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2
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Out
of the Past exemplifies the quote of Nino Frank that “these ‘noir’ films no longer have
any common ground with run-of-the-mill police dramas”1
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Interestingly, in film noir the archetypal women characters are either the dutiful, reliable,
trustworthy and loving woman or the femme fatale2
...
Thereby, Kathie Moffat is
portrayed in Out of the Past as the femme fatale who used her sexuality to get what she
wanted; after she committed the murder of Jack Fisher, Kathie ran back to Whit Sterling,
she later framed Jeff Markham/Bailey in her affidavit stating that Jeff was the one who
had killed Jack Fisher4
...

Evidently, in the scene where Ann and Jeff met for the last time outside Bridgeport, Ann
asked Jeff to be check if there was some love left for Kathie
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Initially, Jeff was the private investigator for the gangster boss, Whit Sterling, and
towards the end of the film Jeff strived to bring order to the noir world; by contacting the
police but his link to Kathie’s control of transgressive female sexuality led to their

1 Frank, Nino
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18
2 Dirks, Tim
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http://www
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org/filmnoir
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3

Hirsch, Foster
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148

4

Walker, Michael
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),The Movie Book of Film Noir (Studio Vista, 1992), p
...
In what ways can Out of the Past be defined as a film noir? Can film noir be classified as
a genre?
deaths5
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The definition of hard-boiled is someone who does not show emotions, such as affection or
kindness, like an emotionally tough detective as the main character7
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In addressing
hard-boiled style, Jeff had to operate in both worlds: his past which was the criminal
underworld involving Whit the gangster boss and Kathie, and Jeff’s present lifestyle: the
world of respectable society that he has reinvented for himself at Bridgeport8
...
The psychoanalysis of this tough, hard-boiled dialogue is a form of
acquiescence of Jeff to Kathie’s betrayal, which in return led to an unconsciously willed
and self-inflicted punishment for Jeff’s own betrayal of Whit10
...

It is noted that the visual stylistics of film noir is an important key role for example, the
use of low-key illumination, as it has a stronger contrast of image like sharper, darker
shadows and often the lighting is hard so the fill light is lessened or eliminated

5 Ibid, p
...
23
7 An Encyclopaedia Britannica Company Merriam-Webster Author, http://www
...
com/dictionary/hard-boiled

(last updated 2014, Merriam Webster Incorporated, 2014), last accessed 14 /12/ 2014
8 Krutnik, Frank
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39
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‘Noir is Also a French Word: The French Antecedents of Film Noir’, in Ian Cameron (ed
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66-67
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Film Noir and The Hard-Boiled Detective Hero
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filmnoirstudies
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asp (last updated 2008, info@FilmNoirStudies
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This gives birth to the effect of chiaroscuro as seen in most of the scenes in
Out of the Past, usually when Kathie is in control13
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Meanwhile, Kathie was observing Jeff from behind
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It is a representation of Jeff’s character in noir, standing behind the sofa caught in visual
traps14
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As the fight scene became intense, the
camera focused on a point of view shot on Kathie watching the fight and contemplating on
her dark thoughts for her next action
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Additionally, it gives a structure
to the narrative by using the voice over on particular scenes
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A series of flashbacks was recalled by Jeff to Ann
whilst he drove them to Lake Tahoe to confront his past
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The voice over in this film, also gave a sense that there was no hope for any future and
Jeff’s flashback confirmed a sense of an irretrievable past15
...

Having built a convincing analysis that Out of the Past is definitely a film noir; the next
step is to consider whether a film noir can be classified as a genre
...
Film Art: An Introduction, (8th ed
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130
13 Grist, Leighton
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), The Movie Book of Film Noir, (Studio

Vista, 1992), p
...

