Three great examples of Film Noir

At three we have the big sleep which was directed by Howard Hawkes. The screen play was by William Faulkner and Leigh Bracket and is from the novel by Raymond Chandler. The main characters in this are Humphrey Boggart and Lauren Bacall.
Bogart plays private investigator Philip Marlowe who has been hired by the wealthy general Sternwood to deal with a blackmailer who claims he is owed money by his daughter.
The trail leads Marlowe through romance and numerous murders but leaves the viewer lost in the plot wondering who did what? As does the writers and novelist. In one part they didn’t know why or how one of the cast had been killed. The film was quoted an “incoherent masterpiece”.

At two we have a draw with the Maltese Falcome and shadow of a doubt.
Maltese falcome was directed by john Huston in 1941 and was from Dashiell Hammets classic 1929 novel. It starred Humphrey Bogart, Sidney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre and Mary Astor. Humphrey boggart plays private investigator Sam Spade who is in pursuit of the killer who had killed his partner who was tailing a suspect for a client.
The client who is undoubtedly a femme fatale with alterior motives and those are to steal a jewel encrusted statuette of a falcon. Maltese falcon was regarded as the first push for the film noir movement.

Shadow of a doubt was directed by the great Alfred Hitchcock in 1943 and written by Thornton Wilder and Saly Benson and Alma Reville.
It stars Teresa Wright, Joseph Cotton, MacDonald Carey, Patricia Collinge, Henry Travers and Humme Croyn.
Hitchcock has been quoted in saying that it is his “personal favourite among his American films”. It tells a story of a young girl called Charlotte Newton who is bored of her mundane lifestyle. She receives news of her uncle coming home to stay. Later she is visited by two men disguised as photographers and journalists. One takes Charlie to the side and explains that her uncle is under watch as they are suspicious of him being a wanted serial killer. Soon Charlie has to hold a secret from the police and others as her suspicions get the better of her and it becomes obvious to her uncle. Who is actually the killer?

And in at one we have double indemnity which is classed as the best film noir film and is seen as director Billy wilders masterpiece. It stars Fred Mac Murray, Barbara Stanwyck and Edward Robinson and was filmed in 1944.
It entails two lovers- a likeable salesmen and a bored housewife who plan to murder her husband for financial gain because of a double indemnity clause in his accidental policy.
The plan doesn’t go swimmingly and in the end fails like many other film noir plans and plots.