Page "Film noir" Paragraph 18

Most of the film noirs of the classic period were similarly low-and modestly budgeted features without major stars — B movies either literally or in spirit.

In this production context, writers, directors, cinematographers, and other craftsmen were relatively free from typical big-picture constraints.

There was more visual experimentation than in Hollywood filmmaking as a whole: the Expressionism now closely associated with noir and the semidocumentary style that later emerged represent two very different tendencies.

Narrative structures sometimes involved convoluted flashbacks uncommon in non-noir commercial productions.

In terms of content, enforcement of the Production Code ensured that no film character could literally get away with murder or be seen sharing a bed with anyone but a spouse ; within those bounds, however, many films now identified as noir feature plot elements and dialogue that were very risqué for the time.