14 Hirsch, op cit
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98
15 Schrader, Paul
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11 (1972) in Grist, Leighton, ‘Out of the Past aka Build My Gallows High’ in Ian

Cameron (ed
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210
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p
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In what ways can Out of the Past be defined as a film noir? Can film noir be classified as
a genre?
category for classifying films in terms of common patterns of form and content17
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The well-known characteristics of a film
noir are stories of crime, use of dark lighting and flashback with voice over narrative
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As seen in several film
noirs, a house is almost never a home in this post-war genre; the use of plain furniture, its
decorations sparse and impersonal, as seen in Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder, USA,
1944) and the similar style of plain furniture is also noticed in Mildred Pierce (Michael
Curtiz, USA, 1945) where the domestic house is unmarked by the people who live there
and supposedly constitute a family 19
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The genre debate has been going on for decades whether or not film noir should be
classified as a film genre
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However, early critics of
film noir like Durgnat and Schrader do not see film noir as a genre but rather as a period
of post-war movement similar to German Expressionism or Italian Neo-realism22
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17 Corrigan, Timothy
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, Longman, 2001), p
...

18 Ibid, p
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99
20 Out of the Past aka Build my Gallows High (Jacques Tourneur, USA, 1947)
21 Schrader, Paul
...
8 (1972), in Jane Root ‘ Film Noir’ , in Pam Cook (ed
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307
22Durgnant, Raymond
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48-56(1970) in Jane Root ‘Film Noir’ in Pam Cook (ed
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306
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‘Notes on film noir’,p
...
),The Cinema Book, (3rd Edition, BFI, 2008)p
...
A & L
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), The Cinema

Book, (3rd Edition, BFI, 2008) p
...
In what ways can Out of the Past be defined as a film noir? Can film noir be classified as
a genre?
This view is challenged by Damico who claims that visual style of noir is iconography, thus
making it a genre24
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Film noir is regarded as a genre by Foster Hirsch as the
title of the film itself is the generic identification26 Indeed, film noir is not a movement of
a post -war period since Against All Odds (Taylor Hackford, USA, 1984) was a remake of
Out of the Past and The Policeman Always Rings Twice (Tony Garnett, USA, 1946) was
also made again in 1981, The Policeman Always Rings Twice (Bob Rafelson, USA, 1981)
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Following the decades of historical
developments, film noir has fulfilled the genre social function where it was centrally
concerned with social groups, particularly women, and the genre’s stories with
iconography portray the women menacing the majority’s way of life28
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54 (1978) ‘Film Noir in Modest Proposal’, Jane Root ‘Film Noir’, in Pam Cook (ed
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307
25 Krutnik, op cit
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18
26 Halliday, Jon p
...
18
27 Schrader, Paul pp
...
), The Cinema Book, (3rd

Edition, BFI,2008) p
...
p
...
In what ways can Out of the Past be defined as a film noir? Can film noir be classified as
a genre?
An Encyclopaedia Britannica Company Merriam-Webster Author, http://www
...
com/dictionary/hard-boiled (last updated 2014, Merriam Webster Incorporated,
2014), last accessed 14 /12/ 2014
Blaser, John J & Stephanie L M Blaser
...

http://www
...
com/essays/detective_hero
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com 2008), last accessed 15/12/14
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Film Art: An Introduction, (8th ed
...
A Short Guide to Writing About Film, (4th ed
...
The Greatest and the Best Films in Cinematic History: Film Noir Part 1
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filmsite
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html (last updated 2014, American Movie Classics Company LLC
Copyright 2014), last accessed 14/12/2014
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‘A New Kind of Police Genre: The Criminal Adventure,’ in Alain Silver & James
Ursini (eds), Film Noir Reader 2 (Limelight Editions, 1999)
Grist, Leighton
...
The Dark Side of the Screen: Film Noir, (Da Capo Press, 1981)
Krutnik, Frank
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‘Film Noir’, in Pam Cook (ed
...
‘Noir is Also a French Word: The French Antecedents of Film Noir’, in
Ian Cameron (ed
...
In what ways can Out of the Past be defined as a film noir? Can film noir be classified as
a genre?
Walker, Michael
...
), The Movie Book of Film
Noir (Studio Vista, 1992)
FILMOLOGY
Against All Odds (Taylor Hackford, USA, 1984)
Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder, USA, 1944)
Out of the Past also known as Build my Gallows High (Jacques Tourneur, USA, 1947)
Mildred Pierce (Michael Curtiz, USA, 1945)
Murder, My Sweet (Edward Dmytryk, USA, 1944)
The Maltese Falcon (John Huston, USA, 1941)
The Policeman Always Rings Twice (Tony Garnett, USA, 1946)
The Policeman Always Rings Twice (Bob Rafelson, USA, 1981)

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