), was first applied to Hollywood films by French critic Nino Frank in 1946, but was unrecognized by most American film industry professionals of that era.  

Cinema historians and critics defined the category retrospectively.  

Before the notion was widely adopted in the 1970s, many of the classic films noir were referred to as "melodramas".  

Whether film noir qualifies as a distinct genre or whether it is more of a filmmaking style is a matter of ongoing debate among scholars.

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